Why Lancashire. My first time riding in Lancashire. We were heading up to see friends, so we planned a loop round Rivington and Belmont on the way, and it was the first route we’d ever planned ourselves.
What do you know about Wigan? We stopped in a car park at Platt Bridge, on the edge of Wigan, ten miles from Rivington. Glyn asked what I knew about Wigan. Nothing. I’d seen an arch on the map. He said I had low expectations. I asked if he’d seen where I came from. A few miles later I took it all back: Wigan is beautiful. Glyn pointed out we probably weren’t in Wigan any more. Technically correct. Still, Wigan for the win.
Which barn? We put Rivington Hall Barn in the sat-nav, because that’s the name everyone gives you, and it took us up the hill to the upper barn. A wedding venue, an empty car park, and the two of us looking at each other. It does have bike history: riders have met there on Sundays for years, and around 300 bikers set off from the top barn on the Easter Egg Ride in 2025. Nothing was on the day we went. The café we wanted was Great House Barn, the smaller barn about half a mile down the lane. Same family, same story: both are centuries-old cruck barns restored for Lord Leverhulme, who gave the park round them to the people of Bolton. We found the right one by following the bikes.
Lunch. Great House Barn was packed. We rode round the car park twice before squeezing in between two cars, and then I went looking for somewhere flat enough to put my side stand down without embarrassing myself. Avocado and feta on toasted sourdough for me, a bacon barm for Glyn. Proper food, a step up from a lot of bike-stop cafés, and priced like it. Inside was full, so we sat out among walkers, cyclists and a lot of bikes. Everyone was friendly, but it’s fast in, fast out, and we felt a bit rushed. Ask for the loos and you’ll be sent round the side to the public ones.
Be a good guest. Not everyone loves us here. One review of Rivington Hall Barn, from 2016, said the Sunday bike meets had ruined the place, and the parish council’s own traffic notes mention loud bikes. The park belongs to everyone, walkers and horse riders included, and it’s been protected by an Act of Parliament since 1902. Ride in slowly, park out of the way and keep the revs down, and they’ll keep having us.
Don’t reverse! The lanes are tight and cars park anywhere. On the way out, a driver nearly reversed into Glyn. There was no way he was pushing the Tiger back, and people who don’t ride have no idea what that’s like. Look at the bush he nearly ended up in.
The Belmont loop. Over the moor to Belmont and up the A675. I really needed this. Proper views, a great road, and lots of average speed cameras. They weren’t a problem for us, because we don’t speed, but plenty of drivers didn’t seem sure what the limit was, so expect to sit behind someone.
Chorley FM. Passing Chorley, Glyn said “Chorley FM, coming in your ears”. I had no idea what he was talking about. It’s the radio station in Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, and Glyn said it was made up, as far as he was aware. I said there might be a real one. There was, until 2019. I win. I’ve since watched Phoenix Nights, so I’m a true Brit now.
Victorian reservoirs. The water all round you is why this place looks the way it does. Liverpool got its water from here. An Act of 1847 approved the scheme, and Thomas Hawksley engineered it in the 1850s: Anglezarke and the Upper and Lower Rivington reservoirs to store it, and a pipeline about 17 miles long to two holding reservoirs at Prescot. The first water reached Liverpool in August 1857. Today it mostly goes to Wigan. Of course it does. There are beautiful places to stop all the way round.
What we learned. It took longer to get there than to ride the loop, and the ride there was the best bit. We didn’t film it because we thought it would be dull. Watch the narrow uphill lanes: some are too tight for two cars, and we met plenty of drivers reversing. It’s a good one on a 125: twisty enough to have fun, and nobody pressing you to go faster. The loop is short, so make the ride there part of the day. Next time, the ride up goes on the GPX.
The verdict. Wigan surprised me, Belmont was the reason to come, and the barns are a good stop as long as you watch the drivers and the car park. I think this corner of Lancashire is a secret local riders keep to themselves. Our first self-made GPX worked, somehow. It’s below if you fancy it.
