Deborah suggested a trip to see the church in Castle Hedingham might be of interest to those Windmillers who hadn’t paid a visit the last time and so this ride was planned with that in mind. Unfortunately, Deborah was unable to make it as she was busy cycling a mega route from Morecambe Bay to Bridlington but she had already seen it.
Setting off for the first time from The Three Horseshoes in Helions Bumpstead, on the recommendation of a local lady who we had bumped into on a previous ride, the 14 taking part were Maurice, Andrew, Iain, Geoff, Howard, Martin B, Victor, Alan, Rod, Ric, Brian, Roger, Tom and Martin W.
The weather forecast was a fine morning and a wet afternoon but in practice it was the reverse, which meant the not-so-hardy types donning wet weather gear soon after setting off. But it turned out to be only a few spots and by coffee time in Castle Hedingham the sun was shining brightly and we had all dried off.
On the way we passed Jamie Oliver’s fine residence in Finchingfield and then traversed a series of very narrow twisty lanes with gravel and grass to contend with in places, but blissfully quiet. The only other road user spotted by the first group of riders was a fat badger which waddled up the lane before taking cover near its large set – so large that a mound of sand and gravel spewed out into the lane.
The Old Moot House in Castle Hedingham did us proud again with good coffee and cakes, even though coffee was spilled liberally by both the staff and a Windmiller but which was soon mopped up.
Leaving the bikes jammed in the back yard of The Old Moot House, a group of Windmillers then nipped across the road to take a peek at St Nicholas Church and were not disappointed. It is one of only four churches in the UK, including Peterborough Cathedral, with a Wheel window, as depicted above. Built by the wealthy Norman Robert de Vere family in 1180, the church is listed Grade 1 – Nikolas Pevsner, the esteemed architectural historian, called it ‘the finest church in Essex’. Robert de Vere was the 3rd Earl of Oxford and one of the barons who acted as a guarantor in the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. The US Constitution is still based largely on the wording of the Magna Carta – say no more.
A 10 minute visit doesn’t do justice to such a fine church. For more detail of what we missed see here: https://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/castle_hedingham.html
After extracting our bikes from the the back yard of The Old Moot House, the two groups set off on the return leg taking in some familiar lanes before ending up with a splendid lunch outside at The Three Horseshoes, definitely a place to revisit:
So this is where we went:
Thanks to everyone who attended and Brian for some of the photos.
Martin
The Windmill Cycle Club 