On the penultimate week of Robert Tolley's stay in the UK before returning home to Canada, Christina, Robert and I decided to ride the bit they'd both missed over the Salisbury Easter weekend. It was an easy day return ticket from Surbiton to Basingstoke and then a 50 mile round trip with about 2000 ft of ascent. The B road out of Basingstoke was less busy than it had been on the Good Fri when Ann and Steve rode it so we stuck with it and powered up and down the smooth tarmac 12 miles to Whitchurch. The silk mill still operates and has produced silk for many BBC period costume dramas and has a good cafe. From here it was small roads with much to see, following the valley of a beautiful chalk stream that rises in Overton and winds to Southampton. We decided to stop at Stockbridge "the heart of the Test Valley" for lunch before retreating the way we had come.
A large number of thatched cottages, bluebells, yellow rapeseed, horses and carts, trout farms, and the beautiful river winding down alongside. A lovely day out with excellent company.
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