August camping in Kent, day 3

<< Day 2

As it had all gone better than planned on day 2, there is a lot less to report today.

My camping spot was great, if a little near a quiet footpath.   Loads of bird calls, which suddenly went quiet maybe half an hour after sunset.   I woke at 5.30 but decided to have a lie-in, since it is Sunday and I had nothing with me for breakfast.   Which was a bit of a mistake, as I was spotted by a dog-walker as I was just finishing packing up.  It must have been obvious that I'd been camping, but he said nothing apart from calling his curious dog.

Planes, trains and bicycles near Gatwick

Back on the Worth Way by 7am, which took me into the maze of Crawley, and then on a very convoluted path through Gatwick airport.   A sign says "Cyclists take care" but this is not because of low-flying planes, fast motor traffic or anything like that, it's just that the cycle path (NCN 21) winds around buildings, pillars, car parks with very poor signage.   I got to Horley just after 8, and indulged a fabulous two-course breakfast with lashings of coffee.   My original plan was to ride to Caterham station and get a train home, but I had plenty of time to ride home.  So it was familiar (to Wayfarers) roads back to Brockham, elevenses in Leatherhead, and home around lunchtime.  Plenty of time to air all my gear in the hot afternoon sun.   And I met Maureen, Lillian and Ed near Leatherhead, on their way to Brockham for their elevenses!

It was a fabulous trip, especially the outward part through the Weald and along to the Military Canal.  The return was great too, varied and hilly but without the amazing views from the ridges of the High Weald.  Plenty of nice cafe stops too.  I was a bit worried that 16 miles of disused railway (Forest Way and Worth Way Tunbridge Wells-East Grinstead-Crawley) might be rather boring, but it was most enjoyable, partly because I met the father and daughter doing their first camping trip, who were great company.

Just short of 200 miles with about 3,400m of climbing.  I'd recommend it.

Planned route (I rode straight home after Horley)

August camping in Kent, day 2

<< Day 1

A funny thing about Kent: there's no wildlife.  Well, maybe the odd sparrow, and a few farmed pheasants.  But you expect more when riding and camping.  A deer or two, rabbits, even an ants nest?  Nothing.  It was eerily quiet in the wood.  Okay, there were a few midges.  And a distant owl.

Later I saw a badger that was both dead and alive with maggots.  Thousands of them, as if they were in a badger shaped bowl.  The badger doesn't count as wildlife though, because of the lack of life.  Although I suppose you could count the maggots as wildlife, in which case Kent is absolutely crawling with wildlife.  I don't count maggots as wildlife though, which I suppose is a bit prejudiced.

Thinking more about this, the farmed pheasants don't count as wildlife either, because of the "wild" part.  Leaving an owl and the midges.  And maggots, or not.

Bodiam Castle for breakfast

Packed and away by 6am, I had the lanes mostly to myself as I continued east in the cool dawn sunshine.  More magnificent ridge riding, majestic views, and more serious undulations.  Breakfast at Bodiam Castle (7.30am, it was closed), then along Top Road along the scarp. 16th century cyclists would have had a great view of the sea, until the tide went out permanently leaving Rye high and dry.  Soon, I crossed the Kent and East Sussex railway, whose easterly point was... Bodiam.  Was there no escape frem East Sussex? I passed Rye and continued until I had a good view of Dungeness before turning north along the Military Canal for a bit.  Another left turn and I was aiming for home.

Military Canal 

The lanes were still picturesque, rolling rather than hilly, and sometimes wooded.  More villages than in the Weald. Plenty of club riders out on a Saturday morning, mostly heading the other way.  Mostly not saying hello.  But I did get talking to one group who recommended a farm cafe for elevenses. I can also recommend it.

Elevenses 

I didn't stop here, but it looked nice

I'd already done 40 miles.  I reached my planned overnight stop by lunchtime, but wasn't feeling sleepy, so I carried on.  My plans were in tatters.

Lunch at the National Pinetum, Bedgebury 
Looks nice, but touristy and cyclist-unfriendly.
Plenty of trees though.

Something was happening in the air.  As I was climbing another naughty hill, feeling pleased because Garmin told me it was the last hill for 46 miles (a complete lie -  flat roads in Kent are rarer than wildlife).  Anyway, an aeroplane flew over.  I looked up to see a Lancaster bomber.  A few minutes later, another one, this time a Spitfire, going a bit faster.  They were  heading south; maybe aiming to meet up at Eastbourne?  Soon afterwards, some jets, probably the Red Arrows, but I was in trees by then and couldn't  see them.

After the magnificent ride yesterday, and its extension today to near Dungeness, the rest of today's riding has so far been enjoyable but not outstanding - more like the rides we are used to around Surrey, but maybe hillier.  Tunbridge Wells was a low point with unpleasant traffic jams and busy roads (I was on a cycle path so just an observer).

Moody woods

I needed a plan.  I also needed a tea stop, so I stopped at a pub and put my thinking cap on.  Nothing happened.   I decided to go on the Forest Way to East Grinstead and stop at Wetherspoons forcan evening meal.   By my calculations,  I would have an hour or so after Wetherspoons to find somewhere to stop.  That worked well.  The Forest Way is a disused railway line going from a few miles outside Tunbridge Wells to East Grinstead.  Bi met a delightful father and 14 year old daughter who were on an off-road cycle  camping trip.  She had designed the route, baked the snacks, and was doing the navigating.  Brilliant.

Wetherspoons was great.  My onward route followed the Worth Way, another disused railway line leading to Crawley in a few miles.  Not much time to find a camping spot.  And railway lines have embankments, cuttings, good fences, not conducive to sneaking into the woods at the side.  Luckily I found a path leading off the Worth Way, and this had a perfect wood to one side, although with rather a lot of noisy birds.  I guess we're not in Kent any more!

Worth Way

Camp site

>> Day 3

August camping in Kent

Because why not?  The heatwave is over, the rains have been and gone  ... or have they?  I picked a day between rail strikes packed a few things, and buzzed off to East Croydon to begin.  I decided to explore the Kentish High Weald, a AONB crescent of woods, heathland and hills south of the North Downs.  Familiar roads through Godstone, Outwood, Smallfield, and Turners Hill to get south of our normal haunts, then mainly east.   Unexpectedly,  it drizzled nearly all morning from Godstone to lunchtime, which was sort of nice and cooling on a warm humid day.

Godstone pond

It's sparsely populated, and cafes are rare.  My planned cafe at Shapthorne was closed on a Friday  but I came across a farm shop with cafe soon after, which was great.

Soon after that, I entered the Ashdown Forest, which is huge.  Sunny.  Beautiful.  And hilly.   Gorgeous long descents, and ridge riding, with views for miles over the Weald.  And long, steep climbs.  Prominent No Cycling signs are everywhere in the many car parks, so I was limited to short walks.

I went through the Five Hundred Acre Wood, downsized to only 100 acres in Winnie the Pooh.  Disappointing.   Inaccessible, dark and overgrown, at least from where I was.   Other bits of the Ashdown Forest were much more appealing.

(Five) Hendred Acre Wood

The quiet roads zigzagged their way east to Crowborough,  the first town.  It was tea time.  A mirage appeared in the afternoon sun: it was a Wetherspoons!   An ideal tea stop, except without cake.

After an unplanned rough track and more lovely ridge riding, I unexpectedly found a great pub, the Crafty Fox at Mark Cross, with wonderful food and a superb view of Kent's finest countryside.  Except, I was disappointed to discover I was still in East Sussex!

Abandoned sawmill

The High Weald is simply gorgeous cycling country: highly recommended.

Campsite

 It was hard to find a likely campsite. Access Land is scarce, but I found a rather hilly wood, accessed by a footpath over a railway line, with a stile each side.  Not a good start.  The wood wasn't very promising - overgrown and steeply sloping - but I found a spot just off the path, and had a very quiet night's sleep.

>> Day 2

Camping Under Shooting Stars

Everyone should try this!  During a heatwave, a good time to be outside is at night.   After skulking in a hot house most of the day, I decided on a whim that it might be cooler to sleep outside.   It was much better than I expected.

I decided while watching the News at Ten.  It took five minutes to assemble the necessary, and another five to set up a sleeping bag in the back garden under the stars.  It's so dry that no bivi bag or other covering is needed.  At first I thought I wouldn't need a sleeping bag, but you radiate heat away to the sky, which is very cold, and it soon became necessary to get into a thin sleeping bag.

Leave No Trace

I lay in my back garden watching stars in the cool air, full of the scent of honeysuckle.   It was wonderful. The full moon was hidden behind the house, so the sky was fairly dark, for London.  Quite a few aeroplanes, most of them high up and inaudible.   Several 'stars' were moving fast across the sky - satellites, most going east-west but some going north-south as well.  And then there were shooting stars.   It's the Perseid meteor shower at the moment, meaning that Earth is travelling through the tail of a comet, I think.   Bits of dust hit the atmosphere and burn up in a streak.   In an hour or so I probably saw a dozen of them.   I've tried to spot meteor showers before, but you have to wait quite a long time, so lying down looking upwards makes it much easier.  

The stars kept me fascinated and awake for a while.  I also re-discovered the Google Sky Map app, which is wonderful in that situation - showing you and naming what you're pointing the phone at.  It told me that the very bright star was Jupiter, and that Neptune (invisible) was close to it.  I spotted a constellation or two.  In the morning it also helped identify Mars, as all the stars had shifted round somehow in the night.   A great way to spend a night in a heatwave.

Summer camping again, Day 3 and trip summary

Only a few things to report today.    [Day 1  Day 2]

I arrived at Stokenchurch around 3pm.   Sunset was about 9pm.    So, dear reader, you might be wondering why I didn't decide to push on a bit further.    Well, partly because I've not yet developed the skill or confidence to find potential wild camping sites without access to OS maps, which show access land.   But, also, because I had an assignation.   I planned to drop in on my sister Ruth, the following morning, near High Wycombe.

Stokenchurch is quite a small place.    It has a few pubs, a few shops, and a big transmission tower which you can see from the M40.   I whiled away several hours doing not much, and was very pleased to see Ruth for a meal at one of said pubs, which was very enjoyable.    Then it was nearly sunset and I had to rush off back to my campsite in a nearby wooded nature reserve.  Lovely spot.   My main concern was the holly leaves on the ground, which stuck through the bivi bag, and risked puncturing the airbed, but in fact there was no problem and I slept extremely well, mostly without the sleeping bag as it was so warm.   But there's always a couple of hours before dawn when it seems to get colder, so I did get to use it.  50% chance of rain overnight 10x more than last night, so I put the tarp up, but in the event there was not a drop of rain! Very windy in the trees above, but at ground level I seemed to be very well sheltered.

I almost never see any wildlife while wild camping (if you don't count ants, midges or tiny beetles), but on Saturday night I did see a bat or two flitting around above my head.    And on yesterday's ride, I saw a mother and baby muntjack deer by the roadside, as well as a hare and several rabbits.   And many red kites of course.

Had a lie-in today, until 5.30am, but I was on the road by 6 and, after a few more hills, at Ruth's before 7.30 for a bit more chat and a lovely breakfast.  Thanks Ruth!  I was originally heading back to Amersham to get the train back, but decided to change my plans and ride back home via High Wycombe and Maidenhead - back to familiar territory.   It got very hot on the way home, so I was pleased to arrive home by 1pm.   

A successful trip, I think.   So what have I learned?  Well, with only one pannier, even biggish hills are not too much trouble.   It seems that alternative wild camping sites are not too difficult to find, at least in some places.   I need to do this more often to get confident at it.  And that summer camping really can be a lot more lightweight than winter camping, when you need to take so much to stay warm overnight.  Also, camping means early starts, so you can easily do long distances if your legs will allow you.   Yesterday, I did 80+ miles and a fair bit of ascent before 3pm, and that was after deliberately wasting time in Wallingford.   I could easily have done 100 miles with another decent tea stop.

Sorry, no photos today.  But here's a map showing the planned route (I cut south from around High Wycombe to ride home instead of returning to Amersham)

Mileages:

Day 1: home-Northwick Park & Amersham to Newbottle:  70.5 miles 905m ascent

Day 2: Newbottle-Stokenchurch: 82.3 miles 1010m ascent

Day 3: Stokenchurch-home: 48.3 miles 416m ascent

Summer camping again, day 2 - Oxfordshire

[Day 1]

Today it's misty and damp  very autumnal.  My plan is to head a bit further west, towards Banbury,  then south to about Didcot, then back east to Stokenchurch (big hill...) and find somewhere up there to camp. 

Summer cycling 

After a few lumpy bits, I joined NCN5 near Banbury, with typical mixed surfaces and nice roads (5 gates on a gated "road" through a farmland.  The mist lifted for some glorious cycling on a sort of plain, with huge views to the south west.  Rode past one of the UK's smallest airports, a strip mown in a cornfield,  with a gap in the hedge at the end of the runway.

Cornfield runway, with wind sock

Problems with starting early: it was only 7.30 and I was desperate for breakfast.  I stopped for a chicken tikka slice which had been warming in my bar bag most of yesterday,  but still wanted coffee.  Around 8.15, forlornly searching the streets of Eynsham, I discovered a coffee tuk-tuk, which was open.  Bliss!

Miles upon beautiful miles passed, and I came to Abingdon, brimming with people in the sunshine.  I'd only about 30 miles to my intended camping spot, so I was in the mood for wasting a bit of time. Extensive searches revealed the best coffee shop in town, overlooking the market place, and I enjoyed a two course elevenses, and almost as enjoyable, a proper wash.

Abingdon

Well supported bike repair event

Abingdon, Didcot and Wallingford, the three biggest places on my whole trip, are only separated by 12 miles.  After a delightful Riverside route out of Abingdon, 11.9 fairly boring miles on a cycle path that had the benefit of being flat and direct, and then on some faaverage roads roads.   I didn't  have the full Didcot city centre experience but I did enjoy the sights of the power station, now sans cooling towers, but with several large piles of concrete rubble that have appeared since my last visit.

Abingdon riverside

Abingdon riverside

Highlights of Didcot

Wallingford is a nice place to while away a couple of hours.  But not five hours, even on a bike.  Despite being on the Thames, it doesn't  really have a riverside area where you could sit with an ice cream or whatever.  I reckon the town is missing out on an opportunity  there.

Wallingford 

Just across the bridge at Crowmarsh Gifford

Eventually I ran out of things to do, so I had to tackle the hill up to Christmas Common, via Ewelme and Benson, if you know that area.  Nice road, very quiet, and rather hot and sticky, or perhaps that was just me.  I found a succession of excellent spots between Christmas Common and Stokenchurch, so I think I'm ok for tonight.

[Day 3]

Summer camping again

"Sitting on a corner in Winslow, Bucks,

Looking for a place to eat, 

When a passing guy in a flat-bed Ford

Says Oi!  You can't stop 'ere."

It's not yet quite as famous as the original, but I'll keep trying.

I decided to head for Oxfordshire this time.  It's warm, so a fairly lightweight  trip.  And no cooking stove, due to the fire risk, which saves quite a bit of space and weight.

Amersham train

Ride to Northwick Park and Metropolitan line to Amersham, about the 9th train to arrive after a long succession of Uxbridge trains.

Chiltern Cycleway 

Following part of the Chiltern Cycleway, typically lumpy and wooded.  Heading sort of north towards Tring.  11s was a half-brick of bread pudding at Aston Abbots,  and lunch was taken in the aforementioned Winslow.  Winslow is blessed by having not only HS2 building work, but also East-West Railway building work.  At least they will get a station on the EW railway.

Winslow, near HS2

Winslow, EW railway

Tea was at Tingewick, eating the remaining bread pudding on a bench, watching the ducks paddling in the nearly dry pond.  Crossed into Oxfordshire soon after, and the Cotswold stone buildings and walls were immediately apparent.  You knew you had changed county.

Only another ten miles to my planned camping area, some woods near King's Sutton.  Bad plan.  The woods were full of nettles and brambles, and surrounded by "no Cycling" signs.  You would need to be fully covered even to walk in there.

Newbottle woods: unsuitable for camping

So I'm a bit stuck.  I've found a couple of field with verges I can camp in, but they're right next to the road.  Not ideal.  All I can do is wait till near sunset, and hope for the best. 

This meant spending a couple of hours in the pub, which was a bit boring to be honest.  I could have ridden further, but I wasn't confident that I'd find somewhere, so I went back to camp on the grassy margin of a corn field, with amazing views south west.

A room with a view

A warm night, only 5% chance of rain.  I just had a bivi bag, and the sleeping bag liner, although I needed the sleeping bag later.  No tarp rain shelter either,  and it turned out I needed that too when the 5% rain arrived.  The bivi bag is not enclosed, so I scrambled to cinch up the opening around my face, and that seemed to work OK.

Woke at 5am after a good night's sleep, and discovered  I'd been sleeping on an ants' nest.  They weren't  happy.

[Day 2  Day 3]

Summer camping

How hard can it be to camp in summer?  We'll, the problem seems to be finding the time!  A far cry from the lazy, crazy, hazy days of lockdown.  Once again I found myself with just two days of the month left to fit in a camping trip, and very little time to plan it.

I was hoping to head west with Peter B., so that's what we did.  A late start due to me having to pack after just unpacking from our Dieppe trip; 11s at Chertsey, and lunch in Maidenhead.  Peter headed back and I made for Henley, rather slowly with tired legs.

 

It's Henley Regatta this week. Queues of cars, lots of very fit young things wearing posh frocks, silly blazers, and/or lycra.  I fitted right in, under the lycra category, in case you were wondering. 

Camp site?

I had planned a fairly short ride in view of my earlier difficulties with heavy panniers.  Despite our late start, this meant I arrived at my possible camping site, near Nettlebed, around 5pm.  I can see why it deserves the name.  However I found a likely spot, and set off to find a pub to while away a few hours.  The nearest was closed until tomorrow,  but this led me to find another, the Black Horse, only two miles away in Checkendon.  

The Maharaja's Well

On the way, I filled up my water bottles at the Maharaja 's Well in Stoke Row.  The mechanism was rather stiff.

The pub is the sort of pub you don't find very often nowadays.  Up a tiny lane with no signposts.  Four real ales drawn from the barrel, lovely building (in the family for 118 years, and still seems to have some original paintwork).  No food in the evenings, but never mind.

The Black Horse

I fell asleep to the sound of distant church bells and nearby birdsong.   It was forecast to rain a bit, so I had a tarp shelter over the bivi bag, and my lightweight (thin) sleeping bag.  In my merino cocoon, I was warm enough until the small hours, but never cold enough to put more layers on. 

In the middle of the night, once again I was woken by something strange.  There was a sort of quiet rushing noise, and I was convinced that the earth was shaking, as if a train was passing nearby - which it wasn't.  Could it have been a small earthquake?  I certainly wasn't  expecting the earth to move for me.

Awake at 5, away by 6 for more exploration of the intricate lacework of quiet lanes north of Reading.  Rolling into Reading at 7.30, I wasn't  hopeful but was saved by Greggs, with a coffee and porridge. I left Reading to the south on the canal towpath, dodging the nettles.  Past the Majedski Stadium, and then more lanes on the Berkshire Cycleway circuit, before picking my way through Wokingham and Bracknell.  So many cycle paths, so few signs.  An early 11s at Ascot powered me on my way home on familiar roads.