24th July 2025
Hopefully a pleasant evening lay ahead for us both as Graham waited for me to arrive home from work. I had text him the day before about our adventure, he’d replied with a simple Thumbs Up.
Graham pointed out that he’d remembered his water bottle this week and added that he’d been stung by a wasp a couple of days ago, then surprisingly he took my hand a motioned me to touch his belly. “ it’s nothing sexual pal , honest “ he said kind of nervously , I gently stroked his stomach and felt a large lump where he’d been stung. He said it still felt quite hot , but reassured me that he was okay to go adventuring.
Soon we were all set for our Thursday Evening Adventure. I’d planned at a route similar to one we’d taken several years ago with a few twists which hopefully would make for an entertaining adventure. The temperature was still in the low to mid 20°C ( 75°F) when we set off so no need for jumpers.
We headed off down Gorses Road towards Bolton but already we had issues the map App I use hadn’t loaded properly. That meant we had no route to follow, a great start ,but after a couple of restarts it loaded correctly and we were back on our way.
We soon arrived at Manchester Road via the Railway viaducts . On the cycle lane on Manchester Road they have erected bollards, similar to the ones that were on Chorley New road a couple of years ago but were then removed not long after, so we’ll see how long these last. We meandered through Bolton Town Centre until we paused at what was the Albion pub a local pick up point for coach trips back in the day but now sadly it has been demolished and being replaced by God knows what. We then crossed over the road and down Deansgate until we came to the site of the old Marks & Spencer‘s building which was the last of the major retailers left in the town centre before itself closed down , with the site of the old Woolworths building on the opposite corner. ( We may do a adventure around Bolton highlighting all the pubs, clubs and shops that have sadly all now disappeared )
We rode down Bridge Street until we turned off up along Bark St East which is a lovely old cobblestone Street. It was here where we passed a young girl walking by , she shouted across to us both “keep going lads you’re doing well “ which quite surprised us. We then proceeded through the subway, and underneath Saint Peter’s Way it was at this point I checked with Graham that he was okay with it being a warm evening , he replied “ yeah pal all good, got lots of water ,let’s crack on “ .
From here we crossed over Waterloo Street and followed Slater Street until we came to the set of steep steps leading down to the river Tonge, which we then followed until we came to what is known locally as simply The Valley, an area consisting of a cinema complex , pub, restaurants and a gym. We instantly noticed that the Cotton Kier pub was all boarded up and obviously closed down as well as what was the Frankie & Benny’s restaurant building across the way also boarded up , a sad signof the times we live in today. Graham then asked “is the cinema still open pal ? “ I replied “there’s only one way to find out pal let’s have a ride round“ , which is exactly what we did. The cinema was indeed open but the car park was quite empty really but it was still early so maybe that was the reason. We then turned back heading up towards Crompton Way via a very steep path. It was here that I heard a metallic clanging, banging sound from behind me and then Graham called out “that’s me done pal !” . I quickly turned around and looked behind me expecting Graham to either be on the floor or worse. He then said to my delight “I’ll have to get off and push mate, I just selected the wrong gear , can’t ride it up now” .I then joined him, and we pushed our bikes up the hill side by side until we came to the top, where we saw the footpath we supposed to go down but even for Extreme Bikers this would have been impassable. We therefore took a diversionary route via Almond St and Holly St . This was in fact the route we should have taken, that path would have actually taken us back down to the cinema and wasted valuable time. I think the Adventure Gods were looking down on us today.
We crossed over Blackburn Rd at the traffic lights at Holly St , the safest point as Blackburn Road is notoriously busy. Then via the back streets until we joined Belmont Road at the junction where Su’s Chippy and the Tap pub are , Su’s Chinese chip shop has been around for many years and is always very popular.
Now for those of you who aren’t aware Belmont Road is a long steep road that takes you up to the moors around Belmont. To give you an idea how high up it is, this is where the TV mast for Bolton is situated. Just to add to our pain I had planned a couple of detours to add a touch of spice to our adventure.
Our first detour brought us upon a very steep dirt road, once at the top we stopped to get our breath back, both of us laying over our handlebars as we did so. Once rested Graham reassured me that he was good to go. We then found the path that would take us to Burkett Drive. This path was an unusual path as it was walled on both sides with a 90° bend a short way up. Just as we were going to enter I noticed a ladies head bobbing over the wall , so as the gentlemen we are we waited until she emerged, as she did she thanked us both for our patience.
After negotiating the path we were back onto Belmont Rd for a short while so we rode along the pavement for safety before turning right down Templecombe Drive for our second detour . Here we were to take a path or road across a field to rejoin Belmont Road once again. Our first attempt proved unsuccessful, so it was an about turn and try again. The I spotted the dirt trail “ this will be it pal “ I said confidently. I’d spoken too soon after 100Ft or so once again we were going the wrong way . I admitted to Graham “ to be honest pal we may have to retrace our steps, I can’t find this bloody path “ I was now getting frustrated and annoyed with myself, I had supposed to have planned this properly but I’d let my bestie down. Just then I spotted a small gap in through hedge with what looked like a stile hidden away. Yes! indeed ,it was the path we were looking for , the adventure Gods were certainly looking down on us this evening. But just then my phone rang , it was Val (Grahams wife) , oh no I thought as I immediately answered it , thinking something was wrong. “Hi , Ebay “ Val said “ nothings wrong but can you let Graham know …..“ but before she continued I passed the phone to Graham to continue the conversation. Indeed nothing was wrong, in fact the opposite really, a friend was over visiting from Hong Kong and was going to call round to surprise him but obviously Graham was with me.
I asked Graham if he wanted to turn around and head back home, but he said “no Pal it’s okay he’s not going to be there for a bit and we should hopefully be back not long after”. I decided though we would cut the adventure a little short on the way home, enabling us to go up to our destination at the top of Scout Road. This did mean though we wouldn’t have time for our usual chat about what we had been up to during the week, although we did manage to chat as we rode along.
We followed the idyllic little pathway through the meadow and up through the farmers field to the gate. I pushed my bike up through with Graham following behind me. I turned round to take a photo of the view when Graham said “ get a photo of me modeling the new AA shirt pal” . I immediately snapped a photo before Graham had managed to pose. I called it his action shot.
Shortly along Belmont Road we came to the path that would take us up through the quarry and up to Scout road. It was quite obvious though that the path was unsuitable for riding the bikes so we started to push them up the grassy hill but this soon turned into a narrow rocky path. We passed a scorched part of the grassland that obviously had been on fire sometime earlier but again nature was finding its way through.
The path was now extremely rocky as it twisted its way around to the quarry. We eventually emerged into the quarry into bright sunlight with the cliff faces to our left. In the distance we could make out silhouettes on top of the cliffs. The pathway was indeed becoming worse and was now beginning to prove a real struggle even pushing our bikes. Every now and again it opened up a little bit, but then returned back to a rocky narrow path. Obviously this was not meant for bikes but we are Extreme Bikers so we ploughed on.
As we continued through the quarry we saw what the silhouettes of people above us on the cliff tops were. These were rock climbers who were climbing and descending the cliffs. The cliffs must have been 100feet or so in height, just watching them made my legs turn to jelly. I asked them if it was Ok to take a photo for our blog , the guy in charge said “ go ahead mate no problem “ I inquired whether they were part of a group he replied no , anyone can come and climb, the quarry like most is owned by the British Mountaineering Council. Graham spotted they had a small crash mat at the base he said jokingly “ don’t think that’ll do much if you fall from up there pal “ . I imagine it’s just in case you fell down when you’re only a few feet from the ground.
We wished them well as we continued our own climb up out of the quarry. The rock covered path was now getting really steep and narrow hedged in with heather, which kept getting stuck in our pedals making progress slow and extremely difficult. At some points it looked like it may defeat us but as true adventures were persevered and make it to the top . The last bit was extremely steep and right at the edge of the cliff, I just had to look ahead if I’d have looked down I probably wouldn’t have made it out alive. Eventually at the top we met 2 young lads who were just chilling out they’d spotted us and had watched us ascend the path. They were in awe that 2 old codgers had managed to get their bikes up that hill.
Graham noticed what he said looked like a monument in the distance over to our left. I suggested I’d walk over and take a closer look. It was actually a stone bench in the memory of an Aileen Daly, with a humorous inscription ” Fellow Traveller, Lusty Wench Rest A While On Aileen’s Bench“ As I stood there I looked back and saw Graham taking in the stunning view so I thought this looks like a good photo opportunity .
We then rode up to the viewing point at the top of Scout Rd which, back in the day was a popular area frequented by young courting couples on a summer evening to enjoy one another’s company, wink wink. This though was not what Graham and myself had come for, it was purely to admire the views and enjoy the ride back down.
We spotted the path in the corner of the car park which hopefully would lead us down to Smithills Open Farm, which is a great place to bring young children to see and feed the animals as well as find out how a farm actually works. The path did indeed lead us there but not before we passed what looked like a derelict walled garden as well as a stunning property hidden in the woods .
With time against us it was time to make tracks so it was off down through Barlow Park in the Oldhams council estate a bit of a come down from the property we’d seen just before.
Entering the park proved tricky and as a result Graham came crashing off his bike over a barrier, not a pleasant sight. Once recovered we soon found ourselves at Astley Bridge cricket ground on Moss Bank Way.
We successfully crossed over the road and we made our way down to Blackburn Road and back down Water Meeting Road , up along Union Road which unfortunately now has taken a turn for the worst , rubbish strew everywhere and music blasting out . We said to ourselves we’re fortunate to live where we do. Soon we were across Bury Road and into Leverhulme park where we went our separate ways home noting to message each other when we were home safely.
