Day 6 – Crossing the Cheshire Plain

Comedy place names!

We had a very sociable breakfast in Bishops Castle with Matt, Mum and Mota and I departed at 9.50am.  Fiona was headed to Ludlow to meet her folks for lunch and drop off Matt.

Having completed the steep climb at the very end of yesterday’s ride, I had the pleasure of coasting downhill out of town.  However, I was soon on the first climb, but knew that once it was done, most of the rest of the day was flat as I headed across the Cheshire Plain.  After reaching the top of the hill at 311m above sea level, I had a beautiful, five mile descent through woodland in the Hope valley to Minsterley.

The Quantum Leap Sculpture in Shrewsbury

I was soon in Shrewsbury and paused for a food break under the “Quantum Leap” sculpture honouring Charles Darwin, the city’s most famous son.  The ride was flat and easy – I even had a tailwind at one point, but the weather forecast was soon confirmed as the headwind returned.  I was surprised to find the road signs were once again in dual English and Welsh, though I had not seen any border signs.

Lunch by the lake at Hanmer

I stopped for lunch by the pretty lake at Hanmer with rolls and a piece of Rocky Road (which seemed appropriate) bought from the village store.  The storekeeper said she got lots of LEJOG cyclists in the summer, but only one every few days at this time of year.  The village have made a good effort to benefit from the route by putting picnic tables on the verge by the lake.  I’ve seen a few cyclists who look like they are on long distance trips, but all going the other way and I’ve not identified any other LEJOG / JOGLE cyclists for sure yet.

Road Closed - except for cyclists!

Soon after lunch I found the route was on a road that was closed ahead due to a bridge repair.  After contemplating the signed diversion, I decided to press on to see whether there was any way to cross the river.  After a couple of miles, I was pleased to find the bridgeworks were preceded with a sign says “Cyclists Dismount”!  The bridge was completely missing, but the civil engineers had built a pedestrian path along the side of the security fence wide enough for just one bike – yay!

Mid-afternoon, approaching Chester I turned east and headed cross country towards Northwich using a route segment I had created with Matt Maltby using Google Maps’ cycle option.  Unlike most of the ride, this section used several bridleways and I encountered a variety of surfaces.  At one point the ground was soft, fine sand – great if you are riding a horse, but hard work if you are riding a bike!  However, the section along the old railway was great and I was able to keep up a better pace.

I sent a “Glympse” of my position in the last half hour of the day as I arrived in the edges of Northwich and got navigational advice by text message from Matt and Rob who could see my position live online.  Fortunately, both of my apparent navigational errors were simply me returning to interesting sights to take photographs!  I took one of the Winsford salt mine as my Grandfather Stanley Alty was foreman of the ICI brine works.  Enjoy for a moment the thought of the sign on his office door “S. Alty, Foreman, Brine Works”.  No wonder he got the job!  He got an OBE after the war and although the details were not disclosed, I have always understood it was awarded for hiding stuff in the mines.

I arrived at the Premier Inn just just before the rain arrived.  In total I had cycled 82.2 miles in  7½ hours elapsed and 6 hours moving at an average of 13.9mph and a maximum of 29.7mph.  Fiona and I enjoyed a hot meal at the Woodpecker pub next door and I was asleep before 10pm!