Look out for a red faced man on lime green bike. Cheers 1 shed

If I can resist the chilled Hobgoblins i`ll tag along too.

Back home cold beer in hand. Thanks for the ride. Despite suffering at times I’ll be back.

Good stuff again!

le Tour de Prestwich

Next week, The Lost Kingdom of Darwen!

Right, I’m off to wash my helmet.

Get it in the shower for gods sake man!!!

Another belter tonight! Cheers all! The bomb hole was a bit more rideable than the last time I slithered down it, out of control! Don’t look at the tree!!!

Good ride apart from the midges.

Plums are intact so that’s a bonus.

Great stuff,I never tire of the river section.

Andy, I notice your cheeky “Segment Poach” on the last climb to the pub 😉

…and I thought you were just keen to get a pint.

I became in range of the Purple Moose beers tractor beam.

Where abouts is this location that you call the bomb hole?!

It is a cheeky bit in Giant’s Seat Woods, about 10m off Red Rock Lane opposite the garden centre.

It is about 30m wide, quite deep with steep sides and has a target tree in the middle of it.

It was used in HTN 1 back in 2008 and caused much mayhem and carnage for which we would like to profusely apologies*.

——————————————-

* The bit about an apology is a massive lie.

Cheers Harry

Looking at your Strava then, I’m assuming that its the little loop that you did at 7.3 miles. Haven’t ridden in there but often park up by the sewage works and ride down to Philips Park from there – so will give it a try at some point.

As a kid i remember my grandad telling me that the Germans used to drop any unused bombs in that valley after raiding Manchester and needing lighten up and scarper back home. Is it really the results of a bomb or is that just a name its acquired?

Dunno. The area is littered with bloody big holes though. The Luftwaffe used go for the power station that was over the road and use the valley to line up for a crack at the loco works in Horwich.

I like the idea that the HTN Bombhole was created by an actual BOMB.

Two actually if you look at the topography.

whatever

Sorry. Should have used a smaller word.

Two actually if you look at the big holes next to each other.

I know what topography is.
anyway. nice holes.

I’d heard they dated from much later on, and were the result of a mishap involving trainee jihadists from Blackburn

There’s two next to each other in Boggart Hole Clough.
Luftwaffe after the Golden Lion, innit?

Can’t think of any natural process that would create that Prestwich one.
Got to be Fritz with an itchy trigger finger.
The canal must have been a target?

Been called into work every single sodding Monday night for six months, btw – hope you all get bummed by werewolves.

As if being bummed weren’t bad enough, the werewolves bit is just malicious imo.

Best not mention the bumming. Hora might turn up to recreate the George Michael video for Let’s Go Outside

The werewolves?

When trail builders had an unlimited budget…

haha good picture and comment!

My Grandad worked at the Chloride battery factory at Clifton during the war – that was where most people now associate with Pilkington’s tiles factory. So in the valley there would have been a couple of railway lines, the canal, power station, water treatment works and battery factory – oh and a garden centre – so well worth tossing a few bombs in…

Hordes of Ju87 Stukas are unlikley,probibly more to do with the Wet Earth Colliery or Fletchers canal nearby?

Not quite as exciting. 🙁

I`d like to be wrong though.

The strange concrete lump in Philips is a barrage balloon mount.

I know there are actual rows of bombholes up on the top of Ruabon, round here

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=324275&Y=345915&A=Y&Z=126

during the war they set up lights to mimic a 1/4 scale liverpool docks which is about 20 miles due north. Fun to ride but nothing like The Bombhole

Shame I missed this one. Free next monday but 40 miles across Manchester is a tad excessive for evening spin