Outings in Oxfordshire

 

Meeting in Pangbourne

Where better for a summer cycling get together than Oxford ?  City of dreaming spires, location for the TV series Morse and between 1973 and 1976, believe it or not, Westminster College in North Hinksey was my home for three glorious years. So this tour enabled me to relive, reminisce and share some of those intimate moments from the halcyon days of the mid 70's with friends who were barely born then!

We gathered from different parts of the UK and met in Pangbourne in a pub by the river Thames which seemed fitting given that the river and pubs would play a large part of our three day cycling trip.  We were to based at the luxurious Premier Inn in Botley, just over a mile from Oxford city centre and the same from the campus of my old alma mater and we were, Richard The Walton Wheeler, Einar The Highgate Viking, Malcolm the Grinstead Giggler and myself.

With the  weather set fair we planned 3 rides:

But first I needed to show my young pals my old stamping ground, the now largely deserted campus of Westminster College. The College was founded by the Methodist Church in 1851 to train teachers and was based in London on Horseferry Road. To increase the number of student places and to become co-educational, the College moved to new premises on Harcourt Hill in 1959, overlooking the city of Oxford. As teacher training became more integrated (on the job training) in 2000 the College became part of Oxford Brookes University.

I arrived in September 1973, along with about 200 other fresh faced wanna be teachers. My first desire of course was to become a professional footballer but as that was never going to happen, the next best thing was to become a PE teacher! Three years of studying and playing sports and vaulting over boxes and kayaking down the River Wye, interspersed with the occasional geography lecture and the odd night out in the Fishes Inn with like minded people.... could life get any better ?

Westminster College Campus circa 1973

The ride up Harcourt Hill seemed steeper than I remembered, maybe age has caught up with me ?

We rode around the campus with much of the original student accommodation still standing but no longer being used.  The Chapel, swimming pool and lecture rooms eerily quiet and in passing them I swear I could still hear the voices of friends echoing from 50 years ago. I also discovered where the library was.

Come unto me!

The College Chapel

We returned to the hotel via the Bear and Ragged Staff, a quaint rural pub/hotel in Cumnor before heading off for dinner in the Fishes, once the scene of many raucous nights, but now an upmarket Gastro pub with a large garden.

The Fishes

After tucking into the full breakfast on Friday morning we assembled in the car park for the pre cycle faff. For those cyclists amongst you, you will know that "faffing " is an essential part of the cyclists ritual. For those not familiar with the term, it involves packing bags with useless things that you may think you'll need whilst out riding, adjusting bags on the bike and generally delaying the departure. Richard is the king of faffing, closely followed by Einar with Malcolm not far behind in third place. 

Childish breakfast japes

Friday's Frolics

Faffing

With the faffing complete we rolled out of the car park and headed north on the cycle path that quietly runs parallel to the A34, passing the famous Trout Inn at Wolvercote. We soon encountered the madness of the Pear Tree roundabout, where the A44 and the A34 meet, during the morning rush hour. The NCR 5 eased us up the side of the A44 heading for Woodstock skirting the interestingly named London Oxford Airport?  Woodstock, not the one famed for it's music festival in 1969, sits on the eastern edge of the Cotswolds and is probably most famous for Blenheim Palace.  This magnificent country house is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough and birth place of  Sir Winston Churchill.

Our route wouldn't allow us to get very close to the Palace itself so we had to settle for some views from afar!

Once we'd navigated though the spectacular grounds we stopped for a well deserved coffee in Long Hanborough before heading south towards Witney and a particularly unpleasant section riding along the cycle path facing the on coming traffic of the A40 as it hurtled towards Oxford.

Witney is a very pretty market town on the River Windrush and is famed for its wool production and in particular its blankets. We avoided the town centre which was busy with Friday's shoppers but did glimpse the impressive St Mary The Virgin Church through the narrow streets before picking up the lane through Ducklington and south into the Windrush valley.  At this point Richard decided to make some alterations to the route, probably to make up for the amount of time we'd spent on or alongside, busy roads. So our off road segment took in the aptly named Chimney Meadows. Tracks over open fields, gates and bridges culminated in a ford crossing !

Not getting wet was a bonus so we pressed on via the wonderfully named villages of Hinton Waldrist and Kingston Bagpuize before discovering the Plough Inn  in the village of Appleton.

The Plough, Appleton

Having nearly slated our thirsts we made our way back through Cumnor, this time deciding not to stop at the Bear and Ragged Staff but instead heading for the garden of the Fishes Inn to end the day's ride before heading back to the hotel for a night in with pizza and football!

The Fishes

Saturday's Sojourn

The faffing on Saturday morning was of monumental proportions.  Another day blessed with a cloudless sky witnessed some of the best of the pre ride faffing ever. It had been decided that Greggs on the Botley Road was the favourite for breakfast, given that it was on our way to the planned route as shown in the map above. We eventually located the Greggs inside the railway station concourse and for anyone that has been to Oxford in the last 4 years will know of the utter chaos that the closure of the Botley Road bridge has caused to anyone approaching the city and the railway station from the west! 

With bacon butties quaffed we found the cycle path that runs alongside the Thames (or Isis as it's known in Oxford) and headed south witnessing as we went, numerous boat crews and spectators, racing along the water and the towpath.

Passing through Iffley and Kennington we soon connected with NCR 5 through Radley, home to Radley College who can boast of having cricketers Ted Dexter and Andrew Strauss as its former pupils as well as actors Desmond Llewellyn (Q in the Bond movies) and Dennis Price!  

We edged round Abingdon until we found the outskirts of Sutton Courtenay, just to the north of Didcot. The ride now started to get interesting in strange way - reclamation sites and old gravel pits which gave off unsavoury odours and given the state of the cinder track, it was a miracle that no one got a puncture. Then to cap it off, on an off road track that had ruts along it that were so big, I assumed that a Sherman Tank had made them, we came across an Ocado delivery van that was stuck in the middle.  We offered to help but our offer was declined....so we rode on....scratching our heads and pondering who would be waiting for their groceries to be delivered.

Heading for Wallingford

The Boat Inn in Wallingford was a welcome stop for us after the excitement of the morning.  So we settled into our riverside seats to replenish lost fluids whist witnessing the comings and goings of river users in various crafts.  The paddle boarders gave us much amusement with their antics of trying to get the boards out of the water and the would be Captain Pugwashes trying to manoeuvre the overpriced electric motor boats had our own nautical genius, Malcom, with a few words of wisdom for them.

The Boat Inn, Wallingford

Wallingford was as far south as we were going so we headed north passing RAF Benson and continuing to climb with great views over the Oxfordshire countryside and to the Chiltern Hills beyond. 

Refreshment stop

In the village of Forest Hills we came across yet another little gem of a pub - The White Horse - so we had to stop to sample what was on offer.  

The White Horse

The friendly landlord even brought our drinks to the table with complimentary crisps. We engaged in conversation with a fellow cyclist who had been out picking fruit with is son.  He suggested there was an even better pub a few miles down the road.... we had to give it a try.

The Abingdon Arms in Beckley is a community owned pub and was slightly off our route but we figured it was worth a visit! We sat outside underneath a Blue Plaque that informed us that Evelyn Waugh wrote, drank and loved there between 1924 and 1931. The lager was from Jeremy Clarkson's brewery, Hawkstone whilst the cider was from the Hook Norton  Brewery. It wasn't until later that we found out that the cider should have come from the Diddly Squat farm as the three of us who drank it suffered from the Diddly squats!

The Abingdon Arms

Nearly Diddly Squat time

From Beckley it was all down hill thankfully through north Oxford and down past some of the iconic landmarks of Oxford, Blackwells Bookshop, The Bodleian Library and the back of Merton College before emerging onto the cycle path that took us across Willow Walk and the sanctuary of the Fishes Inn in North Hinksey and just time for a group photograph outside the church yard.

Dining that evening was courtesy of the Tempering Indian restaurant in Botley, conveniently staggering distance from the hotel.

Sunday was yet another cracking day, bright sunshine, light winds and a route that would take us west to the edge of the Cotswolds and eventually  finish our 3 day tour in the Trout Inn in Wolvercote. 

Chief faffer

Sunday's Route

But first there was the small matter of breakfast - during the pre breakfast coffee the options for further sustenance were explored - some favoured another trip to Greggs but as that was in the opposite direction from where we were heading so we plumped for the Cherry Tree Cafe in Eynsham, which coincidently was where, way back in the summer of 1974, I had taken the first steps to becoming a teacher! Bartholomew School had been my first teaching practice placement....but that's another story.

Croissant anyone ?

The road to Eynsham was busy so it was head down and get there as quickly as possible. 20 minutes later we found the Cherry Tree Cafe which was fortunately  just opening and we were soon tucking in to bacon baps and cups of tea. Suitably replete, our first tricky encounter was to get across the A40 without getting hit by speeding cars. Carefully choosing our moment to zip from one side of the road to the other, took a great deal courage and expert timing, but we made it and headed north on quiet country lanes heading for Charlbury.

Heading for Charlbury

Shortly after the above photograph was taken our peaceful Sunday ride was suddenly shattered by a motorbike club's outing - at least 30 huge growling machines with stereos blasting  cruised passed us on the way to God knows where?! At this point Richard decided to adjust the route so that it would take us through Cornbury Deer Park. Richard does not have a great track record when it comes to choosing routes, so we expected the worse.  As it turned out , it was a good alteration despite Malcolm's misgivings but may have lead to Einar's chain malfunction on several occasions.

Cornbury Park

We arrived inn Charlbury, a lovely Cotswold town in the Evenlode valley, just in time for some liquid refreshment which we took in the Bell Inn, a 17th Century pub in the bustling market town.

Charlbury

The Bell Inn

After basking in the sunshine on the terrace at the Bell we headed east to encounter another main road to cross, the A44. Not quite as taxing as the A40 but still busy. We decided to drop down the hill into the village of Tackley rather than take the turning at the top, which was our prescribed route.  This turned out to be a momentous decision. At the bottom of the hill we found the Gardiner Arms, very much a locals pub, where we sat outside enjoying the glorious weather and a glass or two of electric lemonade.

Things are about to get interesting

There was some discussion over which route we should take to get back to our original one.  Flushed with the success of his earlier choice of the tree rooted track through the deer park, Richard insisted that we followed him as he had plotted a way that would get us back onto the road to Kirtlington. Foolishly we did - until we came to the railway line and Tackley Station  - no where to cross the line and all fenced off.  Richard , still insisting that there was a way along a track that ran parallel to the railway, said we should press on. Einar, Malcolm and I voted with our legs and pedalled back the way we had come , up the hill and took the road we should have been on an hour before.  As we pedalled away  we did wonder at what point we would meet up with Richard.  Speculation grew as we passed through Kirtlington and there was no sign of him. Would we ever see him again or was he racing to the Trout in order to get there before us? Fortunately he'd had the sense to share his location on WhatsApp - thank goodness for technology.  He eventually emerged in Bletchingdon to join us so we were able to finish the ride together. Down through Kidlington before heading off to Wolvercote and our destination the Trout Inn. 

The Trout Inn

Together again at the Tout

And then the weekend was over as quickly as it started.  With 234 kms cycled,  we had been blessed with superb weather, great scenery, plenty of pubs, lots of laughs and as always, great friendship. For me, it had also been a return to a time of youthful innocence! 

 Until the next meeting of the FFCC - happy cycling!

Wild Wiltshire

 

Going wild in Wiltshire

A Spring outing for the Fairclough Flyers had been in the planning since the dark days of December.  Getting a suitable date for all participants proved a little a trickier than finding a suitable venue. Richard & Einar were heading to Seville which left Malcolm and I to head to  Marlborough in Wiltshire. We had selected Marlborough as our base due to the variety of rides in the area and also that it was about a 2 hour drive for both us to get to. And so we duly met in the car park of the Premier Inn on Monday 13th April, Malcolm with his new bike (my old R&M Supercharger 2) and me with my R&M Superdelite 5. Following our Fat Lads at the Back Tour in France, which saw Malcolm's Raleigh disintegrate, we were  were hoping for 3 days of stress free cycling!

A short hop down the road into the centre of Marlborough and we found ourselves outside the Castle & Ball Hotel on the High Street.  A suitable spot for some route planning and also to watch the world go by. Marlborough is an attractive old market town on the edge of the Savernake Forest that boasts one of the widest high streets in the UK.  It is also home to Marlborough College, an independent school whose former pupils include Kate Middleton, Jack Whitehall, Princess Eugenie and Ghislaine Maxwell! 

Our plan was to do a circular ride of about 50km the following day - the weather forecast looked promising and so after a hearty Premier Inn breakfast we faffed in the carpark and prepared for our ride. Only a slight health problem reared it's ugly head - I had developed a chest infection which was restricting my breathing and energy levels, so what started with every intention of being a long day in the saddle had to be curtailed at the Red Lion in Avebury for a more direct route back.

Once we had managed to find our way out of Malborough after several wrong turns, we climbed north onto the top of the sweeping Marlborough Downs following NCR 403 witnessing several race horses being put through their paces on the gallops. We cycled along the Herepath or Green Street, an ancient military road which once connected Bath and Marlborough, before descending into Avebury and its stone circles but more important for us, the Red Lion.

Herepath or Green Street

After much deliberation, a couple of orange juices and lemonade for me and a couple of Thatcher's Gold for Malcolm, we made the decision to head back to Marlborough via the Mercian Way so rather than continue to the west, we turned south and crossed the A4 and then turning eastwards to Lockeridge and Manton before stopping for some more refreshments in our old haunt the Castle & Ball Hotel, having completed just 28km in the day with 350m of height climbed!

Can't beat a Greggs!

At this stage I realised that I needed drugs! So after a very helpful conversation with one of the hotel staff I managed to get a telephone call back appointment with a Doctor in the local Health Centre. This was done in the comfort of our penthouse suite in the Premier Inn. I had a long consultation after which it was deemed  that I needed antibiotics and that I could pick these up from Boots in the morning, after one of her colleagues had seen me in the surgery. I was promptly seen the following morning and the infection was confirmed, so off to Boots we trotted, via Greggs for breakfast, to collect the prescription. Alas, the Boots in Llantwit Major had been sent the script which wasn't a great deal of use to me but a swift phone call to the LM branch and the Marlborough branch was able to issue the drugs!  So, the purpose of recounting this rather boring story is to highlight the very efficient and first class service that I received from the Kennet and Avon Medical Practice (KAMP) and in particular Dr Mary Woodward and the paramedic Amy - NHS at its finest.

During that evening we kept one eye on the weather for the following day and decided that in view of the rain prediction, we needed to be back under shelter by around 2 pm so we opted for a trip that took us through the Savernake Forest towards Hungerford before heading back to Marlborough along the Wiltshire Cycleway, a steady 2 hour ride of 33kms.

The first and brief section of our route took us onto the Chisledon to Marlborough old railway track now designated for walkers and cyclists. A short dash along the A4 and a right turn found us on the edge of the Savernake Forest and on a gravel road that runs in a straight line through this ancient woodland for 6kms. The Savernake forest covers 4500 acres and is privately owned by the Marquess of Ailesbury and his son the Earl of Cardigan and its private status is maintained by closing the forest to the public on one day each year. Fortunately for us it was open so we were able to enjoy the undulating ride with either side of our track  displaying swathes of bluebells. The Forest is also home to a number of ancient oak trees, so we just had to get a photo by the aptly named Big Belly Oak, with a little help form AI.

Did you know it's 1100 years old?

At Great Bedwyn NCR 403 connects with NCR 4 which we followed for a short while before heading north through Chisbury before seeking light refreshments in Ramsbury, home to Ramsbury Ales, at the Bell on the Square, where we sat outside in glorious sunshine trying to figure out where and when the rain was going to hit us.

The Bell on the Square, Ramsbury

The route back to Marlborough followed the River Kennet and the Wiltshire Cycle way and just as we approached the outskirts of our destination, it started to rain so we took shelter.... in the warmth of the bar at the Castle and Ball Hotel, where the bar staff were now on first name terms with us. Another taxing days ride (for me at least) but a better nights rest was to come, probably the drugs kicking in.

Our third day cycling was to be an out and back ride - Malcolm was desperate to try his R&M Supercharger II  on a canal tow path and also to see a White Horse?! Greggs in town seemed to be the best place to start the day off but when we arrived we were faced with the devastating news that it was closed until further notice. So we did as any proven adventurers would do, we sought an alternative which in this case proved to be an expensive one - Polly's Tea Rooms for a bacon roll, a sausage roll and a pot of tea for two.  The bill £23.60! It would have been cheaper to have had the unlimited breakfast in the Premier Inn for £22.

An expensive alternative breakfast

The planned route was to head west out of the town and head for Devizes on NCR 45.  We climbed steadily into a head wind so progress was slow even with our power assistance up to a gap between Knap  Hill and Walkers hill on the Pewsey Downs .  The views across the landscape were stunning in the sunshine, yellow fields of rape seed contrasting with the fertile green of pastureland. 

View from the top

After a fast descent we turned off the NC45 Mercian way and headed west towards Devizes.  At this point the Alton Barnes White Horse came into view to the north. Carved into the chalk escarpment it was cut by the request of someone called Robert Pile in 1812. We obviously had to pose for photographs.

We weaved our way through the streets of Devizes, passing the Wadsworth Brewery without stopping and made our destination along the tow path of the Kennet and Avon Canal to the impressive Caen Hill Flight of locks.

The 29 locks rise or fall, depending on which way you are going, 237 feet over 2 miles.  To get a boat up or down, if the locks are in your favour will take you the best part of a day.  We decided to stay at the top and find a suitable place to take liquid refreshment in celebration of Malcolm achieving 2 of his day's goals - tow path and horse ticked off.

The canal side garden of the Black Horse seemed a suitable venue to spend an hour or so, watching the narrow boats blunder their way in and out of the nearby lock - canal boating is definitely a contact sport!

Refreshed and recharged (us not the bikes) we retraced our route and wheezed our way to the top of the Pewsey Downs before the 10km descent back into Marlborough.

We couldn't end our few days of going wild in Wiltshire without a final visit to our favoured haunt, the Castle and Ball for a final couple of OJ's. My thanks to Malcolm for ensuring I remained in the land of the living during our little adventure and putting up with the coughing and spluttering and also to Natalie for her concern and supply of biscuits! The next meeting of the FFCC is scheduled to be in Walton over the May Bank Holiday weekend. On one of our outings, you never know, we may get a full contingent!

Made it!