Starting from The Fox Inn at Newbourne, six Windmillers led by Maurice and accompanied by Andrew, Sandra, Tom, Chris and Martin donned wet weather gear to start with but soon stripped off after a mile as the threatened rain failed to materialise. The route took us firstly to Felixstowe old town and its grand Edwardian seafront, and then along the esplanade to a cycle path alongside the beach which was great until it ended abruptly at a flight of steps……..
Felixstowe Ferry was next where the ferryman was more jolly than the last time we met him two years ago, possibly due to swiftly removing a substantial amount of cash from each of us for the crossing.
Once on the Bawdsey side of the Deben, the first stop was to see if the pre-war BMWs that we had seen 2 years ago were still looking sad and alone in an old garage, but they had gone leaving nothing but an Austin 7 chassis, if anyone wants one. Wonder how the garage will look in another 2 year’s time?
The weather continued fine all the way to Orford with a strong tail wind pushing us along sandy lanes through peaceful hamlets and villages, paying homage of course to Andrew Dawg in Capel St. Andrew:
We planned to meet friends of Maurice, and neighbours of John B, over a coffee in Orford and then head back to Newbourne for a late lunch but black clouds soon put paid to that idea. So a trip to the quayside lasted 20 minutes for some whilst waiting for the rain to stop but eventually we all gathered at The Kings Head with Maurice’s friends and had an excellent lunch. Thanks go to Sandra for birthday drinks, a few days ahead of time!
Mixed weather in Orford
After lunch it was back via Woodbridge and a visit to the Marina and Tide Mill Museum, which was very impressive to see working:
Woodbridge views at low tide
Finally, it was back through the lanes to The Fox Inn at Newbourne where apologies were given for not making lunch but we made partial amends by having a drink outside before heading home.
Here is the route taken:
And here is Andrew’s aerial view with additional pics:
https://www.relive.cc/view/1093101631
Thanks to Maurice for a repeat of a delightful ride and to Andrew Sheepdawg for getting us all there on time.
Martin
The Windmill Cycle Club 