Heath & Stanley Ferry

Monday 26th May 2008 a very pleasant ride out comprising Steve & Joe McCarthy, Andy, Tom, Matthew & Joe Lowery & Martin Dearnley. The route was complex and one or two wrong turnings. The weather was fine but chilly with some strong winds. Packed lunch was eaten at Pugneys. We stopped at Sandal Castle to have a look round & some took advantage of the hills by rolling down them!

We then carried on into the beautiful Heath village and then to Kirkthorpe before following a path to Stanley Marina. Click "View Larger Map" & you'll be able to zoom in/out and switch between map & satellite view to follow the route.



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At Stanley Marina there is very large pub/restaurant (2 for one). It was very popular with lots of families dining on this Bank Holiday Monday. We all had a drink, a rest, and made use of the "facilities".
We carried on into Wakefield on the side of the river/canal & returned home via the Wakefield-Horbury cycle path which starts at Thornes Park.
As we were climbing up into Horbury Steve McCarthy had an unfortunate accident. No knowing his own strength he completely broke his chain. Unable to carry on - we had to abandon him and promised to return with a car.

A total distance according to Google Maps of 21.5 miles which with wrong turns etc is likely to be a cycling distance of 22.5 miles. We were out for 5 hours with quite a few stops for drinks & lunch.