‘Looks absolutely an effing mess’, barked Charles as eight windmillers attempted the simple task of lining up outside The Weeping Willow in Barrow to spell the word Windmill with their sparklers, kindly provided by ride leader Martin B, on this same day in 1605 when Guy Fawkes proved he was pretty useless too. ‘Close in, Simon, close in. Close in, Martin W, close in’, Charles continued to shout, but despite the orders and Martin W’s attempt to line everyone up in the right order, the word was still spelt backwards – LLIMDNIW! But it was all a bit of fun.
Assembling earlier for coffee and before lighting the sparklers were Martin B, Martin W, Deborah, Simon, Howard, Keith, Roger, Rob and Charles.
Saying farewell to the willow deer outside the pub
the group proceeded to follow Martin B around some very quiet and colourful Suffolk lanes, with courteous drivers everywhere. Life seems to be generally at a more gentle pace in Suffolk.
After crossing the A14 the route took us alongside or through many woods and forests until reaching the Anglo Saxon village of West Stow for coffee where we were greeted by three coach loads of children who welcomed us with loud cheers and whistles, or were they just astonished at the average age of the riders? Never in the history of the Windmill Club have so few been cheered on by so many.
Coffee and cakes at West Stow were as good as usual:
The return leg was initially alongside the area of breckland of West Stow heath before hitting the Icknield Way which goes through Ickleton too. It is the oldest road in Britain and starts near Thetford and finishes at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire.
Crossing the A14 once again at Kentford some of the group stopped to look at the Olympic standard mountain biking course created from an old quarry with death defying jumps and leaps, but no one offered to take part.
At one stage Martin W felt a strong thump against his bike which he thought was a stick of some kind but it turned out to be a squirrel which dashed across the road without looking right and left. Luckily it missed getting stuck in the spokes of his front wheel but probably had to pay a visit to its local A&E afterwards.
Back at The Weeping Willow, an excellent lunch was enjoyed by all. Rob made an early exit as he decided to ride another 27 miles back home to Ickleton. Well done Rob.
Huge thanks go to Martin B for this the first Windmill ride he has organised and we look forward to the next. And thanks to the many photographers including Charles, Howard and Simon.
And this is where we went:
Martin W