There was a healthy turnout at Timperley Sports Club for this Stockport Community Cycling Club Plantation 2018 cycle ride. It meant we had to break into two groups. Gill was the ride leader for the first group. While I have often led the second group when needed, I allocated the responsibility to Andy S on this occasion. The photos that follow, therefore, are taken with this second group. Sarah, unfortunately, couldn’t join us. She needed to travel for work reasons.

It was a wet morning as we left Timperley and made our way through Altrincham.

Then on through Hale.

And Mobberley.

We followed NCN Route 70 for a while.

We then turned towards Marthall.

We cycled through the Peovers.

This included a short off-road section as we made our way through the ground of Peover Hall.

At Lower Peover, we passed the Tree of Imagination. This is always a fantastic little gem of a spot to rest for a few minutes and be inspired.

We continued up Free Green Lane and on to Plumley Moor Road.

Lunch was taken at the cafe at Plumley’s Garden Centre, formerly known as Plantation Cafe.

We arrived to find the first group already tucking into their lunch. We were second sitting so to speak. We also found out that they were cycling the route the other way round! So while we were well over halfway, they weren’t. How the communication had broken down, such that Andy and I had plotted the route the other way round upon Gill’s request (which it seems she hadn’t actually requested), is anyone’s guess. That said, it worked excellently today.

After lunch, we set off towards Knutsford. The weather had also begun to improve.

We cycled through Tatton Park.

Passing nearby to the deer.

After leaving Tatton Park, we headed towards Ashley.

Then returned through Altrincham again.

We had cycled just over 29 miles. You can view the Plantation 2018 route below: