Words by Pete, Photos by Butty & Pete
Crew : Butty, TJ, El Pres, Pete
Weather: Cold , Dry , Clear . about 4c with a strong breeze high up.
Route:
BL . Hurdsfield, Well Lane , Cliff La, Calrolfold La, Lidgetts La, Kerridge bridleway, Rainow, Oaken bank, Spuley lane, Pott Shrigley, Brickworks, Moorside La, Dale Top , Beaver Creek, Poachers.
Notes:
This week I took a Redway Lane tarmac route from our humble abode in Upper Bollingtonia to El Presidente’s palace on BL. Once again, the owls were hooting on Higher Fence Rd
23 minutes !! I was almost early
A small, but perfectly team of four this week. an Eric-friendly crew size .
So, having arrived promptly, Chris and I await the Poynton Posse ….but they have already experienced an eventful journey from the gentrified zone of North Cheshire – the towpath is closed at AZ !!
So we get whatsapps telling of us a muddy and treacherous crossing of fields as they embarked upon an off piste route …
Which leads us to meeting the muddy boys at the end of Well Lane. With a bijou sized crew we can make up the route as we go along …with no complaints 🙂
Butty has finally begun to exit the closet, bringing his (costume) wig from El Pud’s 60th party and wearing it for the entirety of the ride, and in the Poachers as well !
A brief discussion on “going high” but this dissolved into a quiet tarmac route towards Lidgetts, which gave us the opportunity to educate TJ on the link between Calrofold La and the Radio 4 Today programme … the late Brian Redhead used to live up here. We also had our first encounter of the evening with the WNB’s at the top end of Calrofold La.
The Kerridge Bridleway was entertaining – but not the best choice for those of us seeking some traction. It was very hard to stay upright !! So we bailed out halfway along & dropped right and up into Rainow .
Oakenbank was fun , and then more tarmac ..taking Spuley La , and a distinct drop in temperature, out to Pott Shrigley .
At the Brickworks we hung a left towards Moorside La , and then climbed from just before Keepers Cottage towards Dale Top ..
The climb soon became a push , with our lights turned off to enjoy the brightness of the moon …enough to give us all shadows.
Chris was the first to the apex of Dale Top …dumping his bike and taking a wander to inspect a bunch of flowers attached to the fence about 20 metres away. He looked back to his bike and saw the dark shape of a figure standing just where he was moments before. To begin with he thought it was Butty, but we were still further down the hill on our moonlit push. Spooky !
It was flipping cold in the wind up there , and Chris was keen to go…leaving me to pack away my camera as fast as I could.
Butty leads us down Beavers Creek …..which is slippery and entertaining (Fnarr Fnarr) . The tarmac descent to the Poachers was so cold I lost feeling in some of my fingers.
Pies , excellent IPA and the certainty of Gammon, Egg and Chips made the Poachers the “Right Answer” …
Adrian joined us in “B*llshit Corner” where wig donning had reached a strange frenzy.
I think Collette, the barmaid, was a little taken aback by Butty and his wig antics
And …yes, there was a moderate A Of E