7th May 2026
The weather had certainly changed from the previous week, the temperature had dropped over 8 degrees and the sun had disappeared behind the fluffy grey clouds. Don’t think it’s short weather this week I thought to myself.
I had successfully managed to change the brake pads on the front of my bike but I was unable to replace the rear ones but hopefully that would suffice for tonight’s adventure. We certainly go through some brakes , Graham had just replaced his all round before last week’s adventure.
Peggy Lou was still away on her Fjords cruise with her mother so it was up to me to sort the menagerie of animals out, the 2 cats Eddie and Marley and Lucie our Parsons Jack Russell. Once these were all taken care of it was time to message Graham to let him know that I was setting off. I’d previously arranged our rendezvous as the Meccano Bridge at Nob End, which would enable us to explore this area which is currently going through a huge redevelopment.
I took the route along the canal path towards Little Lever as it is a more scenic as well as being a safer route avoiding riding on the roads. The path was blocked by a fallen tree but this was not a problem for an Extreme Biker , as we train for just such situations.
Up onto the top canal it was a very pleasant ride to the Meccano bridge where I met Graham who was already there waiting for me. Unfortunately the towpath towards Bury is still closed due to the instability of the land near the breach, so we had to divert to join the canal near Burscow Rd which meant that we could take the opportunity to go and explore the site where the new housing development is being constructed.
We could only explore the area around where the houses were completed, the rest of the site is securely fenced off. We perused a couple of the houses and saw that as in a lot of new builds the rooms are rather small. Graham informed me they had no to be fitted with EV charging points ,and they also had solar panels on the roofs. As I looked around the property Graham was taking a keen interest in the finish quality of them and was very disappointed, “ look at this EBay “he said pointing to some of the mortar work “ it’s shoddy to say the least, I’d be ashamed if that was my work “ . I did agree it wasn’t the best workmanship I’d ever seen.
From here we followed the diversion route down to join the canal from Ladyshore Rd. We turned right onto the Canal path and headed back towards where the houses were being built. It wasn’t long before we came to the fencing that stops you going any further towards the breach but we could see the houses above us through the trees. It was at this point I said to Graham ” think I’ve got a wobbly wheel here Pal.” Graham immediately replied ” better check it out ” .Indeed, I did have a wobbly wheel I hadn’t tightened the fixing on my front wheel and this wasn’t the first time I’d slipped up. I’d done the same on my other bike. Once I had secured the wheel properly we headed off in the direction that we had just come. As we did we were met with a large group of lads on mountain bikes coming in the opposite direction acting like tough guys , we were outnumbered, but we weren’t outgunned.
As we continued on our way to Radcliffe, we passed the old steam crane which has now got a brand-new wooden fence surrounding it which does improve its looks. We dropped off the canal path at Nickerhole Bridge and down on mount Sion Road it was here I realised that my brake replacement hadn’t gone as well as I thought, the front brakes alone couldn’t slow me down, ooops . Safely at the bottom of the hill we rode to the end of the road and turned left up the hill along the cycle path , as we got to the summit we stopped and noticed a number painted on the floor designating the number of the cycle route but was it number 6 or was it indeed a sneaky number 9 ?
We followed the cycle route along School Street until we came to the cycle crossing on Blackburn Street at the traffic lights just opposite the church of Saint Thomas and St John in Radcliffe.
I suggested to Graham we take a breather here and have a catch up on one of the benches he said yes that’s fine as long as there is no bird muck on them and so went over to check the benches for bird poo. Once Graham was happy he had found a suitable bench, we sat and chatted about the past week and about the weekend were Graham had been away with Val and about my visit up to York.
I mentioned to Graham that I had recently learned a mathematical trick that would enable me to tell him for any given date he could think of , past present or future what day of the week that date was. Immediately he rhymed off a date in November but then went on to say he didn’t know what day that was though. I did work a date out for him but I dont think he was overly impressed. I explained simply how it worked, but he said it would be easy just to look it up on the calendar or just ask Val, she could even tell him what he was wearing on that day . I think that’s a woman thing because Peggy Lou can do the same .
After our chat and as we were setting off, Graham spotted a woman in the grounds of the church walking a little dog he said” look at that she’s not picked her dog poo up “ he was quite annoyed at this but then he said “well I suppose it could’ve just done a wee“ but he was still not happy about it.
We left this predicament behind us as we crossed Spring Lane and up Whitaker Street on our route back up to the canal. We crossed over the canal across the.” WATER MAKES IT WET “ bridge . We paused on the bridge while I took a couple of photos. I noticed that even though it was only 7 pm the light was starting to fade and one of the street lights had already started to come on. As Graham sat there patiently waiting for me to frame my photo, he exclaimed “by eck mate I’m blinking freezing”I turned around to see Graham sat on his bike with his fleece and shorts on. I did in fact feel a little sorry for him but that soon passed as I thought he should have known better and worn long trousers
I said to Graham without facing him “ we’ve not done bad my best Pal but we’re not in full flow yet “ , “ what’s flowing Pal? “ Graham asked “ we are not in full flow yet “ I repeated myself . “ Oh” he replied “sorry not got my hearing aids in this week but I’ll be a good boy and have them in next week I promise “ he said like a school boy apologising to a teacher.
When I thought back to some of the replies Graham had made to me earlier on that hadn’t made sense I realised he had obviously not heard me , silly sausage. I myself was now beginning to feel the cold so we immediately set off up the banana path. Part way along the path there are some bridal gates that are suitable for bikes and horses. Graham called out go on Pal bunny hop it referring to flipping our front then back wheel over the small bars on the ground, the part of the gate suitable for horses to walk over. Neither of us did a really good bunny hop and made quite a noise as we clattered into the gates.
I suggested to Graham, we take a little diversion to ride through Ratcliffe Cemetery as we passing it on our way . We rode down passed the posh houses leading to the cemetery Graham said” I wouldn’t like to live there and be having a nice garden party. It’s a bit disrespectful when a Funeral cortage would be passing by.” I said I didn’t think the people at the Funeral wouldn’t be offended they would probably not even notice but he didn’t quite agree. He went on to say when he’s driving at work he always slows down if he sees a Funeral and doffs his cap. I could only envisage Graham with an old man’s flat cap on. In actual fact it is a baseball cap wears for work?
In the cemetery, Graham spotted a headstone and said “wow that one looks like a giant chess piece“ it did have a resemblance, I suppose
On our route back up the banana Path we had our usual quiz of what we were having for our teas , Graham was having chicken and I was having beef stroganoffj. A simple ping ping meal due to Peggy Lou still being away on a cruise ship in the Fjords . He asked me was I having any bread with it I replied I had a muffin in and I may have that . We then went onto debate what is the difference between a muffin and a barm cake. This conversation did not have a positive result.
We now headed back along the old railway line to Bradley Fold as we cycled along Graham inquired what age do you have to reapply for your driving license, “I think it’s quite old it’s about 80 I think. “ was my reply to which he said “oh you’ll be doing it soon then ha ha ha.”
We parted company at the end of the path at the Queen’s pub where we said the next time we’re there and the weather is a lot warmer. We could enjoy a nice refreshing beverage in the beer garden. That’ll be something to look forward to we both said in unison.
We went on to say our usual goodbyes with the promise of a text when each other arrived home. I rode off along the path around New House farm playing fields which passed the old Caravan storage site, which is now yet another housing development, I think there’ll be no land left soon.
