4th July 2024
Summer had yet to arrive in the UK but Graham and myself were thoroughly refreshed after our respective holidays to Corfu, where I had met an interesting man, Racing Pete and his wife, who had introduced me to some very entertaining books. The weather here was hit and miss not the weather you would expect for this time of year. Nevertheless I had messaged Graham to see if he felt like going out on one of our adventures, he replied ” Yes but only a little one “
Graham was waiting in excited anticipation of my arrival at our scheduled meeting point, the Meccano Bridge at Nob End. Graham enquired how mine and Peggy Lou’s holiday had gone I about his and Val’s, both said we had a fantastic time even though one of our good friends Big Baz had a bit of an incident with a speed boat he hired, enough said on that matter though. Graham went on to tell me that he’d had an issue with a puncture on his front tyre and that he’d repaired it twice but it now seemed to be holding air okay , fingers crossed.
It was time to begin our adventure and both of us were equipped with jumpers this evening. As I had mentioned the weather was more suited to October than July and it was blowing a gale, which duly meant that we would most likely be heading into the wind on our return journey, but this was not going to stop us we’re Extreme Bikers. We sent off along the towpath towards Bury to inspect the progress of a housing development on the site of the old Creams paper mill in Little Lever .The first signs looked promising we came across a substantial amount of new fencing along both sides of the canal that went on for some considerable distance, with warning signs dotted along its length. One warned of slippery rocks and steep drops, we had obviously risked our lives previously before the fences were erected. At one point I stopped to take a photo of the valley below through the fence but Graham thought it would be amusing for him to photo-bomb my picture, silly sausage. Sadly as we approached the site we could see there had been little or no work done. We both felt a little deflated ( this wouldn’t be the last time this would happen ). We did notice some workings a little further down the canal on the opposite bank but we were unsure whether they were related.
I asked Graham if we should venture down to Ladyshore to have a look at the weir that collapsed in 2012 after heavy rain that previously fed the old bleach works which was itself demolished around 1971 . We left the towpath and headed down the old cobblestone road, as we did so Graham spotted a electricity pylon and immediately shouted out “ come on pal we’re piling it on down this hill now ” chuckling away to himself as he did. Part way down we spotted a lot of vegetation scattered across the path, we weren’t sure as to what or who had done this , we presumed some kind of animal, but if anyone knows please leave your answer in the comments at the end of the blog. We made our way around to the weir, through heavy jungle like undergrowth. Once at the weir Graham proceeded to skim pebbles across the river with little success , even explaining to a woman walking past with her dogs that when he was 13 he could do good skimmers but was struggling now ( maybe it’s because you’re nearly 60 pal) .
After he successfully got a good skimmer we set off in the direction the woman had approached from , but after a few 100m it became obvious that it was a dead end, so about turn and back up the steep hill to the towpath.
Click Here To See Grahams Skimmer Video
Once there Graham noticed the 2 large stone pillars that must have been the entrance to the old bleach works back in the day. We continued along the path towards Radcliffe stopping off at the site of the old derelict and now rusting remains of a steam crane that used to lift goods from the works below up for transportation along the canal . It is in such a sorry state now that I think Fred Dibnah, god rest his sole would have had trouble restoring it.
Towards where the canal ends at Radcliffe there is a large mural adorning a wall which Graham said he’d noticed numerous people doing it whilst he was driving past the other day. On arrival we were astounded by the work that had gone into it , it represented Manchester and the area through time, but Graham hadn’t finished with his childish humour yet ” Wow that’s a big Muriel in it pal ” . Now with that it was time to continue our adventure along the canal towards Bury. We agreed to go as far as Elton reservoir as we were both not fully adventure ready after our holiday break. We rode across the bridge over the canal where I noticed a rather large gap in between the boards showing daylight down to the canal , ” That’s a bit treacherous !! ” I exclaimed to Graham as I made a mental note of it for our return journey. Once up on the reservoir we took a well earned break watching the boats sailing on the water. We sheltered from the strong wind behind a small building and we chatted about our adventures we had on our holidays in Corfu.
Soon it was time to head home, that was easier than it sounds. We had been sat on the wall for a good 20 mins or so and now we struggled to get up , there was certainly a fair bit of huffing and puffing and a lot of groaning as remounted our faithful steeds. Once back in the saddle it was now a simple ride back down to the canal. Whilst we had chatted away the temperature had dropped and in the strong wind we were now beginning to feel quite chilly, Graham decided to fasten his fleece as he rode along, this was a mistake that could have been costly. Unfortunately for Graham he hadn’t taken note of the gap in the boards on the bridge and his front wheel had dropped into it, causing him to nearly go head first into the canal below, but luckily his Extreme Biker skills prevented a disaster unfolding and he suffered only minor injuries.
It was now the hard slog home into a strong headwind and we had travelled further than we had anticipated for tonight’s adventure, this combined with our lack of riding over the last month or so took its toll on us and we were now feeling the chill of the evening as well as being saddle sore but we knew we had to get home to our beautiful wives, so there was nothing else for it but ride through the pain barrier and ride we did.
That was up until we were a matter of a couple of hundred meters from Graham’s home when his puncture repair gave up. I heard a bit of commotion behind me and stopped to see Graham looking forlorn at the side of his broken steed, as he commented ,“ Well at least we’re not far from home , would hate it to have gone way back there, we were lucky there pal “ , we were indeed very lucky. So with a sad expression he pushed his broken bike along the towpath up the hill towards home .
As we did we discussed the type of tyre he should replace it with, ” I prefer a harder one pal how about you “ Graham asked ,” softer one these days at my age” I answered . ” yeah and you’ve got a couple of extra inches on me pal “ he retorted ” Yep mines always been bigger since I got my new one ! “ I replied .
We ended the conversation and I left graham at the top of the hill which left me to cycle the rest of the way down the canal solo .
Thankfully it was a little less windy here and enjoyed the peaceful ride taking in the lovely evening sun as it set over the canal. The last leg of my journey took me along a section of canal that has been taken back by nature and it reminded me of the fence on Gorses Rd we saw back in May (Bolton 12 Month On) which has itself been reposed by nature in a matter of a few months . I duly messaged Graham when I arrived home safely, hopefully Graham will have his bike up and running for next week’s adventure, weather permitting of course.
