Return to Marlborough

From Malmesbury there were hills.  I was on top of one most of the way to Wootton Bassett, or Royal Wootton Bassett,  as I  corrected by a local cyclist (who also felt it necessary to brief me on all the hills between RWB and Marlborough).

 

It was time to have a proper lunch, instead of all the café meals or meal deals, so I stopped at The Cross Keys for a proper Sunday lunch before tackling the aforementioned hills.

 

Royal Wootton Bassett 

For John

The final fifteen miles from Royal Wootton Bassett can be summed up as hills. Three ridges to be climbed, fairly steep up, and gentle, long and lovely on the way down. I think much of it was the route we rode to the Cheam & Morden Easter Tour in 2017, but in reverse. In sunny, cool weather with a brisk headwind, it was invigorating and enjoyable.

 

Climbing over the Ridge Way,
with white horse

Sweeping back into sunny Marlborough was most unlike my last frozen visit in January.  I had completed the loop after ten months.  I've very much enjoyed cycling in Wiltshire.  A combination of the open rolling hills and great views in the east, sand smaller scale, intimate valleys and woods to the west.  Plenty of beautiful towns, and masses of grand manor houses and stately homes.  And hippos.  Add a bit of seaside, and it would be nearly perfect!

 

Marlborough: lovely place,
huge market place spoiled by a car park

But that's the beauty of cycling in different areas.  Every part has different geography and so the terrain, the roads, the hills, the towns and the views are different from cycling near home.  Every county seems to have its own cycle routes, so it's easy to plan a route.

Home from Marlborough involved a ride to Hungerford to get a train.  Not the A4 this time (which was perfectly OK last time, but a planned route on small roads to the north of the canal, much quieter and scenic.  It may have been the predecessor to the A4.

At Reading, I discovered that there were no trains from Ascot, only buses.  I didn't  fancy a ride from Ascot, so I caught the Elizabeth line to Ealing Broadway,  which worked out fine.

Home by 7pm: nearly 200 miles and 3,000 metres of climbing on the clock; 7% left in the Garmin, 17% in the phone  and 3% in the legs.  Roll on next time.

The Cotswolds

Devizes

I got to my chosen camping spot by the locks about 30 mins before sunset.  Too early.  It was still busy with dog walkers.  I sat on a bench, looking innocent, to eat my tea, a Chicken Tikka Slice, with a giveaway apple for pudding.  Several houses have "help yourself" boxes of apples outside at this time of year.

Catching a Pike

 

My chosen spot was under an oak tree by one of the lakes that feeds water to the staircase of locks.  But I realised it was visible from a walk from a car park to the top of the locks, so found a more secluded spot further down.

Another cold night, but not uncomfortable this time.  No tarp, as no rain was forecast, but a full moon made it difficult to get to sleep, despite the fact that it was gone 8pm.

 

Camping spot before dawn

I woke at 6.15 and decided to get up although it was still dark.  Got under way in the first light of dawn, misty locks looking coldly beautiful, as I regretted not bringing full finger gloves.  4 degrees according to Garmin.

The pretty town of Melksham was my first stop, except  I didn't  stop, as it was closed and I was too cold.  Leaving along Forest Road, after a few miles I turned onto Forest Lane for another few miles.  I never got to see the forest.    [Edit:  I discovered later that there is a village called Forest.  Also a place called Tiddleywink very near my route a bit further on!] I was on a vast plain dotted with a few lumpy hills, easy cycling.  Lacock came up next, beautiful and dominated by Lacock Abbey (National Trust).

Lacock Abbey

Now I crossed the A4, going north, and entered the Cotswolds AONB.   Breakfast at 8.30, at The White Horse at Biddlestone, well, outside, as it was closed, so I ate my meal deal from last night: a sort of yoghurty, oaty, chocolatey thing, followed by a ham sandwich. Saw a few cyclists going through on their Sunday rides.

 

Breakfast at Biddlestone 

A few more flattish miles northwards, including a stretch on the Fosse Way, a few more stately home type places, and it was time for elevenses at Malmesbury,  a bigger town with an Abbey, plenty of shops, and hills.  It was nearly ten o'clock; would anywhere be open?  In the market square I saw hordes of cyclists, and I knew I'd come to the right place.

More wildlife

Elevenses

To be continued...

I Rode the Rode Road (and the Rode Road Won)

After my amazing start to the day, the rest of the morning was a bit of a let-down.  Just lovely countryside, quiet roads, a few hills, a castle or two.  Not a single ride through an epic country estate.  
 

The Rode Road

I stopped for elevenses at Westbury, and headed north, where I rode the Rode road (to Rode), met a few cyclists, and a nervous horse whose rider asked me to say "Hi Trojan".  Funny name for a woman, I thought.

 

What is this?

Farleigh Hungerford Castle

I was planning on lunch at Bradford on Avon, but got side-tracked by a nice pub just before.  This demoted Bradford on Avon to simply a tourist stop, which it excels at.  It's on the Avon, and to the south is flat, but to the north is a near-cliff where a lot of the town is built.  I mainly explored the south side.  A very picturesque place and well worth a longer visit, perhaps on foot.

From there, ten miles of Kennet & Avon canal towpath led to Devizes for tea, well, refreshments and tea shopping.  What can I say about the towpath?  It's nice.  Fairly flat, at first.  Decent surface although not tarmac.  Good views. Sunny.  A few boats moving about, and lots moored.  And I saw a kingfisher.

Near Devizes, there's a hill, Caen Hill, hence a staircase of 25 locks, going up to Devizes.  I'm going to try to camp near there tonight.

Caen Hill locks

From a field near Gillingham . to an autumn safari..

I arrived to an audience of very suspicious cows in the next field.  The rain shower had passed quickly to a nice evening with gentle winds.   It's due to be cold tonight - 6°C, so I have a three season sleeping bag and two sleeping mats, one for warmth and one for comfort, plus bivi bag and tarp in case it rains.  And some warm clothes, just in case.

I had a leisurely evening meal, after pitching the tarp to avoid cowpats (I hope).  Cornish Pasty and Dorset Apple Cake from the café in Broad Chalke.  It was delicious.   There were midges about but they weren't biting - maybe too late in the season.  A bit later on a bat or two were flitting over the tarp, feasting on the midges.  Lights out by 7.30 pm.

It was a long, cold night.  I put on every bit of watm clothing, and that kept nearly merely cool until about 6.15, when dawn was stealing over the landscape and the cows came over to say good moo-rning, a noisy form of alarm clock.  The tarp was dripping with dew but I was dry underneath: a success.  I took a long time wiping the tarp dry, and by the end I had freezing hands.

Then followed a magical fifteen miles of cycling, on NCN25.  The mist was lying in the valleys, with scarlet and gold trees emerging in the morning sun.  After visiting Zeals (famous from its road sign on the A303), I climbed a valley to Stourton, an estate or possibly a National Trust village with extensive gardens.  Worth a visit, I would say.  NCN25 ignores the signs saying Only Estate Vehicles, and draws up in state outside the Palladian mansion.  There were also two cafes, in case you were wondering.

Stourton

Up along the top of the ridge for quite a way, enjoying the views, before turning into Longleat.  More signs; Ticket Holders Only Past This Gate (more like a triumphal arch), which NCN25 also ignores, taking you right to the house itself, which may or may not be Palladian, but was all done up for Halloween and Christmas visitors.

View

Longleat

Past the house, a sign said " Danger: Wild Animals". I sniggered, thinking perhaps there were some wild sheep or horses. Then I saw the hippos. Through another No Entry sign (you have to be either confident, or desperate) and I went past the Safari Park, with a distant view of a herd of giraffe. ?giraffes?

Hippos

Thousands of spiders' webs

Giraffes

The best thing: since I planned thevroute in January, and was riding it in reverse, I had no idea that there treats were in store for me.  Brilliant.

Wiltshire reboot

Leaving home at 5.30 to catch the first train heightens the adventure.  Sharing the road with a few buses, foxes and the odd car, you make fast progress through a series of green traffic lights and empty junctions.  Already at 6am, a dozen or more commuters were at Surbiton on their way to the daily grind.  My daily grind would involve the rolling hills of Wiltshire, as I headed south from Andover and west to Salisbury and then towards Gillingham.

My first, memorable,  wild camping trip was to Wiltshire, in January.  I abandoned it after one day and night, principally due to very icy roads and short daylight hours.  It's time to return.

Originally planned for the end of September, but postponed by workmen causing a gas leak in our house, it had to be delayed to early October.  The original plan to continue where I left off at Marlborough isn't possible because of train strikes, so I'm doing it in the reverse direction,  starting at Andover again, as I did on that freezing January day when temperatures rarely got above freezing all day.

Quickly out of Andover into the lanes, threaded between the vast skies and the vast fields, with an occasional patch of woodland for variety.  It was lovely cycling with almost no traffic, through pretty villages.  Every hill had a wonderful view.  I arrived at Salisbury just in time for elevenses, after just over thirty miles.

Monxton

Nether Wallop

View

Autumn colours

Old Sarum Castle, outer fortifications 

Inner fortifications 

The afternoon was more straightforward. I joined the valley of the river Chalke, and followed a gradually rising road for maybe 12 miles, stopping at a community cafe in one of the villages, Broad Chalke, for lunch. At the head of the valley neay Shaftesbury, the landscape became decidedly lumpy - the Blackfown Hills? - and a tea stop was necessary to refuel. It was warmer but not so sunny, so there are fewer pictures.

There seem to be plenty of large estates and manor houses round here, so there is a bit of money around.  After tea and a few more hills, I was in Blackmore Vale, flatter farming country.   I started looking for a camping spot, but all the fields seemed to be very well secured.  Eventually I found a dead end road, just into Dorset near Gillingham, with several good options.  It was too early to camp (needs to be nearly dark for wild camping), so I went to Gillingham in search of refreshment, in a brief and heavy rain shower.

A successful first day.