The Windmill Cycle Club

Graham stepped in at short notice to organise a repeat ride from The Black Horse in Brent Pelham, having had a good experience last week. The route was similar too but, in contrast, this one was laden with events. There was a distinct absence of hangovers from the Christmas lunch held the day before, unless they were being disguised.

Deborah arrived demonstrating a bike that had been repaired earlier by husband Simon (a puncture) but the chain and front chain ring was somewhat rusty (to say the least). Rod came to the rescue with his oil can and so we eventually set off westwards in two groups, the first being led by Alan. This was our route, anti-clockwise:

All went well for the second group until just before Buntingford when Deborah came to a grinding halt whilst changing gear. The chain had got well and truly jammed into the slider thingie that moves it across the front chain rings but the repair gang led by Graham soon got to work with the help once again of Rod’s copious tool kit. Twenty minutes or so later the job was done and Deborah was able to recommence the ride but with only one ring upfront.

Maurice had warned us of heavy traffic west of Buntingford towards Stevenage but this short stretch was necessary in order to pay a visit to one of our favourite coffee stops in Walkern. All was going well again until Roger pulled into a driveway on the main road, clipped a small kerb and was seen dismounting involuntarily and rapidly sideways into the muddy driveway. Take note those with clip on pedals! Luckily he was not hurt badly but his smart hi viz jacket took a bashing.

Thereafter it was plain sailing to Walkern except that by this time group B was nearly 30 minutes behind group A who were just finishing their coffee.

The return leg was fortunately devoid of breakdowns or accidents, other than some near misses from some maniac car and lorry drivers, all in a Christmas rush it seemed. Group B witnessed a mad Audi driver near Walkern scraping handlebars whilst doing around 60 in a 30 limit and Group A had their fair share of daft drivers too:

Crossing Standon ford was recommended by Nigel after last week’s ride, instead of using the main road, and so Graham incorporated this into the return leg. ‘It’s easy’, said Nigel, ‘there’s a bridge over it with a good lane either side’. Well, there was no ford, just a river up to the top of its banks, but the bridge was indeed there. On the Standon side, however, the recent rain had resulted in a deep stream crossing the lane with sandbags as stepping stones. Groups A and B both devised different ways of crossing the stream with some possibly getting their feet wet.

Due to the aforesaid events, Group B was still 30 minutes behind by the time they got back to The Black Horse, but not too late to celebrate Paul’s birthday in the usual Windmill manner and to thank him for buying a round of drinks. Thanks Paul!

Maurice joined us for lunch, having ridden from home, and once again The Black Horse staff looked after us well.

Thanks go to Graham for organising and planning the ride and to Charles, Brian and Graham for most of the photographs.

Martin

How good it is to be back at The Pheasant in Great Chishill for some of our rides, particularly those on Mondays. Owned originally by members Simon and Ollie until they retired, and used as a base for The Windmill Club when first established by Maurice over 10 years ago, the pub is now under the management of Mike and his staff. We always get a warm welcome and enjoy good food and beer. What more can one wish for in life?

After a wet October it’s been good to enjoy a colourful, yet often crisp, November ride and this was no exception. Nearing the end of autumn, there were still colours galore to see whilst cruising around some favourite lanes on a route devised by Maurice. Accompanying him were Andrew, Geoff, Rod, Jeremy, Graham, Ken, Brian, Alan, Roger, Gareth, Chris, Tom, Simon and Martin – 16 in all which meant that 5 groups of Pheasant Pluckers set off on schedule at 9.30 after ordering lunch and having a warming cup of coffee.

This where we went, clockwise for most except for Andrew’s Group B who initially shot off at high speed in an anti-clockwise direction towards Shaftenhoe End until a hollering from Gareth brought us to a halt and we climbed back to the start feeling sheepish. Stay behind for GPX lessons Group B!

Ken joined Group A at Duddenhoe End and all proceeded through colourful lanes to The Catherine Wheel at Albury for coffee where it was warm enough to sit outside in the sunshine.

The return leg took us northwards with the benefit of the wind and sun both behind, passing many more oak and beech trees en route:

Just outside Brent Pelham several gathered to inspect the site of the nuclear bunker which we have visited in the past – useful to know in the event of a nuclear holocaust. The Windmill Club might be the only survivors! It’s still possible to climb down the ladder where some basic furniture apparently still exists. No one has had the courage to do so yet.

Back at The Pheasant an excellent lunch was enjoyed, swilled down with an excellent choice of beers.

Thanks go to Maurice for planning the ride and organising the coffee and lunch. Also thanks to Graham and Brian for their photographs and, as always, to Andrew for administering our WhatsApp groups and ride schedule.

Martin

October Thursdays have kept us guessing this year. It has been a very wet month overall and this was the third Thursday in a row that Windmillers have stayed close to their smartphones waiting for a go / no go from their leader. But, being an intrepid lot, each ride has taken place and only one, on 12 October, was almost washed out.

The above photo says it all – Graham must have been wondering whilst having his coffee at 8.00am on this rain sodden morning that Jeremy’s ride from The Plough in Den Fitton / Fen Dutton / Dun Futton or various other names Windmillers use to refer to Fen Ditton, might be abandoned or cut short. But it was not to be – the rain which teemed down en route to The Plough eased off before 9.30am and we enjoyed a pleasant dry ride to Ficken Wen and back, except for the puddles of course which spluttered mud on many a jacket.

Thirteen Windmillers comprising Jeremy, Alan, Simon, Brian, Sandra, Rod, Charles, Graham, Ken, Andrew, Martin W, Roger and Howard set off in two groups, firstly circling around the back streets of Cambridge via the Cambridge United football ground and Cherry Hinton before heading towards Stow cum Quy, the second group stopping to discuss the new ‘village’ being built on the eastern side of Marshall’s Airport. Then on to Bottisham, after which we could hear each other talk, and finally Swaffham Prior before entering the silent beauty of the Fens.

The name of The Dyke’s End pub caused some amusement as we passed through Reach on the way to busy Burwell before we again ventured deep into Fenland along rutted and potholed roads (Rishi, please note) requiring the utmost concentration when we might have been spotting wildlife instead.

All went smoothly until there was an almighty crash in the café at Wicken Fen when a tray of, luckily, tin cups being deposited thoughtfully by Alan missed its slot in the tray holder thingie and dumped the whole lot on the floor. ‘Crumbs’, said Alan, or words to that effect, and he didn’t mean the remains of cakes or croissants, but a member of staff soon rushed to his aid whilst Windmillers did nothing except act like the Paparazzi with their cameras.

There was more fun and games after coffee when Simon decided to show off his nautical (naughtical?) skills by pretending, we thought, to be an invading Viking and jumping into a longboat parked on the grass.

The return leg took us back via the familiar bridge over Burwell Lode which required assistance for those with heavy e-bikes, then Burwell Fen, Hallard’s Fen, Reach Lode, Prior Fen, Swaffham Bulbeck Lode, Bottisham Fen and Bottisham Lode before passing through the village of Lode itself next to Anglesey Abbey. Sadly, there was very little wildlife to see or hear, except for a couple of swans spotted by Graham, not even those lovely Polish ponies which are helping to restore a large area of Fenland.

The Cambridgeshire Lodes are man made and thought to be of Roman origin – perhaps that’s why they are always straight? Full details can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridgeshire_Lodes

Alan once again became the centre of attention when a flint caused a puncture in his front wheel but those with bad backs, namely Sandra and Graham, nobly stopped and assisted him and he was soon on the go again.

Back at The Plough it was good to be joined by Maurice and Chris and we all sat down to a good lunch, all except Charles who unfortunately received a Covid-scare from a friend at coffee time and thought he should not run the risk of infecting the rest of us. Thanks, Charles, and sorry you had to miss lunch. Fortunately, however, it turned out to be a false alarm.

Many thanks to Jeremy for planning and organising the ride, and to photographers Charles, Simon and Graham.

This is where we went:

Martin

Rod very kindly offered to organise this ride at short notice following a decision to postpone a proposed ride from Mersea Island due to only seven members being able to make it. There might have been a riot and those concerned being thrown out of the club if the magnificent seven were later to be seen stuffing themselves silly with delicious local seafood and local wine at The Company Shed. So, another time for Mersea when the time and tides are right.

But what better than to celebrate the reopening of The Axe and Compasses in Arkesden following the disastrous fire on Mothers’ Day in 2022 when most of it was razed to the ground. And the bonus was that two additional members could take part, making nine in total – Rod, Andrew, Victor, Roger, Gareth, Howard, Ken, Brian and Martin, plus the pleasure of having Maurice join us for lunch.

After some debate as to whether Violet’s Lane near Furneux Pelham was doable, necessitating a visit and assessment by Monday’s riders, the route was revised by Rod to ensure no one got stuck in mud or, worse still, punctured. Violet’s Lane is the longest ford in the UK, all three quarters of a mile of it. Just imagine cycling through this lot – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOE4ah1tLXc

This would of course not pose any problem for Simon and his snorkel who is renowned for his love of getting into deep water.

There was a fair amount of traffic to contend with at times (was a major road closed somewhere we wondered?) but after 15 miles we entered Braughing, bypassing The Golden Fleece for a change, and heading to Pearce’s Farm Shop on the A10 where we were treated to excellent cakes and coffee served with great efficiency – definitely one for a return visit.

There was evidence of long trousers on this ride, a sign of things to come perhaps, but once the sun got through it still felt really warm. Indeed, September has been recorded as one of the warmest on record.

Returning via Westmill, Buntingford, Hare Street and Nuthamsted the two groups met up at a traffic jam before Duddenhoe End due to two skip lorries being unable to pass each other. But Lorking’s Lane, a bridleway leading to Beard’s Lane and Cooper’s End came in handy as an escape route for Rod and Martin who whizzed along both and got to the bar of The Axe and Compasses before the others.

After a £1.6m restoration, in an astonishingly short space of time for a Grade 2 listed building, The Axe and Compasses looks just as it did before and the menu hasn’t changed much either – still a strong Greek influence. There is a passage from the Public Bar to the Saloon Bar but, otherwise, the layout is the same. The choice of new materials such as beams and windows is superb and, luckliy, much of the furniture was saved by the locals before the fire took hold.

And this is where we went, clockwise:

Thanks again to Rod for organising the ride at short notice and the excellent refreshment stops, and to Brian for the photos. We’re all a bit worried, actually, about Brian heading off to Hebden Bridge on holiday, known as the Transitioning Town of the North of England. Watch this space……

On a more serious note we wish Maurice well with his medical tests. Likewise, after Iain’s recent hospitalisation in Brittany, we wish him a good recovery and we look forward to having both of them join as again as soon as possible.

Martin

This week’s ride took us anticlockwise from Castle Hedingham to Castle Clare and back. Castle Hedingham is Norman, built c1140, apparently ‘the best preserved Norman Keep in England’

What strikes me most about it, considering it’s age, is that it is still upright. This isn’t true of some castle keeps in England. A striking example is Bridgnorth built c1160 which leans at four times the angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and demonstrates how dodgy builders can be found at any time and in any place.

We went anti-clockwise this time on what was a perfect day for cycling. I selected the 1st group since this was going to be my first time out after a ‘challenging’ summer. If I was a bit slow I could get scooped up by the 2nd group.

Martin(2), Howard, Brian, Victor and Nigel provided a gentle reintroduction to 30 miles routes. I always find the miles go by more easily when you can chat along the way. The other thing that makes the second half easier is a BIG CAKE. The scones at the old railway station at Clare fitted the bill perfectly. Some members of our group even considered missing lunch. But later changed their minds.

The station at Clare was part of the Great Eastern Railway (GWR) whose terminus is still Liverpool Street. Many of you will have seen the impressive monument there, to employees of the GER who were killed during the First World War.

It was unveiled in 1922 by Sir Henry Wilson MP, who was then assassinated by two IRA gunmen on his way home from the unveiling ceremony. Next time you go, look for a smaller memorial to Wilson which was later placed adjacent to main one. He was the ‘father’ of the Ulster Defence Force. The next MP to be assassinated would be many years later, Airey Neave in 1979.

Next to Clare station is the priory, whose grounds we wheeled our bikes through. Founded in 1248, it is the ‘mother house’ of the Augustinian order in England. These are Catholic monks who get involved in local communities and also ‘contemplative’ nuns. One of their commandments is reading during meals, which might be Ok, but another is ‘fasting and abstinence proportionate to the strength of the individual’, which certainly isn’t. So I’m only up the briefest of visits, having finished my chocolate brownie. Lovely gardens though.

With a beautiful route and weather. The return leg was uneventful. Graham had joined the 2nd group of Keith, Deborah, Chris and Rod. We sat and once again failed to abstain in a quite a disproportionate way. Drinking beer, eating quite good lunches and enjoying the sunshine in a most un-monastic display.

Thank you to all the club members who supported me during my troubles. I’m fixed, now our attention turns to Iain, who has had some bad luck during his Brittany tour with Alan and Martin. We all hope that turns out OK and that he is back with us soon.

A really enjoyable ride this Thursday. Great route and a good pub so thanks go to Brian. Let’s hope we have a good autumn. We’ve got some catching up to do.

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