A Pinta at Dangerous Corner. By Alan Parker.

Many of us have cycled past Dangerous Corner, but how many of us know why it is called Dangerous Corner? Firstly let me write about days long ago when I cycled with the Liverpool Intermediate section of the CTC visiting this area of Lancashire.

Some of the refreshment stops we used in those days are long gone, such as the Delph Tea Rooms which was in a disused quarry at Parbold. In those early days many cyclists’ had four or five speed derailleur gears to help them ride the hills. Today, many of us use ultra low gears with a triple chainset, which really helps when riding up nearby Parbold Hill, Ashurst’ s Beacon or the climb to Dangerous Corner through Appley Bridge. Present day refreshment stops in this area include nearby Wrightington Hospital café, Cedar Farm and The Barn café by Mawdesley.

It was during a Merseyside CTC club ride to Harrock Hill, led by George Lewis that Ted and I stopped at Dangerous Corner to rejoin the group before continuing to Wrightington Hospital café for lunch. It was shortly after that visit that I learned how Dangerous Corner got its name. For those readers who don’t know this area, let me first explain the road layout. The A5209 road from Parbold to Standish is crossed by the B5375 from Appley Bridge to Robin Hood at Dangerous Corner.

The name Dangerous Corner arises from a local legend about a woman who was being carried to her funeral. When rounding the corner, the coffin fell off the cart and the corpse revived. Some years later she died for real, and this time as the cart approached the corner, her husband cried “Take care, this is a dangerous corner”. The name stuck.

Ted and a friend at "Dangerous Corner."