Long, adventurous cycle trips are all very well, but sometimes it’s nice just to throttle back a little, and what better way to do this than spend a few days with other CTC members from around the country, exploring the local countryside and anything else that might be worthy of a little further investigation.
We were staying at the Swan at Stoford, which is situated on the A36 about six miles north west of Salisbury; it’s in a dire position; but just over the river, which you could just about throw a stone into from your bedroom window, is a much more attractive and interesting village called Great Wishford, and from there you can follow a lane 16 miles up the Wylye Valley to Warminster, or, going the other way, get down to Salisbury – a mere six or so miles away via the small town of Wilton.
Stonehenge is six miles to the north as the crow flies, although for flightless species (like cyclists) getting there was to prove rather less straightforward; but more of that later….
Geographically, the region contains a number of river valleys, whose rivers all flow in the general direction of Salisbury and become part of the river Avon which flows through this area from Amesbury in the north, through Salisbury and southwards through Downton, Fordingbridge and finally out into the sea at Christchurch. The area doesn’t contain a huge network of lanes – there are a few B roads as well as a number of fast A roads which tend to go in straight-ish lines across Salisbury Plain. With lanes being in somewhat short supply, I became aware in the early planning stages that I needed to plan my routes carefully if I wanted to avoid fast traffic; there were probably enough circuits, without repeating roads too often, to create about four or five fifty mile rides, and perhaps slightly fewer shorter distance circuits. And then there are the sights to see – Stonehenge, Old Sarum, and of course Salisbury itself.
Most of us did all of these and rode several good routes over the weekend and had a great time in the process. The Swan turned out to be a very satisfactory place to stay: relaxed, reasonably spacious with decent rooms and, most importantly, really good food. To cap it all, the staff were delightful: what a difference that makes!
The Swan’s creative approach to bed making!
So there we were – eighteen of us – gathered together on the final Thursday in September ready to sample the delights of the region. We came from as far away as Carnoustie in the north to Falmouth in the far south west; from Neston on the Wirral to Willesborough in Kent. As is normal when CTC members get together we all got along fine from the word go: our ages varied from a sprightly 56 to a slightly less sprightly 81, but no one stood out in the crowd as needing special attention from a cycling point of view. This is of course a tour leader’s apex of high anxiety: s/he can only lead one ride, and the deputy leader can only lead one ride – what if there is a need for more variety than that? It’s a bit of a balancing act but fortunately this weekend we fitted more or less comfortably into two groups.
In the car park before heading off on day 1
Friday morning and following a good breakfast, we all set out on our first rides. One group headed towards Warminster up the Wylye Valley on a 48 mile circuit that would send them past Longleat, through several pretty villages and over the A303 at the only place possible for quite some way (without having to ride alongside fast traffic). It was on these crossing points that the whole route hinged. As leader I was hell bent on ensuring that the absolute minimum of fast, main road traffic would need to be endured.
Always exciting, we found a café we didn’t know existed up the Wylye Valley at the Ginger Piggery in Boyton. Soon after, as we continued onwards following the first of many NCN routes we would come across over the next four days, we were, in true NCN style, signposted down a narrow lane, through a section of unavoidable mud, over a river on a narrow footbridge before a timely re-acquaintance with tarmac prior to entering Warminster.
Tamworths at the Ginger Piggery Cafe
Johnston, meanwhile, batting along comfortably on his very smart e-Bike, simply followed the main road into town having left the coffee stop after us and arriving in Warminster long before us. Once we finally arrived there, we had to join a long line of traffic heading into the centre along a somewhat ‘down at heel’ street. Eventually we reached the traffic lights at what, we presumed, was the centre of town and accosted various natives who turned out to be not only friendly but helpful too, and who directed us to the nearest supermarket, which happened to be Morrisons, situated not 100 yards from where we were. Some of us dived in, with a view to buying lunch, since finding another shop was unlikely beyond here for quite some way. They were friendly in there too and quite interested in our antics; a couple of us had an amusing conversation in the checkout queue.
With a good two thirds of the ride still to do, we needed to move on, and so started out on perhaps one of the most attractive sections of the whole weekend’s riding. We passed through some attractive villages, full of chocolate box cottages, many thatched: there’s a lot of thatch in Wiltshire! There was also a certain amount of undulation on this section but the effort was worth it. We passed Longleat – no lions visible sadly – and later sat on a bank to eat our lunch. We also rode a section of track in order to avoid likely death on the A303. Once east of this road, you run down a ridge to enter the valley of the river Nadder, which we cycled all the way through to reach Wilton. From there we turned left, as we would so often do this weekend, to return up the Wylye Valley to Great Wishford and our hotel.
The very welcome track to avoid the A303
It had been a great start to our long weekend and although threatening on one or two occasions, the weather had just about remained dry – nothing short of a miracle given the forecast that morning.
Susan meanwhile had taken her group over the river where somehow she’d missed the tarmac route up and out of the valley and instead chose to tackle the higher ground, very much unintentionally, on a road which turned into a track. Nevertheless, everyone managed to ride it (or push up it) and ended up cycling an enjoyable circuit. One or two, feeling the need for more miles, went out to explore the lane which led north out of our valley and over to the Avon valley at Middle Woodford. This wasn’t a hard hill, which was a relief because we were going to use it more than once!
Saturday started threatening and cloudy, much like the previous day but it cleared to give us possible the best day weather-wise of the whole four day break. The 50 mile group, following an anti-clockwise circle which began by descending to Salisbury and passing right through the city attempting to avoid as much traffic as possible, were aiming to reach the New Forest and lunch in Fordingbridge. Thanks to doing a spot of reconnaissance a few weeks earlier, we succeeded in getting through Salisbury without mishap by taking a devious route through the Cathedral precincts and then through a park, thus avoiding busy Saturday morning traffic. One small navigational error took us up an unnecessary hill and into the village of Alderbury but this only led us to take a well-surfaced track down past some pretty cottages to get back to the proper route. After two sharp little climbs to get round a couple of grand estates, perched on the banks of the Avon, we reached Downton (with no abbey anywhere to be found) but what we did find was a very nice café where we scoffed cakes and coffee.
Adderbury after the ‘unnecessary’ hill
Continuing south we crossed a cattle grid – a sure sign that we were entering the New Forest and it wasn’t long before we encountered our first animals strolling along the road. Approaching Godshill there was a climb followed by a descent, then a closed road (which we were able to pass along) and then a lot of donkeys; the area did appear to be a popular hangout for the local donkey population.
Donkeys at Godshill
We reached Fordingbridge shortly after. It’s a touristy little place and as as a consequence, there are lots of eateries, so we duly tucked into whatever we fancied before beginning our journey homewards across country towards the villages of Martin and Tidpit. It seemed every signpost pointed towards Fordingbridge around here; at one point I thought we would never escape the clutches of the place – not helped by the fact that my satnav was misbehaving, but eventually we ended up in the gorgeous village of Martin, where the community shop were having one of their special afternoon openings, with tea and cakes being sold to support Macmillan nurses. We duly contributed and enjoyed excellent cake as a reward.
The village of Martin
We weren’t to know that our biggest challenge of the day – gravitationally speaking – was about to rear up before us – Knowle Hill. We climbed over it to find ourselves once again in the Nadder valley for the final miles back into Wilton and thence to our hotel. It had been a really good day and a great route!
Crossing Knowle Hill into the Nadder Valley
Susan and her merry gaggle had meanwhile successfully navigated their way over the hill on tarmac and so enjoyed a lovely ride with refreshments being taken in Beatons Café in Tisbury.
Sunday’s forecast had been changing almost hourly but a decision had to be made and we decided we would all go on a relatively short run northwards to see Stonehenge. I reckoned it was about 32 miles to Stonehenge and back via Salisbury.
Harry and Johston (on his electric velocipede) setting off for Stonehenge
We duly headed north via the back lane over to Middle Woodford and then proceeded to ride up the Avon valley to Amesbury where the delights of the Friar Tuck café were taken full advantage of. This is clearly a popular place with all-day breakfasts being churned out as quickly as the staff could get them cooked. I think we all refrained – just! From here, we were obliged to take the A345 in order to cross the A303, before turning off and riding along MOD roads through Larkhill, home of the Royal Artillery. But where to go next? There was no easy way, but there was this track heading in the right direction and which proved rather interesting in that it seemed to be a popular spot of wild camper-vanning along the verges. There were a good number of new age travelling types in situ – how best to describe them? Well shall we say that their campervans hadn’t graced the forecourt of any smart garage for quite some time. We chatted to one or two of them and found them to be very friendly; what’s more, they were able to advise us on the best way to get to the ‘stones’. It transpired that we’d arrived at a very significant moment: no, it wasn’t a day for human sacrifice according to some ancient Druidic calendar, but those who have their rights as individuals high on their list of priorities in life, had succeeded in persuading the powers-that-be that it should not have to cost money to pass near Stonehenge on a right-of-way. So for the first time ever (as I understand it) we may pass freely by the stones – and so it proved. But oh, call me a dinosaur if you wish, but I didn’t get much of a vibe out of a bunch of stones at the top of a very bleak and windblown hill, and I suspect not many of the hundreds of visitors we were sharing the experience with were getting any more out it than us. And many of them were paying £17.50 for the privilege of being there.
The group at Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Nevertheless, after a good gawp it was time to check out the facilities in the visitor centre, warm up with a coffee and sandwich and then try and find our way home without having to go back down the track we’d arrived on. We succeeded in achieving all three objectives, and I think the ‘road route’ was probably the better means of getting to Stonehenge, and the traffic wasn’t bad. However it was further to ride, time was moving on, and we still had some way to go, so there was no time for hanging around. We headed east once we’d got back to Amesbury, climbed a bit of a hill and skirted round the town to reach Boscombe Down: lots of barbed wire here and very spooky looking silos which didn’t look like they’d been touched for decades. After that climb there had to be a downhill and it came now, taking us down a lane at the bottom of which was the A345 again. We walked our bikes over the road to join another delightful lane which continued to head downwards and into the valley of the Avon through the village of Great Durnford which turned out to be a little gem.
Great Durnford
It was a little after three in the afternoon – decision time again! – onwards to Salisbury or over the river and back up and over the hill to Stoford and home? Most plumped for Stoford, but one or two continued to Salisbury and had a pleasant wander around.
It was time for our final dinner and we were back in the function room for a buffet dinner. The food had been excellent – and was again – the beer was good too, not to mention the rioja and sauvignon!
Next morning and it was time to vacate our rooms, load up our stuff into cars and decide how to spend the hours we had left to explore the area. Whilst a couple headed off homewards with big distances to drive, and Ian choosing to do a longer ride to Shaftesbury, the rest of us opted for a ride into Salisbury; some of us went a longer way round and visited Old Sarum first.
Middle Woodford Church
Looking towards Salisbury Cathedral from Old Sarum
At Old Sarum
Exploring Old Sarum on our bikes
The bridge over the innermost ditch before the inner keep is reached
Heading finally down to Salisbury
We all ended up parking our bikes in the cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral and having a cup of coffee and a bite before wandering in various directions prior to the two o’clock deadline when we would head homewards. I went walking round the perimeter of the cathedral grounds and took numerous photos of the lovely houses all around, the result of which you can see below. (Click on any image for a closer look.)
The six miles back to Stoford were uneventful and on our return we thanked the rain gods for not dropping any of the stuff on us over the past few days, before saying our farewells and heading home.
We’d had a fabulous few days in good company, done some very enjoyable cycling and even got to know a small part of England just a little bit better. There’s no way better to spend a few days. Thanks to everyone for making it a wonderful long weekend and for choosing this CTC Holiday to come along on.
To view more photos fro the trip, click HERE to be taken to my photo pages. If you would like any photo for your own collection, please get in touch with Mark.
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