The Bridge
2nd August 2012
Journey Length 8.1ml
We began this evening’s adventure to begin with, to take a look at the recently refurbished Mount Sion Footbridge in Radcliffe over the river Irwell, but before this we took a small detour down to Ladyshore to see what developments had occurred regarding the weir since our last visit a couple of weeks earlier. The site had been cleared of all the old timbers which had been removed from the damaged weir and also all the construction equipment had also gone. The weir itself was a shadow of its former glory and will possibly remain that way due to the fact there is no real need for it since the paper mill has long since gone that it served and the vast cost involved.
Returning back up to the canal we continued along until we came across the opening on the right that led us down to Mount Sion Road and along until we came to the bridge on the right. The bridge had been closed for nearly 6 months while the work took place. Crossing the bridge it became apparent that all we could see of the refurbishment that had cost in excess of £130,000 was a coat of green paint, some new railings and new floor panels, Graham noticed that the pipes that ran across the bridge were red plastic and stood out like sore thumbs against the racing green paintwork, surely a lick of paint on the pipes wouldn’t have taken them over budget.
The path on the opposite side led us along passed the large weir we viewed from the opposite bank a few weeks earlier and down to the No6 cycle route along the old railway line, along here we came across quite a number of cyclist, this must have been due to the high profile of cycling due to the Olympic games, because normally we do not often see more than a handful of riders but this evening we were already into double figures . Following this route until we came across the old Ringley Road railway station, it was at this point we climbed the hill up to Ringley Road and there turned right until we came across the turning which took us down to Giants Seats Woods and camp site. We went along the road and eventually we saw a new building on our right which looked like apartments, but on closer inspection it became apparent it was empty and unfinished and looked like it had been left that way for some time. It turned out it was a 6 bedroom detached house on the market for over £1m. Further down the lane we came to the camp site area, here we decided to explore the woods, and descended into the wood down to a small creek. It was obvious no one had been down here for quite a while; here we came across what was left of a small wooden bridge. Graham crossed over first almost slipping off on the rotten treacherous moss covered wood into the water and mud below. Once safely across the “Bridge of Doom” I followed cautiously but confidently. Rising out the bank on the opposite side of the creek it became clear there was no way through so we had no choice but to make a U turn and back over the “Bridge of Doom” again.
We retraced our route back up to Ringley Road and down to the junction with Prestolee Road where we turned right heading back towards the canal, but just as we got part way along the road the heavens opened, so we took shelter for a short while beneath some trees, but seeing the rain was now becoming heavier and being extreme bikers we set off and joined the canal just before the basin at Nob End, here the rain started to ease but by this time we were like a couple of drowned rats and covered in mud and dirt. Upon our return we were greeted by Grahams better half , and seeing the state of us informed a friend Julie B whos respobse was “Yeh really hard core!!”, to a couple of extreme bikes a great compliment indeed!
