Last year Sarah and I were busy when Neil’s Halton Castle ride took place, so we were really looking forward to Stockport Community Cycling Club‘s latest longer ride. It also gave Sarah a further opportunity to continue her fitness recovery following her broken foot.

We met at Gatley Rail station on a warm and overcast day.

And soon we were heading down Hollyhedge Road and through Wythenshawe.

From Wythenshawe we made our way through Dunham Massey.

Crossing over Lymm Road we cycled towards High Legh.

Essentially following the line of the M56 we cycled through Sworton Heath and on to Higher Whitley.

We cycled on to Daresbury and reached the edge of the Runcorn district.

We took a short break …

After the brief rest we continued on towards Runcorn and through Norton.

Soon we began the climbing section and were looking out over the glories of the Widnes power station.

The climbing continued up to Halton Village.

  

There was one last climb to the top of the hill before we reached the castle. The views from the top looking out over the River Mersey estuary were fantastic.

Dropping down from Halton Castle we made our way through Phoenix Park.

Eventually we reached our lunch stop.

The food here was tasty and quickly served. There wasn’t much obvious on the menu for a gluten-free vegetarian. All the salads included meat for example. Thankfully however, the helpful staff suggested a carvery from which Sarah could choose all the salad options. Job done!

What the Farmhouse Inn’s are memorable for however is their HUGE desserts! These are truly fabulous and I just had to give one a go. The example shown is a Vanilla Slice with ice-cream. Predictably I failed to eat it all, but what I did eat was fabulous. 🙂

On another table it took five people to polish off a cheesecake slice.

Fed and watered we set off towards the village of Moore.

  

We followed the Bridgewater Canal.

And cycle through Grappenhall.

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Indeed briefly we cycled along the Bridgewater Canal.

Finally we picked up the TPT (Trans Pennine Trail) path, NCN Route 62. This was almost a practice run for Sarah and I’s upcoming TPT Cycle Tour!

Eventually we arrived back in Altrincham.

By the time we arrived back in Stockport we had cycled 50 miles. This was another interesting day of cycling in to an area we rarely get to visit. Thanks to Neil for an excellent choice of route. Including our cycle to the start and back home Sarah and I had completed 60 miles.

You can view our Halton Castle route below:

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