Category: Cardinal Spins

I awoke in my Tamworth pub room to a grey, drizzly morning. Not what I ordered. The day was due to improve, but not yet. I didn’t really fancy getting wet if I could help it. So I faffed around and took my time leaving, and then made it just a few doors down the […]

The magic spinner sent me south on a day of strong winds from the west. It wasn’t a good idea to be out on a bike during the latter stages of Storm Lilian, but by lunchtime things had died down a bit. The roads were covered in bits of tree that had fallen in the […]

Sunday morning in Belfast was a quiet time to be leaving the city. I was a little short on sleep but it was a beautiful day and I had a chance to see and spend a whole day somewhere I had never been before. My straight line WNW ran directly between the province’s two largest […]

After a smooth boat journey from Liverpool, we arrived in Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man, quite late in the evening. The ferry terminal is at the southern end of the huge sweep of promenade that follows the shore of Douglas Bay. It is lined with an almost uninterrupted terrace of tall, elegant white […]

I was back in Manchester, an hour from home on a regular train that stops in my village. My goal today was the Isle of Man. But not the easy way. I was intent on cycling along my WNW line to the Ribble estuary, and then dropping south to Southport, from where there are regular […]

When the spinner sent me WNW, I knew it would be a tricky business. My straight line sent me over the highest hills of the Peak District and then through the Manchester conurbation, close to the city centre and out on the other side, via large industrial towns, to somewhere on the south side of […]

Chester was a great diversion for a day’s entertainment and history lesson. It is Britain’s only completely walled city where you can walk around the whole 2.2 miles uninterrupted. Even York, which has slightly longer city walls, has a section missing. This perambulation gives you a great view of the Roman street layout from above, […]

The magic spinner landed on west, so west I must go. Which was a stroke of luck, because Sunday was not only a beautiful, sunny day; but also provided a rare easterly wind that I could use to propel me towards Chester from Hathersage. An opportunity not to miss! It is a journey of about […]

Helmsley has to be one of my favourite little towns anywhere. It’s just delightful. I can’t really find anything not to like. It has a fine market place, with a splendid market cross surrounded by handsome inns, cafes and shops all built from the local honey-coloured stone. Everything is just a short walk away: the […]

The train whisked me back from home to Barnsley on a somewhat greyer, cloudier day than yesterday’s bright sunshine; but still warm and breezy in a way that would help me ride NNE. So far in this cycling adventure, you just can’t fault the magic spinner for its choice of direction. Incredible luck, really! I […]