30th July 2009: Wrenbury

As I sat with my coffee and fruitcake at the Ice Cream Farm and 11.00am passed I began to question whether I had the right venue but just as I was about to ring our beloved leader Bryan to see if I was in the right place, Brian arrived and I relaxed. Only the two of us then and as we had a delayed start, thanks to torrential rain just as we were about to set off, we decided to keep things flexible and to "play it by ear". Although I had sketched out a route to Market Drayton that began to look a bit optimistic as Brian had an evening Wedding Reception to attend and on balance the weather threatened to be less than favourable. Equally unfavourable was my lack of map reading skills and having intended to head for Audlem via Harthill and Bickley we had soon missed our first target and were crossing the A41 heading for Clutton! A rapid recalibration and a route via Tilston and Malpas seemed most attractive.
Rain was imminent and it was definitely going to be a COCOA day (Coats On - Coats Off). No real downpour and we reached Malpas in fine spirits and set out for No Mans Heath in bright sunshine. Having crossed the A49 we then missed a further turning but, more by good luck than good management, arrived at another crossroads clearly signposted to Wrenbury. As we approached the village we caught up with a heavily laden lady cyclist keeping up a spanking pace despite her extensive array of luggage and later learned that she had cycled some 800 miles up in Scotland during the past fortnight. Having wheedled a passage over the canal bridge before it was raised we found the enticing smells from the Dusty Miller too attractive to resist and were soon enjoying very pleasant pints of Dizzy Blonde. Lunch was splendid with Brian's Beef Sandwich accompanied by chips and salad covering a large dinner plate and my own beef and ham salad equally impressive. I have previously always used the Coton Arms but now discovered that the Landlord of the Dusty Miller is an old acquaintance.
As we left the pub after our excellent lunch we found a family struggling to master the intricacies of the mechanism operating the bridge so Brian, a veteran of narrow boat holidays, rushed to their assistance. As I approached the bridge I was stunned to see that the trainee bridge operative was a Dutch lady whom I had met with her family on the beach at Llanfairfechan the previous week when I was staying nearby and she and her family were staying in Betws y Coed. She had actually told me that they were going on to hire a narrow boat from Ellesmere - I have not calculated the odds of our then meeting again - must do the lottery this weekend!!
After Brian had provided further assistance with the bridge to another family we set off again heading for Ravensmoor but more dodgy map reading meant that we missed a turning and ended up in Nantwich. We headed back up to Acton and then along the A534 before turning off to Haughton and back through Spurstow and Peckforton around Beeston and thence back to the Ice Cream Farm for a refreshing pot of tea. Brian departed for his wedding reception and I set off back home via Huxley and Waverton. A very enjoyable ride where the rain threatened far worse that it actually delivered but judging by some of the flooded lanes it looked like our luck had been in for the day. Just 37 miles covered to and from the Ice cream Farm and a round trip of 60 miles door to door from Ashton.
MM