In Loving Memory of Dennis Broughton

 The order of service

Farewell to Dennis Broughton

Family ,friends, work colleagues and cycling mates gathered today at Kingston Crematorium   to celebrate the life of Dennis. His son Mathew gave a comprehensive history of Dennis's life  of whom he spoke very highly with fond memories. Fuzz also a short remembrance! Above is a picture of Dennis family with MWW members.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

B Group, 26 February

Leatherhead - Norwood Hill - Fanny's Farm Shop

 

 Where we went to earth for lunch

 Bushy tailed after lunch

 No sign of the Mole beside the Stepping Stones. Where has it gone?

 Bridging the tranquil waters of Tanner's Brook into Brockham

Dennis Broughton - Funeral Arrangements

 Dennis's son Matthew has now contacted Terry with full details of the funeral arrangements. These are:

The funeral will take place on Friday 28th February at 10.20am at Kingston Crematorium. the address is:

Kingston Cemetery and Crematorium

Bonner Hill Road

Kingston Upon Thames

KT1 3EZ

Matthew has written:

"We believe Dennis would prefer people to make charitable donations in memoriam rather than flowers, but of course both are welcome and much appreciated. We have two suggestions for charitable donations that we think Dennis would approve of:

Fight for Sight - http://fightforsight.org.uk and 

Macmillan Cancer Support - http://www.macmillan.org.uk

With regard to sending flowers, they must arrive at the funeral director's office the day BEFORE the funeral, so they must arrive on Thursday the 27th of February. The funeral director's address is as follows:

Co-operative Funeralcare

10 St James' Road

Surbiton

Surrey

KT6 4QJ

Donations can also be sent via the funeral director who will package them all together and send them on to the relevant charity after allowing a period of time for donations to arrive.

All donations sent via the funeral director MUST be cheques and MUST be made payable to the charity of choice; the director was very specific as he has had problems in the past with people writing cheques payable to him and/or the Co-operative Funeralcare, rather than the chosen charity.

  

After the funeral people will be invited to gather for a drink at the Berrylands pub, which is located at the following address:

The Berrylands

107 Chiltern Drive,

Surbiton

KT5 8LS

(the pub is barely 100 yards from Berrylands train station, if that helps navigation)

Please pass on this information to anyone you think would be interested in attending, thank you."

Matthew Broughton

Audax Congratulations to Mark & Maggie

 

 Not sure whats happened here but I got 2 pics of Burford not intended! Above is my only picture of the happy gang that completed Mark's ride. It was a fantastic ride on a fantastic sunny day. Let me reiterate however my and all the gangs appreciation of Maggies fantastic lunch and all for free. The provisions were fantastic the four pickled onions I eat were divine (I wonder why Barbara went to bed early). The cake however was so divine, now I know apart from any other pleasures that may pertain, my mum always said that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach & clearly Maggie is magic in that regard. Have a great time skying, sorry u will both not be at the KPRC D/D and help at my Hilly 50 - we will be thinking of you! MHM 

Disappearing Paths

This came in my inbox today.  We were challenged on a public right of way on my ride today so I do intend to respond.  If any other wayfarers have memories of disappeared paths e.g. the one accessed through a hole in the fence at the boundary of the golf course north of Cobham and crossing the R. Mole through ....  Farm - sorry can't remember name - please respond.


Did you see BBC Breakfast this morning?
It showed two historic paths that are set to disappear in 2026, because they’re not on the map. There are thousands of similar paths across the country that are also at risk.  
For over three years, we’ve been working with landowners and councils to come up with plans which would make it easier to add paths to the map.  
There is now a small group of MPs going through each of our plans, line by line, and deciding if they should become law or if they should be changed.
We need these MPs to be in no doubt about the importance of historic paths. I need your help to do this.
We want to gather together thoughts, stories and memories from people about why they value our historic network of footpaths. We will then present these to MPs so they can see why our footpaths should have a future.

The committee of MPs is meeting again next Tuesday. We have less than a week to collect as many views as possible. Please share your story today.
Many thanks,


Nicky Philpott

B Group - 26th Feb (maps and photo)

Steph's ride to the Fox Revived in Norwood Hill

Recovering at Fanny's Farm

Leatherhead to Norwood Hill (about 13.6 miles)

Norwood Hill to Fannys (about 12.9 miles)

Fetcham Downs and Norbury Park on OS 1:25,000

Todays route displayed with GPS Visualizer to show the hilly bits

B ride from Leatherhead, Wed. 26th Feb.

Sunshine, blue sky, only a couple of light showers, brilliant day for my first attempt to lead a B ride.  Bit concerned when I glanced over my shoulder on departing the day centre to see about 30 riders massed behind me when I had lunch orders for only 15...  Later told that 27 left with me and 14 were still with me at tea so hope all enjoyed whatever bit of my ride they did.   The pull up Hawks Hill to Bocketts Farm spaced people out nicely, the route through Norbury Park was beautiful and some took in the view point.  Then got a bit confusing  as we pulled onto the Brockham cycle path (newly resurfaced - but not all of it) and some of the party began to follow a sub group of Irene, Pam and Gill who were on a different ride and not taking the Brockham turn off.  However all were hauled into line and only a little mud at the Brockham end of the path.  Straight on to Shellwood Cross where we headed for Newdigate but turned off at Hammonds Copse to take a lovely detour through protected woodland onto a concrete farm track,  only about 10 metres of mud to walk round where the stream runs across the middle.  This was worth it for me because I was able to retrieve my waterproof trousers that I had lost on my reccy ride but which some kind person had tied around a bench half way along the path. A portion of the group wanted a road option and so did not take the path... ah you'll never know what you missed.  Lunch was fine, in and out in an hour and no complaints about the sandwiches.  Down down down , Irons Bottom and Sidlow.  A right turn and a left into a contentious little right of way - lots of private signs and a farmer that engaged Tim in conversation (Kinnersley Manor) but it is an excellent right of way with no mud.  Straighforward route to Fanny's via Fullers Wood Lane (puff up) and Cormongers (float down), and slow up through Merstham.  Thanks to Robin for letting me borrow his phone (mine was left at sch on Tues) and Tim and Carolyn for being supportive back markers with such a large group.  Especially Tim for taking the time to put all the route details into his Sat Nav.   Steph

B Group, 26 February

The B Group ride as seen by one of the beagles following foxy Steph.

"Stephanie took the B Group on a trying but very enjoyable ride from Leatherhead on Wednesday.  Having struggled up the hill to the Bockett's roundabout we were taken over the hard surfaced bridle ways to Norbury Hill, on to Pixham Lane, past Brockham Golf  Club, then toward Parkgate where left onto the path leading to the south of Leigh and the foot of Norwood Hill. One or two of the group revolted and kept going keeping to the road to arrive early at the Fox Revived for lunch.

I counted 24 that left Elevenses where Steph took orders for lunch which was waiting for us on arrival, very well organised.  Tea was taken at Fanny's Farm from which another group revolted and went straight home. Altogether a very pleasant day out. Thank you Steph for organising such a bright and sunny day. Thanks too to Tim who back marked the ride."

Dave Aylett

A Group Audax Ride

A good turn-out for today's 'Audax', sixteen riders ready to test themselves in the sunshine.  There was general interest in the audax concept,  but we had only one real Audax rider, Dave.  As he is an old hand he had little to learn, but he did have the opportunity to score one AAA point, a precious thing at this time of the year.  So Dave stuck to the rules, got his timing slips and so on, while the rest of us softened the edges a bit, for the sake of progress.  Not that we didn't do all of the miles and all of the climbing; we just took it easy on the documentation.

Out of the Day Centre and along the cycle path to Dorking, where Dave got his first receipt and the ride proper started.  Up Coldharbour Lane and across the face of Leith Hill, we in the sunshine but showers on the plain below.  Dave took the proper route down past Leith House; the rest of us took advantage of the newly surfaced Tanhurst Lane and met Dave again on the road to Ewhurst.  At the corner of Barhatch Lane Dave did an extra couple of Kms to get his stamp at Cranleigh, the rest of us set directly off up the hill.  The motivation here was less enthusiasm for the ascent and more eagerness for lunch, which Maggie provided at the top, in true audax fashion.

Ray and Rob - Barhatch Lane

The Tailgate Picnic

The Tailgate Picnic was quite a success, giving us a chance to rest and refuel without taking too much time.  Many thanks to Maggie for taking the trouble.  Lunch over, it was briskly down the other side for a loo stop in Shere, then the next big hill, Coombe Bottom.

We did well on this one, re-grouping for a couple of minutes at the top and then down again along Green Dene before the next hill, Crocknorth Lane.  Not quite so sparky here, but sound enough, and we were soon rolling across Ranmore Common.  On the corner by St Barnabus' Church I made a minor route deviation, as Terry had tipped me off that Chapel Lane at the bottom was flooded.   Most of us went down towards Dorking, meeting Dave, Mike and Pete at Burford Bridge.  They confirmed that it was indeed flooded, but they had been able to pass, with care.  About a foot of water.

Then the last hill of the day - the iconic Box Hill, taken in fine style.

We were pretty pleased with ourselves at the top - Dave needed to return to Dorking to get his final time stamp, but the mood of the meeting was against going with him.  No matter - he had plenty of time in hand, so we all took our tea together in the Spring-like sunshine.

So, a good ride, in good company.  But what about the performance?  Would we have won our Audax badges?  Well, as it's Audax it's all in Kms, and we did 55 Kms elevenses to tea.  It took us four hours to do it, say 14 Kph, so we were well in - the lowest allowable average speed for this ride was 11Kph. So here's the badge - well done everyone!

Mark

A Group Audax Ride - Reminder

Don't forget - next week's A Group ride from Leatherhead on the 26th February gives those who want to the option of trying an Audax ride.  We'll start from Leatherhead pretty sharp at 1100 or so, ride to the BP Garage at Dorking where the Audaxers can buy something to get a receipt to start their timing.  Then we'll ride the route until we get to the top of Box Hill.   Audaxers will return to the BP garage to get their finish receipts and the rest of us will ride direct to Annie's, where we will all meet for tea.

Audax Brevet cards can be got here for £3.00 (£3.50 Paypal), the route and route sheet are below.

If anyone would like to know more, please ask.

Mark

CTC Hilly 50 Sat 8 March

I think a better bet would be the former C&M Hilly 50 starting at Rykas 10am. Signing on is from 9.30am and it's only £5 on the line. Go to www.cyclingswlondon.org.uk to enter and get the route sheet. Money raised will go to the local Cheam St. Raphael Hospice. Of course you can ride both but if it was on the 9th Feb as stated on our Blog it's a bit late!

A Group, 19th February

Wood End

MWW Roundheads taking their leave of the DoE
 led by a relaxed Cromwellian Paul

A Group 19 Feb 2014

A Group 19 Feb 2014
Weybridge - Woodside (Ascot) - Walton

Sadly, not the bright clear skies that I managed on my recce ride, but at least the rain held off, and the slight drizzle came over lunch.

The morning saw our group of 20 make our way on road along the Wey toward Addlestone then by Green Lane to Holloway Hill, through Chobham Common, then North through Windlesham to Ascot, then further North to Woodside a steady pace, gently rolling up hill ride with no real hills but enough rolls to know the legs had been working by lunchtime.

I'm not sure there is enough at Woodside to warrant its own place name, but there is a pub. Well, 3 actually! Of which the Duke of Edinburgh is by far the best. Good beer, good well priced food and excellent service - two long tables of 10 reserved for us in the restaurant area and first orders delivered seconds after we sat down. What might well be a group record - we arrived at almost exactly 1pm and left at exactly 2pm!

After lunch, a mainly downhill roll via Virginia Water to rejoin the outward route at the bottom of Holloway Hill, then on the Riverhouse Barn at Walton for tea. Some of the after lunch roads were not as cycle friendly as during the recce ride - memo to self to avoid these in future. Another memo to self, is that when Garmin routes join back on themselves at a point where direction changes confusion reigns. Thanks to Vic for advising a way out of that predicament!

32 miles lunch to tea. 57 door to door

Oh, and the Quiz question: The Royal connection is Oatlands Palace. Built by Henry VIII, with foundations partly of stone from Merton Abbey, transported via Wandle and Thames, and demolished after being sold following the execution of Charles I - the bricks being used to line the locks of the newly constructed Wey Navigation. Strange to think that the building materials were more valuable than the buildings!

Paul Kelly

Easy Riders - 19th February

From Weybridge we turned right into the high street and took the road parallel to the tow path.  We continued to Walton.  In many places the tow path was submerged in water. As we passed Sunbury by the water it looked like a swannery. The fields were like ponds. It made for an interesting ride. After Hampton Court we took the cycle path round to Thames Ditton and had lunch at The Olde Swan. We were about 10 around the table and joined Ron and Doreen. After lunch we made our way via Chessington to Ewell Park cafe for tea.

Lynda

B Group - 19th February

We arrived at elevenses to find that Bernard was celebrating a significant birthday and that we were all invited to share his very large and beautiful cake. About seventeen of us left Weybridge at 11:25 and queued up with A Group to ride over the level crossing at Addlestone Station. We turned left into Corrie Road for a quiet ride to the Liberty Lane bridge over the M25. We joined Murray Road into Ottershaw and turned into Foxhills after the unpleasant roundabout. Stonehill Road brought us into Chobham. Pennypot Lane led us most of the way to Bisley where we took an unnecessary deviation through the suburban streets and then Queens Road past the Bisley camp with the crack of gunfire ringing in the air. In Brunswick Road past the barracks we lifted our bikes over the curb to ride the narrow path over the old bridge which crosses the Basingstoke Canal by the locks. We joined Gole Road and headed West and came perilously close to riding off the edge of the Greater London A-Z map which I was using to navigate. But, in the nick of time, we bounced off the edge and swung to the South into Stanley Hill, past Furze Hill which was H. M. Stanley’s residence in his final years. We belted along for the final couple of miles until we reached the White Hart in Pirbright at bang on 1 o’clock.

We were waited upon at the tables which had been set for us and although the food seemed to take a while to deliver it was excellent stuff. It was just one day after the anniversary of our previous visit when a very small group of us lunched there on a much colder day. The pub has a very nice ambience, from the buzz of the regulars who were there in force, the good food, the attentions of the staff who worked hard to serve us all, and from the architecture; Bernard, Terry and David Vines all noticed how low the oak beams in the ceiling were.
 
After lunch we rode to Fox Corner then along Goose Rye Road and were pleased to be able to ride under the railway line at Worplesdon Station in Prey Heath Road. When David and I did the recce a month ago we were advised and saw for ourselves that the water was knee deep so walked our bikes up a muddy track by the station and over another bridge to get to the other side. The good news is that a local councillor, Will Forster, is working hard to address the causes and the consequences of the flooding under the railway bridge. See this link for details.

17th January

We crossed the A320 and headed up to Old Woking then down through Cartbridge and Send, over the Ripley Bypass and back onto our familiar route to Cobham.
 
We had a rare opportunity to ride with David Vines today. Although the freshly irrigated swamplands to the South of Cobham are not his usual habitat he decided to ride through Plough Lane while the rest of us went around via Chilbrook Road and Downside and he took this excellent photo to illustrate the fun we could have had if we had taken that route with him. Apparently, although the road is no longer closed, he did find that the water was up to his bottom bracket, but despite wet feet he joined a greatly diminished band of riders in the Aromas Café for our final refreshment.

Plough Lane today

Thanks to everyone for their good company, to Bernard for his pesky pictures, and to David for being the back marker.

Happy Birthday to Bernard!

15.5 miles to lunch and 14.8 miles in the afternoon

Wednesday 26th February "B" riders lunch arrangments

I am leading from Leatherhead to the Fox Revived for lunch.   They have a VERY small kitchen and if numbers are up to 20 we will have an hour's wait for hot meals.   If we can order in advance it will mean a quicker departure.  If as many as possible can order from the sandwich menu it will also help.   I detail the menu below and will take orders at Leatherhead next week.  Tea will be at Fanny's, we will be passing the sustrans route to Redhill if some riders need a train back in the afternoon.
PLOUGHMANS - ham cheese pickle onion and chutney   £5.50
PORK AND APPLE SAUCE - £5.95
BEEF AND HORSERADISH - £5.95
BLT - £5.95
MARINATED FETA AND HUMMUS WITH MIXED LEAF - £5.50
SAUSAGE RED ONION MARMALADE AND MIXED LEAF - £5.50
                                     WHITE OR GRANARY BREAD
                                      CHIPS £1.00 EXTRA

steph

B Ride Wednesday 19 February 2014

My magnificent birthday cake, some of you had a piece but you didn't see it in its full glory.

Our leader

Our lunch-time pub

The Group

Dennis Broughton - Funeral

Doreen P. has written to let us know that Dennis Broughton's funeral will be held on Friday 28th February at 10.20am at Kingston Crematorium. At present we have no further details.

Jeff

B Group - 19th Feb.

Tomorrow we will leave Weybridge DC around 11:15 and ride a fairly flat course to Pirbright. This is just over 15 miles which is typical for our rides at this time of year. After lunch we will ride another 15 or so miles to Cobham for Tea. There may be a few puddles but we will not be venturing onto the tow paths, despite the temptation. Anyone not wishing to do the afternoon ride will have the option of catching a train home from Brookwood Station which is a little over a mile from our lunch stop, the White Hart. In the pub we will sit down and be waited upon rather than clutter up the bar in our customary style, if I have understood correctly.

B Ride Wednesday 12 February 2014

Our leader

 Lunch at The Anchor, Bookham

A Group, 12th February

Hammersmith
The Plough and Harrow

Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.

Some had already headed for the station. Waterloo? The harrowing bit was the ride home in gale force winds which buffetted you all over the road. Wimbledon Common was particularly lethal. I was very relieved to get home intact.

A group Wednesday 19th

A Right Royal Ride!

A Ride 19 Feb. Weybridge start.

Jeff was scheduled to lead this ride, but he manfully stood in for my ride when I had man flu, so I will be leading.I have planned a westerly route that takes us South of the Thames floods, but North of the floods around Cobham, Wisley etc. Hopefully, snorkels will not be needed.

I guess most will be heading to Weybridge by some combination of Richmond and Bushy Parks or past Hampton Court. From there, a Royal theme continues with a route out through (Royal) Ascot to lunch at the Duke of Edinburgh and back via Windsor Great Park to tea at the Riverhouse Barn @Walton

17  rolling miles to lunch and 15 gentle miles to tea.

This ride’s quiz question: On the way into Weybridge, the road passes through a park/sports grounds. What is the Royal connection linking those sports grounds and a regular waterside Weyfarers’ ride?

Paul K

New Laser cycle safety light

New Laser cycle safety light.

The Blaze Laserlight, which gives advanced warning of the approach of a bike by projecting a bike symbol on the road ahead, has landed a £300,000 cash injection from venture capital firm Index Venture and Sam and Holly Branson, the son and daughter-in-law of Virgin empire billionaire Richard Branson.

Advice Needed

A group 19 Feb From Weybridge

ADVICE NEEDED

Ha! Jeff clearly knew what he was doing and I have drawn the soggy straw on this one and will be leading.

My planned route takes us into the Mountains of Ascot and Windsor GP, but we need to get past Addlestone.

Does anyone know the flood conditions heading west on the usual route from Weybridge? ie Weybrigge road  to Green Lane?

Paul Kelly

The London Cycle Show

A miserable day, so Maggie and I went up to the Excel Centre to see the Cycle Show.  A bustling and busy show, with a lot to see.  But, as we all know, the cycle world changes slowly, so there wasn't a lot that was really new.  Marginal gains, I suppose ...

Changes since last year are that the e-bikes have more or less disappeared (or perhaps they now have their own show?); there is much less fancy steel than there was; much more aluminium than there has been for a few years, but it's really about carbon these days, even for relatively modest frames.  Bit of a titanium resurgence, too - most manufacturers have one, somewhere near the top of their ranges. Electronic shifting is pretty widespread, and the road disc revolution is happening, but fairly slowly.  Still very few high-end race bikes with the technology - waiting for the UCI, I guess - but plenty of sensible bikes/cyclo-cross bikes with discs, both cable and Shimano hydraulic.

This Marin Lombard would go nicely in the Surrey Hills

With this Canyon Cyclocrosser at the sportier end

Here's a genuine Tour de France bike; all the bells

and whistles for £5999.

I can't help feeling there's a branding issue with this

'Cheetah' paint job

And lastly, a shaft drive bike.  Been tried a few times over 

the last century or so.  Maybe this time.

Maggie liked the 'Chapeau' range of clothing, which had a good selection of kit for women, and the free samples of the 'Honey Stinger' energy food tasted good.

In summary, it was all about the bike - fast, light road bikes, and holidays in sunny places to ride them.  Plenty of companies offering cycling holidays, including our own CTC, who were a sponsor but I missed their stand.

And then the dream was over - still raining when we left.  Hey ho.

Mark

Easy Riders - 12th February

In which Ron and Fuzz pay a visit to Roger Mitchell

Since no one else turned up at the Elleray Hall for the Easy Riders' day out Ron and Fuzz went to Strawberry Hill House and walked around the garden before it started raining properly. After observing that it now costs £6 to get in they contented themselves with the views of the exterior. Realising that it would only be a modest ride around to Roger's place they crossed at Teddington Lock to find the water thundering past and pressed on into Kingston and found Roger at home and spent a happy hour talking with him before heading out into the eye of the storm to head for home.