Category: Cambridge

Flying high with the Windmillers

Post author By Brian Connellan
Post date Sep 8, 2022
1 Comment on Flying high with the Windmillers

A sunny Thursday morning saw Jeremy leading twelve Windmillers away from the Three Horseshoes, Stapleford bound for Grantchester, Cambridge and Anglesey Abbey. Following Jeremy were Alan, Andrew, Brian, Chris, Geoff, Graham, Hazel, Howard, Ken, Ric and Simon.

The outing soon developed an aeronautic theme; firstly when we paused at the end of Cambridge Airport runway and a Cessna flew low overhead as it came in to land.

Then on the return leg from Anglesey Abbey we pulled in at Bottisham Airfield Museum to admire the P-51 Mustang parked outside. Jason Webb, Chair of the Trustees, happened to be there and sensing our interest, gave us a quick tour. He explained how the airfield was taken over by the US Air Force during WW2 and saw P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs provide escorts for the allied bombing offensive as well as ground attack missions.

Stuffed full of WW2 history and interesting artefacts, the museum is well worth a visit. It’s open every Sunday, 10.30 to 4pm, is dog-friendly and we hear the coffee and cakes are good too.

We thought this was Ric’s bike; similar vintage

Thanks go to Jeremy for planning the route and leading the the way. The off road section from Fulbourn along the Roman Road towards Cambridge was particularly pleasant and a novelty for most of us.

Later that same day, we were saddened to hear of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Windmillers would like to express their deepest condolences to the Royal Family.

Maurice recalls the time in 2005 when he and Lyn attended Windsor Castle for an Aston Martin drive-by. His DB6 was one of nearly 300 Aston Martins and Lagondas taking part in a St George’s Day parade, where they were met by HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

24 April 2005: Maurice driving his DB6 past the Queen at Windsor Castle. On her right stands Prince Philip with the Chairman of the Aston Martin Owners Club

A young Elizabeth with her sister, Margaret

Brian

Tags Bottisham Airfield Museum, Three Horseshoes

Cambridge Cambridgeshire

A Space Odyssey

The club website says we’re all about exploring the quieter lanes of East Anglia – to which we can now add . . . and the solar system.

A blue planet on a very brown Midsummer Common

Curiosity about Thursday’s ride had been piqued by Brian’s invitation saying we would be . . . visiting every planet in the solar system before stopping for refreshments at a pharmacy beyond Pluto. We thought he’d just had too much sun.

Come Thursday and there was indeed lots of sun – not only the usual one overhead but another one in the middle of Midsummer Common, Cambridge; as if we weren’t hot enough already, having cycled into town from Stapleford in the middle of a heatwave.

We were at the start of the Our Place in Space trail featuring scale models of the sun and planets recreated as contemporary art sculptures strung out along the River Cam and extending some five miles to Waterbeach (aka Pluto). Confused? Have a look at the pictures and you’ll get the general idea.

As for the pharmacy beyond Pluto, that turned out to be a café in Waterbeach called, well, Pharmacie.

Some Windmillers got quite carried away with their adventures in space. Rod and Victor experienced weightlessness, albeit fleetingly, as each was seen to fly from the saddle only to crash land somewhat painfully on planet earth.

Victor experiences weightlessness in the confined space of the Carter Bridge, Cambridge

Despite the immense distances covered, we got back to the Three Horseshoes in time for lunch and a few beers – and we were delighted to find Maurice waiting for us at the bar.

And for the record the space travellers were Alan, Brian, Charles, Chris, Deborah, Graham, Ken, Martin, Rod, Roger, Sandra, Simon, Tom and Victor. Back on planet earth we clocked up 28 miles.

28 miles: Stapleford – Hauxton – Trumpington Meadow – Grantchester Meadow – Newnham – The Backs – Midsummer Common – all the planets – Waterbeach – Landbeach – Milton – Cambridge North – Chisholm Bridge – Stourbridge Common – Cambridge Station – Shelford – Stapleford

Rest assured, next Thursday’s ride will be restricted to East Anglia.

Brian

Tags Cambridge, our place in space, stapleford, waterbeach, Windmill cycling club

Blue Ball, Grantchester Cambridge

A tour of Cambridge

Overnight snow showers put paid to Maurice’s planned outing but, come lunchtime, the snow had melted away, prompting Brian to issue an open invitation. Would anyone be interested in joining him for a lunchtime ride around Cambridge? No fewer than eight Windmillers turned up at his place in Shelford and, after a quick coffee, we set off for a tour of the town.

Setting off from Shelford, Jeremy on the newest bike, followed by Ric on the oldest

Brian led the way along the DNA cycleway to Cambridge Station and on over the Tony Carter Cycle Bridge. Named after a councillor of the day and opened in 1989, this was listed for a time in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest covered cycle bridge, lofting riders high over the railway. The only downside is its greenhouse-like design; it does get stiflingly hot in summer.

The Tony Carter cycle bridge at Cambridge Station

Then it was on to the Chisholm Trail, the newly opened £21 million cycling route across Cambridge, the highlight of which is a gleaming new, 40 meter long bridge spanning the river.

Graham and Martin at the newly opened cycle and footbridge across the Cam – with the old rail bridge in the background

Next we paused for a photograph by the swift tower on Logan’s Meadow. Combining conservation and public art, it’s meant to look like a pixelated African sunset (Cambridge, eh?) and, on closer inspection you can see it contains dozens of swift and bat nesting boxes.

Posing in front of the swift tower – in the distance on the left

Crossing Jesus Green, we wound our way through the town centre, past Trinity College and the tourist tat shops, before re-crossing the river and heading for Newnham and thence Grantchester, the murder capital of East Anglia; if you watch the eponymous BBC drama series you’ll know what I mean.

It was in Grantchester that we pulled in at The Blue Ball for lunch, a couple of beers and, if Deborah had had her way, a traditional pub game. Her curiosity had been piqued by the large ring slung from a rope attached to the ceiling and, but for the timely intervention of the landlady, she would have swung it with gusto over the heads of anxious diners. However, Ringing the Bull is best played in an empty bar and, thankfully, we will never know whether the club insurance would have paid out for third party pub injuries.

Back on the bikes, it was a short return leg – via Hauxton – to Shelford.

17 miles anticlockwise from Great Shelford

For the record Brian, Deborah, Graham, Jeremy, Martin, Ric, Sandra, Victor clocked up a respectable 17 miles.

Brian

Cambridge

Destination Grantchester

Grantchester, according to the eponymous TV series, is the murder capital of East Anglia. Week in, week out, some poor sod gets bumped off, whereupon the evil doer is tracked down and unmasked by the local vicar-cum-sleuth. It’s Cluedo with clerics.

So it was on Thursday that we rounded up the usual suspects: gang leader Brian, followed by Alan, Deborah, Geoff, Graham, Hazel, Howard, Jenni, Jeremy, Mike, Ric, Rod, Roger – and prime suspect Charles (aka Colonel Mustard, handy with a lead pipe, wrench, rope, revolver, dagger or candlestick).

Starting out from Trumpington, we headed for Cambridge and the fens. Guaranteed a hill-free ride, our regular e-bikers Rod, Charles and Geoff had opted to leave their e-machines at home and pedal the 32 miles unassisted.

Mid-way, we stopped for coffee and cake at the Willingham Auctions Café, and it was here that we quizzed Deborah on how she came to feature in yesterday’s national newspapers pictured alongside the dashing Sir Keir Starmer. The photograph was taken in the 80s when they shared a student house in Leeds.

Deborah reminisces . . . happy days as a student in Leeds . . .

. . . with Keir Starmer in the foreground and Deb behind looking cool in shades

Setting off once more, we headed for Over before turning south and winding our way homewards through Longstanton, Oakington and Girton. Finally, skirting Cambridge to the west, we pitched up at the Blue Ball Inn, Grantchester and tucked into a well earned lunch.