It was a bit wet on the way from Lytham to the Club but after Preston it turned dry. At 10:30 there were 4 riders assembled but a quick call ascertained there would be a 5th if we waited and John M. duly turned up after being held up by roadworks in the Blackburn area.
John led off and took us on a tour of almost every green lane and village in West Lancs! Heskin, Eccleston, Past Runshaw College and along Central Avenue through Buckshaw Village. The Avenue was a contrast as it was lined with golden leaved trees, unusual, as all the other trees in the area are currently still green. A very pretty sight indeed. Right at the traffic lights to Whittle-Le-Woods and on to Clayton-Le-Woods and the Lord Nelson Pub.
A right turn here to Brindle and then on to the Top Lock pub at Wheelton. Here we made a left turn and as we gained height away from the canal over to the right we could see across the valley to the Chorley and the Mormon Temple. I am sure it was around here somewhere we went to a place called Top o’th Lane, sounds really Lancastrian! This lane took us to Heapey and eventually to Anglezark Reservoir where we skirted the end and rode up to the viewpoint at the top where we rested for a while and took a couple of pictures of the group.
From here we travelled a lot of little lanes and as if by magic ended up on the Bolton Road which runs through Horwich.
A left at the Crown pub and a pleasant run along Chorley old road took us to a left turn at Bobs Smithy Inn on to Walker Fold Lane. This was a ride in the reverse direction that we had taken on the Astley Colliery run with Mark leading. At the Junction with the A675 we turned left towards Belmont Village and just before the Black Dog Inn we turned right to pass Delph Sailing club to end up at Egerton. A left here onto the A666 took us to a left hand hairpin turn through a lovely wooded parkland to join the road back to Belmont. We turned right and carried on through Belmont Village then past Belmont sailing club where the water level looked very low and on to the right hand turn to Tockholes.
Just before Tockholes we pulled over for lunch at Roddlesworth Woods Visitor Centre and decided to use the Cafe rather than the Royal Arms Pub on the recommendation of John who reckoned the food in the cafe was good and cheap.
It was quite busy inside considering it was mid week and a bit overcast but we reserved a table and ordered our drinks and food. It was very reasonable in price and was a good lunch with nice staff.
After the break we left the cafe and John showed me to the car park/bus turning area where a large area was covered in 3inch nails. It looked as if someone had burnt a load of pallets and left the nails on the floor. What a terrible thing to do in a car park.
Now in a slight drizzle we backtracked to Belmont where we turned right at the Black Dog to climb over Belmont. This is a lovely ride up to the top with nice views and nice bends to keep your attention on the road ahead! We ended up at the junction with Yew Tree Inn where we then travelled along the side of Rivington reservoir to cross the Bolton Road and pass through Grimethorpe village. We skirted round Blackrod Village and through Haigh and Copull to arrive back at the Football Club in steady rain at about 2:30pm. We congratulated John for a good ride and fine lunch stop selection after which we went our separate ways home.
Mine was a very wet ride home as the rain intensified as I got closer to the coast but the waterproofs did their job well.
Thanks to John for a great final run to end our 2022 season and to all those who braved the weather to ride.
Richard