A visit to the grandchildren in Bacup. I went by bike. It took a little over four hours, plus a coffee stop with Alan and Sheila in Slattocks.
It's a straightforward route along the Bridgewater Canal towpath, then through Manchester on the Rochdale Canal link.
Beyond Piccadilly, the Rochdale Canal took me past Newton Heath, where the maceration of a nice area of greenery that I'd seen on previous visits has now mutated into a fully blown building site.
Before long, the canal becomes a ribbon of green through an industrial landscape.
It makes its way inexorably up towards Rochdale, with many locks to be negotiated.
One small section of canal has been drained just now, and there were no barges in evidence.
I stopped at Slattocks to see Alan and Sheila. It was good to see you, and thanks for the coffee.
Soon after the next view, and shortly after passing under the M62 motorway, I left the towpath.
A signposted route towards Heywood took me down a very pleasant path beside a golf course, during which I stopped for lunch in a field.
A track past Crimble Mill led past an attentive mother and some foals.
Gently rising roads led to a steeper bridleway that led inexorably over Rooley Moor.
It took me ages to reach the high point, after a few false summits. Photography was used as an excuse to have a rest. I'd been over here before, when doing the Mary Towneley Loop. I was even more tired on that occasion.
Soon after the summit, I left the Mary Towneley route in order to make a more direct descent to Bacup. Beyond the section where the next photo was taken, it got very rough, leading to disappointingly slow progress down the hill. Even after tarmac was reached, there were aggressively deep drainage channels every 30-40 metres, so progress was still slow there. However, there were lovely clear views of the Pennines.
Having reached Bacup, Jacob insisted that I go for a ride around the estate with him. Luckily, he relented as to the urgency of this trip and allowed me to drain my flask of tea before setting off again.
Even more luckily, Sue was there with the car, so I didn't have to cycle home!
I forgot to take any family photos, so you'll have to picture us sitting on folding chairs outside Kate's house, playing on bikes / scooters / board games / iPads, whilst chatting to neighbours and eating fish and chips out of greasy paper. Wonderful!
Here's my route - 50 km (32 miles), with about 650 metres ascent.
The details up to Slattocks are obvious, and the route over Rooley Moor is also clear, but the map below shows my very satisfactory route between the two.
3 comments:
I enjoyed that trip. I've seen that red bike so many times now it's becoming like an old friend, and I sense that's how you see it too?
I've used that bike, which is an old friend, a lot since March. As you know, 30 years old and going strong, though I'd have been a bit quicker over Rooley Moor if I'd used my other bike that has suspension!
Good to chat Martin. Nice to see you. I will let you know about a walk up here. I will see how I feel over the weekend.
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