NPSP Ride from Wortley, Sunday 4th June 

Six regular Peaky Blinders turned up at Wortley for our June Sunday ride. Leaving Wortley nearly on time we dropped onto the Trans Pennine Trail to head towards Penistone where Grayham told us there was a newly opened cafe that was very good value and right on the trail; it would have been churlish not to call in for a brew and an empirical exploration of the difference between a round of toast and a slice of toast!

Unfortunately soon after I had to be rescued by Eric on his electric bike as he stormed back to the cafe to retrieve my rucksack and John was encountering difficulties with his breaks and his breathing, though necessarily in that order, so he and Grayham set about a rather more gentle ride while the remaining five of us headed up off the trail for a nifty little climb up to Hartcliff Hill along a lovely but quite steep bridleway affording spledid views over towards Ingbirchworth where I came a cropper proving I had not lost the ability to drop and roll and then a nice little piece of single track around the hill which popped us out on the aptly named Hartcliffe Hill Road which according to the OS map has by then acquired a rather refined final “e”!

Dropping by a farm track to the Woodhead Road we eventually crossed safely and headed into the forest skirting Langsett Reservoir.  For some reason I eschewed the broad and well signed bridleway in favour of a little descent which left us a bit stranded on a footpath so it was either forge on or clamber back up the hill.  Forge on was what we did but Annie unfortunately came a bit of a cropper and she too showed she’d mastered the drop and roll technique but unfortunately the roll was into a bunch of nettles - and yes they do sting at this time of year!

Over the Little Don river and up towards the infamous Cut Gate pass.  We didn’t attempt it in full but did climb quite high before heading east to the ruined farm of North America; this area was used for target practice by tanks in the Second world War.  After a pause to patch up the knee of our most unlucky member (I’ll leave you to guess!) we clattered on around the south side of the reservoir to emerge eventually at Midhopestones and a rather late lunch at the iconic cyclists’ cafe, Bank View.

After a relaxing lunch, where a couple of members took on the mighty Langsett Breakfast Butty to apparently no ill effects, we set off round the south side of the next two reservoirs in the system, this time on tarmac and made very good time to Stocksbridge.  Up under the Woodhead Road to Underbank Hall then along Mucky Lane to Hunshelf Hall Lane to begin an almost continuous descent of two miles back to the “big” Don Valley and back up the steep climb of Finkel Street to our starting point.

Thanks all for good company and cheer.

 Some more photos on Flickr here:

Rob Newton