Manchester to Waterhouses (Staffordshire) – Day 5.

For anyone that’s not heard of the cycling “Warm Showers”, it’s an organisation where people offer cycle tourists a place to sleep for free – it might be somewhere to pitch your tent in their garden, or a spot on the floor or sofa to sleep or they may even have a spare bed for you. It’s a bit hit or miss whether they can accommodate you or not as they may be cycle touring themselves or have other commitments on. But I got lucky last night and stayed with Alix and her partner Jean. They made me a fantastic vegi meal with produce from their garden and I got a bed for the night. We spent ages talking about cycling in general and the trips we have done. Alix and Jean have done lots of cycle tours in England and Wales but none in Scotland yet but hopefully they will make it my way sometime. Alix sent me on my way with tips for that days route and it was another beautiful day.

On one long section of cycle path that ran beside the road – not very exciting in terms of views but good for getting some miles under the belt – I could see someone ahead of me going super fast but definitely not on a bicycle. I thought they might be on inlinr roller skates but when I finally caught up with her (only because she had stopped) it turned out she was on roller skis and was part of Manchester cross country ski team and was out training.

I got a wee bit lost finding the cycle path that had been recommended from Poynton (a bit south of Stockport) and accidentally found the Brookside Garden Centre and their minature railway, and of course I had to give it a shot.

I then found the Middlewood Way cycle path that had been recommended, that took me from from Poynton to Macclesfield along what would once upon-a-time have been railway line – a beautiful stretch but with it being a Sunday busy at times with other cyclists, walkers and horse riders but would definitely recommend this route.

In Macclesfield I managed to make a rendezvous with Karen who was driving north from Dover in the campervan. And in the handy but not pretty setting of the Aldi carpark she made me a ham sandwich and I got rid of someone of my stuff from my overly full panniers for Karen to take North.

On to the final stretch to Waterhouses, which has another nice off road sections past Rudyard Lake and another minature (but significantly bigger than the last one) railway line. No time for playing on the trains this time but did stop for juice and an ice lolly – when she asked what I wanted and being toasty hot again, she understood what I meant when I asked for the iciest ice lolly.

Finally arriving at Emma’s I made good use of her washing machine and had another lovely meal including cauliflour & cheese with cauliflour grown in her allotment. I also drank the wee bottle of prosecco that my work colleagues had given me and I’d carried all the way from home.