Autumn tour day 2 - Milton Keynes? Bucks and Northants

I was up early and on the road by 8am.  I thought I was coming into Milton Keynes, but surprisingly it was Newport Pagnell, overshadowed by its famous M1 service station.  In fact, I was only half wrong: Newport Pagnell is conjoined with the much bigger Milton Keynes.   

Newport Pagnell is a regular little town with shops, roads, people and so on, but I couldn't tell you about Milton Keynes.  I went through the north of it on 'the Railway Path', maybe five miles of  old railway, lined with trees and slightly uphill all the way.  Of Milton Keynes I saw nothing - no cars, a few backs of houses, and a few cryptic signs to places like Wolvercote and CMK (central Milton Keynes?).  Emerging out the other side, I also dodged Stony Stratford and followed a few more miles of cycle path alongside various roads, with occasional subways to change sides.   Easy, safe cycling, but soulless.   

Buckingham University, The Radcliffe Centre

Back on the lanes, I was now in Buckinghamshire, somewhat more rolling than yesterday, and heading to the bustling town of Buckingham itself for elevenses.   The way out of town was along a grand avenue leasing to Stowe - I went through the first grand entrance, and saw the second, even grander, entrance, but turned off & never saw Stowe itself.

One of a pair of entrance houses to Stowe

The Avenue, Stowe (2nd entrance in the distance)

Weston

Definitely hilly now, nothing huge but continuous ups and downs.  The little villages were pretty, with a lot of Cotswold style stone and a bit of thatch here and there.  Veering north into Northamptonshire, I stopped at Canons Ashby for late lunch at the National Trust cafe for the Tudor Manor house.  There seem to be quite a few big estates around.

Church at Canons Ashby

After lunch, the hills got serious as I headed north towards Daventry and Rugby.  At the top of the hill, I would be greeted by a vast plain ahead of me - great!  But the route seemed to find another big hill, and another.  Daventry was a mix of old fashioned High Street with a lot of modern surroundings, and some nice cycle paths.

Grand house

Grand house

Eventually I found the plain and picked up a bit of speed, but I needed food.  Stopped at the Co-op in Crick and couldn't resist a four-pack of jam doughnuts, reduced to 75p.  It felt good, but also bad, so I gave two of them to a couple of workmen.  In return, they offered to do me a new roof.

It was plain sailing for the last ten miles, crossing the M1, the grand Union canal, and getting almost to Rugby, but I stopped in a farm campsite in Catthorpe, where I found the only flat pitch and had time to shower before walking to the excellent pub.  Luxury.

Back at the tent, it was another clear night, but the moon wasn't up, so I could see millions of stars.  It was already very cold, so I put every item of clothing on, and settled into a deep sleep.

It got down to 3 degrees overnight, but I was wrapped up warmly.  In the morning, the tent was dripping with dew, and it was a chilly 7 degrees.  Outside, it was thick mist.  I spent an age trying to wipe the tent as the dew was still settling.  It wasn't very appealing to go for a bike ride, so I went to the farm shop to consider my options over breakfast.  To make matters worse, my overnight warm hat had given me a hairstyle like 1970s David Bowie.

Setting off from the campsite

I'd had a hilly 65 mile route planned, into the Cotswolds, but the forecast was for mist all day, so there would be nothing to see, and it might be dangerous on the roads.  If I was going to abandon the ride, I could either ride to Banbury (20 miles), or Rugby (2 miles).  The ride to Rugby settled it, and I got a train home to Watford from there.  £11 to Watford Junction, and then free on the Lioness & Mildmay lines to Richmond.  Not bad.

So that was the rather abrupt end of my planned four day trip.  I would have persevered if I'd been trying to get somewhere - but this trip was all about enjoying the countryside.   It will still be there another time.

In hindsight, I wouldn't use the tiny, lightweight tent for a multi-day trip again.  It's OK on a dry day with no overnight dew.  But if there's dew, it's hard to manoeuvre inside it without the inner touching the wet outer.   And it would be extremely difficult to pack up camp in the rain.  Worth the extra kilogram for a two-man tent.

Day 2 Emberton-Catthorpe

< Day 1

Mini autumn tour day 1 - Bedfordshire

A week of fine weather, and a few free days, so it's time to go camping!  I scratched around for somewhere new and nearby,  came up with a blank stripe of the map north of Bedford, Buckingham and Oxford.  Not quite the midlands; maybe northern south England?

A train to Bedford saved a day's ride out, so I took the Elizabeth Line to Farringdon & then Thameslink to Bedford.  Gosh, Farringdon is a busy station!  I was only there ten minutes, and four trains came through the sole Northbound platform, trains to Peterborough, St Albans, Cambridge and Bedford, and from all over the south of England.  I'd packed light, banking on dry and not-too-cold nights, with my tiny lightweight coffin-sized tent.

Bedford

My plan was to do a loop eastwards first, to visit the village of Sandy, before turning back westwards.  Bedford is situated on the river Great Ouse, with smart old houses along its grassy bank.  I rode out along the river, a delightful  cycle path meandering around several lakes and different waterways.  It was warm enough while riding, with the sun trying but generally not managing to shine through the flat clouds. Then across flat, open countryside with a few lovely villages, beautiful autumn foliage and berries and picture-perfect thatched cottages.

Autumn riding

Sandy was a nice village despite its proximity to the thundering A1.  I turned north and east to loop back to Great Barford for lunch at the local convenience store.

After lunch, the hills started.  Straight after lunch, very cruel, a stiff 18 metre climb, and immediately followed by the other hill of the day, even worse at 25 metres!  To be a bit more serious it was rolling countryside,  almost never flat but no big or steep hills either.  There weren't many notable villages, just open countryside and big views, and the remaining 30 miles passed pleasantly and uneventfully. 

Riseley

I arrived at the village of Emberton, which is in the "County" of Milton Keynes but still well in the countryside.  I ended up at a farm campsite with one other camper van in the field, pitched up and went straight to the pub, which was packed at 6pm.  A good choice.  They had no food but a speciality German hot dog van was parked outside.  It was the wurst.  They offered up to four free toppings, so I had them all, resulting in a delicious hot dog that was impossible to eat politely.

No photos of me eating it.

By 8pm I was back at the campsite.  A huge globe of a moon hung low in the sky, blotting out most of the stars, and I went to sleep to the soft sound of the emus(!) in the next field.

Day 1. Bedford to Emberton

Day 2 >