The Trans Pennine Trail by Bicycle
19 -23 September 2002
John Bryant
Bike: Dawes Kara Kum touring bike with rear panniers and front bar bag, rear stand, mudguards, pump, mirror, dynamo lighting set, computer, bell, bottle etc.
I carried a spare inner, puncture repair outfit, tyre levers, tools, disposable gloves, oil, Personal luggage. Trans Pennine Trail Maps 1, 2 and 3. OS Maps 1 to 50k (optional): Nos 105, 106, 07, 108, 109
Day 1: Thursday 19 September - (Halifax), Southport, Warrington
Left home (Elland West Yorks) by car and caught the 07.07 Arriva Service from Halifax to Manchester Victoria. Arriva will tell you that they carry only two bikes per train but on this one there were four and I was pleased that there were no problems with the Conductor. My experience tells me that Arriva will carry as many bikes as you can squeeze on but this may not be the experience of everyone.
From Manchester I boarded the 08.57 for Southport. An old bus-body type but with space for bikes. There were relatively few passengers and mine was the only bike on board. At Southport I walked out of the Station to start the ride in beautiful weather with a light east wind.
The route through the town shown on the TPT map looked complicated but there was no difficulty in simply heading south and west to find the Fun Fair and then the start of the Trail.
The route south along Birkdale Sands was safe and simple if not inspiring and I was soon on the Cheshire Lines Path. I enjoyed this route; it had some good views over the countryside and there were nice old bridges along the way. Picking up the Leeds and Liverpool Canal I arrived at Aintree around 12.15. I approached from the East having missed Wally's Steps. (Later I found the only sign at the steps was a small TPT disc obliterated by vandals.) However I found food at one of the shops and set off again to find somewhere more pleasant for lunch.
I was determined to find out why I had missed the route at Wally's Steps and so went back to the canal, found the Steps and followed the route out of Aintree to the Liverpool Loop Line Path. This part of the Trail seemed to me to be over-elaborate in order to be off-road. It was tricky and dirty and perhaps even frightening and I would have preferred to risk the ride down the southbound carriageway of Ormskirk Road.
Once on the Liverpool Loop Line Path (via very hard access steps for a cyclist with luggage) I made very good progress on this Section. The first part through industrial and urban areas could hardly be described as picturesque. The signing was good and as a cyclist I particularly like the signs on the tarmac. Conversely the amount of litter and broken glass was worrying but happily no punctures. The second half of this section was much more pleasant, passing a series of country parks.
I had a very late lunch on a trailside bench in the Halewood Country Park before riding through Halewood, passing the impressive Jaguar Plant. Under the road and another struggle up steps (was it the correct underpass?) before riding round the Speke Estate as jets passed continuously overhead. Hale, with its thatched cottages, was a pleasant surprise so shortly after riding through Speke and a little later I was off road once more in Pickering's Pasture Country Park. It was late afternoon and I enjoyed the low sun and some stunning views of the Mersey Estuary and the bridges. Once again I had a struggle with my bike up a longish wooden ramp with steps and controls but soon crossed under the bridges and entered the Widnes - Warrington Section.
The 12km ride from Widnes to Wilderspool is along the rather sad and neglected St Helen's canal. I passed Fiddler's Ferry with its lock to the sea and the big power station behind and soon I was riding into Warrington.