Cycling coast to coast avoiding crossing any major UK river – day 2

C2C: The Quiet Way — Wirral to Cleethorpes (Avoiding Major Rivers)

Join me on a coast-to-coast cycling adventure across England — from the Irish Sea on the Wirral Peninsula to the North Sea at Cleethorpes.

This isn’t the classic C2C — it’s a custom route designed to avoid major river crossings and keep to quieter, more scenic roads. The journey crosses the country from west to east through the heart of England, following five relaxed but rewarding stages:

1️⃣ Wirral → Chester — rolling out along the Dee Estuary with views of North Wales before turning inland through peaceful lanes.
2️⃣ Chester → Telford — a mix of Cheshire countryside and Shropshire market towns, following quiet backroads and canal paths.
3️⃣ Telford → Coalville — crossing the edge of the Midlands via the Wolverhampton canal network and leafy lanes through rural Staffordshire.
4️⃣ Coalville → Newark — riding through Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, tracing gentle hills and historic villages with old railways and abandoned canals.
5️⃣ Newark → Cleethorpes — a final flat run across Lincolnshire farmland, finishing with sea air and fish & chips on Cleethorpes beach.

Expect footage from the saddle, and reflections from each day’s ride — perfect for anyone planning their own coast-to-coast or looking for a low-traffic, scenic alternative to the main C2C routes taking in canals and old railways.

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full route:
https://www.komoot.com/collection/3934859/-c2c-no-major-rivers?ref=collection

komoot: https://www.komoot.com/user/1681213145680
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/1057497

https://www.instagram.com/bike_ventures_uk/

[Music] Oh, [Music] heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Right. Morning. Welcome back. Day two on the Shropy at the minute. Shropshire and Union Canal. It’s a couple of miles out of Chester. It’s just stopped raining. It’s been raining pretty much since I set off. It’s just got a little bit lighter now. So, today we’re going down towards Telford. Just shy of 60 miles. Um, this bit of the shop is probably the only bit we’re going to do today. And then after that, it’s country lanes. We cross over the Shropshire a few times. We cross over the Angolan Canal as well, which is a branch off of this canal. But today is going to be mainly nice country lanes on the National Cycle Network. So yeah, it’s warm, not cold. So let’s crack on and get going. Just as well, we’ve just missed this first major river this morning. Just as we came out of Chester and got on the Shropy, we’re within half a mile of the river D. So if we’ have kept going, we’d have crossed the D. Oh, we don’t want to do that. So yeah. So we just missed the D and today we’ll be missing primarily the Trent. So let’s go. Right, we’re coming off here at bridge 119. I miss me turning. I can see some blue skies ahead in the sun. So fingers crossed that stays. Oh, that’s a good view, ain’t it? So, that’s looking down on most of where we’ve been. So, over there you’ve got North Wales. We’ve got Elmere Port and the refinery just over there. Uh, so the Whirl must be somewhere there where we were yesterday. Not exactly sure where, but yeah, it’s a nice view that I’m not quite at the top of a one and a half mile climb, but I just saw that and thought I need to capture that. It’s cool. Bit blue sky coming through. It’s just going to be a mixed day, I think. But anyway, done about 12 miles, so let’s crack on. So, I’ve just done a fair bit of climbing, two or three big lumps, getting up onto a ridge line. And I got some nice steady flattish for a bit before a few more lumps and bumps for the day. But the sun’s come out. Yay. So, at least I’ve got You know what I love about riding through the UK countryside is you just see these lovely quaint little villages, lovely picture postcard houses. Just lovely, isn’t it? You know, you can stop at a little village shop and have a chat to the person working there and it’s just that little human interaction. you people that you’re never going to see again. Just nice. I like it. It’s cool. Right. Oh, we’re in crew and bor of crew and n witch now and some traffic lights on a country lane. Amazing. Right, let’s put you back on the bike. [Music] I’m just at Renbury Mill on the Shropy again. Just cross it. There’s a movable bridge there. Look, which I just just missed. So, there’s a boat just gone through and it just changed back to green as I got there. Yeah, it’s a nice little place. Apparently, this pub’s quite good. The Dusty Miller. I think solo biker Dave stopped here with Ian, I think, on one of his sharpie trips recently. I think this year actually. Yeah, it’s supposed to go, but I’m a little bit early unfortunately. It’s only about 10:00 in the morning. What you going to do, but hopefully I can get a point somewhere further on. Just about avoiding the rain. I’ve just had a little shower, but it’s not too bad. We’re about 20 miles in today. So, yeah, we’re going that way. Some lovely little lanes. Just quiet country lanes. You go through a little village, you know, the type of the village hall and maybe a little school. That’s about it. So yeah, let’s crack on. Look at this house on the left here. Awesome. Look at that. Wonderful. So, one thing I’ve got to be very careful of on this route, normally when I’ve plotted a route, you know, some days you might go, “Oh, actually, I fancy going this way.” Or you might see something or read up on something the night before and think, “Well, I’ll tell you that. I’ve got to be very careful on this route that I don’t do that because I can end up crossing a river.” So, I think today wouldn’t be a major problem cuz I’m quite a way away from the Trent today. It’s way over to my left today. But then once I start getting past Wolverampton and heading up towards Leicester, I’m going to be coming close to the Trent and even more so around Newark. So, uh, yeah, just got to be mindful even if there’s a closed road that actually it could put me in a sticky spot. So, just thought of that while I was riding along. Thought I’d share that with you. Anyway, we’re pottering on [Music] Help. [Music] These lanes are lovely. Just very little sign of mankind. They had a little sign or a lamp post of buildings, farms around here. Other than that, it’s lovely. It’s nice to be anywhere. More importantly, away from people, just me and my thoughts on the bike. A lovely place to be. It’s a nice nice space to be in. Peace and quiet. It’s beautiful. It’s what I love about cycling. Just getting out and away from it all. Just peace and quiet. It’s lovely. Here we go. Up to Union Canal again. Just outside Market Draater now at 35 miles. Yeah. Top path looks all right on here, doesn’t it? a little bit less so going that way, which is where I probably would have come from if I’d ridden along the canal. But having done the Chestville Canal the other week, which is a video that’s probably been out before this, I’m very careful where I ride on canals now. H yeah, it’s uh the weather’s holding off. Still cold, but it’s it’s not been bad. So, yeah. Fingers crossed the weather does hold. I mean, it’s pretty gray and murky now. There’s not much sun. Look. So, hopefully holds off. That wind’s a bit chilly now. It seems to have picked up as well, but not bad. Right, let’s crack on. It’s about lunchtime. Yeah, think I’m going to get drenched in a minute. Just coming out of Market Drain now and there’s a hillside coming up and it looks like it’s raining quite a bit over there. So that bridge there, that’s the canal above us. Oh, I’m glad I didn’t decide I was going to get on there. I mean, it’s clearly a foot path. It’s not designed for bikes that it’s wide, isn’t it? Painting it down persistently as well. It’s got a nice view there. Look, car coming. There you go. There’s the canal again. I don’t know if this is the Langoff branch now. No idea. We’re about 5 miles outside of Newport, which if you watched our jog trip was day six. So, I know there’s a Greg’s there. I’m going to grab a a hot drink cuz I’ve emptied that one. just got cold. I’ve just got drenched for about 45 minutes and that wind’s just got a chill to it. So, I’m going to grab a warm drink before I roll down the NCN into Telford past Mod Donington. But yeah, it’s a nice little stretch that isn’t it? Still not even stopped for me dinner. I don’t feel hungry. I’ve got a pasti in me pocket. But them kites. See them? Beautiful. Look at them. I was reading not long ago that uh kites are actually becoming more populous in the UK now, which is good. They were on the decline, but they’re actually on the up again, which is great seeing. You always see crows chasing them. I don’t know if the camera catches it. Can you see them? The crow chasing them off, which is lovely. Look at that one. Oh, that’s beautiful. Look at that. It coming back now. Now just on the wind there above the trees. Awesome. It’s lovely to see. There’s the other one. Look. Look at that. Awesome. Lovely to see stuff like that. It really is. And that’s kind of thing you see on a bike. You can appreciate if you’re in a car. Totally miss it. Right. Let’s plot on. That’s any better. There you go. Look at that. It’s a beauty, ain’t it? So, where are we? Cet Wind. Cetwin Deer Park is down there about 2 milesi from Newport now. Yeah. So, I’d stop and show you. And if you fancy owning a property in that style, what I’m guessing used to the vicorage, it’s for sale just down there. So, there you go. Right. Tell you what, it don’t look like it’s rained at all here. Born dry here. My hands are still my gloves are absolutely wet through. My jacket’s still a bit wet. Never mind. Right, let’s get going. Get to Newport. Get a nice nice hot drink. [Music] [Music] Everyone knows everyone is such a large county. Yeah. Whenever I speak to you the last in Newport. Fantastic. Lovely food, lovely beer, nice company. got chatting to a lovely lovely lady at the bar and the barman was fantastic. Look at that. What a perfect little uh mantra cuz every country pub I’ve gone past today has been closed and this one was open. So happy days. Had a lovely pint in there. So yeah, if you’re passing this way on the NCN 55 I think it is. Jobs are good. All right. So, still on route 55. Just dropping into Telford now, which has got fantastic cycling infrastructure. Telford. Really good. Named after Sir Thomas Telford, famous engineer. So, yeah. So, we got last mile or two and then in the hotel for the night. Happy days. Heat. Heat. destination. for the day. Travel stuff as well. Third or fourth time I think we’ve stayed here on a bike trip. But it’s it’s conveniently located to me and the kids. And actually today it was convenient cuz it was 60 mi and it 60 odd tomorrow. So yeah, it was quite good. But you know what? I enjoyed that today. I thought with it being mainly country lanes, it would be a bit dull, but actually it was really nice. I enjoyed it. It kept going over the canals, so that was quite nice to see. And yeah, just nice bike lanes. That pub stop was definitely needed. That was nice. But yeah, just a really lovely, lovely meander through the British Cheshire and Shropshire countryside. So yeah, so I’m going to go and get a brewing changed. See you tomorrow. [Music]