Words and photos by Pete
Crew : TJ, Butty, Troll, Croxy, Lee , Smiffy Steve , Chris & Pete
Route : Bolly Maze – North End Farm – Waulkmill Wood – Poachers Snicket – Oakenbank – Jumper Lane – Blaze Hill descent – Pott Shrigley – Styperson Woods – Towpath – Pappa’s Kebab Shop – Bolly Rec – The Vale
The Rec : Adrian & Biscuit
Pub : Ruth
Weather : Fairly tickety boo , getting a bit cool when we were eating our nosh on The Rec . Raining on the exit from the Vale
Notes :
It’s the second time in a month that the word Kebab has been in a TNR report title ?. I am not sure whether this is a sign of success or failure .
It was a simple formula this week.
The objectives were :
Ride for a couple of hours
Have fun
Dine in an inexpensive manner
Retire to a local hostelry
Eight riders
We had a late start ( my fault, should have written 6pm start) , and spent a short while trying to predict where the Troll would appear .
Croxy turned up !
Lovely mini wild flower meadow next to Bolly Maze
Way ward riders missed the turn to north end farm
By Jumper lane I decided that Bakestonedale was a ridge too far , given our later start.
So at the junction with Blaze Hill we turned left, not right . And soon after Butty spotted a hare in field just off the road.
The view from Jumper Lane is one of the best in Cheshire (imho) .
We all seemed to get split up on the Stypersons Woods descent – Chris & I took the very overgrown footpath down – this is the best route through Styperson’s imho .
At the Kebab shop Lee and TJ volunteered to nip off to the Coop and sort out some alfresco tins .
We ate at the benches on the rec , with tins of lager and IPA. Adrian had to be dialed in by Butty as he didn’t know our meeting location. Biscuit enjoyed legging it around the rec.
The Vale had vibe ! In the corner were the runners group (from the Poachers TNR era) happily quaffing, and pleased to see us. From my conversation with them , it appears that The Poachers has fallen from favour as the Bolly pub of choice.
At the Vale we got a good table and good service . Eastern Nights (aka Bolly Smack) and Electric Boogaloo seemed to be the most popular tipples .
Somehow we managed to not exit the pub until gone half eleven – and there was no round of whiskys !
