5 Canals and an Airport

9th July 2013. 7.00 o'clock in the morning and Bluebottle Betty was looking decidedly skittish. "Can we? Can we?" she kept saying. I knew what she wanted. We'd done 2 canals. We'd done 3 canals, but we'd never done all five on the same ride and to add round the airport as well would be a bit of a task.
"O.K." I said to her and by five past we were away. From Cheadle Heath we dabbled our way to the industrial estate then through Adswood Park, into Ladybridge and up to Tenement Lane. A young man was walking his buggy towards us, escorted by a young girl on a horse! Gosh, these people get up early. At the end of Tenement Lane we just kept going, crossing the main road and right down to the very end, where the secret gate stands.

Betty wanted her photo taken in the early morning light and so I obliged. We turned left along the brook towards Mirrlees Fields.

Sunlight bouncing off the leaves is so impressionist. We toddled on, Betty wanting to go faster and faster. We turned at the concrete pillars, past the fishing pond and up past Stepping Hospital. These were the first cars we'd seen. Over to Sainsbury's in Hazel Grove and round the side to Fred Perry Way.

Along the Way of the Fred and through Offerton estate to the road of Hell. A626 Marple to Stockport Motorway. We actually managed to get across and whizz the half mile or so till we got to Bongs Road on the left, unmarked and here we stopped for a moment to admire the view of the Goyt Valley and the farms below.

Down the bumpy track, past dog kennels and farms and back to another main road. We raced across then followed the pavement over the river and along to Chadkirk Chapel. Up and round the back to the secret steps that lead to the Peak Forest Canal. Betty doesn't like being carried but I've told her, "Even you can't manage stone steps!"

And so we were on the towpath of the first canal on a beautiful summer morning. The temperature would rise to 30 degrees by the time we got to the end but now it was just perfect. At Ashton Basin

we took a photograph of the bridge built in 1835 and turned left onto the Ashton Canal. So far the journey had taken us 2 hours. Getting to Castlefield took us another hour. Past dredgers, people mowing lawns, gangs of towpath-wise geese hissing and glaring we moved steadily past Fairfield and Openshaw, past Philips Park and down to the Etihad Stadium.

At Piccadilly Basin we came out onto the street and crossed over to take the Rochdale canal towards Canal Street and Castlefield. My favourite warning sign is there on the wall.

How very dare they? Then there's the strange thrill of taking the canal under the road -

It looks better than it smells, believe me. We ducked and dived along Canal Street till we found our way blocked by some men working on scaffolding.

The Hilton is always worth a snap. We chatted to an elderly couple of tourists and then bobbed down to Castlefield and out in the direction of the Ship Canal. We'd now done 3 canals and had taken about 3 hours.

Such a fine building. Think it's flats now but not sure. Round the back of it along to the end, right towards the scrapyards and left, then right under the Metro bridge to the gap in the wire fence we found a few years ago and then onto the Manchester Ship Canal. Two pairs of tourists were loitering in little hired boats.

Here it became complicated. Last time the Bridgewater towpath had been blocked so we ducked and dived past Old Trafford and into the huge Industrial estate and finally found a Kellogg's warehouse with a track at the side which leads to a bridge and a Tech College and the Waters Meet where we get onto our 5th canal, the Bridgewater.

We race through Stretford and Urmston and pause briefly opposite the King's Ransom in Sale.

Under Timperley Station, a bit further on Betty gets carried up some more steps and we head towards Brooklands Roundabout. We cross over and enter Brooks Drive. It's hot and a long ride up the Drive today.

At the end we pedal along country lanes for a while, cross motorway bridges till we stumble on the Airport Orbital Cycleway. We turn right and zip along, through the two cattle tunnels and up to airport itself. There aren't many out watching planes today - maybe it's too hot. We rest for a short while in the shade and watch a couple of planes take off.

We just kept following signs, chatting to a chap from the National  Trust and shutting gates, till we came to Bruntwood Park. Up the hill, past the pond and the pitch and putt till we come to Cheadle.

I had to change from pink bandana to proper shemagh due to perspiration problems. From Cheadle we went to Cheadle Heath and stopped at Mr Tesco to buy some black pudding and a bottle of Coke. I wish they'd print "vanilla" in a larger font. I don't like it, especially by accident. Up Nursery Lane and home for lunch.

The whole journey had taken us 5 and a half hours. Bluebottle Betty is resting now. She deserves it. She's bumped along potholes, through puddles and ridges and gravel and cobblestones. Even she gets tired sometimes!!