Trip Report: Liverpool to Manchester with and wander and Brompton
Connecting our two northern shops by means of foot or bicycle has been on our brains since opening our Manchester shop last year. An opportunity finally presented itself to us by means of a collaboration between British folding-bike moguls Brompton and Japanese clothing designers and wander. Being stockists of and wander, and fans of Brompton (I myself ride one almost daily), it clearly made sense to get involved.
And so it was—a plan was formed and a date was set. We would connect our two shops by two wheels on a Sunday in late September. All bikes and all people were welcome to join us as we traversed the tundra between Liverpool and Manchester.
Around 25 people gathered on Slater Street, Liverpool for coffee and a pastry before making our departure out of the city. The route initially followed the banks of the Mersey where we found ourselves ploughing into a vicious headwind that slowed us to a trundle. From there, it was into a liminal zone of retail parks, deluge-laden cycle lanes and red lights that felt as though it would never end – an unavoidable purgatory one must drag themselves through when exiting cities by bike.
There was a brief spell tackling high blood pressure car drivers in Hale Village before at last we were free, zooming along cycle paths through the green underbelly of Widnes and out to Spike Island.
After a stint on the verdant Sankey Canal which slices right past the imposing cooling towers of the decommissioned Fiddlers Ferry power station we arrived at our lunch spot – the Ferry Tavern. There a handy covered bandstand provided a sheltered spot to sip pints and eat our sandwiches—or in Chi and Brandon’s case, cook spam-fried rice. There was just enough time for me to perform a tap-dance on the stand before we set off again.
Picking our way through Warrington a tropical monsoon rolled in, and in about half a second we were drenched—oh well—it was 20 degrees and sort of pleasant with the right mindset. Grinding on, we eventually reached the old railway line at Thelwall, a recognisable part of the Trans Pennine Trail most cyclists living in South Manchester will know. It’s a seemingly laser-straight line of fine sandy gravel through Lymm, Dunham and eventually emerging at the arse end of Altrincham. Bicyclists with less resolve would take the canal at this point but we kept on the TPT for a fun section through Carrington Moss and over the M60 to meet the Mersey once again before surfacing back into civilisation in the expensive dog realm of Chorlton.
Cruising back into the city on a golden late-summer evening was a treat and we arrived at the shop just as the light began to fade, frazzled and happy, minds fixed on what to have for tea.
Thank you to our friends at Brompton, and wander, all the riders who made it and to Callum Howard for the photographs.
