The Varsity Ride 9th May - Trip Notes

There are still a few days to go, but the forecast for next Wednesday is good.  Fingers crossed - we've had enough wet rides this Spring.

Ride Details

There will be a led ride from North Cheam to the  Elevenses stop, starting at 0900 prompt.  The route will favour efficiency over scenery - we'll go through Morden Hall Park and up CS7 to Southwark.

Elevenses will be at the Island Cafe, Flat Iron Square, London SE1 0AB.  We've been there before, there's plenty of bike parking and it's a good place for breakfast.  It's near Waterloo and London Bridge stations for those that want to take a train to the start.  And although tradition dictates 'Elevenses', I'd like to get away at 1045 if we can.  If anyone has a problem, please let me know.

Lunch will be at the Welsh Harp, Waltham Abbey, details below, tea will be at the Something Lovely Tea Room in Puckeridge and supper in the Mill, Cambridge.

The Route

From Southwark we'll go through the City, past the Bank of England and then up CS1 to Tottenham Hale.  It's not one of the great superhighways, mostly paint and blue signs, but it's a safe and efficient way out of Town.  At Tottenham Hale, with surprising suddenness, we leave London behind and change to the watery world of the Lea Valley.  An interesting bit of country, with a lot of history.  We will pass the remains of the Royal Small Arms Factory and the Royal Gunpowder Works, which caused the waterway to be created from the marshes to carry the heavy and dangerous products of these works down to the Woolwich Arsenal and, via the Thames, to the Naval Dockyards.

At Waltham Abbey, there is some earlier history. King Harold Godwinson stopped at the Abbey to pray on the way to the Battle of Hastings, where he was killed.  It is said that Harold's mother Gytha offered William the Conqueror the weight of her son's corpse in gold if he would return it for burial.  William refused the offer of payment on the grounds of propriety, and allowed Harold's mistress Edith Swan-Neck to identify the body, which she did by 'secret markes'.  The body was returned for burial to Waltham Abbey, where there is still a memorial stone.

After lunch it's briefly back to the river, then up in to the Alps of Essex, with proper hairpins and everything, past the town of Ware then, climbing slowly to another earlier bit of history, Roman this time.  We will ride for several miles along Ermine Street, leaving it for rolling arable country, mostly barley.  Big fields and big skies, and hard work if it's windy.  Tea at Puckeridge, after which the run of the country is down again heading towards Cambridge.  Entering Cambridge we'll be back to riverside paths, passing the spot on the Granta where Lord Byron used to enjoy skinny-dipping, going through Rupert Brooke's Grantchester, over Skaters' Meadow and directly to The Mill on the River Cam.  This is a good pub, right in one of the most scenic bits of Cambridge, and opposite Scudamore's Punt Station.  This last is very important as Simon is keen to go punting.  Punts cost £30 per hour and hold six people.  The Punt Station closes at dusk.

The full route can be downloaded here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/605893  - this is the latest version.  

Lunch

Lunch will be at the Welsh Harp, Waltham Abbey at about 1300.  The Welsh Harp is a very ancient pub, and serves pub food.  It is not gastro, and many Wayfarers will find it congenial (though not tall ones, as the ceilings are very low).  It's right next to the Abbey and on the Market Square.

Tea

The Something Lovely Tea Room is charming, with bike parking round the back.  They can take about twelve of us at a sitting, so I may have to phone through numbers at lunch-time, if we are a lot. I'm sure we can work it out.  If we can't, there's nothing else for miles ...  They close at five, and I plan to be there by four, for those who remember Canterbury.

Supper

Supper is at The Mill, Cambridge.  I've made a reservation for 1800, so if we do well there may be a chance for a short tour of the City before we sit down - we have a number of options at this point.  The Mill is also ancient, but not so ancient, and has a number of good beers.  They were playing blues on vinyl when I was there, and the food was good.

Trains

As there is plenty of daylight, the hard riders may simply turn round and ride back.  The rest of us will either want a bed for the night or a train.  There are plenty of trains, and the fast ones are really fast - about 40 minutes to London.  Simon has done some research and has got a very cheap ticket for £3.90 or so.  The rules for bikes seem vague.  You can't take a bike on the train to London in the morning rush hour, which is fair enough, and doesn't bother us anyway. But there are no bike reservations and no advice on how and where to put your bike.

My practical experience is that with off-peak trains no-one seems to care.  They aren't busy, and the Greater Anglian trains into Liverpool Street, which are the cheaper and slower ones, have ample bike capacity, with carriages at the front and back of the train which have bench seats down the side and lots of space between.  Only problem is that these carriages aren't marked in any way that I can see and you just have to look out for them.  But they are there.

As long as we turn up in twos or threes, which is likely to happen naturally, I don't anticipate any problems.

Looking forward to it ...

Mark