A Group 28th September

A sunny start in Redhill, and fifteen of us wound our way out of town, turning off the tarmacadamed road just past Mercers Lake, to begin our climb to the Pilgrims Way.  A bit of gravel, in good condition and easy enough, then back to the tarmac until we got to the corner of Spring Bottom Lane.   A quiet country lane now, but this was part of the Old Road/Pilgrims Way that winds its way along the bottom of the Downs.

If you look at the satellite picture, you can just about make out the smudge of the ancient track in the field.  Long since ploughed out, it follows the line of the margin between the chalk and the arable land, as it does all the way to Canterbury.

We went along Spring Bottom Lane, then Hextalls Lane and Roughets Lane, where more of the surface of the Old Road is visible.  Arriving at the gates of a private house we had to turn away from the Old Road on to another track, climbing up to the brow of the hill.  Several houses and estates interrupt the route along this part of the Downs, but, happily, pleasant alternatives are usually to hand.

Here we enjoyed the 'Good run. Smooth Gravel surface.'  offered by the CTC in 1893, crossing the A22 by the magnificent bridge that Sustrans has installed.  Then it was the old London Road 'loose and rutty, sharp bend at the finish'  which hasn't changed much since then, before climbing again to the back entrance of Woldingham School.  A couple more bits of Old Road as we went along here, but much interrupted by later works. 

Suddenly, we were back on the tarmac road, and back in the 21st century.  It wasn't all bad, as we got some good riding in quiet lanes, taking the opportunity to revive the old Wayfarers' tradition in Crowhurst, where we stopped to look at the yew.

There's no doubt that it is a very old tree - here's Keith inside it.  Some say it's 1000 years old, some say older.  Jolly old, anyway.

A good lunch at the Greyhound in Lingfield, where Geoffrey Shields was waiting for us.  The Senior Citizens' menu, main course and pud at a reasonable price, went down well, then on we went, following, sometimes reversing, parts of the tri-vets 100 mile route to Brockham.

They're starting to build the bonfire, so it must be nearly Winter.  We went on to the Coach Road, which gave us a good view of a track up Box Hill, but the time for tracks, and hills, was over, and by a show of hands the peloton voted to go to Pilgrim Cycles, which seemed a fitting finale.

While we were there, we chatted about bikes, oddly enough.  People were generally pleased with the way their tourers - and roadsters - had performed on some very old roads.  But none was as pleased as Sir William Magnay was with his Rover.  As he says in the 1893 guide 'I am in the habit of riding long distances over all kinds of roads, and am happy to say I have never met with the slightest mishap ..... For easy running I consider the 'Rover' unequalled; great speed is attained with the minimum of exertion.'

If you look carefully, you can see that Sir William's Rover has the same tyres as I have.  No brakes, though.

A grand day out in good company.  My thanks to Mike Barrett for his efficient back marking, and to all who took a turn at corner marking to keep us rolling along.  We're good at this.

Mark