23rd July 2026: Nantwich

  Everyone knows that there are no flies on Steve Hughes. Possibly to maintain this reputation he was sat on his tod outside Meadow Lea café; inside, our club riders were arriving, and indeed, as Steve had asserted, there were some flies circulating. Perhaps, sweaty helmet liners had been left out of the wash and were attracting the buzzing Diptera? Some of us may have been grateful to tolerate a few flies rather than be subject to the lively Welshman outside banging on.

 There was a substantial turnout on what promised to be a fine day, but not as extremely hot as recently. Steve Tan had driven from home but couldn’t yet cycle due to a knee injury sustained on the ride from Ness a fortnight ago. The moderate group consisted of Keith, Trevor, George, Anthony, Mike Gilbert, NHS Andy, Jim and me. Dave Matthews was still recovering but had made the effort to join us for coffee. I had a route, but my hurried back of an envelope mileage calculations the night before were to prove to be too conservative in reality. We headed for Kelsall via the A56 and Morley Bridge. Little lanes carried us to Ashton Hayes and out past the back of the field used for the annual steam rally. I remember us riding this lane on ice a few months ago, thinking that we shouldn’t have been, and concentrating intently to keep my handlebars straight. Jim was able to give me advice navigating Kelsall as he had lived there for a number of years previous to his current home. We headed for Clotton speedily swooping down to the A51 having navigated the very rough stretch of road by Willington Hall. Jim was managing recently diagnosed asthma, so eventually took his leave as he had planned. We were glad that he had made the effort and hope he enjoyed his outing. Consulting the group showed a strong preference for heading to Alpraham via Beeston Castle and Bunbury rather than riding south for a mile on the A49 from Tiverton and then turning left. My convoluted route to reach national cycle route 551 crossed two O.S. maps and involved more turns than Strictly. It was reassuring to be in the company of renowned navigators in Trevor (NVQ in obscure caravan site seeking), Mike (UK orienteering gold medallist 1918) and Anthony (expert adviser on vehicle detection and communications). Actually, Anthony’s mix of tech savvy and map adaptation ensure that he is a valuable addition to the team! Keith continued to entertain us; I’m thinking of buying him a court jester’s hat. We reached Cholmondeston at pace and then flew down to Venetian Marina driven by the wind and hunger. The choice was between two unknowns: the attractive Barbridge Inn a mile away or Taylor’s tea room at Venetian Marina. We checked in at Taylor’s first to see if they could cope with serving seven riders at once, or did they just have a lone cook tossing sausages in the back. The staff were very positive, so we sat in the shade by the canal and were served promptly; we were very happy with the food and the friendly staff. Thanks to Dave Matthews for his positive review of this café under new ownership a couple of months ago.

Following lunch, we avoided riding to the edge of Nantwich and coming out again by using the little lane at Poole which leads to the A51; shortly after we turned for Acton. We rode just over a mile on the A51 to reach Burland, because it was smooth, fast and fairly quiet in our direction. From Burland it was the familiar route north through Haughton to Bunbury. It was interesting to chat to enterprising Andy who continues to cycle tour in Europe with his wife, although recently they used hotels rather than tents in Germany. Andy seemed traumatised by the extra cost incurred; he mentioned it more than once. We stopped at the open- air café outside Beeston Castle, apart from Mike who had to get back to Rhos on Sea. Surprisingly, George had never visited this this refreshment stop before. We enjoyed a good laugh, drinks, ice-cream and cake. It was like the good old days of a relaxed last-leg rest and not caring too much about the time we “needed” to get back home; Dave Pipe would have enjoyed it. On leaving, Trevor and Andy went too far in front, so we couldn’t tell them that that my intended route home was not via “The Shady”. Keith generously went downhill after them, but they were too far down, so we joined them. It was no big deal at all with regard to which way we returned to Guilden Sutton at this stage. It was, however, the second week on the run that this had happened, and last week it was a pain in the hot sun, with Mike trying to chase the unintended “leaders” down, phone contact not working and them having to ride on the very busy A41 in order to return to Tattenhall   Just saying! Anyway, we had a really good day out in smashing company, and we finished roughly together. We did have to give George a loud shout, as the disruption of crossing the main road at Vicars Cross, left him on Andy’s wheel and heading home up Hare Lane with him. Thanks for the support guys. Over fifty miles covered.

DH