11th May 2023
Weather forecast cloudy with possible thunderstorms but clearing later. What to do , do we risk an adventure or not obviously the answer is yes we’re extreme bikers of course.
I thought that we could head towards Drinkwater Park to have a look at the buildings that had been under construction last year. In order to facilitate this I had arranged to meet Graham at the bottom of Nob End locks and to get there I would travel along the old canal towpath through the Gravel Pits. I wrongly thought that this would be a pleasant experience through the countryside but I was very much mistaken. Due to the heavy rain we’d had recently the path was very muddy and not only that it was extremely slippery, on quite a few occasions I nearly came a cropper but the extreme biker training we do definitely paid dividends. Near the locks there’s a short cut via a pathway leading down to the basin , this though with the mud proved a unfortunate misjudgement on my behalf as I crashed into the bushes. They were wet through and the water on the leaves soaked me through.
Graham was sat on a bench patiently awaiting my arrival fully prepared for the rain in his waterproof jacket and pants, I was prepared too this week I had brought my rain jacket in my backpack just in case. On seeing my arrival he asked had I been going like the clappers mistaking the water on my forehead for sweat. After a little chat we headed off along the towpath, part of which is still cobbled and this was treacherous for Graham. We had no sooner set off when I heard “ wow blinking eck nearly ended up in canal then pal, these (cobbles) are bleeding deadly.” It was then he went on to tell me that it wouldn’t be the first time that he’d ended up in the canal as he’d fell in numerous times falling off motorcycles. We were now on our way towards Ringley where we would continue along Ted Rock Lane Here the rain started to come down so I decided to put on my waterproof jacket only for me to take it off minutes later as the sun came out. Parts of this path were extremely muddy and full of huge puddles, so guess who couldn’t resist acting like a couple of children and riding through the mud at great speed. Once across the bridge over the M60 we rode passed 13 arches and as we did Graham commented on how the weather had improved and was now a very pleasant evening with no wind . Wind had certainly been an issue the week before.
We were now heading along the myriad of paths through the park leading to the exit at the roundabout at the bottom of Rainsough Brow. As we got to one of the many junctions I spotted a man on a bike coming from our left , quickly assessing the situation I knew we could both get out in front of him without causing any problems. This we did and continued straight along the path for about 500m before slowing down at the exit. This is when the guy on the bike caught us up and we pulled over to let him passed. This was our first mistake the guy stopped saying” bloody hell lads you weren’t half going a lick there was really struggling to keep up” I didn’t have the heart to say we were only cruising along. Mistake two, Graham spoke to him. He then went on to tell us all about his numerous ailments and illness , why he was on his bike and his past problems he had overcome.After about what felt like an eternity he went on his way. I thought it was good he felt he could chat to us and honestly I wish him well.
We now looked at the new buildings across the way. Now for whatever reason, I don’t really know but Graham came out with the following statement. “ I wouldn’t want to be a parachutist coming down here pal , have you seen the points on those roof tops, could do you a serious bit of damage if you landed on them” . With that now off Grahams chest it was thankfully it was time to set off on our return journey along the opposite side of the river, as we crossed over the road bridge Graham pointed out to the bridge running adjacent to it. This was in fact the stunning Thirlmere water supply aqueduct built in 1892 that just carried some water pipes and nothing else . A plaque states it was for the Manchester Corporation Water Board, a beautiful piece of architecture to do such a mundane task. Here it started to rain again so I decided again to put my waterproof jacket on only for the sun to come out once more so I just left my jacket on now as I just couldn’t be bothered.
To access the river bank we had to descend a flight of stone steps which Graham found to be quite slippery as he nearly tumbled into me just managing to put his arm out to stop himself , unfortunately he injured himself in the process but as a top extreme biker he just carried on. It was shortly after that we came to what Graham pointed out was the most pointless barrier he’d ever seen ( see photos) , stating that you could just follow the path other people had taken to avoid it all together, I must say I agree wholeheartedly.
The path opened up into a grassy area before narrowing to a path at the side of the river Irwell. It was just here we noticed a very narrow path to our left I said to Graham “think we go up there pal” and he agreed. This proved to be an adventure on its own, we had in fact never been along the path. We passed a large industrial area which I have since found out is Lucretia MEL technologies. We followed this path which came out on to Rake Lane , when then realised where we where. Even then it didn’t take us long to make another wrong turn under the railway where Graham had yet another little accident but thankfully only his ego was affected.
As we rode back up to Clifton Marina Graham started to tell me about the places and people he visits as an AA inspector . As he did he went into character, but sadly for him all his accents were all the same they all sounded like “Scouse “ .Continuing along I noticed a man and his dog , as we passed by I heard Graham “ wow that dog nearly had me then if I hadn’t have speeded up” Not noticing the breed of dog I asked him what it was , his reply “one of them that bites ya “
We stopped off at Clifton Marina for a selfie with a friend of ours nice guy if a little wooden . It was here we came across a rather large woman jogging towards us, as we passed her Graham and myself must have had the same thought, he caught up with me and we both commented “Blumin Nora don’t know how she’s not got a couple of black eyes with them bouncing around “
Back up by the water treatment works we noticed what can only be described as a bit of a “pong “ and obviously Graham being Graham had to ask “ Is that you pal “ insinuating that I’d let one go , laughing away to himself as we rode on
We soon arrived back at Nob End where we parted company but not before Graham had one more little joke with me telling me he’d got a new job in Radcliffe, when I turned around in surprise he giggled and said he was only joking Ohh he’s a one !! As I rode off I promised I’d message him when I was home safely as we always do.
