This morning the journey did not start well as we took the wrong road, but at least we were still heading north. We decided to cut across parallel – Cox Bank, Hankelow and Nantwich on the way we passed a Pub, The Raven, sadly boarded up and totally neglected. It was clear that at some point this had been a fantastic coaching inn, it was half-timbered, boasting once proud diamond leaded windows and many period features. It sat on a large plot with a huge car park and gardens now overgrown with cow parsley and wild margueritas - it seemed such a sad reflection that this once grand and stately building should suffer such a decline.
We carried on through Nantwich at 17mph zipping through the traffic heading for Winsford. When Gary was working for the Coal Board he had visited Winsford to look at the rock salt mine there which to this day remains the largest producer in the UK.
From there it was onwards and upwards to Warrington – we refrained from visiting the Bianchi Bike shop we spotted! Warrington looked like a genteel northern throw back, a quiet pretty town with lots of bridges. We have a good friend who originates from Warrington and sings with a close harmony group “Eu41A”.
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| Arrival at our camp for the night |
Then we passed through Haydock – no sign of the racetrack, before passing though Leyland and then Preston heading for Garstang – we were further north now than Blackpool! We passed a modern style Wind Farm/Windmill at the side of the road – almost as if in someone’s garden. We stopped to look at it – silent in operation, graceful and somehow calming. Back on the road we reach our location for the evening 'Cabus' - sounds like we have hit Afghanistan.
This was our best camp site so far - with our own family of ducks (mallards – including 4 babies) - quite tame and waiting to be fed - a bit like us really!
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| Some of the ducks! |
Market Drayton to Cabus - 96.5 miles
Max Speed: 32.8 miles per hour
Time on bikes: 7hrs 32minutes
Total ascent: 4,000 feet
Calories used: 4970
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