First I should say how nice it was to see Pam, who had come on her less racy bike to say 'hello'.
Let's hope it won't be too long before she is able to come on a ride again. Despite the forecast and damp start to the day, there were 10 of us in B Group this week: the French contingent of Francois and Christine, Carolyn, Bernard, John G., Terry, Les, Cliff, Neil and me, Gill, the leader.
Amazingly, again despite the forecast, we had a dry day with quite a bit of sunshine.
The forecast strong winds which did eventuate didn't really worry us until we headed home. This was a ride following the River Thames downstream from Walton to Old Isleworth where we had lunch at The Town Wharf. We followed the towpath to Teddington, with an unplanned stop at the Molesey Thameside Heritage Marker requested by Les. Here he showed us a plaque with the name Les Johnson and a bike, not his name - no 't' - but apparently that of a former member of the Wayfarers(?). While there we tested the sundial which did work when you stood on the disc with the correct month! At Hampton Court we were joined by Brian who just happened to be passing and going our way. He left us at Teddington Lock where we crossed to the other side of the river. After a bit of main road to Twickenham, it was back to the river and on to Warren Footpath which skirts Marble Hill Park, coming out at Richmond Bridge.
A combination of roads and alleyways finally brought us to The Town Wharf where, to start with, we were the only ones lunching on the riverside balcony. An idyllic spot if you discount the constant flow of aircraft heading to Heathrow above us, looking across a narrow channel to Isleworth Ait (admittedly the tide was down but it was coming in) and with a view downstream to the church and well-known London Apprentice pub. After lunch we continued to follow the Thames Path signs across Syon Park (with its Highland cattle), down to the Grand Union Canal and the Thames Lock where it enters the Thames, across Waterman's Park and finally down a flight of steps to join a riverside path which took us to Kew Bridge.
This had been the challenging section - no hills, just steps. From here it was an easy ride through Strand on the Green to Chiswick Bridge, and round Duke's Meadows to the final challenge of the steps at Barnes railway footbridge! Here we left the river and headed for tea in Richmond Park at Roehampton Gate, after which everyone went their own ways home.
Terry, Neil and I returned to the river at Teddington, retracing our outward route and passing several C group riders coming the other way!
Gill Finlay
Let's hope it won't be too long before she is able to come on a ride again. Despite the forecast and damp start to the day, there were 10 of us in B Group this week: the French contingent of Francois and Christine, Carolyn, Bernard, John G., Terry, Les, Cliff, Neil and me, Gill, the leader.
Amazingly, again despite the forecast, we had a dry day with quite a bit of sunshine.
The forecast strong winds which did eventuate didn't really worry us until we headed home. This was a ride following the River Thames downstream from Walton to Old Isleworth where we had lunch at The Town Wharf. We followed the towpath to Teddington, with an unplanned stop at the Molesey Thameside Heritage Marker requested by Les. Here he showed us a plaque with the name Les Johnson and a bike, not his name - no 't' - but apparently that of a former member of the Wayfarers(?). While there we tested the sundial which did work when you stood on the disc with the correct month! At Hampton Court we were joined by Brian who just happened to be passing and going our way. He left us at Teddington Lock where we crossed to the other side of the river. After a bit of main road to Twickenham, it was back to the river and on to Warren Footpath which skirts Marble Hill Park, coming out at Richmond Bridge.
A combination of roads and alleyways finally brought us to The Town Wharf where, to start with, we were the only ones lunching on the riverside balcony. An idyllic spot if you discount the constant flow of aircraft heading to Heathrow above us, looking across a narrow channel to Isleworth Ait (admittedly the tide was down but it was coming in) and with a view downstream to the church and well-known London Apprentice pub. After lunch we continued to follow the Thames Path signs across Syon Park (with its Highland cattle), down to the Grand Union Canal and the Thames Lock where it enters the Thames, across Waterman's Park and finally down a flight of steps to join a riverside path which took us to Kew Bridge.
This had been the challenging section - no hills, just steps. From here it was an easy ride through Strand on the Green to Chiswick Bridge, and round Duke's Meadows to the final challenge of the steps at Barnes railway footbridge! Here we left the river and headed for tea in Richmond Park at Roehampton Gate, after which everyone went their own ways home.
Terry, Neil and I returned to the river at Teddington, retracing our outward route and passing several C group riders coming the other way!
Gill Finlay
No comments:
Post a Comment