With a spare Sunday in the offing and slightly better weather than was earlier predicted I took the opportunity to put on an impromptu ride from Sale Water Park up along the Bridgewater Canal beyond Worsley then across the Mosses both north and south of the Manchester Ship Canal.
Five of us met at the usual car park to find - joy - that the Cafe Metro which had been shut over the winter had undergone a transformation (Not really all that evident!) to the Tree Tops Cafe and was now open for the foreseeable future. It would have been churlish not to have a brew and a bacon butty before the off.
In rain somewhere between drizzle and downpour we set off onto the Bridgewater Canal and up past the Trafford centre, over the Barton Swing Bridge then on through Monton and Worsley - it's Salford Jim, but not as we know it! Meeting up with John near Boothstown we took advantage of his local knowledge to avoid the mud-bound towpath and detoured round to Astley Green and then south across the "Mosses" Astley, Chat and Irlam to name but three! Highlight of this section was the bizarre house and garden of Four Lane Ends Cottage decorated inside and out with all sorts of memorabilia from Dr Who's Tardis and a couple of Cybermen to Jones The Butcher's van from Dad's Army with a dozen or so ancient delivery bikes arranged along one boundary fence to name but a few!
By now the rain had abated and, making much better progress than I had envisaged, we completed the 17 miles to lunch by about 12-15. After a relaxing break and re-fuel in the beautifully restored Irlam Station Master's House Cafe (Highly recommended) we parted company with John who had to make his way back we detoured back over Cadishead 
Moss and eventually over the toll bridge at Warburton to begin our exploration of the Mosses South of the Ship Canal. An interesting section of the Bollin Way took us along the south bank of the Ship Canal to Partington where we picked our way through the outskirts before heading towards the site of the former gas works and began our traverse of Carrington Moss undaunted by the many "Private Property, Trespassers will be Prosecuted" signs contenting ourselves with the knowledge that the tracks were on the Manchester Cycle Route Maps and also that we were not technically trespassing as we were not leaving the track! We also passed the rather secretive and well fenced Trafford Training centre - known to many as Carrington - Manchester United's training complex - before picking up the Trans Pennine Trail back through the woods, over the Mersey and the M60 - on a rather splendid new bridge built for the TPT - and back to the cafe for a brew and a cake.
Great company and a rather splendid 30+ miles - and for once when I said mainly flat I actually meant it!
Rob Newton
More of Roger's photos can be viewed on Flickr here:
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