Report by - John (the wheel)
Group - JOHN (GAS GAS EC 300), MIKE (YAMAHA TTR 250), GARY (YAMAHA WR 250F), ALAN (YAMAHA WR 250F), ANDY (KTM EXC 450)
Date - Saturday 27 June 2009

Meeting up in Stalybridge at 10am, we set off towards the Woodhead lead by Mike, who led us down a couple of lanes to Mottram cutting where we joined the main road and headed towards Holmfirth.

Our first lane led us down the side of a reservoir surrounded by woodland, but as we took a right turn on to the next lane , we were met by a TRO sign, (Traffic Regulation Order) which stated the TRO had been put in place from April last year, whilst repairs were to be undertaken, and was due to be lifted this July. We ended up doubling back to the main road, where we checked the map to find the best way to continue to the next lane.

After a couple of wrong turns and more looking at the map, we arrived at the start of a long wide lane which took us on towards Holmfirth. Another long trail, then a bit off road work brought us to the byway near the village of Victory, where we had to squeeze past the farmers car, then go over the pile of rubble that he presumably dumped at some time to try and put people off using the lane.

Deep muddy ruts, Great Stuff !!!! As I looked back to the rest of the group, I could see that someone had got into a bit of trouble, it was Mike, I think the foot pegs on his ttr had scraped on the deep ruts and chucked him off. No harm done, we continued to the next lane, a mixture of bricks, rocks and some more ruts.

We then got to a steep downhill track which we approached with caution, it was a rocky winding track like the ones you find in the peak district. More muddy ruts, then a long rocky lane that came out on the Penistone road.

We stopped for fuel and some lunch at Lane Head at about 1 o'clock. Another nice lane, then some roadwork up to Denby Dale, the lane there was quite slippery as the route weaved through some woodland and past an old working mine. We noticed Alan had lost his number plate? We waited for a while, as Alan and Mike backtracked in search of it. With the number plate found, Alan tied it to the back of his rucksack as the holder had snapped. The next lane was a tight uphill track through a wooded area with a stream crossing at the start, we all agreed this was the best lane of the day, with its thick muddy rutted surface.

So we decided to go back down it, before continuing on towards Silkstone, picking up the lane where the old railway used to be. Out of Silkstone, we tried another lane but came to a dead end. We then picked up the short trails around Penistone which brought us out in Thurlstone, where we rode a couple of really long lanes around the wind turbines at Spicer Hill. We then started to head back to Manchester taking in the rutted byway at the top of the Woodhead, which i found to be a bit easier than in the past, with it being dry. We did come across a restricted byway notice on the next lane, so we ended up following the road down into Tintwistle.

Andy turned off for Glossop, leaving the four of us to do the last remaining lanes near Mottram, before getting back into Stalybridge around 5pm. Some good lanes, most new to some of the group, and fine weather all day.

Roll on the next one

John