Sunday was the SCCC Southport Ride. We met in Mona Street car park in Wigan. There were 8 of us in total. Numbers were quite limited as a lot of people were away doing other things. Andy was the ride leader and I was the back leader however it turned out that we were the only ride leaders out!

We headed out of Wigan and made our way to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

As we cycled past the lock, a boat went into it.

Having followed the canal, passing under the M6 motorway, at Appley Bridge we came off the canal.

We then joined the road, going through Holland Lees and on towards Roby Mill.

It was quite a climb up Roby Mill but that was the worst climb of the day! Some of the views we saw later as we dropped down were great though and made the hard work worthwhile.

We passed through Town Green and Aughton.

From here the land was quite open as we made our way between the fields until we picked up the TPT (Trans Pennine Trail), which Andy and I had cycled back in 2015..

Having picked up the TPT, we followed it down to Ainsdale and then along the coastal road into Southport.

Having reached the start point of the TPT, we continued along the coast for a short while towards Southport Municipal golf course and cycled back into Southport the other side of Marine Lake.

After passing under the bridge we turned into town and went to the Waterfront for lunch. After lunch we continued along Marine Lake and the headed out of town.

We followed National Cycle Network route 562 which avoided the busy roads.

We cycled along the edge of the local hospital.

We then skirted the Southport Meols Cop retail park

Once out of town, we again followed some quiet country roads.

Eventually, we got back onto the canal for a while.

At Burscough Bridge we came back off the canal.

Having cycled through Newburgh, and on towards Parbold, we then headed back to the canal.

Once back on the canal, we followed it back to Appleby Bridge.

At Appley Bridge, we continued along the roads. At Shevington we crossed back over the M6.

We then followed a track, which took us to Crooke.

At Crooke, we then got back on the roads and made our way back into Wigan and on to Mona Street card park where we had started.

We had cycled 52.5 miles across some lovely and varied scenery, using a variety of canal paths, tracks and roads. You can see our route below: