- DAY 1: Sunday 3rd October 2021 – Chester, Cheshire to Wem, Shropshire
- Distance: 55km
- Elevation gain: 270m
- Accomodation: The Coaching Barns
We left Home early on a Sunday morning – ridiculously early in fact as many roads were due to be closed for the Chester Marathon and we wanted to get out of town before that happened. We followed the River Dee to the far side of town and officially joined up with National Cycle Network Route 45 on the Shropshire Union Canal. Straightaway, we were reminded how these NCN routes can be hard work – the canal path quickly became narrow and bumpy and difficult to make much progress on, all for the sake of avoiding a few km of main road that had very little traffic anyway! We left the canal at Waverton and followed some lovely quiet country roads through the (mostly) flat Cheshire countryside. We had our waterproofs on and off a couple of times per hour as the predicted showery day materialised, but the showers were light and the sunshine between them pleasant – not bad for the UK in October! We passed a series of pretty little villages – Burwardsley, Tattenhall, Bickerton, Wrenbury – before reaching the bigger town of Whitchurch in Shropshire. At this point, we were getting tired and abandoned the meandering NCN route to follow the more direct B5476 to Wem where we had booked tonight’s accomodation – this may have been a mistake as the road was narrow and busy, but we arrived safely at “The Coaching Barns”, completing our first day’s cycling.
- DAY 2: Monday 4th October 2021 – Wem, Shropshire to Ironbridge, Shropshire
- Distance: 47km
- Elevation gain: 490m
- Accomodation: The Swan Pub
We had a rather itchy start to the day – the room seemed pristinely clean, but we definitely got seriously bitten by something during the night! We quickly rejoined the NCN route and followed a series of small country lanes through small villages. We stopped for coffee in a pleasant park in Shawbury – notable as the home to the lowest ever recorded temperature in England of -25C in December 1981. Today was pleasantly mild however, for early October anyway, and the predicted showers failed to materialise. The country lanes got narrower, twistier and hillier as we got closer to the end, but the scenery was lovely, particularly passing “The Wrekin” hill. We finished with a long downhill through Coalbrookdale – claim to fame, the location of the first ever iron ore smelting – down to the River Severn. At this point, the good weather deserted us – we were barely 2km from the end and the rain hammered down, so we arrived soaked. The road through Ironbridge was closed for resurfacing which was slightly worrying, but we were able to get through on the pavement to the pub that we were staying in tonight. We checked in and then went for a wander around town. Ironbridge is a very picturesque little town that looks like the sort of place that is crazy touristy in summer, but at this time of year was nearly deserted. We had a fine dinner of Sausage, chips and gravy from “The Ironbridge” chippy back in our rather chilly room – staring at radiators and wondering when (if ever) they would come on would become something of a theme for this trip!
- DAY 3: Tuesday 5th October 2021 – Ironbridge, Shropshire to Stourport, Worcestershire
- Distance: 48km
- Elevation gain: 620m
- Accomodation: The Angel Pub
We started the day with a “free” breakfast – well, it was included in the cost of the room – although we had to walk a short distance down the road to get it at the pub next door. Even so, the choice of a full breakfast menu made last night’s £50 room great value. The route took us over the Ironbridge and then on a traffic free trail along the River Severn. Passing the village of Coalport, we came to a sign announcing that the “permissive” route ahead through a private estate was closed – we did the only reasonable thing under the circumstances and ignored the sign, which turned out to be a good decision as we got through with no problems and arrived in the town of Bridgnorth. Here, we called into Clee Cycles – after 3 days cycling, I realised that the cheap bikes that we had bought for this trip didn’t have quick-release wheels and we didn’t have a spanner – the spare inner tubes that we were carrying wouldn’t be a whole lot of use without that. They didn’t have one in stock to sell us, but very generously gave us a free one that they had going spare – great work Clee Cycles, much appreciated! Leaving Bridgnorth, NCN45 became rediculously convoluted (as NCN routes always seem to do) so we made the decision to abandon the route and follow the B4363 road to the next town of Bewdley. Here the morning of showery rain finally gave way to sunshine and we had a coffee overlooking the River Severn in this pretty little town. From here it was a short ride to tonight’s accomodation in Stourport. When we arrived, the room wasn’t quite ready, but the sun was shining and there was a lovely beer garden overlooking the River Severn, so it seemed rude not to have a beer. When we did get checked in, they agreed to put our bikes safely in the yard at the back for the night, so we decided to go back outside and have a few more beers!
- DAY 4: Wednesday 6th October 2021 – Stourport, Worcestershire to Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
- Distance: 60km
- Elevation gain: 540m
- Accomodation: Tudor House Hotel
A slightly delayed start to the day today – the pub was closed in the morning, but the barman had promised that they would put our bikes out in the hallway ready to go. Instead they were still locked in the backyard. After much climbing on wheelie bins and debating climbing the wall to get them out, the pub cleaning lady turned up and opened the gate for us and we were on our way. The cycling was a nice mixture of quiet country lanes and a good path along the canal into Worcester. We had a rest stop at the Marina, and managed to sneak into the toilets that were meant for barge owners on the canal. More quiet country lanes took us towards Tewkesbury in some lovely sunny weather (amazing for the UK in October!) A short section on a busier road across the river and we were in the centre of town at the Tudor House hotel. This was an amazing old building with a warren of corridors leading to our room with wooden beams holding up the ceiling and suits of armour stood on the stairs! The lady running the place was very helpful and our bikes soon had a safe home in an unused function room. A quick trip out to the Kingfisher chippy next door and we were sorted for the evening.
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