Day dawned bright for the Wayfarers picnic. Twelve easy riders met at North Cheam; Paul and Maggie kindly offered to lead a subgroup. Lynda and Karen turned right at Sparrow Farm Road to take their own route via Manor Green Road, while the rest of us headed straight down the A24 and through Ewell High Street.
We were in Leatherhead well before 11 to enjoy coffee with friends from the As and Bs at the Fairfield Centre. What a treat to join them all, we have missed their friendly faces this past year. The terrace was buzzing as we all caught up with each other and expressed our pleasure to renew old acquaintances.
Then they all headed away to do some distance to work up an appetite for lunch while we easies did a bit of loitering and chatting. Paul suggested we visit Betchworth Castle en route to lunch, so we headed away a little after 11.30.
When we arrived at the castle there were others there, a quite unusual occurrence. A team of local volunteers were just finishing up footpath and weed clearance, which made for a pleasant stroll around the ruins. We were fortunate that the local building historian happened to be there; he invited us inside the fence to have a look round and told us a little about the place.
Soon we were back on the carriageway through to Brockham, and joined everyone at the cricket pavilion with our picnics. A very convivial event, much chat and laughter as we ate and drank together in the warm late August sunshine, looking across the cricket pitch. A lovely spot to gather.
Our group divided after lunch; some wanted to go over Box Hill, I lead a group that didn't! We headed back up the A24, then via Leatherhead station through to Ashtead and Epsom commons and the Old Moat. It was closed this afternoon for a volunteers' barbecue, so we continued to the other end of Horton Lane, where Lynda and I enjoyed tea cakes with our tea and coffee before heading for home.
Many thanks all for your cheery company over the day, to Paul and Maggie for looking after the second group, to Ged for getting coffee venues booked again and to Simon for organising the picnic. Also to the Fairfield for their warm welcome and delicious cheese scones, definitely a highlight on the way!
~ Helen
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| Photos by Sue Bellamy |
2 comments:
A really interesting post, I had never heard of Betchworth Castle before so thank you for bringing it to my attention.
A really interesting post, I had never heard of Betchworth Castle before so thank you for bringing it to my attention.
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