Words by Pete. Photos & route by Butty
Crew : Butty, Pete , El Pres, TJ, 3 Sheds, Kersh
Route : Bolly Maze, Middlewood, towpath to Hagg Farm , west gate of LP. Loops within the park , Red Lane , Green Lane, Mudhurst Lane, Bow stones , Dale Top, Bakestonedale Rd, Pott Shrigley, The Poachers.
Conditions : Cool, windy on the tops and dusty dry . About 12c
Notes :
At 5:30pm I was expecting three (me, Butty & El Pres) ..then it suddenly became six .
The more the merrier .
Lord Lucan, aka Graham Kershaw, was a rare (but welcome) sight.
Likewise, TJ has finally returned to the fold from all those Alps trips – it was good to see him.
And 3 sheds made it back from work on time
It was roughly a repeat of the Butty led ride from the end of March , with a couple of variations.
The first of these was the “Rooty bits” on the left hand side of the middle wood way just after the viaduct. Excellent fun.
Then the traverse of the field just to the right of Higher Doles Farm to pick up the towpath Northwards.
All the way to Hagg Farm …..which is a novel route to the West Gate of LP , but a local resident did not think so and someone got a “no riding here” comment and some
head shaking from a local resident
The loops were a little bit more fun having done them back at the end of March – no offs that I noted.
Small herd of deer by the knott ..young stags and a few hinds – then more deer appeared , Definitely something going on.
It was the standard-ish exit route to the east. The dead Landrover (Green lane) slowly merging into the landscape.
Layers had to be donned at Bowstones , and there was a gigantic pile of newspaper
mulch in the distance .
Trails a bit damper in places but mostly dry
Poachers was busy with Nancys and others . Thai curry half half was the popular choice .
Dortmunder , Brentwood, Leffe ..no whiskey !