There are loads of great things to have come out of Rochdale – from the co-operative movement to Gracie Fields and Lisa Stansfield… and the wonderful moorland roads you find in the triangle between there, Burnley and Huddersfield.

I tried to put a route together around here for Britain for Bikers, but just couldn’t get it to flow right. I’ve revisited the idea a couple of times since before admitting defeat and asking for help. So big thanks to Brian for providing the final pieces of the puzzle that have brought it all together.

At three hours long, the route’s actually too long to have made it into Britain for Bikers anyway (those routes are supposed to be two hours) but the extra bit Brian showed me takes it to another level. There are still a couple of towns to cross, but now there’s twice as many marvellous moorland miles to enjoy. Catch it on a sunny heatwave afternoon and it’s as great a ride as any in the north of England – now that's got to be good for the soul.