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Deer Chase Ride 28th July 2007 Michelle, Ian and the two Grahams met at Roundwood Park, one Graham aboard the first electric bike to join a BC ride (and with spare battery). Ben and Di's soon joined us from Kingsbury. We took a mostly signed LCN route down to Hammersmith Bridge with just one unfriendly junction at Coningham Rd - across Goldhawk Rd - into Blackenbury Rd, guard rails down the centre of Goldhawk Rd pushing you in directions east or west when you need south. We soon entered Roehampton Gate on Richmond Park's north-east corner and came upon a mass of cyclists in all directions with a lot of weekend perimeter racers - so it was time for refreshments in the cafe. We headed up to Adams Pond and then came across 80+ deer grazing. Ian and Graham stalked them for a closer picture, both in their full camouflage cycling get up - needless to say the deer are wise to this little game. We headed south-west to the Isabella Plantation when suddenly Graham stopped his Brompton as he and I were feeling very alone - a few souls had veered west... We rounded ourselves up again and headed past Spankers Wood, and that's another story... After a brief walk around the Isabella Plantation where heather and laurel jostled with oak trees planted in 1831,we left the families picnicking around the ponds and rode north-west for late lunch at Pembroke Lodge. After lunch we had fine views over London while free wheeling down Sawyers Hill towards Roehampton Gate and the return journey back to Brent. After the tricky Goldhawk Rd junction Graham peeled off with his original battery still churning out the Watts as he disappeared into the distance. The group then headed towards Cricklewood where we finished the ride with an afternoon drink in the Crown. Just over 25 miles cycled, we split in all directions home. The next ride is to the Leighton Linsdale Sandpits in Leighton Buzzard on the 19th August. Paul
Ride Report Mill Hill Meander 18th February 2007
Di,Ben,Sarah and Paul met at the Greenhouse Garden Centre at Birchen Grove
and had a quick coffee before setting off through the 1838 Welsh Harp
where in 1841, after 7 days of continuous rain, the dam head collapsed
killing a number of people. We had also missed the first mechanical
greyhound races, which started there in 1876, and the famous incident of
the bear which escaped from a menagerie in the mid 19th century.
Across the A5 and under the A41 into Hendon Park (formally Steps Fields),
which boasts one of the largest Japanese Maples in London, then through
the back streets cycle route of Hendon, popping out at Greyhound
Hill/Church Lane Alms Houses.
The fine St Mary's Church gold weathervane of a lamb and flag came
into view, in whose grounds are buried Sir Stamford Raffles, founder
of Singapore, and Herbert Chapman, the manager of Arsenal in the
1920's/1930's. Bram Stoker may have had the church's graveyard as his
model for "Kingstead", the uneasy resting place of Lucy Westenra
in his book Dracula.
Another fine view in Sunnyhill Park then down through the park, under
the A1 to Coptall, up to the Mill Hill Cemetery in Milespit Hill, where
Billy Fury the 1960's popstar is buried, and a Dutch National War Memorial
is located. A short hop to Daws Lane garden centre, on the site of
Mill Hill Swimming Pool which closed in 1980. This is opposite poets'
corner where all the roads are named after poets would you believe.
Lunch in the garden centre then up Lawrence Street to The Ridgeway where a
third of the conservation land is used by religious or educational
buildings such as the Mill Hill Missionaries/Mill Hill School/Watch
Tower/the Order Of The Daughters Of Charity At St Vincent De Paul and the
imposing building of the Medical Research (which was used in a Batman
film).
Opposite Belmont School is an open piece of park with fine views of London
past the Mill Hill Observatory below and Wembley Stadium in the middle
distance. But we had Grade 2 listed buildings and 260 unusual
brick/weatherboard houses to find in one of the few surviving areas of
rural Middlesex - some of these used to be post offices and butchers
shops.
Past Sheepwash Pond and Mill Hill School, which was built by
non-conformist merchants and ministers because of "dangers both
physical and moral, awaiting youth while passing through the streets of a
large,crowed and corrupt city..."
Through the High Street past the Nicole Almshouses erected in 'ye year of
our lord 1696' at Mill Hill village, then Partingdale Lane where the
British armed forces post office is located (moving summer 2007) in
Mill Hill Barracks, which was bombed by the IRA in 1988. Partingdale Lane
Bunker was one of the four London regional war rooms and has been disused
since 1958.
The excitement was too much when we under the 13 arches of the Dollis
Viaduct (1867) on the Dollis Road which is the highest part of the
present London Underground at 24.3 mt (80 ft) with 9.1 mt (30 ft) arch
spans.
The history of the area done for the day we headed back to home
territory finishing our ride of 24 kms (15 miles).
Our next outing is a ride to Kensal Green Cemetery (one of the magnificent
seven) in March. This afternoon will include some of the most
brilliant and fascinating London social history you could possibly learn
in one place.
Sarah & Paul
Radlett Rumble Ride report - 20th Jan 2007 Gordon,Ben,Sarah and Paul left Wembley Park and were ready to rumble
after waiting for a ballast train which had stalled in Northwood station,
eating into our riding time. We headed towards Croxley Green where clue 1.
'Tom & Jerry' had to be solved. Keen eyes scanned Kewferry Road in
Northwood looking for a particular house which turned out to be number 55,
the home of Tom & Barbara Good with their neighbours Jerry & Margo
Leadbetter form the BBC comedy Good Life which was filmed there in the
1970's. On we travelled looking for the good life in the sunshine while we passed
the private roads of Moor Park then on past the Grand Union Canal and the
lakes at Batchworth where the week's winds had torn down many trees - an
ongoing sight throughout the day. Rickmansworth then Croxley Green where
Croxley Script used to be produced in the village by paper-maker John
Dickinson. Our first of four exciting crossings over the M25 (three overs
and one under in all),then across a flooded carriageway which was another
ongoing barrier to our progress. We had to cycle through at least four other
of these temporary ponds. Sarratt in view and it was midday so lunch at The
Boot next to the fireside with pints of Old Trip real ale while we had our
food. On through Chipperfield with more cycle rowing then onto Kings Langley,
once a centre of large scale poultry and egg production and the Ovaltine
factory built in 1911 (production stopped in 2002 and transferred to
Switzerland). It's now new homes but with the art deco facade kept intact. Into Abbots Langley where the only English pope Nicholas Breakspear was
born in 1100 and past The Church Of The Ascension Bedmond constructed of
corrugated iron in 1880, the 'tin church' as it is known, built at a cost of
£80. Over the M1 for a change and clue 2. 'Playground Confetti' - Spielplatz
(German for playground): Britain's oldest naturist club dating back to 1929
and where the 2006 comedy Confetti was filmed. Through Bricket Wood Common
then down a private road past Munden House which took us over a river Colne
ford where the track became flooded and quite muddy. Most of the group
watched as a horse waded into the ford and got spooked and tipped its rider
off into the water for her troubles, then trotting past us all and leaving a
wet rider behind. Ben had a complete front flat, so after us all crossing the busted banks
of the river Colne, which was the whole width of the bridleway, he mended
his puncture and i topped up my exceedingly slow puncture. Meanwhile the
horse rider tried to calm down the horse which was having none of it. Over the ridge and back onto dry clean tarmac as we sailed down into
Radlett past Gils Hill Lane which was clue 3. - 'Gambling is murder': The
Radlett murder, also known as the Elstree murder, was a notorious killing in
Radlett in 1823 - a man was shot in the face and had his throat slit before
driving the pistol into his head with such force that his brains were
literally dashed all over the ground, all for a £300 gambling debt. It
gained a great deal of attention from the press and public at the time, and
seventeen books were written about it in the following year, as well as
others since, and several stage plays. That passed, we took the train back to Cricklewood for a quick one next
to an open fire in the local hostelry The Crown which was first recorded in
1751 and rebuilt 1889. The next ride is the Mill Hill meander on the 18th of February. Pylon Piefest, 17th December 2006 The sun was out, it was calm, and a few degrees above zero as Ben and myself boarded at Wembley Park for Stanmore where we met Michelle and Gordon for the charged Pylon ride. We climb up Dennis Lane to get onto Stanmore Common with its 48 hectares and ponds, then on past R.A.F. Bentley Priory, which became famous during the Battle of Britain as the Headquarters of Fighter Command - Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding directed the battle that turned the tide of the War in the Allies favour from there. The 40 acre site, which the MOD bought in 1926 for £25,000 including the Grade 2 listed Officers' Mess, has now been sold to contractors and is due to cease all military operations in December 2007, though will remain MOD property until February 2008. No plans for the site have been published but housing has been muted: ££s...! Then through the back streets of Bushey Heath and over the A41 into Sandy Lane, where we had to cross a pond the width of the whole road -with legs up around the crossbar i floated across without the aid of oars and the others took to the drier far edge of the pavement. We met the converging point of the eight Pylon lines at the 275,000 volt Elstree Sub-Station site. Here they have just compled a £40 million, 3 year 'London Connection': a 20km 3m diameter underground tunnel and 400kv cable linking Elstree with St Johns Wood to feed the metropolis with power into the next century - turn those lights off..! Passing the Bhaktivedanta Manor, which was bought by George Harrison for the Hare Krishna, then through the leafy villages of Patchetts Green/Aldenham/Round Bush and Letchmore Heath all served with fine Ale Houses. The buzzing of light aircraft and helicopters drew us to Elstree Aerodrome where we stopped at the Flying Chef and had roast lamb lunches for under £8 each which came in a bowl shaped Yorkshire Pudding...fabulous! The owner told us that he has big groups of cyclists on Saturdays/Sundays with one lot possibly being our neighbours Barnet LCC ? Some of us finished with puddings while the planes flew in and out of the 1934 Airfield, which repaired Wellington Bombers during the war as well as ferrying secret agents to and from occupied Europe. We rode on up to Brockley Hill (Watling Street) to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, where there was once a minor Roman settlement called Sulloniacae which had a flourishing pottery industry serving the passing Roman Legions. The Saxons had a dislike for hilltops so they let Sulloniacae fall into ruins and settled at the bottom of Stanmore Hill which is where we headed on down to pick up the Jubilee line home. Sun all day during the 14 smiley miles and not a shopping centre in sight... see you for more country lanes on the 28 mile Radlett Rumble Ride on the 20th January 2007. Paul Chiltern Chumble Ride report
4 intrepid cyclists gathered at windy Wembley Park station on Saturday
morning - Gordon, Trevellee, Sarah and Paul
We missed the planned 10:13 train from Wembley Park as the all new
flashy Wembley park had no information screens telling us where we needed to
be for different branch lines... but eventually we were aboard an Amersham
bound train. we rolled out of Chorleywood station, missing the non-existent Oyster
Card readers, leaving us facing a possible fine later in the day. More
excellent organisation from London Transport...!
From Chorleywood down to the River Chess valley and then up to Flaunden past
the former Bovingdon Aerodrome which now is a Saturday market/banger racing
circuit and a HM Prison.
We stopped for a quick refuelling pasty at 188 High Street (Greggs!) in
Berkhampstead - home to what is believed to be the oldest extant shop
in Great Britain, dated by dendrochronology of structural timbers to between
1277 & 1297. The shop at 173 High Street is currently in use as an
estate agent.... we then passed Berkhampstead Castle which is a ruined
Norman Castle on our way out of town.
We rode through Berkhampstead Common which is 427 hectares and saw two sets
of fallow deer darting into the woods as we passed. As we passed the
glorious Ashridge College (beautiful, commanding building, but unfortunately
set to the all too modern study of management science) we caught, opposite, a
view all the way to the Bridgewater Monument, erected in 1832 in honour of
the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater for his pioneering work on British canals.
We made the lunch stop at 13:30 at the award winning Full
Moon public house at Cholesbury in front of the Cholesbury Windmill
which has iron sails and was associated with the Bloomsbury Group.
Pies and potatoes gave us more fuel in this bustling lunchtime chop house.
Gordon peeled off at Chesham to catch the Met line home after lunch, while
the rest of us headed onto Chorleywood arriving just before 16:00. One day
before the Oyster Card deadline we managed to get away without a fine,
and we were swept back to London town as the sun went down....
A beautiful, crisp, bright autumn day and a lovely ride in great
company. We hope to see Gordon and Trevellee again soon,
Sarah & Paul
Verulanium Vamoose 16.9.2006 Jo from Islington, Glyn, Ben, Sarah and Paul headed out on the Thameslink
from Cricklewood, with a ticket deal of 4 for 2 at £2.80 a pop return, and 22
minutes later we were heading out of the roman town. At Suttons Farm just below Symondshyde Wood a tea shop was spotted, but it
was way to early for that type of indulgence, so we forged ahead through the
wooded section and roman road to Coleman Green. We crossed our first ford at
Watersend (River Lea) and then the Ayots were in sight - Green/St Peter/Bury/Montfitchet/St
Lawrence. The route had wildlife showing itself here and there with rabbits,
green woodpeckers, pheasants and jays to name a few. Passing the octagonal church at Ayot St Peter, which has been re-built many
times and for a small place is quite grand, we turned towards Ayot St
Lawrence. The 14th century Brocket Arms public house is said to be haunted by
a monk who hung himself in the bar area so we spookily moved onto Shaws
Corner. Named after George Bernard Shaw, the dramatist, critic and socialist
spokesman's house is owned by the National Trust who are asking a very
unsocialist £4.30 entry on open house weekend! We dropped down the eastside of Wheathampstead on a cycle route which was
not tarmac-ed and across another ford on the river Lea to Devils Dyke which we
rode into. Ben went for a walk down the Dyke (and decided to test it out
judging by the marks on his clothing...) which at its largest point is a 40ft
deep and 130ft wide ditch forming a boundary around the ancient settlement set
up by the Belgae (yes, early Belgians) invaders in 100 BC. Then on through Normansland Common up to Amwell where we lunched at the
Elephant and Castle public house - we had a garden lunch which was not cheap
but was charming, with wells inside and out and nicely situated. We got to Childwick Hall entrance, which appeared a through road on the map
but private road signs abounded, so we slightly detoured down to Redbourn Mill
(since 1030) on the river Ver. There were two fords with footpath access along
the side but the map did not show a huge tree which had fallen across the path
and ford due to an act of nature. With a group effort we were victorious in
the face of adversity (gallantly lifting 5 bikes, one by one, over the split
trunk) and Redbourne Mill was our prize on the other side - but it only opens
8-11:30 saturday despite being a working mill selling bread made on the
premises. Turning off the roman road of Watling Street we came upon another private
road sign and there was group hesitation until we spoke to a cyclist with his
small daughter who said these signs were not quite what they seemed. After the
girl told us she was getting a bike with gears for her birthday we were
inspired and headed through the gentry barricades to the Gorhambury estate. We
looked around the open air Vervlamivn roman theatre with dressing rooms as
well as the arena. Past the roman museum then onto St Albans Cathedral which has been a place
of worship in one form or another since 429 and our last stop the Ye Old
Fighting Cocks hostelry which is said to be one of the oldest public houses in
England?? While having a swift half we debated the building's claim - we
discovered it had been a monastery's pigeon house, and after the re-building
after the great flood of 1599 a 16th-17th century cock fighting
establishment.... Arriving at the train station at 17:00 we boarded our train back to the out
skirts of Londinium. As i write this an ice cream van has just stopped right outside our house
(99 & flake please) so i have to dash - a good day out for all with our
next ride being the Family Frolic, Sunday 22nd October 2006, 11:00 am. Paul & Sarah
Chiltern Chumble - 20.8.2006
David,Ian,Ben,Jacqueline,Sarah and Paul headed from Wembley Park to Moor Park on the 10:15 Met line train for the start of the Chiltern Chumble (nibble).
Big houses and private roads out of Moor park then we swept down into
Harefield across the River Colne/Grand Union Canal then out over the
M25 ring into Chalfont Common.
This was to be 'a day of the Chalfonts' so we first visited Chorleywood -
where the famous bread making process was formulated which is now used in 80%
of the world's commercial bread production. Crossing the old Mercia and Wessex
kingdoms (6th-9th centuries) we headed on to Chenies and along the valley of
the Chess River where watercress and papermills were once abundant.
A steep short eye-popping 12% and could you believe it back to the
Chalfonts, this time Little Chalfont and then immediately on to our 3rd:
Chalfont St Giles. The Bees Knees Tea Shop had gone out of business
which was a shame but then the Merlins Cave pub came into view with jazz
being played in an old barn next to the pub for a £5 entrance fee but
free via the wonders of travelling sound. We had a pub lunch in the rear
garden with jazz in the background.... Over dinner Ben insisted that
ketchup was proved to be an endurance substance (he will never win the Tour de
France on that!) but we were all split on the origins of this red gold (a
quick google search finds: one of China, England or America is the
origin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
The village has a Norman church and Milton's cottage where poet and
parliamentarian John Milton, escaping the Plague in London, wrote
the epic poem Paradise Lost. Buried with him in the village was Bertram Mills
the circus owner from the 1930-1940's and J T Hearne one of the greatest
bowlers of the 1890-1900's. Lunch was finished and as Ian noted we all had
some ketchuping to do as David and Ben had been cheating having the
red sauce...
On to Jordans the 17th century Quaker village where the locals were doing some
sort of history treasure hunt around the green which has no pubs
;-( Back past the Quaker conference centre which has the
Mayflower Barn in the grounds and is said to have timbers from the
Mayflower ship which took the pilgrim fathers to America. Past the meeting
house in Welders Lane which had a fire in March 2005 but is on the way to
being restored now, and Jordans YHA which is always very popular.
The last Chalfont we passed through was St Peter then back inside the M25 ring
where we stopped at the Coy Carp pub on the banks of the River Colne for a
refreshment stop. A frisky young dog had decided to have a dip in the
river without his owner's consent and then headed straight up the bank to
greet us, scattered cyclists everywhere.....
Watching the ducks and a baby Moorhen chirping for its mother who was nowhere
to be seen we then headed back up to Harefield and Moor Park to catch the
17:10 back to town.
The weather was good to us on the ride
with no rain and a few sunny spells so there was no need for everyone to bring
along their rainwear (2 panniers of it in some cases - Ben). The 54 km (33m)
of Chiltern hills had come and gone all day long but the Chalfonts would
always remain.....!
Thank you all and see you on the next ride
(16/09/06 Verulanium Vamoose: 25 miles featuring St Albans)
Ride on you crazy diamonds.....
Paul & Sarah
Tour de Brents + Tour de France 23rd July 2006
We started under thick grey skies, but found King Eddie's buzzing with teams
and supporters tooled up with chairs, coolboxes and rugs. Roundwood Park was
lively too, but as we worked our way up past the temple, along the river and
up into Wembley it became ever quieter. Even King Edward VII Park was quiet
and Vale Farm had plenty of motor traffic but no activity. Northwick Park has
refurbished "no cycling" signs since last year; we'll have to deal
with that. The current path is narrow, though little used; it could be widened
and demarcated without amenity loss.
Thence to Barn Hill, which had become slightly steeper - I thought West Hill
was the easy way up? But we didn't cool off in the pond; no need to disturb
the moorhens. Plunging down into Fryent Country Park (30 years without
pesticides) we discovered the blokes flying an impressively fast model
aeroplane in loud skilful maneuvers upwind and downwind and straight into the
ground as if trying to punch a hole. Bits and peace everywhere.
So past the horses and down to the Welsh Harp past the lady walking two dogs
and a pig, to lunch and the Saxon church with Roman pottery in its walls, what
time is it and what time does the tour end? Oops. Straight line and quick down
to Kilburn High Road.
Parked the bikes on the quarterdeck of the Good Ship, but the big projection
TV doesn't show the Tour de France? Henrik gets the manager out. It's the
manager's day off but he's got a bike. Sorted. We even have a translator for
the German commentary. And beer.
I am not a sport-lover. Nor am I turned on by unfeasibly large packages. But I
was charmed by the swooping grace and comradeship. They're superb athletes,
doing daily something we'd take a week to recover from. If we want to get kids
riding, we need to train them but we need to enthuse them too; I'm beginning
to see how the Tours can do that.
Somebody won. There was beer again.
-- Ben
--
Ben
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