Richard’s Local Run 16th May 2026
A dry start to the day and seven riders arrived at Auction Eats for the start. Numbers were a bit down as John was on holiday and poor Mic was involved with a vet visit as his dog had been run over the previous day.
At 10:30 we set off up Stubbins Lane towards Barnacre but followed the right turn up Smithy Lane towards Claughton. Here we met our first incident of the day. A farmer had obviously been transporting Cow Slurry to deposit on his fields but the valve on the tank must have sprung open and for about ¾ of a mile the road was deep in slurry. For a while we managed to ride up the side of the road where it hadn’t spread but eventually there was no option but to ride through it and shortly after we came up to the farmer reversing a tele-handler down the road dragging a front loader bucket with a carpet on it trying to sweep the muck off the road. This was too late for us, we rode through the muck and stench to the point where it ended just short of the Catholic church.
At Claughton we turned onto May Lane up to Brock Mill Lane, turned left and shortly after right into Bleasedale Lane. At Delph lane we turned left towards Oakenclough up past Bleasedale Tower Gardens and the recently restored woodlands which are looking very healthy having replaced the old pine forest with a deciduous forest.
After Oakenclough we had a pleasant ride over the moor where the view was quite clear across Morecambe Bay. At Long Lane we turned right towards Marshaw but shortly turned left into Tinkers Lane and the Wagon Road to go through lower Dolphinholme and up to the Abbeystead road. The plan had been to turn right and go to Proctor Moss Road from here but my reconnaissance earlier showed it to be closed so we rode up Star bank lane to chat with our member Colin who lives there. During a 10 minute stop and chat Dave complained that his clutch was failing and he didn’t know if he could continue so we advised him the best route to the A6 so he could ride straight back home. So at the Bay Horse Road he carried on home and we and turned right towards Caton to join the open part of Proctor Moss Road and followed this to Hala where we joined the Wyresdale road, turned left and then right into Grab Lane. We then followed the Quernmore Road up to Williamson Park where we stopped for a while to admire the view. No Cafe here at the moment as they have demolished the old one and will soon be building a new one.
After 15 minutes or so we continued out of the park and down into Lancaster at Dalton Square. Left here up to the traffic lights and straight across into Aldcliffe Road where we drove along the side of the canal and on to Stodday to join the A588 to Conder Green and Glasson Dock where we stopped for lunch.
It was quiet here for a change and we sat outside to eat our lunches as it was still dry but pretty cold.
Moored in the basin was an old Schooner named Helene from Sweden apparently built in 1916 in YSTAD. Being a sailor I found it interesting!
As we departed Glasson it started to rain. The riders had declined a proposal to stop off at Farmyard Ales for a drink and Peter left us here to head home to Morecambe. So a wet run then ensued to Cockerham and Skronkey down Lancaster road to Cartford and along the Wyre to St Michaels and back to Old Nells at Myerscough for a final stop before home. We sat in one of the new covered areas outside and admired the new thatch being put on the roof of the pub. The rain was still falling as we left for home and all arrived home safe. Dave later reported a safe arrival home despite having no clutch for most of the journey.
An enjoyable short run considering the cow muck, cold and rain!
The Rever map of the route is here: