Ebay Wears A Jumper

24th Aug 2023

Click Here To See Our Route

Yet another fine evening had arrived after a rather rainy morning ,so it was on with our adventure . We both arrived at the old Jag garage within a matter of seconds of each other. A quick confirmation of which way we were heading and we were on our way not though before Graham had commented on the fact that I’d got my jumper on (sweatshirt) he was only attired with a polo shirt, I explained that I thought the temperature would drop later so hence the jumper. His thought now was that he should have worn his but it was too late for that we were off

We headed up towards Little Hulton along Albert Road, as we passed the KFC restaurant a car overtook us and immediately turned into the car park right in front of us which caused us to swerve and brake hard , a few expletives were said in his direction but obviously with his initial attitude he showed little response. As we continued on our way passed what was the Stumble Inn pub on Cleggs lane which is now sadly a convenience store, we thought of how many pubs had closed over the years we have been out on our adventures.

We left Cleggs Lane an rode up Conniston Ave to locate our access onto the Roe Green Loop-line which took us on down about a mile or so to our first destination of the evening Parr Fold Park. We entered the park and stopped to read the information sign , then we took a wrong turn before we were on the right path . A woman in a red top had seen us and called out “ Excuse me are you trying to get to Monton ?” We explained that we weren’t and were just out on an adventure. She said she’d seen us looking at the information board and thought we might be lost, we thanked her for her concern and her help then Graham pointed out to her that I’d got my jumper on, she said that I would probably need it later.

We set off to explore the park . It was was a rather nice place to be, there were a few different areas where kids could play, adults could sit and relax as well as a , now this was a contentious point, a Bandstand or a Pavilion , we couldn’t agree , if you can tell from the photo please vote below:-

A collision between the two of us was only just averted as we both went to view a large rock with a sign posted next to it . The sign informed us that the rock was a Glacial Erratic, which in layman’s terms it is a rock that differs from the rocks that are natural to the area and was left behind by a glacier over 25,000 years ago .

Out of the park we headed along Broadway as we did I spotted a beautiful cottage with some stunning chimneys, we commented on how much work had gone into building them and how one of our heroes Fred Dibnah would have loved them. Broadway led us over the Tyldesley loop line where we spotted a sign from the not too distant past a warning of Covid. Just after that was another sign warning of chicanes ahead, this we thought to ourselves might be a little fun to ride through but sadly it was a disappointment for us both. We now came to the East Lancs road , a very busy road indeed , luckily for us there were a set of pedestrian/ cycle crossings which we utilised to safely negotiate the crossing of this busy road.

The path from the road was a new gravel trail which was a pleasant experience to ride along and brought us up through Worsley Marriott Park Golf Club. Here we noticed a little hut style shop in the middle it the course that actually sold Carrs pasties, this triggered a debate about which pastie was the best, Plain, Steak Cheese & Onion ,we decided that they all were so that ended that.

We exited the golf club onto Leigh Road the site of millionaires row, there were some really stunning properties along this road. We turned off down Occupation Rd as we did , we stopped to admire the view. In the distance Graham spotted a lady in red walking her dog , “ Do you think that’s the same woman? “ which related to the woman in the park , before I could think he’d answered his own question “ probably not unless she got a taxi I suppose“. We continued down to the RHS Garden Bridgewater but it was all locked and shut up so we followed a path that ran at the side. It was along here I spotted a large orange pillar, on closer inspection it turned out to be some kind of bike stand/ pump that people could use, unfortunately though the air pump was inoperative.

The path led us up to the Bridgewater canal which then took us back towards Worsley. We enjoyed the smooth path and rode along quite merrily until we spotted what appeared to be some lock gates, so we decided to take a look, unfortunately Graham had gathered too much momentum and ended up crashing into the lock gate and over the handlebars luckily he just managed to avoid splashing into the canal. We paused a while Graham composed himself . We,chatted about our Blog and how I was a little disappointed that Louby Lou hadn’t read our Blog from the previous week, which included a little about our wedding. It was then Graham said ” I’ve a question about last weeks Blog mate, you put Louby Lou but before you called her Peggy Lou ?” I explained that it was my mistake as I couldn’t remember which one it was. Graham went on to inform me that we have a great many readers, of whom we do and obviously Graham reads our Blog thoroughly.

We left the canal at Worsley Court House and crossed over the road which enabled us to go over the canal and up to The Green via a lovely bridge , an area which we had not long since visited in “A Bit Of Hanky Panky” . As we approached the bridge Graham notice a very large canal barge and decided we needed to take a closer look. It was indeed a very large boat for the canal and he wondered how it had even got there, I said I presumed it would have sailed here but I didn’t know how. Once we’d crossed the bridge we turned up Worsley Rd until we came to a path on our left. As we stopped to let a man through the barrier I noticed a large stone with a coat of arms engraved into it at the side of the barrier, I presumed it may have been from a large house that could have been demolished long ago. As we entered the path we were amazed to see , hidden from view a huge electricity pylon. The path led us back along through stinging nettles to a large set of steps down to the Roe Green loop-line . Now Graham is a bit of a daredevil so he turned to me and said ” I bet I can make that jump down there pal with a good run up “ I presumed he was joking but just in case I suggested we would take the path I’d seen a little further back.

The path meandered through the bottom end of Worsley Woods and was quite dark. My front light was light sensitive so had automatically come on , but graham switched on his 2 small blue lights which I had bought for him a good number of years ago which were still going strong, “Best 99p anyone’s spent on me “ he stated. As we rode along I heard a sound behind me NEE NAW NEE NAW NEE NAW, Graham was pretending to be a Police bike….. We rejoined the loop-line and began the long steady climb back home. We took our time and went at a leisurely pace with Graham commenting as he always did ” Its not a race is it pal”, though at one point we were passed by a man on a 10 speed racer who we did began to catch at one point , Graham exclaimed ” Come on pal we’re catching him” but it didn’t last long and he soon disappeared into the distance. We took a breather at the site of the now demolished St Georges High School where we’d stopped numerous times before.

It had now gotten considerably cooler and I told Graham ” Im just gonna pull my sleeves down on my jumper pal , Oh that’s better , toastie warm now” he just gave me one of his looks, I think he was thinking wish I’d brought my jumper, then we continued on our way. Up the incline we were passed by a lad on an E-Bike and I mentioned to Graham that we might benefit from one of those shortly, he didn’t hesitate to point out that I would be 60 in a matter of weeks , as he liked to do as I am a couple of years his senior.

Then as we rode along out of the blue he started singing ” You’re gonna be 60 soon, Ebays gonna be 60, you’re gonna be 60 nah nah, nah nah, nah you’re gonna be 60 la la, la la, la.” much to his own amusement. Our journey continued and we soon arrived at the end of the line, so to speak at Anchor Ln where a large residential development is underway. We parted company at the junction of Plodder Lane and Marsh lane , both emitting our now infamous catch phrase after a very enjoyable adventure ” Text Me When You’re Home Pal”