Thursday 9th November 2023
I’m back in Trafford Hall, a hostel near Chester, and I’ve just realised that it’s my fourth visit in twelve months. I first came in December last year when it was very cold going out to catch the ferry at Liverpool: the crossing was barely long enough for my hands to thaw out. I then returned in May and again in June. It’s not that the hostel is that special, but it’s a convenient distance from home and I can vary the route to gather Veloviewer tiles on the way. One way is to take the ferry from Liverpool, but this time I’m ringing the changes and I came out via Widnes and I’ll return on the Mersey ferry on Saturday.
I have been watching the weather forecast for several days now and today seemed to be the best option to get three dry days. It didn’t work. I was expecting showers in the afternoon, so when it started spitting a bit at 1pm I pulled into a café for lunch which was wonderful. It wasn’t in the least attractive, positioned on the grimy outskirts of Widnes but I was hungry, it was open and had a safe space for my bike.
I wasn’t expecting fine dining, but the meal was so much better than it could have been. A cup of coffee (OK, it was instant, but Nescafé), a tuna & mayo baguette (with a generous salad on the side) and a flapjack was just six quid and served with a smile. The waitress and I communicated largely with sign language since her accent was so thick I could hardly tell a word she was saying. She perhaps thought the same thing. When ordering, I was asked whether I wanted cheese on my tuna. I said yes and was surprised to see a square slice of plastic cheese (like the stuff they put on a beefburger) included in the sandwich! I was expecting grated cheddar or something, but the cheese slice was nice, especially since it was given free as an extra. Lovely! A chap walked in just before I left at 1.30 and perused the menu before asking if they still served breakfast. ‘Of course!’, came the reply. It was that sort of place.
When I came out of the café, it was waterproof time and the rain became very heavy for the next hour, and the last 30 miles were very wet.
I didn’t take many photos today because of the weather. I had also removed the video camera after lunch so it wouldn’t get too wet so there is little evidence of the trip. To be fair, the scenery wasn’t great, but I did spend a lot of time in huge industrial estates where I saw enormous warehouses supporting companies such as Amazon, THG, Asda, EVRI and others I’d never heard of. I also cycled round the outside of the huge JLR plant at Halewood (it was Ford in my day), but there was very little to see. (You may gather that I do like to visit large manufacturing plants).
(with good cycling infrastructure)
The surprise of the day was in Runcorn when I was directed through a series of parks for what seemed like miles. It was like a cross between a country estate and a municipal park. It made a lovely change from the busy, fast roads through the town although the many wet leaves made the paths very slippery.
Although I know this hostel well, I haven’t had occasion to use the drying room before. For future reference, it’s hardly a drying room, more like a very large, warm linen store with no hanging rails just wooden slatted racks. I’ve brought sufficient dry clothes for the trip, but I need to dry my shoes and gloves. I managed to hang things as best I could but I’ve no idea whether they’ll be dry tomorrow.
I normally indulge in a cake and a coffee when I arrive at the hostel, but I was a little late arriving today, and since I was still full from lunch, I passed on it this time and enjoyed a bottle of Robinson’s beer instead. Lasagne for tea. With another beer.
Friday 10th November 2023
Last night, I shared a dorm with just one other gent and we hardly spoke until this morning. Once we got chatting I discovered that he’s a student from Cameroon studying at the University of Chester. He’s been staying in this hostel until he found some more appropriate accommodation but he leaves today since he now has digs on campus. It appears he’s studying Project Management and when I told him what I used to do, his eyes lit up and he began pumping me for knowledge (as if I had any!). We exchanged contact details and now I’m anticipating a request for me to help him with his dissertation. Oh dear. He’s a first year student, but I guess on a master’s course (he already has a degree and work experience) so I’m hoping any request will be a while off (to give me chance to revise my knowledge).
His main take-away from his time in UK so far is that it’s cold. Coming from a country bang on the equator, I can understand that. We talked about appropriate clothing and the concept of layering, but I’m not sure the information went in.
Anyway, once I got on the road, I headed south on new roads (for me), crossing the River Dee at Farndon and entering Wales. It was a beautiful day, sunny and bright with little wind, so conditions were perfect for November.
From there, I meandered north on quiet lanes up to Broughton. I’ve only once visited the Airbus site here for work back in 1997 so I thought it’d be interesting to return. Not a good idea. The roads round there are very busy, very fast and the drivers took no care when passing bikes. I cycled on the pavement for quite long stretches and I was glad to finally return to the quiet lanes I’d enjoyed all morning. A few miles later, I was lucky enough to spot the Airbus Beluga once more. This is aircraft is used to carry large components between Airbus sites and only five were built. Today, it was making its final approach and so was travelling very slowly and low. Despite (or maybe because of) it’s size, it’s an extremely graceful if ugly machine.
After Broughton, I chanced to pass through the Sealand Industrial estate where there were more car dealers than you could shake a stick at. Over less than half a mile I saw big dealerships for Ford, Volvo, Nissan, Dacia, VW, Kia and Vauxhall plus three second hand outlets and some motor factors places. A quick look at the map shows further dealerships for Landrover, Tesla, BMW and Peugeot. Who knew Chester was the car sales centre of the UK?
Since I’d had a huge breakfast, I managed without a lunch stop, but I did have a snack in the best bus stop I’ve ever seen in the village of Mollington. It was just like a miniature library. I checked the bus timetable and there were only two buses per day, and the second one wasn’t due for another half an hour so I had an enjoyable time browsing the many titles, which amazingly appeared to be arranged in the Dewey decimal system order.
There was plenty of evidence of recent rain on the journey and I came across several instances of flooded lanes. One was about 50 yards long and provided beautiful reflections of a gorgeous oak tree resplendent in its autumn foliage. Thankfully, in each case the road was smooth and clear of debris since I was cycling blind and simply hoping for no obstructions.
By the way, I should have mentioned that despite its unusual arrangement, the drying room worked fine and I had dry gloves to start the day. I needed them too. Only 4°C when I set off and peaking at about 8°C.
One job left for tonight is to decide on my evening meal. I’m wavering between the curry and a spicy pizza. And I’ll order another pint since it’s Friday.
Saturday 11th November 2023
I always have a concern about the weather on any tour at this time of year. I don’t mind getting wet, and I can prepare for the cold but getting very wet on a cold day can have dire consequences, especially in case of a puncture or mechanical problem. I mitigate these risks by keeping an eye on the weather forecasts but today I’ve gone one step further. A band I follow (called the Ragamuffins) have a track called ‘It never rains on Mossley Hill’, so I thought that if I incorporated Mossley Hill on my route home, at least I’ll be guaranteed some dry bits. I know the songwriter would never lie to me.
So that’s why, once I got to Liverpool, my route headed East out of the city before heading Northeast.
I tried to time it so that I’d reach Seacombe at 11am for the two minute silence before the ferry left immediately afterwards. (The two ferries beforehand were cancelled because of the Armistice Day memorial.) In the end, I never made it to the 11am ferry. My route had directed me through the Stanlow oil refinery, which I wondered about at the time, but my route-planning app, Cycle.Travel, showed a road through the plant, and I had no reason to doubt it. Even after I passed several signs saying things like ‘Private road’, ‘No Photography’, ‘Access control ahead’, and even two huge ‘no entry’ signs, on admittedly open gates I still continued: nothing ventured, nothing gained.
On I rode for perhaps a mile until I came to the access control. I could have cycled past the barriers (which were like those on a multi-story car park), but I thought better of it and turned back to search for an alternative route. The alternative was about 4 miles further in total, which meant I was going to miss the 11am ferry, but should make the 11.20 one. But that was no problem.
Of course, I was seeking obscure Veloviewer tiles on the journey, and one looked very accessible, just off my route. It was just past the oil refinery, but when I got within 100 yards of my goal, I met another gate with a sign advising against unauthorized access. I think it was the entrance to a boat yard, so I passed on that. (Looking at the map later, I think that there may have been another way to get the tile, but it’s a long way to go back and check now).
The next bit of the journey took me what on the map appeared to be through the Stellantis vehicle manufacturing complex (formerly Vauxhall’s) at Ellesmere Port so I was prepared to be turned back again. Thankfully, this time, even though I passed three ‘road closed’ signs, I got through without incident. By now, the 11:40 ferry was looking dodgy, but so what? It was a lovely day and I had plenty of time.
It once made my Vauxhall Viva in 1970, but the plant now just makes electric vehicles
Then I came across Port Sunlight. I’ve wanted to visit here for years, but never got round to it, and now, purely by chance, here I was. So I spent another 15 minutes mooching round the village before continuing on my journey North through Wirral.
A diversion to Upton (to catch a tile I missed last time I was here) meant that I only arrived at the ferry terminal at 11:50, but in plenty of time for the noon ferry. Except that there wasn’t one. I’d mis-read the timetable, and the noon ferry left from Liverpool, not Birkenhead. Oh well, I now had time to listen to a live band in the café playing Beatles songs (awfully) before the boat arrived at 12:20.
noon ferry at Seacombe
I was pleased to see that today it was the ‘Dazzle Ferry’, created by Sir Peter Blake, as part of the First World War commemorations (very appropriate for Armistice Day). (Sir Peter Blake is most famous for creating the Beatles Sgt Pepper album cover).
Liverpool was very busy, and my route directed me through Paradise Street and Duke Street in amongst all the Saturday shoppers. It might have been away from the traffic, but it was desperately slow.
I’ve a lot to thank David Jaggs for. Not only does he write great music for the Ragamuffins, but he also has a cool sideline as a weather forecaster. The weather in Mossley Hill was gorgeous, as it was for the entire journey. The only issue now was that I still had over 40 miles to go and it was one o’clock already. I really don’t like cycling at dusk, so a café stop was ruled out. I arrived home at 4:30 in the end after a splendid three days. Bike cleaning and oiling is on the cards for tomorrow since the jockey wheels on the derailleur were grumbling a bit on the way home after Thursday’s soaking. For the geeks, the overall distance was just short of 215 miles and I found 65 brand new tiles and increased my cluster by 67.
