I stayed with my brother in Warrington, and what a glorious weekend it was.
Great to catch up with him and Fraya, his daughter. The weather was brillaint and we got out on the bikes.
I borrowed his mountain bike, and he rode a brompton. This did slow us down and cause him some breathlessness but he still enjoyed the ride. The Transpennine Trail is a disused railway line so it was fairly flat, but the surface was very changable. It goes coast-to-coast between Southport and Hornsea and is 215 miles (346km) long.
A north-south route connecting Leeds and Chesterfield, a spur to York and a spur to Kirkburton means there are approximately 370 miles (595km) of Trans Pennine Trail available. We have plans to make a multi-day trip of it to explore more than we did this time.
We completed a meandering path covering nearly 30 miles. Steve did well on a bike not built for this terrain. Why didn't I take my bike? I still don't trust the rail companies; I will have to at some point.
It took a short time from his house to join the trail. And then it was largely car free for the rest of the day.
The views were inpressive and I can image they improve as you get further into the Pennines.
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| Manchester Ship canal |
We were headed to Lymm for lunch, stopping at the Golden Fleece.
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| my steed for the day |
The rocks were soft sand stone I think. It seemed someone had started a tradition of scratching your name onto them. We didn't partake in this vanalism.
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| Lymm dam |
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| Canal view; Golden Fleece to the right, the other side of the wall. |
The return journey extened past where we had joined in the morning and took us over a bridge across the Mersey.
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| bridge across the Mersey |
An overview of the route.
It's well worth exploring this area, and next year we'll hopefully be able to do just that.
