6th September 2018
Journey Length 17.0ml
Click Here For Route Via Ride with GPS
Last weeks adventure to Hulton Estate had to be cancelled due to the blow out of my tyre and the delay in fixing it because I was unable to find my puncture repair kit ( not good practice for an extreme biker), a day or so later it turned up like things do, so frustrating . So this week I was adamant we would get to Hulton Park, this would be our third attempt.
We arranged to meet at the Jaguar garage in Farnworth, but when I arrived the place was deserted no cars nothing, apparently they have relocated to Bolton, but I think we will always call it the Jag garage for posterity.
The nights were now drawing in and there was a bit of a chill in the air. I was still in shorts but Graham had opted for long trousers which he said were causing him a few problems in his nether regions. I explained what I had in mind and even with his discomfort he was up for it.
We set off down Manchester Rd , as we did I noticed a lot of the cars were giving us a wide berth, shouting back to Graham “ by eck mate you must have a big arse those cars are giving us loads of room “ , “ No pal its because they can see you are old” touché I thought.
On towards Bolton we turned up Green Ln to locate path that ran up the side of the Royal Bolton Hospital which went passed my Grandmas old house on Freshfield Ave. Not unlike adventures before we missed our turning, I was looking for a small ginel I remembered from my childhood, but it had long gone. We backtracked and soon found a path that was actually the Route 55 cycle path. This did indeed lead us to my Grandmas old house, unfortunately it had changed considerably over the nearly 50 years since I had last seen it, everything seemed smaller but the happy memories thankfully remain large.
Along the path we continued until we came to a grass hill with what looked like a dirt track going up it, asking Graham “shall we go up pal”, we rode up and along until we eventually came to a dead-end , so back down we went picking up the original path.
This ran through the hospital grounds and then between two high brick walls for quite a distance before opening out near Colchester Dr where Graham commented “ wouldn’t like to go down there in the dark mate” I must admit I was in agreement. Now from here all we had to do, was ride up Plodder Ln, easier said than done, once again up this road we were met by a strong head wind, I’m sure it only blows that way when we are riding up. At the top we turned left before turning right along the A6 towards Westhoughton. We were looking for a very small opening that would hopefully lead us to our holy grail “ Hulton Park”.
I spotted it between a wall and fence, so off up it we rode. It soon became obvious that it is very rarely used, there were low branches fallen trees, loads of thick undergrowth which made it a very tricky ride. Soon the path disappeared, so we headed what we thought was the right direction along the edge of a field. It was here where the going became really difficult and we had to push the bikes. This must have been of interest to the cows in the field, they came right up to us very friendly sniffing away at us, so we stopped and had a little chat with them before moving on and finding the continuation of the path.
Shortly the path opened out into a dirt track and we were moving ahead at pace, that was until Graham came across a muddy puddle which stopped him dead in his tracks literally. “ Shit“ he bellowed as the bike stopped dead right in the middle of the mud, has he put his foot down it was quickly swallowed by the thick mud up to his ankle, to say I didn’t laugh would be a lie. After I cautiously navigated the mud we found ourselves in the middle of the park at last.
Left or right was our predicament now. Left we went for about ½ mile before being forced to turn back by numerous No Trespassing, Private Property, No Access signs. We emerged onto Platt Ln where Graham noticed the speed sign “ we’re alright pal its 40 along here” . We turned right heading up towards Park Rd but not before switching our lights on for obvious safety reasons. About ¾ mile farther on there was another sign 30mph , Graham spotting the sign shouted “ EBay it’s only 30mph here, we better slow down “.
At this point we were lucky if we’re doing 10mph haha .We got to the junction at Park Rd which is notoriously busy but thankfully for us a young lady stopped letting us out, a very nice lady. Unlike the person who parked their BMW right across the cycle path, knob head!!.
We were now well on our way home and swiftly rode down Plodder Ln until we parted company at Bradford Rd,” text me when you’re home pal” we both said. Just then it started to rain but luckily it’s only a short distance home where I was looking forward to my tea and some freshly baked scones that Peggy Lou had made earlier in the day.
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