Bromham to Plymouth
Sunday, 11th October Leaving UK
Spent the Sunday morning updating the blog and loading photos, before getting on the Brittany Ferry to Santander.
Adios England!
See you in Spain love Karen and Steve
Our final full day in the UK. We rode the few miles along the estuary into Plymouth and checked into the Holiday Inn ( Steve had some points left on his Priority Club Card). A night of luxury before our departure.
During the afternoon we stocked up in various items and found anew replacement groundsheet for our tent, the previous one never having been properly waterproof.We seemed to have done loads of walking around Plymouth. In the evening we strolled along the Hoe and found a little Italian restaurant for dinner. A last bit of indulgence before we left Great Britain.
Friday, 9th October Lydford to Plymouth 35 km
We set off today thinking that the day would be an easy one as we understood the route followed the old railway line into Plymouth.
The ride into Tavistock started off up hill reaching its peak at Bentor. We couldn’t fathom how on earth the church, sited on top of the tor, manages to get a congregation each Sunday when the only access appeared to be up a rocky, steep footpath.
From there it was downhill into Tavistock. The route out of Tavistock along the 27 was steep and ended up going back down into the valley and onto a bridal path, which went back up hill.
As we started our ascent we met a group of elderly mountain bikers that had turned back as it was too rough and steep.
We continued on getting off to push up the rough track. Before we got to the really rough part that the riders had told us about we decided to climb over a locked gate to get onto the main road that passed close by. We unloaded all of our gear and lifted it and the bikes over the gate.
There then followed a dangerous ride along the busy main road for about 1 mile to the next trail access point. When we arrived there, it turned out we still had a push up a very steep rough shale track covered in slippery wet leaves ,with a couple of narrow gates thrown in increase the challenge, to get up onto the railway viaduct. For the first mile the track was muddy and very uneven and we wished we’d stuck to the road. From then on it was smooth tarmac and the gradient was gently downhill so we were soon on the outskirts of Plymouth and on our way to our final campsite in England at Riverside Caravan Park.
Despite being close to Plymouth and several large industrial and retail parks this was a quiet and secluded place but just as we arrived the heavens opened and we had to wait to pitch until it abated and then once again we cooked in the tent as the rain poured down.
Thursday, 8th October Nomansland to Lydford - 73km
Overnight the rain had stopped and the sky cleared resulting in a very cold night. (Someone that we met even suggested there had been a frost that night).
We had a late start, waiting for our tent to dry. The morning was sunny and warm and we stopped at Witheridge for lunch provisions. It was an easy ride downhill most of the way to Lapford, where we crossed the main A377 and started the steep climb up the other side of the valley. As we climbed out of the village we spotted a house selling corn on the cob at its gate. We bought a couple for 20p each.
We cycled across a couple of steep sided valleys and as we reached the top of one hill we heard farm machinery and saw corn dust floating across the road.
Lo and behold there in the field was an old fashioned threshing machine with about 8 men of older years working it.
They welcomed us in to take photographs and we spoke to Jonathon a retired farmer (in photo) and Richard the youngest member of the crew, but
actually the boss man.
They were threshing corn for thatch using the old traditional methods. They worked all year round stopping only briefly for time off. Apart from Richard the whole crew where retirees and jokingly called themselves “Dad’s Army”.
The threshing machine was a Marshal thresher that was 82 years old and last year produced 800,000 bushels of corn thatch. They work on a contract for the thatchers who own the corn grown by local farmers. It was fascinating to watch this work which was not without some significant risks as the guys fed the corn into the thresher drum.
It is a dangerous job, as you can see here, the operators hands are very close to the rotating drum that threshes the corn.
As were about to leave the oldest guy who was operating the baler came over and remarked "I am only earning a bit of money in my year out to pay for going back to uni next year!"
From there we cycled down the hill to West Tawton, the village where the TV series "Jam and Jerusalem" was filmed. We sat and ate our lunch under the shade of the village clock.
We continued on to Okhampton and for the first time sat and ate an icecream.
We also chatted to a cyclist couple just out for a days run and they told us a little about our journey onwards to Tavistock.
The route was fairly steep out of the town, up onto the old railway line called the Granite Trail. The Trail took us past the still working Meldon Quarry and over the Meldon Viaduct.
After a few miles the route drops off the railway crossing over the main road and onto narrow back roads with the old ups and downs.
We were heading for a site at Tavistock, but as time was marching on we decided to stop at a site in Lydford. Here, we met the couple that we had previously chatted with In Okhampton who invited us into their camper for a glass of wine during the evening. We chatted about our and their plans and swapped details. Thanks Mike and Sue for your hospitality.
That night Steve cooked us another delicious meal of mackerel and we sat and ate looking across towards Dartmoor.
Wednesday, 7th October Greenham to Nomansland - 50km
We had a slighty up and down ride initially, on a cloudy, but dry morning. We picked up the ride along the Grand Western Canal extension which was built to service the Waytown Quarry. The remains of the original Limekilns are still to be seen.
We rode into Tiverton to the Tiverton Basin where they still operate a horse drawn barge, for the tourists.
We did our shopping and then went to a lovely café for lunch at which pint it started to rain heavily. We waited it out, but it was still raining as we emerged and looked for the tourist information. Here we left route 3 which heads north and we continued, navigating our own route across to Okhampton.
We found the nearest camp site was some 7 miles away at a place called “Nomansland”. We phoned to establish the price and they warned us that the hill out of Tiverton was steep. They called it “Long Drag Hill”. They were not wrong. We battled through pouring rain up the long hill and several more after that to reach the site. It was still raining as we pitched. We were pretty miserable and had to cook our dinner in our tent.
Tuesday, 6th October Westhay to Greenham - 70 km
Whilst we packed we chatted with a couple in a camper van who were also keen cyclists and travelers. Geoff and Helen actually came from Westhay village, but lived in Melbourne, Australia. Geoff made us a real coffee whilst we talked. Before we left they gave us their email and offered accommodation when we are in Oz.
We made our way to pick up route 3 and cycled along the old peat moors and arriving in
Bridgewater along the side of the River Parrett. We headed straight to St John Street Cycles, home of the Thorn Bike factory to pick up a few essential spares for our trip and a new cycle helmet for Karen. A hundred quid or so lighter we went to find a greasy spoon café in the middle of the town. Bridgewater has no redeeming features and after lunch we headed straight out of town along the side of the canal all the way to Taunton.
The tourist information guy in Taunton told us that the nearest camp site on our route was about 5-7 miles out of town on route 3. We cycled along country roads crossing valley after valley with several fairly steep climbs, making for tiring riding.
Along the way we met three guys on touring bikes, cycling towards us. They seemed genuinely pleased to see us and stopped to chat about routes, etc. They were doing the Coast to Coast ride from Padstow to Bristol. This was their first long distance ride and they were ill prepared for the journey. They looked exhausted. They were heading for bridgewater which was still about a 3 hour ride away. At this time it was about 4-30pm. They had the advantage that they were staying in B & Bs.
We arrived at Greenham when it was almost dark and hunted around the village for a about 30 mins to find the site, which we eventually found up another final hill. The tourist guy’s 5 miles had amazingly ended up as 12 miles.
The site was a good one at only £6 per night. Another bargain!
Monday, 5th October Bromham to Westhay, Glastonbury - 80km
Weather was reasonable as we set off from Bromham, passing by the many market gardens along the way and picking up National Cycle Route No 4 along the side of the Kennet and Avon Canal, which made for an enjoyable and easy ride.
We were amazed at the number of people living on boats on the canal. We followed the canal to Bradford on Avon where we stopped for the “Full English”. The ride continued along the Canal to Limpley Stoke where we left the canal to pick up route 20 called the Colliers Way. It followed the line of the old railway that had previously replaced the original canal, long since filled in, arriving eventually in Midsomer Norton.
From here we navigated our own route to Wells along minor roads.
Wells town itself is fairly small and as we dropped down the hill the Cathedral was dominant, dwarfing the rest of the town. It has to rank as one of the most impressive Cathderals that we have seen. We spent a little time in the town marveling at the Cathedral before continuing our journey towards Glastonbury, on route number 3.
This lead us through the flat land marshes known as the Somerset Levels and past the Peat Moors Visitor Center, where we glimpsed some of the round house huts built in the old traditional way.
Our impression of Glastonbury was disappointing compared to that of Wells. This may have been due to the lateness in the day, tiredness or reality, we couldn’t really deduce which. We shopped quickly and found tourist information to find the nearest camp sites. We called one at Westhay which was only £4 per night! Bargain! The problem was it iwas 5 miles away, raining and getting dark.
As we headed through the town we were challenged to a race by three young lads on bmx bikes. If they won they would get our flags and if we won, we would get his handlebars! We politely declined the challenge, but they rode with us for a short distance and tried to help by giving us directions to Westhay.
As we headed out of town we saw another close camp site. When they told us it would be £13 per night we carried on. The site at Westhay was a farm with shower and toilet, but was all we needed and cheap. We pitched and cooked by torchlight.
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