A few hours Off Grid

After a morning meeting for youngest that almost didn't happen, I came home for lunch, toasting a few small slices of soda bread from Lidl to be had with cheese & Worcester Sauce (Nom Nom) the tough but tasty bread giving my gnashers a good workout.

The lawns were then cut for what will likely (hopefully?) be the last time this year and the recycling bins wheeled up to the top of the driveway ready for the morning. According to the app, it's black/brown/green this week, although I wish it was blue because that one I rather full & doesn't wish to wait another week.

With a few hours free and a brain ready to burst the confines of it's cranium, a really difficult decision was made to wheel Biscuit from the garage and go out into the countryside for some fresh air.

First stop was Bailey's Trading Post...the Macclesfield Canal's very own equivalent of Knutsford Services...to purchase a Latte & a flapjack that were enjoyed sat in peace next to the canal. There were several other customers that came & went, but such is the restful quality of the cut that it all just went on around me...brain was outside of her box, like an inattentive spectator nonplussed by the goings on around. (Bottom right - Great Central Railway weight signage on Wood Lane Bridge over the canal - GCR owned the canal for much of its life as a commercial waterway)

Suitably refreshed we carried on to Pott Shrigley before heading east towards the Peak District. Just before Chapel En Le Frith a road sign piqued my interest leading through the little village of Combs before ascending a narrow lane upto a rocky outcrop known as Castle Naze. I stopped halfway up to look out over Combs Reservoir & beyond. My phone camera didn't capture the view very well but did get Biscuit to say "Cheeeese!" (bottom left) She was left in gear but am still surprised she didn't roll away. It was 'that' steep.

From there the A6 was joined briefly at Dove Holes before taking the A623 to Sparrowpit and onto Mam Tor to stop and watch some fearless Paragliders hanging out in the breeze, looking very relaxed about being up nearer the clouds beneath a polyester wing!

I also bimbled to the top of the old A625 to what is now a turnaround for busses next to the entrance to Blue John Mine. Abandoned in 1979, it remains passable on foot (be careful) and bicycle (be extra careful) The last time I walked down it there were still some of the painted lines visible on what is left of the tarmac surface but it looks to have deteriorated quite a lot in the last decade, certainly on the upper section (appropriately at the top of the collage)


Getting something like time to be heading back, I rolled down the far side of Mam Tor to ride through Barber Booth, past Edale, turn left at Hope then left again to take the shunpikey route to Ladybower Reservoir that is much more fun & easier going than hustling through Bamford at 5pm.

Approaching the junction with the A57, there was a big yellow sign stating quite clearly that the snake Pass was closed. Not being covered in snow or troubled by high winds, your gal can only conclude that some more of the ongoing repairs are being carried out to the Snakes very own landslippage problem and thus I had to head towards Sheffield instead before cutting across Mortimer Road to reach the Woodhead Pass.

The Woodhead was reasonably clear so I could let Biscuit wear her tyres round again. Am now having a soak before bedZzzzzzzzz...will endeavour not to fall asleep in it on this occasion.