After the mistake of cycling towards Barrington I turned around and headed towards Orwell. This seemed to be the easiest route to get up to Wimpole and avoid as much as possible cycling along the A603. When I got there I wondered whether I had gone through some sort of time-warp into a 60s Horror Movie. Weird dummies looked at me as I cycled along - no it turned out to be another of those Scarecrow Competitions. In Somerset we used to have Carnivals that would take part in carnival processions in various villages. From Frome to Weston-super-Mare (taking in 11 other places such as Wells and Glastonbury) over the space of a month or so. Here (in the flatlands) it seems to be scarecrow competitions. Although I am guessing that the Scarecrows don't walk from village to village. In Orwell the competition runs from the 1st of June through to the 6th of June. (Note the calendar will probably have moved on by July.)
Apparently they have a kind sponsor giving £5 to the local church fund for each scarecrow entered into the competition.
I was impressed with the range of different "occupations" that the Orwellian Scarecrows seem to do.
Cinderella perhaps.
Perhaps a place to get laundry done?
An advertising scarecrow drumming up entrants. Once again I had taken the wrong route and come out further up the A603 than intended. So I headed back into the village.
This time around I took a picture of the village sign - no sign of any scarecrows there.
Then a short cycle down the A603 and a right turn towards Wimpole Hall along an un-named road - very well kept but no pavements and given the traffic not the nicest of roads to walk or cycle along. The around 0.5miles/1Km down the road a left turn towards the NT car parks. I think I did see a couple of discrete Cycling Byway signs, but I do not think the route is operational yet, if it is they are keeping it a secret. Then I cycled along past the Stable Block to some metal gates that did not seem to want to open, nor were there any signs to point the way. In the end I lifted my bike over the gate and climbed the fence. There did not seem to be any other route.
I then came to some huge cattle grids with a road leading in the direction I expected to travel. There was a mixed herd of cattle in the way though with quite a few calves. Cattle are generally docile creatures, although they do not like their young disturbed. I could have gone barrelling through but did not want to upset the NT (nor be cruel to animals) so I waited until they have left a gap and then slowly cycled past. There was a bit of curiosity - but they weren't bothered. I walked over the cattle grid though. After the field of cows there was a filed of sheep - these were further from the road and so I was able to keep a reasonable speed over the cattle grid (or should it be a sheep grid). Again the sheep were not at all bothered - surprisingly as sheep are generally more timid. I then came to a large ornamental gate- which did not look as if it were meant to be opened by a cyclist - fortunately there as a side gate leading onto the A1198, or Ermine Way as it appears on Google Maps. If you follow the link you can just about see the Stonework of the gate up the road. For some reason Google did not drive along Ermine Way. The path through the Wimpole Estate is part of the Harcamlow Way - which on the OS map appears as a public path. Although the Cycling Byway sign implies that the NT are happy for cyclists to pass through.)
At this point it was starting to get late - well later than I had planned on being home so I tried to keep up a reasonable pace. Although I did wonder why I had forgotten to take pictures of Wimpole Hall - the excitement of not knowing if there was a way through probably. I headed down towards Bassingbourn (cum Kneesworth) around the Bassingbourn Barracks home to an Army Training Regiment. They used to have a dry ski slop and I took my son when he was around 6 for a practice before a trip to Annecy in France near the Swiss Border. In the event we went sledging. Annecy was a beautiful town though.
Although I cut back on my photographs on the way home I did take one of the church in Bassingbourn - You can see from the clock it was 5.45pm.
Just before the next village on the route - Meldreth I cycled along Penny Lane and past this Monument marking the Greenwich Meridian - I should have checked on my GPS. Google Earth does show it as zero (the place where I took the photograph.)
After Meldreth the next village along was Shepreth. At the junction it was quite dark and so I stopped to check my map and a cyclist in the other direction stopped to ask me if he could check his directions. It turned out he was coming from Cambridge and heading to Bassingbourn so I pointed out the road I had come from and asked him which road he had entered the village from and we both set off on our respective ways.
After Shepreth the next village along was Barrington a very picturesque village with a huge green separating each side of the village and a hill, called Chapel Hill rising to 66m. Not very long though so not too bad. I did pass quite a few cyclists - it looks as if the fine weather has brought out the cycle commuters. There used to be a Cement Works alongside the hill, it closed in 2008 and the owners are exploring long-term plans! The Works has a railway line spur off the Cambridge to London Railway line which runs across the road - although it must have been operational after Steam Trains!
The route then headed back to Haslingfield down Chapel Hill to a t-junction - I really was glad I had sorted my breaks - I reached around 36mph/58Km/h - where, yes, I missed my turn again. This time along a byway with a street name that I have forgotten, but pig related. I can't find it on the OS or Google Maps though. Never mind the OSM Cycle Map does have it - it is called Porkers Lane. (Note on Google Streetview the sign had been blurred!) A rather nice track then headed East over the River Cam towards Hauxton.Somewhere along the way I also took this last picture - it almost looks like a wild Snapdragon - and maybe some form of Orchid or Hellebore - but I have not yet been able to identify it. Anyone?
UPDATE; I came across an excellent Website with many pictures of UK wildflowers, including a page with all the pictures in one place. I then selected the various thumbnails that looked most like it for a closer look and it is Sanfoin. (Onobrychis viciifolia) This is conformed by both Wikipedia and my Collins book of wild flowers. The picture on the UK Wild flowers website was taken on the Devil's Dyke in Cambridgeshire. Mine was taken on Wort's Causeway near the Golf course on the grass verge.
The weather was still warm by early evening - as I headed back past the Shelfords and on towards Lime Kiln Hill. Something else caught my eye - they have started work on the Babraham Road cycle-path works. This seems to be quite a major undertaking as the road is a busy one with a bit of dual-carriageway near Wandlebury. This path looks as if it is to help drive cycle traffic between Cambridge and Wandlebury rather than improve the safety of a School Run. It is good to see this all happening. I must check out the progress in a week or so.
No comments:
Post a Comment