For the next eight miles, through Addlestone, Chertsey South, Homewood Park, Stonehill, Burrowhill and beyond, we followed exactly the route taken by Pam for her ride to Donkey Town on March 15th. Approaching Windlesham, due to Woodlands Lane being closed, we diverted up Highams Lane to join the Chertsey Road. The Woodlands Lane Bridge was demolished by blowing it up last November. There is plenty of footage of this spectacular event on the web. The replacement bridge is expected to open some time during the coming Winter.
Beyond Windlesham, despite running off the edge of the Greater London A-Z, we made do with OS Landranger to find our way up to Ascot, to convene at The Stag for lunch. After a pretty cold start for the morning ride to Elevenses the day had warmed up nicely well before we reached Ascot and the majority of us sat out in the sunny courtyard to eat lunch. The staff coped with our big group very well and it is very much a pub that we would return to. When David Cox and I did the recce we had it in mind to go a bit further to have lunch at The Belvedere Arms, just outside the Blacknest Gate into the Great Park. But we were overcome by how posh it was and skedaddled around Virginia Water to The Wheatsheaf for a lunch we could afford.
One of the big pleasures of the day was that our new rider Christina came with her husband Pat and 15 year old son Edward, both accomplished riders and good company. Mags and Will McKinley came out again and we hope that they will join our rides as often as they can despite other cycling allegiances. Denver Lawson turned up for more after enjoying last week’s ride to Guildford. And, like migrating geese, freshly arrived back from Canada, Robert Tolley and Margaret Wild joined us too. David “school holidays only” Vines impressed us all with his choice of steed, a beautiful 1960s Jack Taylor, a real work of art. Good to have all these folk with us.
New Mile Road, through Cheapside and Mill Lane was a really enjoyable way to get to the Blacknest Gate where we entered Windsor Great Park, resplendent in its Spring leafiness. We took a slightly different route than usual, turning right after Breakheart Hill to pass the Polo Grounds and The Guards Polo Club before a pleasant meander through the trees to Egham Wick to emerge onto Wick Road.
We whizzed down Prune Hill and after Whitehall Lane Pam left us to go home, less than a mile away, and prepare for the Easter Tour. After Thorpe Lea and Eastly End we took the quiet Laleham Reach road around Penton Hook to join the rather rough Ferry Lane, more of a goat track than a cycle path, through to Chertsey. After Mead Lane we rode across the field on the footpath to Woburn Park and up the sharp rise onto the cycle path alongside Woburn Hill and thence to Weybridge and the usual route alongside the Desborough Channel to Walton-on-Thames. We sat outside the 1955 Club and although the staff confused themselves over our orders we were soon quaffing our steaming beverages and munching on some very decent slabs of cake.
Thanks to everyone for being such good company on what was a day of many miles, 18.3 to Lunch, 17.5 to Tea. Thanks to David Cox for back marking and riding the two recces with me. The route I had planned originally left a lot to be desired and you wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much as the one we rode yesterday. Thanks too to the several people who marked corners and to John Austin who volunteered his services as an auxiliary back-marker.
~ Tim
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