Couldn't find a specific thread for the massive Loop Line which runs from Halewood to Bootle (and beyond?).

I'll start with a map!

Yaaaay The Ralla:celb (6):

No takers? Bah :)

I'll kick start then with the old station at West Derby!

Brilliant thread :PDT_Piratz_26:

Cheers Kev!

The things you do with a mountain bike and your digi camera.....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eTwR4Fkh0c8

Stretches to Southport dosen't it?

Many a time i been down the Ralla on my bike as a kid.

I was mugged on the loop line aged about 12. Scumbags nicked my brand new bmx, my 'mate' left me and cycled off. :PDT_Xtremez_12:

Anyone remember the story about the 'Clown' on the Ralla?

Think this could go on on the Myths and Legends thread.

Cheers Kev!

The things you do with a mountain bike and your digi camera.....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eTwR4Fkh0c8

oohhh errr.... good thread...wasn't familiar with it til now!:celb (23):

Anyone remember the story about the 'Clown' on the Ralla?

Think this could go on on the Myths and Legends thread.

My Wife remembers the Clown story. she would play near to Alder road. she said she used to go searching for the Clown. she recalls the Clown was meant to be a child killer by rumour( my missus is well ard)

We played on the loop in Childwall.

where did you lot play?

We played on the loop in Childwall.

where did you lot play?

Did you go down the GreenHill on tin plates in the snow? :)

I've been cycling on the Cycle track for about 12 years (I must be tired!:rolleyes: ) since I moved closer to it in Childwall, a regular from Childwall to Halewood and back with only a single 'water stop' when I've reached Halewood!

The approach to West Derby station.....

A close up of the Tunnels leading from West Derby Station through one of the tunnels and to the rear.....

great pics...
i dont know that area at all so nice to see pics.

great pics...
i dont know that area at all so nice to see pics.

You so need to grab a bike and take a trip down there Carrie. It's amazing! I've had some laughs on there, and some scares too. The only daft thing I did was to cycle home from West Derby's Church along the cycle track in the pitch black with no lights on the bike. It's amazingly quiet until you get to the Thomas Lane tunnel and you can't see a bloody thing. You need nerves of steel to try and cycle/walk/run through that at night!!

i will have to get up there with the trusty Bunf...
sounds mightily scary!! :)

My Wife remembers the Clown story. she would play near to Alder road. she said she used to go searching for the Clown. she recalls the Clown was meant to be a child killer by rumour( my missus is well ard)

There was a few stories, one was he drove a motorbike, he was a ghost, but they all ended up the same, he would kill you :eek:

Going down on my bike towards the Iron Bridge in Broaddway, one of my mates said if you hear a motorbike, race up the sides as its the clown lol. And everytime someone drove down, we were right up the there lol.

Story I remember was that the clown was supposed to be in the real long tunnel that ran under thomas lane before the old railway sidings that sainsburys supermarket is built on now.

If you want to check out some old pics of stations along the loop line I have posted a link below, would loved to have seen some of these stations.

Can anyone remember when the track was still down and running along it ?? I used to walk to and from school via it to Rudston road.

link is

www.disused-stations.org.uk

This is a recent picture I have been sent from a chap who now lives in Mossley Hill. Shows the CLC track with a Steam Train on passing Childwall Station and heading for Broadgreen. Taken just by All Saints - and yes, the picture is as blurred as the scan :)

The Bridge under Sandforth Road

Here's a couple coming out from West Derby station heading towards Sandforth road.

Another one from the Loop line.This time heading towards Halewood with a view towards Fiddlers ferry.

Old Swan/Knotty Ash Tunnel

http://h1.ripway.com/andalucia/tunnel2.gif

http://h1.ripway.com/andalucia/tunnel.gif

Went down the loopline with the mrs at the weekend. It's great; really busy. And we were only nearly mowed down by kids on scramblers once. RESULT

I uusually go first thing in the morning when all the scratters are still in bed with there hands shoved down their undies.

Have any of you ever been to the Aintree end where the path ends and merges into the Wango lane wetlands and the Alt viaduct?

Old Swan/Knotty Ash Tunnel

http://h1.ripway.com/andalucia/tunnel2.gif

http://h1.ripway.com/andalucia/tunnel.gif


I found this. same tunnel but so much nicer


http://h1.ripway.com/andalucia/knotty_ash6.jpg

I found the photo here

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/k/knotty_ash/index.shtml

super super super site. go look what this guy has done. well done to him:handclap:

Here's two I've taken about 10 mins ago while nipping to the shops for a paper. This shows the last tunnel on the Loop Line before it stretched out over towards Childwall Station.

The tunnel is the one under the Greenhill that you can walk across from Bentham Drive to Chelwood Avenue.

The other picture is turning around and taking a shot which will bring you to the metal bridge over Childwall Valley road.

I uusually go first thing in the morning when all the scratters are still in bed with there hands shoved down their undies.

Have any of you ever been to the Aintree end where the path ends and merges into the Wango lane wetlands and the Alt viaduct?


Yes, I've been up there a few times on my bike and joined the Leeds/Liverpool canal on my way to Formby or Ormskirk. Can get a bit confusing around aintree can't it.

Does anyone know where the track goes to at Halewood?It forks off three ways;one onto an estate,one onto a main road and the track itself is fenced off and heads downhill out of sight.I'd love to know where it goes.

Does anyone know where the track goes to at Halewood?It forks off three ways;one onto an estate,one onto a main road and the track itself is fenced off and heads downhill out of sight.I'd love to know where it goes.

Very very occasionally the gates there are open. It leads to a dirt track which itself actually leads on to the platform at Halewood Station. I've cycled up and on to the station without a second glance!

Ah thanks for that.I'd like to go down there one day then I can say I've been right along the loop line.

Yaaaay The Ralla:celb (6):

is that the same ralla i know . behind walton jail. i used to play down the big ditches and walk thought, there was a set of bridges there with 3 acres.

was this part of the loop lane and dose anyone know if there was a station there at one time.

is that the same ralla i know . behind walton jail. i used to play down the big ditches and walk thought, there was a set of bridges there with 3 acres.

was this part of the loop lane and dose anyone know if there was a station there at one time.

Have a gander at - http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/

Last summer i used to ride my bike from east prescot road up to aintree,then all the way down to halewood and back up to east prescot road. hard work but good exercise. Learnt a valuable lesson cycling up the ralla in the summer, NEVER RIDE WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN! Midgies taste horrible!:celb (6):

Last summer i used to ride my bike from east prescot road up to aintree,then all the way down to halewood and back up to east prescot road. hard work but good exercise. Learnt a valuable lesson cycling up the ralla in the summer, NEVER RIDE WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN! Midgies taste horrible!:celb (6):

Hahah - the WORST place is riding towards West Derby station. Here, you are deep in the cutting and all the water drains off either side of the track. In summer the stench is amazing and even worse if you decide to be an arse and fall in it like I once did :rolleyes: :)

Hahah - the WORST place is riding towards West Derby station. Here, you are deep in the cutting and all the water drains off either side of the track. In summer the stench is amazing and even worse if you decide to be an arse and fall in it like I once did :rolleyes: :) Lol i've lived around the queens drive/prescot road area all my life, nothing and i mean nothing beats the smell of the old frog breeding stagnant pond that was there before the loop line was built, would loved to have seen someone fall in and get £200 of beadle lol

Last summer i used to ride my bike from east prescot road up to aintree,then all the way down to halewood and back up to east prescot road. hard work but good exercise. Learnt a valuable lesson cycling up the ralla in the summer, NEVER RIDE WITH YOUR MOUTH OPEN! Midgies taste horrible!:celb (6):

You must have passed me a few times.At that time I used to go from home (near Goodison park) to Aintree then down to Halewood then back to Aintree then home.I used to break this up by cycling past the wetlands at Wango lane and through Melling ,along the canal to Maghull and then to Lydiate.

Try cycling into greenfly instead of midges.They're not as bad.

I think it was known as the raller no matter what district you lived in that it passed through. It can be seen in the A-Z too in case anyone not familiar with it wants to track its route.

a few years ago me and me kids were riding along me son and his mate wee about 100 metres ahead, and these three lads (one with abike and two without) stopped them for a bit then me son rode off and then stopped and waited for me, turns out the lads had been trying to get the bikes off them, so I rode back...jumped off the bike and grabbed the biggest one by the throat (yeah I was more surprised thna they were) gave them a mouth ful then in a a fit of anger I picked up their bike and chucked it down the embankment.Their bike was obviously nicked as it had been overpainted. My kids were well impressed......anyone seen the feral rabbits are they still there??

glad you sorted them Steve :handclap:

Sorry to say but the cycle track is plagued with feral kids, it has got a bad reputation there for that kind of thing. Some people won't use the loop line for that reason.

the clc is swarming with yobs. it all out of the way perfect place for trouble there should be cctv along it

Summer's the time to use it. There were times last summer when more police passed me and the kids on mountain bikes than ordinary cyclists. It's not too bad now between Gateacre and The Broadway bridge, anywhere past either of those and I've always got my angry head on which deters any would be scallys.:angry:

I did the Aintree to Halewood and back run last week and am regretting it as I was still not fully recovered from the flu.

I did the Aintree to Halewood and back run last week and am regretting it as I was still not fully recovered from the flu.

I bet we're all passing each other on the loop line thinking 'scally' :)

We should all wear yoliverpool.com stickers on our face!!

One day I'd love to actually walk from Childwall to Halewood - it's a tad far though I did most of it one time when getting a cracking puncture.

Picture is one of my fav places - the view from the track up to Childwall Church.

The Childwall valley road bridge.

When I got back to Sainsburys on east Prescot road there was police there looking for two Alsation puppies that had escaped.First time I've ever seen a police prescence on the loop.

They do police it from around spring to the beginning of autumn. As I said further up, sometimes they outnumber ordinary cyclists. You might not have recognised them as police as they're casually dressed with white t-shirts on and white cycle helmets, the only real give-a-way is the radio clipped on the back of their kecks.

They do police it from around spring to the beginning of autumn. As I said further up, sometimes they outnumber ordinary cyclists. You might not have recognised them as police as they're casually dressed with white t-shirts on and white cycle helmets, the only real give-a-way is the radio clipped on the back of their kecks.

I wonder if you cracked them on the back of the head as you rode past, they'd chase you aka Police Camera Action style - Smug Alistar Stewart would pop out of no-where in a suit and give a smug commentary: 'the bandit bike is now approaching Thomas Lane Tunnel in hot pursuit by two of the police's best cycling cops. This tunnel is notorious for being dark, and today is no exception'. :badgrin: :lol: :cha (5):

Most of them look healthy enough to give a good chase. One though, you'd have to have been towing a pastie on a piece of string for him to even try. Even his mates were taking the p!$$ out of him. :)

As I've said before,I only use the Loop line first thing in the morning.So there is probably no need to police it that early in the morning as the ratboys are usually still in their manky pits.

I bet we're all passing each other on the loop line thinking 'scally' :)

We should all wear yoliverpool.com stickers on our face!!

One day I'd love to actually walk from Childwall to Halewood - it's a tad far though I did most of it one time when getting a cracking puncture.

Picture is one of my fav places - the view from the track up to Childwall Church.

Many years ago I did walk it from Halewood to Walton,in two separate trips. I was looking to see if anything was left of the old railway [apart from the stations] but the only things I saw were what may have been a trackside gradient marker and a "Do not trespass on the Railway" sign both around Childwall. Good walk though. I did also see a rabbit or two. :) The walk from Maghull to Formby is just as good...well slightly better scenery. ;)

Dave.