Day 11 – Newport to Northwich

Day 11 – Newport to Northwich

We are spending  a lot of time searching the internet for accommodation during this trip.

1 because we don't want to commit too far ahead
2 because we don't want to pay very much i.e. To  average about $100 per night New Zealand

So we spend time this morning searching for somewhere to stay on the West Pennine Moors 40 kms on from Manchester after Bury.

On Friday  we need somewhere around Warwick after crossing the Forest of Bowland moor.

We are eventually off to a cafe for breakfast at about 8:45 and cycling by 9:30.  I do get frustrated at times by slow starts or lots of delays but today's stage should be easy.  

We wonder if we will avoid getting lost today. The wind is increasing today from the SW. That should be mainly a tail wind. The predominant wind in the UK is from the south west. Which does mean that when travelling from south to north we should experience more tail wind than head wind.

Newport

We leave Newport heading north and then over a bridge over a canal.

Canal boat park.

 The canals and locks have been a big part of this trip in it's second quarter.  We get to Market Drayton but this is not far enough before lunch so we carry on to the pretty town of Audlem which is our lunch stop.

Audlem

The pub burgers take ages to arrive irritating me somewhat but when they do they are great food for a good price.

I must say the British do deep fry a lot of their food which is not so much to my taste or supportive for my or their health I think.
  
Earlier today we  passed a beautiful church which had comforting words over the front gate.  

"Thy word is a lantern unto my feet and a light unto my path"

And we also cycled through the town with the award for the best garden village in the UK.

Leaving Audlem after lunch  we are on route  for a while but miss the turn (maybe the turn sign was missing - quiet likely ) towards Ravensmore and end up on a road that takes us onto the busy A530 for a while.  I worry about this before hand. But when we arrive on it, it is a very short section and leading into the town of Nantwich so the traffic is naturally slowing down at this point  and no problem.  

We go to supermarket to buy some food for dinner and breakfast. We are eating out a lot. I hope to save some money by cooking for ourselves more. And I also enjoy cooking for us.

The wind is now strong and gusty and heavy rain is threatening. We continue to head North.  On the map is a short section on the A51 marked with a "!" in a red triangle. In other words CAUTION. We are always very wary of A roads which tend to be very busy and include buses and large trucks. Also in England the roads do not ever – in our experience- have a shoulder area to give a cyclist more space and security. We arrive at this 2 km section in the late afternoon to find dense,  fast traffic, big trucks, busy busy, and no shoulder.  Frightening. But we don’t have any other option. After humming and haahing we go for it.  Also at this point, just when you really want them, there are  no route markers to indicate if we are on the right road or not.  We ride as fast as we can. We survive and turn off onto quieter road after about two kilometres.  Even on the quieter road  drivers in this area still zoom along. They live in a different time zone to us. Why are these people so keen to get to their destination so quickly?

We have now moved into the North West of England.  Once on the outskirts of Northwich we have a ride beside a canal for several kilometres in stormy conditions with strong tail winds and showers.

Unfortunately every 1/2 km on this trail there is a tricky gate construction, installed to prevent motor bikes probably,  which takes lots of effort to squeeze our bikes with saddle bags through. Probably about 15 of them - late in the day. Ahhh!

anti bike gates

We find our accommodation which is a BandB called the Coal Shed.
 It is located on an island between two branches of this major canal.  On each side of the island is a major lock system with a lift of maybe 4 metres. Through to  Manchester tomorrow.

Our little Coal Shed bothy is quite expensive and very small. It is poorly set up with a stained sink and weird shower. However we are out of the stormy weather so can settle in feeling quite snug as the weather continues.

Mezanine floor bed.

Mike exploding an egg in the microwave

The Coal Shed from outside - it does look cute

And we can cook our simple meal in the microwave - where we explode an egg by mistake.

Distance so far 809 kms.