11th July 2024: Aston (mod)

 Despite the distracting sunny countenance of Carol Kirkwood, nobody in our club was likely to miss the forecast of rain for Tattenhall. Some riders were away, others, like Kevin, a possible recruit, had concluded that cycling in the rain wasn’t much fun. There were just three of us at Alison’s willing to give it a go: Alan, Steve and myself.

Whitchurch was the agreed destination, and we set off climbing to Brown Knoll. I wanted a change from the Broxton Old Hall route, so after a bit of muddle not helped by a wilting wet map and wet specs, we slid down past Mad Allen’s Hole (really!) then headed for Cholmondeley.  At the Cholmondeley Arms we felt that a slightly reduced route to the Bhurtpore at Aston would be preferable, as we were already becoming quite wet. Actually, Steve told us later that his bargain new waterproof had at least kept his torso bone dry. At Wrenbury we diverted toward Pinsley Green, and then turned left for Aston in order to avoid extensive roadworks on the normal route to Aston. We received a warm welcome at “The Bhurty” and we enjoyed the ambience of the cosy wigwam. Evidently, the big tent is rented only until the pub’s refurbishment is completed. Our food was well up to scratch. I can’t remember if the rain ever went off, but it was not  torrential or properly cold, and we set off on an attractive back lane to Marbury before turning north west to Buckley and on to No Man’s Heath. Before Malpas we headed up to Ebnal, Kidnal and Tilston. At Tilston our route was pretty direct through Carden, Clutton and Chowley. Alan managed to capture some of the heavy flooding we encountered on camera, and we agreed it was as wet as some of our very wet winter runs. 

Were we glad to get back to the warmth and dry of our cars? Yes! Were we glad that we had made the effort to ride? A unanimous “Yes!” Having been away and not cycled for three weeks, I was particularly in need of a ride, and grateful for the company and patience of Alan and Steve. A reasonable thirty-four miles covered given the conditions.

DH

See route map and/or gpx file download