Another Wiltshire tour

It's Spring, and a few fine days are forecast, so it's time for a camping trip.   Searching for inspiration,  I thought of Swindon, as you do.  Well, that general area, anyway.

No tent this time, just a tarp and bivi bag.  I plan to wild camp if possible: camp sites prefer you to have a tent.  Train to Reading, and I was off.

Also seen at Southall

Soon I was in wooded countryside splashed by dappled sunlight and waves of bluebells.  Hardly a car in sight.  Woods gradually gave way to the open fields of the Berkshire downs and I made good progress with a decent tail wind at my back.  It was the sort of ride you dream of, only with a much heavier bike.

It was rolling countryside but there was a lot of flat roads or gentle hills, sheer delight with a tail wind.  Before long I reached East Ilsley on the A34, an old lunchtime venue when I worked out that way.  I would have never have believed that one day I would cycle there!  After the A34 there were a few steeper hills, but the same wide open countryside.   

Lunch stop

Tea was in Lambourn, my fourth visit in my lifetime.  Approached up the river valleys, it was a nice ride but a rubbish tea stop, as the only cafe was closed. 

 

For some reason I decided to go through Swindon, following an old railway path around the south, but it was accessed alongside busy roads in and out of Swindon, and I didn't see the nice bits of Swindon, so it would have been better to avoid it.  Around here I heard and saw an American B1 bomber fly over - I hope it wasn't going to Iran.

Tea in Royal Wootton Bassett, and I started to think about where to camp.  Most of the field gates are padlocked, and there aren't many woods, so it was looking tricky.

When I started looking properly for places to camp, there were plenty of options.  In the end I explored a bridleway near Compton Bassett which led to a field, empty except for a few startled deer, and pitched there, using my new Army "middle weight" sleeping bag for the first time.   It's great, except for the size and the weight.  Roomy and warm, but it's massive even when packed up small, and it weighs over 2kg.   Worth it for a good night's sleep on a cold night.  Under a clear, starry sky, it was a very cold night, and I was just warm enough.  With no light pollution,  I could see the Milky Way and thousands of stars.

A funny thing happened in the morning.  I was packed and away by 7am.  I had to go back through another field to get back to the road, and I was spotted by a herd of maybe thirty young cows in the next field, who started trotting towards me - there was no gate.  I rode past the gate and up the rather lumpy side of the field.  When I looked behind me, they were trotting along right behind me!   Luckily they were quite shy and stayed a couple of yards away.   Once through the gate and onto the road, I asked them to pose for a photo.

The sun was just rising through traces of mist, and the birds were in full song.  Breakfast at an excellent bakers in Devizes, and then I turned east into the wind for the ride back.  It wasn't quite as much fun as the way out, but the scenery was still lovely.  It seemed more hilly but it was probably the wind.   

I was sort of following the Taunton to Reading railway, but with extra lumps and bumps.  11s in a craft shop at Pewsey, and then by rights I should have gone to Hungerford and Newbury, but we went that way on the Easter Tour, so I went to the south of them both.   It was fairly sparsely populated but some of the villages are beautiful.   If you didn't have a thatched roof, you would feel you were letting the side down.

Pewsey

Gorgeous off-road

Kennet & Avon canal

Ecchinswell

Lunch at Shalbourne, sitting outside the pub watching the world not going by, and then tea at Kingsclere, south east of Newbury.  I went past Sydmonton, where Andrew Lloyd Webber lives, but I could only see a grand entrance.  I was making good progress but my legs were empty, so I needed to think about where to stop.

Before looking for a campsite, I refuelled at a pub in Heckfield, south of Reading. After passing a lot of padlocked field gates and fenced-off woods, I found a delightful small wood, and just along a path found a perfect place under some trees.  I was just starting to set up when a lady with dog came right past and said a friendly hello.  I decided to move on, as I don't really want people to know where I'm camping.

Anyway, there was another pretty good spot just up the road, in a wood behind some rhododendrons, very sheltered from the wind and feeling warmer than last night.  I slept soundly after just over 80 miles riding.

I was in the vicinity of the old Roman settlement of Silchester and riding round some of the lovely roads Graham Hill has led rides on. Next morning I found a road I hadn't been on before, and then I found out why.   The Cycle.travel website had included a short section of bridleway in my route, which I was happy with, but it crossed a river and there was no ford.  Not to worry; I rerouted to a nearby road that crossed the river.   Unfortunately that too had a wide, deep ford with no bridge. The next detour was longer but worked out well, and I threaded my way through Wokingham, dodging loads of cycling schoolchildren, to get back to the countryside between Reading and Windsor.

An omen?

Ford 1

Ford 2

It was 24 miles before I found a breakfast stop, but by then I was on familiar roads back to Windsor and home. Just another 25 flat miles, a bit of a slog against the wind, to get back home.

In hindsight, train out, ride home was not the best strategy with an easterly wind.   But it was a very scenic trip, and I'm sure my legs will forgive me eventually.

Wednesday: Reading to Compton Bassett

Thursday: Compton Bassett to Heckfield

Friday: Heckfield to home