Canal Loop to Ozzy Mills

A lovely ride along the Hyndburn Greenway with a well-earned tea/cake break at Ozzy Mills. This is a slow paced ride aimed at encouraging beginners/returners to cycling (we can speed it up/slow it down depending on who attends but we will ride at the pace of the slowest member). Almost the whole route is green and traffic free with trees, flowers, wildlife and some history so do come along. This route is suitable for hybrid and mountain bikes.

It's a good idea to bring a bike lock, money (for the cafe), suncream and/or waterproof (check the weather reports) and your own drinks/snacks if you wish. Helmets are advisable but please don't worry if you don't have one. Just come along and, if you enjoy the ride and want to do more, you might consider investing in one for the future.

We will make our way from the park to the Woodnook Greenway, a traffic free, leafy descent into Accrington. In Accrington we pass the Scaitcliffe Lake via the new causeway and make our way towards the foot/cycle path on Scaitcliffe Street. From there we join the path along the side of the railway and enjoy the paddock which may have horses grazing.

We continue traffic free down into Church. In Church we will cross the junction as pedestrians before making our way via quiet residential streets towards the old church.

After the church we follow the road towards the canal and some great views over the countryside. We don't join the canal here but continue on the Rishton Greenway for a while with great views of Pendle and Hambledon Hill.

We then join the canal and follow the deceptively long loop back towards Church. This section of the canal is flat but narrower in many places than regular canal users may be used to - children are welcome on the ride but only if they are confident cyclists, please contact me if you are not sure. After taking the canal loop we leave the canal behind and make our way up to Ozzy Mills where we can have a brew/cake etc and refuel before making our way along our only real hill to return to the park. If you want any more information or to check if this ride is for you then please email [email protected] or telephone 07854 833182.