Travels through ancient landscapes
The week has ended in a similar vein to it's start, damp one day, sunny the next but all overlaid with a thick wrapping of strong winds. That in turn has continued to respot my ride days so on Thursday it was hiding from wet and wind again.
I had big plans for Friday though, a visit to a Saxon church up near Cirencester, a good 60km away from base. Other than the wind, the weather looked pretty good and so i set off, a bit earlier than has become usual, and headed up onto the Cotswolds. If you aren't sure what that means, the Saxons arrived in the UK in the C5th and it was only the arrival of the Normans in 1066 who ended their period of influence. Most 'Saxon' churches were founded in the mid/late C7th but firm dating is rare and my example, Duntisbourne Rouse, is probably C10th. The ride up was pleasant enough, the wind offering some assistance which was ominous for later.
The church is quite tiny, the Saxon nave had a low tower, crypt and chancel added in the Norman period and finally an C18th porch with a sundial. I took a few pics, explored the building and sat for a few minutes but i was mindful that i needed to eat and i still had in the order of 70km riding ahead of me and a head wind. Reluctantly i set off again, aiming for a lunch stop in Stroud, but of course i had to pick a route that traversed a couple of deep valleys and it wasn't all tarmac, what was not always very good.
It was heading towards 15.00 when i reached the cafe and gratefully ordered a pot of tea and an omelette, sufficient hopefully to get me back to Brizzle. Replete, i set off to tackle the couple of hours or so into the wind but fortunately there was a reasonable degree of both shelter and direction change to not make it too horrendous. I stopped the clock @17.45 with 134km and 1200+m of up under my belt, phew!
Saturday was a return to showery conditions so it was back to walking, just under 7km and no real wet. On my return i got stuck into some writing, a feature of Thursday too, the results are all on my Patreon page, an additional 1500 words, what was intended to be a short story keeps growing!
And so to today. Aunty Bev had suggested we do a car assist ride day, a base in Devizes was agreed and we set off bright and early for the hour or so drive. Bev was going to do Bev things around the town whilst i had sketched out a route taking in Pewsey Vale, a bit of Salisbury Plain and the Kennet valley. The day was bright but that wind was still pushing stuff about, in this case me for the first 20km eastwards until i suffered a deflation, the cause, a sharp piece of road dressing, grr.
Through Pewsey town then it was the climb up past Pewsey whitehorse onto The Plain for a twenty k loop before returning to Pewsey Vale where i stopped at the curiously named Wootton Rivers for a short sandwich stop. From there it was a substantial and steep (one arrow, iykyk) climb up over the down before dropping into the Kennet valley near Marlborough. Everywhere you look hereabouts there are barrows, circles and other prehistoric reminders that man has been in this landscape a long time.
Past West Kennet long barrow, Silsbury Hill, Avebury just out of sight to the north the instead of the main road back to Devizes i used one of the ancient trackways which took me over the Pewsey Downs back into the Vale. We reconvened in the town centre at the local 'spoons for a less than sparkling but cheap pie and mash before returning to the motorised transport, 80km, 540m of up, a satisfying day with almost 40km of 'virgin' road covered and more barrows etc than you can shake the proverbial stick at.
Last thing today, upload a new chapter of Balancing Trick for you so here is chapter Two.
More on Wednesday but for now,
Tschuss,
Madeline Anafrid
