Day 54 - Liverpool to Longton (Stoke on Trent) - ride total 3,903 k, 24,951 m

The good early start from the Backpackers today was delayed because as I was getting the bike from the yard the owner put the kettle on and said help myself to the cereal. So I did as it is far more convenient to have breakfast like this rather than seek some on the ride.

Being a Sunday morning the roads and trails out of Liverpool were very quiet and I made good time and got to the Silever Jubilee Bridge over the Mersy in time to see it back lit by the sun - once again the pics do not do justice to the view I saw. This was the bridge I crossed going the other way in 2017 on my Lands End to John O'Groats ride.

The route took me out through farmland and away from the busy roads and just as well as when I did get to cross over the M6 motorway it was bumper traffic and this was only lunchtime Suday of the Bank holiday  long weekend!

After negotiating some single track through a farm and forest I popped out back on a road where a "Barn" conversion was going on - it had all the hallmarks of the "Grand Designs" TV show - there was a couple walking by who also stopped and we started up a conversation and they were very happy with their NZ holiday backk in 2019 and would love to come back again they told me. This was not the only Barn Conversion I saw currently underway which are probably the first I've seen - it appears all the likely barns around the Cotswolds area have probably already been converted and now the economics is such that these folk feel it is now possible to undertake a conversion in this lesser demand area - trying not to be a cynic however I am yet to see or hear of anything like this being competed under time and budget! The norm is for a huge "unexpected" blowout. How they can feel it was unexpected is beyond me!

Likewise there was a quite large new residential development that I rode by that had come to a complete stop probably at about Covid time by the look of the weeds taking over the site. Here there were maybe 20 -30 (maybe more) new 3/4 bedroom stand alone new spec homes being built some were just at the floor and walls stage, some were beyond that and had roof framing in place and there were others with the roof on and all the windows and doors installed, However like I say t was clear the developer ran in to problems (most likely insufficient money to fund the development) and had to walk away from it. Some folk have lost a huge sum of money on this development that's for sure.

A bit further on I rode past "Cheshire House". Stunning and that was just the Gatehouse that straddled the entrance. This certainly could have been straight out of Grand Designs and although very modernistic (and white) it looked amazing.

For the latter half of the ride I was beside canals (Trent/Mersy canal) and as always they make for interesting riding - the water in the canals very seldom looks healthy (think lower reaches of the Heathcote by the Tannery) and by comparrison I would rate that now as "reasonable" - one of the canals today was a very bright orange (think orange peel orange) and I really had my doubts about it's quality.

Yet further on when it had lost its orange colour there were a lot of Men out fishing with the longest of poles to reach across the canal to the other side (part of me felt, "well why don't you simplly go and fish from the other bank!" And did they all have quite a lot of kit, a four wheel pull behind trolley cart, huge sectional rods, rod racks, a very elaborate seat/platform and a whole smorgasboard of bait in various containers on the preparation table adjacent to the seat. I saw lots of men, lots of gear but no one reeling in the fish!

The highest densityy of fishermen were opposite the most amazing derelict pottery works of which there were quite a few along the banks of the canal.  Another wonderfulphotographic subject I felt, but like alwats insufficent time to stop and make the most of it.

Some of the old industrial buildings have been converted into apartments and the like however there are still a large number just being allowed to go to wrack and ruine.

I rode past one barge that had "Taranaki" below its name so I turned back to have a closer look - the hatch was open so I called out asked if they spoke New Zealand. Yes, he did and this is his home for all but a few days short of six months of the year - he had bought it last year and this was his second season over here - he tells me he hasn't spent a penny on accommodation since arriving in the UK  back in May. I did at one point through our conversation ask "is that the kettle I can hear" so he pops his head down into the cabin and comes back with the reply - "No, it was probably the classical music I was listening to". Bugger. There was no kettle or classical music that I heard, it was meant to be a hint! but as they say this time it fell on "deaf ears" so on I rode without a cuppa! And he was a Kiwi too.

These were lovely canals to ride beside and at one point I was enjoying it so much I carried on when I was meant to turn off, so back I went and had to carry the bike up some 45 degree steps that then at the end had a nice little kicker - the bike then needed to be lifted over the style and metal fence at the top. 

I pulled up to tonights accommodation here at the "Crown Hotel" at 3:00 p.m. having ridden 99.37 km's, again I miss out on cracking the 100 km mark this time by 631 metres!