clare – The Windmill Cycle Club

Keith’s birthday bash

A fine autumn morning saw Keith leading the Windmillers once more around the route he pioneered several weeks ago, only this time we were doing it t’other way round. Setting off, we’d also noticed Keith sporting new footwear. Gone was the shower caps ‘n trainers combo – a look he had made all his own – here he was resplendent in shiny new gardening clogs. When it comes to combining function with cutting edge style, the man is a visionary.

Keith’s group, with Keith behind the camera

So it was that we followed Keith through many a quaintly-named Suffolk village – Belchamp St Paul, Belchamp Otten, Belchamp Walter, Puttock End – along quiet lanes, many of which qualified for one of Maurice’s Nice Road Awards having little or no traffic and lots of grass growing down the middle.

Brian’s group, with him behind the camera

It was certainly a hilly route. At the outset Tom’s satnav was forecasting 12 hill climbs totalling some 1500 feet, information some of us really didn’t want or need to know. In pre-satnav days, you never knew what was around the next corner and in many ways you were psychologically better prepared for the hard yards ahead; you just got on with it.

That said, whenever the going got tough, some of the pedallers were glad of the helpful push-alongs from kindly e-bikers. Step up Charles, top chap!

Once again, we pulled in for coffee at Willow Tree Farm Café, just outside Glemsford where, having slogged up seven of the twelve hills we were warmed up enough to sit outside and enjoy the pale autumn sunshine.

Arriving back at the Swan Inn, birthday boy Keith kindly bought us all a beer as we complimented him on his excellent route. Nobody mentioned his eccentric taste in footwear. Happy Birthday, Keith!

For the record, the twelve Windmillers turning out for the ride were: Brian, Charles, Deborah, Geoff, Keith, Maurice, Nigel, Rod, Roger, Tom and Victor. Well done, team!

Keith’s route: 31 miles anticlockwise from Clare

Waking the dead

A quick glance at the Ride Log confirmed it was ages since our last Suffolk-based outing and high time we paid a return visit to Castle Hedingham and its splendid old coaching inn, The Bell.

Whether it was the distance getting there, the forecast of wind and rain, or just the prospect of Brian leading the outing, turnout was low with just six Windmillers gathering at The Bell. And with Brian setting us off clockwise on a route he himself had labelled anticlockwise, it wasn’t the most auspicious of starts.

So it was that Simon, Maurice, Roger, Paul and Jeremy followed Brian, still heading clockwise, off towards Clare, some 15 miles distant. The outbound leg was delightful with quiet lanes and fine views across the Colne and Stour valleys.

Arriving in Clare, we took the scenic route via the Priory into the Country Park. A community and retreat centre run by Augustinian Friars, the Priory is, according to its website, “a tranquil place of prayer, natural beauty, and silence.” Or it was until Jeremy shattered the monastic silence with a yell of “Stopping!!!” as we pulled up alongside the graves of recently departed clergy. Talk about waking the dead.

Pulling up at Clare Country Park, we enjoyed some good coffee and cake at Platform One Café before setting off on the return leg to Castle Hedingham. Mid-way back, the wind and rain finally caught up and from here on it was heads down, every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost, all the way back to The Bell.

32 miles – and we eventually agreed to do it clockwise

Drying out over a good lunch, our conversation was wide-ranging, everything from Simon’s eye-wateringly expensive taste in white goods through to Maurice’s plans for stable clearance; we only hope he’s told Lyn.

Brian