WORDS AND PICTURES BRANDON EDGELEY
Merseyside’s urban fringe in dreary November may not sound like the ideal location for a cycling challenge. But, as Brandon Edgeley discovered, the area is drenched in history, both ancient and recent. Here’s his report on a fascinating and eventful 200km Day Tripper DIY from Nantwich to the heart of Liverpool and back
Arrivéewinter/spring2020
Heading to Duddon under the GJR railway viaduct towering 60ft above the valley
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THE IDEA BEHIND this British Cycling Quest DIY ride was to devise a route into Liverpool from Nantwich, avoiding traffic by following cycle paths as far as possible. I was also keen to attend the famous Dover Cycling Fellowship meeting in Sefton, north Liverpool. Our mission was to reach the checkpoint at Liverpool’s Liver Building. A route was planned, and invitations sent out to some Crewe Clarion Wheelers members who might wish to join me. Ian Wilson took up my offer, unable to resist the tantalising sightseeing tour that I described. We met up in Nantwich at 6am for our departure. He was on his 25mm tyred Ribble, despite me recommending a tourer. More than 30km of the route would be off-road. I was on my Surly tourer. It was dark as we headed out for Winsford where we picked up the Whitegate Way, a good off-road bike path. We re-joined tarmac until we got nearer to the River Weaver at Crowton were we went back to off-roading.
At Duddon locks a former floating hotel gently rots
The path was very muddy in places and we both did well to stay upright. We even manged to circumvent a horse who decided to stand right in our way. We crossed the river at Duddon Locks and I stopped for a few photos including a picture of a boat slowly rotting away which Ian said used to be a floating hotel. Over Acton Bridge and we shared a mile of the A49 with the morning’s commuters who were not going any faster than us. We stopped at the site of Lewis Carrol’s birthplace in Daresbury. We pushed on as it was now raining and I was getting a bit peckish. As we neared our first planned stop at Walton Hall Café it dawned on me that we would in fact get there for 8.30am, half an hour before the café opened. We decided that rather than wait 30 minutes we would push on and see what we would come across. A couple of miles later we diverted off course to a petrol station. We had a sandwich and drink which we consumed in the shop which was about five degrees warmer than outside. Back on track we picked up the Trans Pennine Trail. We passed a cyclist and asked where he was heading. “Lydiate for the Dover Cycling Fellowship meeting,” he said. We waved him goodbye and said we’d meet him there… eventually. We passed through a couple of really pleasant green spaces, one of which was a former colliery site. Eventually we got to St Helens where a slight detour took us to Ravenhead Windmill, an 18th century windmill that was later converted into a glassworks, St Helens being a famous glass producing area.
