8th May 2025
I had recently come across a video about Benchmarks and was intrigued what they were. Basically they are markers engraved into stone, buildings walls and other objects to mark the distance above sea level. These have been around since the late 19th century but now are no longer used. I was intrigued if there were any near us and was amazed that there were 500,000 of them , so I had an idea our adventure tonight will be to find some of them. I did some research and found 4 possible locations.
More information on Benchmarks can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmark_(surveying)
I was almost ready to go when my Ring doorbell rang. I answered the door but there was nobody there, but, Grahams bike was at the bottom of the path, he was obviously hiding . Just then Louby Lou’s voice came over the speaker “I’ve seen your hands” which made Graham jump, he then appeared from around the side of the porch giggling away to himself. This meanwhile had been observed by Louby Lou over the Ring doorbell with her laughter emerging from it.
Once the hilarities were over we were ready to set off on our adventure but just before we did Graham checked that I’d got my jumper as it was probably going to get chilly later. I reassured him I had taken the necessary precautions.
I didn’t inform Graham of our mission until we were well on our way and in Bolton town centre. I told him that we were going on a mission to try and locate some “Ordnance Survey Benchmarks “. I explained briefly what they were . He had never heard of these and was very excited for us to go and find them.
Our first one was apparently located on the wall of a path at the bottom of Walker Street near a tree. As we rode towards its location we noticed a couple sat on the grass obviously enjoying one another’s company. We searched along the wall and guess where the mark was , yes that’s correct , right at the side of them . Slightly embarrassed and confused why 2 grown men were standing looking at a wall they moved to the end of the wall. Graham said “ Think we might have disturbed them there pal “ , an understatement if you ask me 😂 .
I took a couple of photos and explained to the best of my knowledge what the marks were used for as we set off to find our next one. As we passed the young couple still in a fond embrace Graham whispered to me “ Think he’s trying to get his widgi pulled there pal “ , well that brought roars of laughter from us both, like a couple of naughty little boys.
Heaton Cemetery was to be our next stop to find our second mark. After a short search Graham found it . We were now getting excited, 2 out of 2. Photos taken we headed towards the Middlebrook path to a railway bridge where hopefully we would find our third mark.
We rode up through the cemetery when we came upon a gate blocking our path, Graham tried it not once, not twice but three times before deciding “ Its definitely locked that pal “ he said . I just sighed . Undeterred we found a way to circumnavigate the gate and soon found ourselves on a bridge over the railway but this wasn’t the right place so we descended down towards the path just as we noticed 4 scallies on those pesky electric motorbikes on the path so we paused concerned that they may have caused us some trouble. After a couple of minutes they shot off down the path , no doubt to go and annoy some other people .
We arrived at the bridge in question and proceeded to search for the Benchmark. This process proved much more difficult than expected. We’d no idea where it might be ( they can be almost anywhere). Extreme Bikers don’t give up easily and with grit and determination I eventually found it on a large stone on the top of the bridge. Graham was now intrigued “ how come that one’s a lot higher, it doesn’t make sense “ he uttered. I showed him some details on my phone regarding these marks so he could understand better what they were. After a quick lesson and a happier Graham, we were back on our way.
We rode up through Regent Golf club along the pathway. As we approached the end towards Ox Hey Lane we spotted a man emerge rather sheepishly from the bushes on our right . “ Ermmm , wonder what he’s been up to pal ? “ Graham inquired, unfortunately I didn’t have an answer for him. It was definitely odd though.
On Ox Hey lane we paused to look around the new housing estate being built. Noting that all the houses had electric charging points for cars but no garage and only space for one car.
It was now up the hill towards Chorley New Rd and to the bottom of Fall Birch Rd . We paused here for our usual catch up and to have a brief rest. I enquired when Val and himself were going on holiday as Louby Lou had mentioned that it was this coming Friday. Graham told me “No pal it’s in 3 weeks time , so we can still get a few adventures in “.
I then let Graham know that we needed to go up the hill before it hopefully levelled out , he wasn’t keen but nevertheless as an Extreme Biker he headed on up. I followed him up , often checking that he was okay, remembering what Val had mentioned the previous week about his heart condition . He easily managed it to the top where we turned left at the side of High Rid reservoir and headed towards Chorley Old Road. For a short stretch the road was smooth with a slight incline, this was until we got to an old dilapidated gate. I managed to hold it open whilst Graham pushed the bikes through. From here though the road turned into a very bumpy deep rutted track which soon deteriorated into a very narrow rocky uneven path .
We took the decision to push our bikes up this to avoid any danger of accidents . As we chatted on our way struggling with our steeds, the silence was interrupted by a couple of goats in a pen bleating away, probably in amazement of 2 idiots pushing their bikes up the steep path. Shortly we came to a stunning pond situated on our right. adorned with a fake heron and some real ducks. A little further we stopped off to take in the amazing view down over High Rid reservoir. Graham suggested we took our obligatory selfie with it in the background. ” That’s a good un “ Graham remarked as I showed him the photo. Towards the top of the hill we came to another gate but this one was locked but with a little effort we managed to lift our bikes over , Graham pointed out it was a good job I wasn’t on my E-bike this week as it is considerably heavier and it would have been a lot harder lifting that over. No sooner had we got through that gate we were confronted by another. This was also locked but there was just enough room at the side between the post and the stinging nettles to push our bikes through although it did result in getting stung by the nettles. Less than 20 feet further there was yet another gate . “ What is it with these people up here , they must have a gate fetish” Graham remarked
Once we emerged onto Chorley Old Road we spotted the Blundell Arms pub across the road, we now knew where we were. Graham pointed out that we needed to take extra care. the sun was very low in the sky and would be blinding the drivers who might not spot us as we crossed the road . Grahams Extreme Biker skills are finely honed.
It was at this point we were glad that we had our jumpers on, out of the sunlight it was quite chilly. We decided that we would head straight home down to town discarding our route via Doffcocker Lodge. We did though turn off down Captains Clough Rd and found a small wooded area at the back of Chorley Old Rd which warranted an exploration. It turns out its actually Captains Clough. It was surreal that we were so close to a busy main road and in the middle of the countryside at the same time. Graham led the way and has I followed behind I glanced down at my phone to see roughly where we were, that was a mistake. The path had a steep camber on one side, leading down a hill and I’d misjudged it. A sharp pull on the brakes didn’t help as the dirt track just disappeared beneath me. I hit the ground and slid down around 10 feet or so narrowly avoiding ending up at the bottom, some 30 feet below . I told Graham I’d crashed , he replied “Yeah mate I thought so I heard the skid pal ”. No damage done we continued on.
This path was going to take us right down t the steep hill below. We took the decision to take a smaller path to our right to avoid having to climb back up the hill. The path was treacherous with Graham nearly tumbling down the hill but his Extreme Biker skills saved him. We eventually found our way back onto Chorley Old Road passing a house all decorated celebrating the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Our last Benchmark was located near the iron bridge in Queens Park. So that’s where we headed now. On arrival we couldn’t find it. We ignored what we mistook for concrete and concentrated on other areas of the bridge. After some searching we couldn’t find it . So we retraced our steps and lo and behold it was on the floor in the stone that we had mistaken for concrete. As I photographed it, a bit of a not right walked by “ On a bike ride lads, can’t beat it unless your like me and haven’t got a bike “ he slurred
Soon we were back on our way home, mission accomplished. Graham said that he was beginning to feel it now so we took the easiest route back home down Trinity St as we did a 1942 Austin Fire Truck past us, an added bonus to our adventure.
As we rode up Gorses Rd he exclaimed “ Mi legs have gone pal “ I inquired whether he’d like to leave his bike at mine and I’d drive him home. I already knew the response before I asked the question, “ No way pal we’re extreme bikers, I’ll just carry on when we part company, message me when you’re home “ he stated ,I replied with the same. A great adventure had come to an end with us completing our mission. But this had come at a cost it was now nearly 9.00pm and we hadn’t had our teas yet. The things we do for these adventures.
