The last Thursday ride of 2025 saw twelve Windmillers huffing and puffing their way around a hilly route of Graham’s devising.
After last week’s very wet outing it was good to be riding under glorious blue skies. Here we are somewhere between High Cross and Sacombe Green.
With Christmas in the offing there is a good case for moderating one’s calorie intake ahead of all that feasting on turkey and plum pudding. And what better way to make tummy room than an energetic 30 mile workout around the lanes of north-east Herts.
Sweet temptation at Ermine’s Tea Room
Alas, half way into the ride and confronted with the display of exquisite cakes at Ermine’s Tea Room all good intentions went out the window. Moderation be damned seemed to be the unspoken consensus as we tucked into our sweet treats.
Back on the bikes and labouring up the hill away from Thundridge there were some who regretted the cake, at least until digestion took its course and we settled into a steady pace on the return leg to Brent Pelham and The Black Horse – for yet more food and a very welcome beer.
Plenty of Christmas trees to be seen along the way. This one’s knitted!31 miles clockwise from Brent Pelham
For the record, our turnout of twelve Windmillers featured Alan, Andrew, Brian, Chris, Geoff, Graham, Howard, Keith, Ken, Ric, Robert and Victor.
Our thanks go to Graham for planning the route and leading the way.
With thanks to Keith for stepping up to organise this ride at late notice. Its always pot luck what sort of turn out we’ll get on wet, windy pre-Christmas December days. In the end, this was a pretty good turn out. However, wet, Easterly windy conditions and the absence of Charles restricted photography to a bare minimum so as blogs go, this one is gearing up to be pretty brief !
The Black Bull at Balsham is always a good starting point, with a roaring fire and coffee to start the proceedings. Also, the rain was just about holding off when we set off as two groups toward Streetly End windmill. Unfortunately Maurice’s encyclopaedic knowledge of multiple routes hereabouts meant that, on auto pilot, he managed to miss the Streetly detour and was not seen again until coffee !
Now in steady light drizzle and headwind, we crossed the busy A1307 via the sneaky path cut through at Horseheath and headed up to the Camps. From there, it was past the trig point (126m altitude) and the radio mast at Olmstead and down to Helions Bumpstead.
At Helions Bumstead, the second group caught up with a puncture repair to Keith’s bike in progress. Ric stayed on to lend his proper old skool, full sized bike pump whilst the rest of us ploughed on towards the promise of coffee.
At Steeple Bumpstead, the newly promoted leading group took an executive decision to not head up another hill but head in the most direct line towards Tarkas café. Fully re-inflated the new second group were made of sterner stuff and completed the route up the hill as planned.
Coffee and yummy tea cakes
Coffees and yummy teacakes later and Maurice back in the fold, it was back into the damp (but now with a following breeze) it was off via Kedington and Great Wratting and Withersfield back to the pub for beer and lunch, where a glass was raised to Martin W.
As a footnote, anyone cycling home from Balsham will have received an absolute drenching as the drizzle gave way to a downpour !
Deborah, Andrew, Martin B, Alan, Keith, Maurice, Brian, Ric, Simon, Howard, Jeremy, Rod
‘Has anyone seen my hearing aid?’ shouted Rod? ‘No’, we hollered back, ‘But we’ll help you find it’. ‘Watch where you’re treading’, shouted Rod. And so started a frantic search under the tables, chairs, sofas, behind the cushions (ugh, that was a sight), under hats, gloves and clothing but no luck. Even Simon on all fours failed to find it. But tech sort of came to the rescue. ‘It’s near here’, shouted Rod looking at the app on his phone but wherever he went the app maintained it was still nearby. And it was! Relief all round when Rod and Alan discovered it was on his clothing the whole time.
So after a pleasant meet up for a coffee in The Cricketers Arms in Rickling Green, suitably chosen by our leader for the day, Barmy Army Keith, seen above desperately trying to locate fivers for change, we set off in two groups on a delightful circuit to Little Easton and back.
The ride was pretty uneventful but clearly something warranted an inspection of Keith’s bike at one stage by his Group 1 colleagues of Simon, Maurice, Howard, Martin B, Andrew and Charles. Meanwhile Group 2 comprising Brian, Alan, Deborah, Rod, Ric and Martin W spent some of their time dodging bin lorries on the quiet lanes but luckily not ending up inside one. Fancy organising a ride on black bin day!
Whizzing past P & A Wood in Great Easton where Windmillers normally stop to admire the Rollers or Bentleys, it wasn’t long before we entered Little Easton and had coffee and cakes at The Tea Room of Little Easton Manor, and very good they were too.
The verdict was that Simon’s scones were excellent, as were the teacakes, jam and Brian’s Eccles cake. The calorie intake reached new heights.
With Christmas looming Keith organised the first festive Windmiller photo:
…whilst Simon went looking for some mistletoe to assist the amorous Charles:
The return leg was also mild and mucky with some wind on the nose at times but thankfully dry and through more quiet lanes. There was just one massive lorry and trailer to squeeze by between Manuden and Rickling Green but otherwise it remained uneventful. Back at The Cricketers we received a warm welcome and enjoyed an excellent lunch in ‘our own’ room. Hats off to Ric who rode all the way from Harston and back again, fuelled no doubt by all the American cuisine he enjoyed recently there.
Hear hear to Keith for organising a splendid ride, and thanks to photographers Charles and Simon.
The number of times I’ve been through Burroughs Green and never noticed the Bull, a welcoming looking pub set slightly back from the main village road. Victor’s ride this week plugged this glaring gap in my ‘local’ knowledge.
And a guest
This was the first winter ride of the season, recognisably winter because Simon and Alan had their knees covered up. Plus there was ice on the road and the thermometer was reading sub zero, of course. In the end, despite some gloomy posts on the group chat, a creditable 12 riders turned up for coffee, to pre-order lunch and, unusually, to pre order and pay for beer too. A welcoming pub fire meant that at least we would start the ride warm.
Tom on the bridleway
Two groups set off and were very quickly into new territory via a bridle way leading to the Brinkley Road. The bridle way was fine for riding but ice either side of the obvious riding line served as a reminder to be vigilant. As it turned out, there were very few icy sections on the rest of the route and the majority of those could be easily bypassed. There were no ‘involuntary dismounts’ to report.
A brief pause at Wood Ditton
From Westley Waterless our route turned east. At one point, there was an option to shorten the route in the event of excessive miserableness, but brief patches of sun and properly covered knees meant that we were all happy to head for café 33, the only café in the Stradishal area (at least that we have found) and therefore a regular Windmill stop.
Cafe 33 and Keith modelling his new jacket
“But virtually no wind 🤗” Charles had declared that morning, so whatever it was we were riding into on the return leg from the cafe (which caused flags to flutter and noses to run) was probably something else. With the promise of a decent beer, decent lunch and a pub fire beckoning there definitely wasn’t any incentive to be hanging around in the chill (well, apart from admiring the lovely widespread views offered by this part of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire that is).
A great route on some familiar roads but a few unfamiliar twists and turns to keep us on our toes.
Lunch
Food and beer back at the Bull were as good as anticipated, where we were joined for lunch by Martin W and Andrew.
Ride organizers are listed against dates on a spreadsheet called “Ride Organizers”, hosted in a WhatsApp group and carefully administered by “Andrew the organized.” Andrew is also known as “Deputy Daug, for his full-time cat-herding responsibilities. He has many spreadsheets, not least important, the one that records what you have ordered for the Christmas meal. It has been observed that many club members have difficulty in recalling these details, especially the ones who have been driven to the pub. I’m not sure why, but I have some theories. It could be that being driven to the pub is bad for the memory of those who normally cycle there, however this may conflate cooccurrence with causality.
However, what happens when Andrew’s computer is in the computer-hospital ! Chaos that’s what. So it came to pass that no ride was organized for this Thursday. No pub booked, no coffee stop, no route. Oh dear. Rod stepped into the gap as quick as a flash and constructed a route while Alan booked The Pheasant at Great Chishill. They are used to us and could host at short notice. I think we pushed out another large and ever expanding group though.
Charles took the starting photo, while Nigel carried out last minute preparations.
This time of the year Windmillers have to take every chance to get out. And what a chance this was, with unseasonably warm weather and bright sunshine after days of continuously wet weather.
We sorted ourselves into two groups (roughly). Group 1; Jeremy, Rod, Keith, Nigel, MartinB, Charles and Group 2; Alan, Graham, Howard, Andrew, Brian, Rob, myself.
This turned out to be a very nice route. We are lucky to be located where we are, surrounded by beautiful countryside and quiet lanes within easy reach. Crossing the A10 twice proved to be no problem. In fact this route back through the new estate in Buntingford is worth noting.
The coffee break was at Church Farm, Ardeley. Which is well named because before cake I can cycle downhill but can ‘Ardeley get up ‘um, whereas afterwards, I’m more resilient.
November has All Saints’ Day (1st), and All Souls’ Day (2nd), and St. Martin’s Day (Martinmas, 11th), Remembrance Sunday, St. Clement’s Day (23rd), but that’s not enough is it. No, best to start celebrating Christmas, or at least paying for it, this month, as these Grinches will testify.
This being the season of magic we spent some time in the sunshine shrinking Jeremy to the size of an elf and then restoring him to normal stature. Just one of the endless ways we amuse ourselves.
Despite the shortening days, this season has its own beauty, captured this week by Graham, with his pictures of sloes, crab apples and Rowan berries pictured against the blue sky.
Having picked up Ken and Martin on route the groups reconvened for the usual meal and drinks. A good club ride, and thanks go to Rod and Alan for that. Andrew’s computer is now recuperating and normal service will be resumed I’m told.
What a head-ache things can be. Broken technology, wife needing running repairs, Christmas meals approaching. Lets hear it for “Deputy Daug”. I’m sure he will cope, he always does.
Keith’s route – from Steeple Bumpstead to Glemsford and back – provided what was possibly our most traffic-free ride of the year. Coupled with a bumper turnout of sixteen Windmillers* it made for a most enjoyable Thursday morning’s outing.
Pausing for a breather beside the duck pond at Belchamp Walter
Setting off from the Fox & Hounds, the outbound ride took us through many a fine north Essex village, and none finer than Great Yeldham, famed for its Great Oak – which is recorded in The Domesday Book – and its crinkle crankle wall. “What’s that?“, I hear you say.
The crinkle crankle wall at Great Yeldham
These walls mostly date back to the days of the brick tax (1784 to 1850) when the government levied a duty of half a crown – about £24 in today’s money – per 1000 bricks to help fund the American War of Independence. No sooner was the tax introduced than canny builders found ways to minimise its impact. Some just used bigger bricks and some opted to build walls crinkle-crankle style. These curved structures provided stability and required just one layer of bricks rather than the usual two, doing away altogether with the need for buttressing. Not only were the walls economical to build but the curves provided shelter and retained warmth for the growing of fruit trees.
The tax was eventually abolished in 1850 leading to a boom in the brick industry (and a return to the building of straighter walls!)
Some seventeen miles after setting off we crossed the River Stour into Suffolk and pulled in at the excellent Willow Tree Farm Café, just outside Glemsford.
Refreshed and back on the bikes we re-traced our way over the Stour and back into Essex for the return leg via Belchamp St Paul, Ridgewell and Birdbrook – and it was somewhere along here that we encountered that scourge of autumnal outings – the tractor and hedge flail.
There’s many a puncture from thorny hedge flailings
Sure enough, and just a few miles short of the pub, MartinB pulled up with a puncture, a long thorn protruding from his tyre. Seeing it would be the quickest way for us all getting back in time for lunch, Rod dashed the remaining few miles to the pub, got the car and retrieved both Martin and machine. Well done, Rod!
We subsequently learned Martin wasn’t the only one to suffer a puncture; a similar fate had befallen Alan, though his caused by glass and thankfully mended en route.
Returning to the Fox & Hounds we were delighted to find MartinW waiting there for us and together we enjoyed a beer or two and a good lunch.
Al fresco aperitifs at the Fox & Hounds
Our thanks go to Keith for planning and leading an excellent morning’s ride.
33 miles anticlockwise from Steeple Bumpstead
* The turnout was: Alan, Brian, Deborah, Geoff, Graham, Howard, Jenni, Keith, Ken, MartinB, Maurice, Paul, Rach, Rod, Simon and Victor.
Remember the halcyon days of cycling in the UK just 14 years ago ? We had our first male grand tour winner in Chris Froome at the Vuelta 2011 (beating Bradley Wiggins’ Tour de France victory in 2012, but far less recognised because it was granted retrospectively after the ‘winner’, Cobo, was disqualified for doping offences. In the Women’s Grand Tours, Nicole Cooke had already won the Giro d’Italia Femminile in 2004). We were leading up to the golden year of 2012 with that afore mentioned win and a second place at the Tour de France and a dominant 8 gold medal haul at the London Olympics.
The future of cycling was rosy. Mere mortals could buy fantastic ‘standard’ bikes at a reasonable price and roadside maintenance had never been easier. Nearly everyone (except dyed in the wool racers) rode on 700c x 23mm or 700c x 25mm tyres with inner tubes and aluminium rims, so inner tubes could be shared between riders. The wheels could be easily removed because everyone had quick release skewers – no tools needed. Brake rubs were quickly fixed roadside, or even on the move, because we all had simple to fix rim brakes. Flaky battery and motor assisted gear changers were still a marketing executive’s wet dream. OK, we still had 9 or 10 speed chains to deal with and the myriad of bottom bracket ‘standards’ but still – relatively standard bikes.
Then progress happened: Road tyres proliferated into tubeless gunk filled and standard inner tube variants and up to 34mm wide variants. All of a sudden, tools were required to remove wheels. Wheel width options increased and carbon fibre wheels appeared alongside our old aluminium wheels, with the dreaded ‘hookless’ rims making an appearance. Disc brakes escaped from the mountain bike world to the peloton so roadside maintenance was replaced by work shop maintenance, higher bike costs and higher bike weights. Chain pitch options spiralled to the slightest-bit-of-muck disrupts-it 13 speed and chain dropping ‘one by’ options became available.
All of this means that there are far more possibilities to end up with incompatible parts on a modern bike, more things to go wrong and much lower chance that a cycling mate has the right tools, tyres or chain link in their saddle bag in order to help out during a roadside mechanical. This is significant, as will become apparent ……..
Storm Benjamin had passed and typical wet ‘n’ windy autumn weather had taken a brief hiatus for this Thursday’s ride, attracting 18 riders out for some, or all, of the route organised by Maurice from the Catherine Wheel, Arbury. Unlike one large cycling group we saw, we stuck with our usual tradition of splitting into more manageable sized groups. And so it was that three groups headed South, then East along familiar lanes enjoying the Autumn colours and clearing blue skies.
From Manuden, the course headed back North with brisk progress towards coffee at the Compass Courtyard. It was all going well. Too well.
In group 3, on the outskirts of Arkesden, Deborah had a puncture. Initially blamed on a skinny inner tube in a wide tyre, Deborah, Keith and Graham started investigation. First hurdle, an Allan key to remove the rear wheel. Tick. Then we found that the rear tyre was nearly impossible to remove from the rim. It transpired that a tyre “for hookless rims only” had been fitted by the bike shop to Deborah’s smart new hookless wheel. We managed to remove an offending thorn, but attempts to fit a new tube were thwarted by the tyres being too tight to avoid ‘pinching’ and puncturing the new inner.
Forty minutes later, Deborah had to call the long suffering rescue services (in the shape of husband, Simon) for a lift to lunch whilst Keith and Graham had to forego coffee (stopping only to make a welcome meeting with Martin W at the Compass Courtyard).
Brian led a brisk pace on the return leg in order for us to make a one o’clock lunch – unnecessary as it turned out as lunch was a little slow in arriving, although excellent when it did. A fantastic ride and an opportunity to reflect on the benefits of ‘progress’ in the cycle industry.
Keith, Graham, Geoff, Jenny, Brian, Deborah, Maurice, Martin B, Ric, Alan, Nigel, Chris, Rod, Charles, Simon, Tom, Victor (from Compass Courtyard), Ken and Martin W for coffee.
This was a fine October morning to assemble at The Three Horseshoes in Hinxworth and explore bits of three counties; Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Two groups; group1 led by Graham with Brian, Ken, Keith, Rick, Victor, me and group 2, Maurice, Andrew, Alan, Howard, Jenni and Charles
It’s strange how different counties have such different characters. Bedfordshire with it’s open vistas, with few but very fast cars. Cambridgeshire with it’s terrible road surfaces and the little inclines and pretty villages of Hertfordshire. Some of this ride was on dirt track with few dangers to find.
If there is no hazard to find then Andrew can put his mind to making some. Here one handed cycling through leaves and twigs provides just the opportunity. Thank goodness no harm was done and it simply provided a golden opportunity for Charles’s front camera. (Well done Charles).
Coffee was at Bean Theory in Waresley, so as to avoid Christmas tat at the nearby garden center, where grandparents make an early start at spoiling the grandchildren. Providing coffee in return for money isn’t enough for Bean Theory. I only want the Bean Practical bit myself, preferably in a cup. I Love the large print black&white photos here, mostly of jazz musicians.
However I think they confuse ‘Values’ with aspirations. This from their website.
But I was too busy to quiz them on it. For instance is it too fastidious to point out that to be welcoming is a behaviour not a value? Still let’s move on and forgive them for aping Americans.
Overall this was a good ride with mixed scenery, dirt tracks and minor roads and only the occasional car or agricultural truck. Not as scenic as some rides but great to see new areas and explore three counties in one day. Thanks to Graham for route planning and organization.
A good club ride planned and carried out expertly.
Thursday morning saw nine Windmillers gathering in the car park of The Rushbrooke Arms, Sicklesmere, just south of Bury St Edmunds where, with the beet harvest in full swing, there is a distinct tang in the air from the nearby British Sugar factory as it cooks up lorry-loads of the stuff and refines it into Silver Spoon sugar. It makes for quite a stink.
Keith, Rach, Alan and Robert pause to take in the view
Keith, this week’s ride leader, led us southwards away from the stink towards Lavenham and on to Brent Eleigh where we pulled in at Café Como, fast becoming a Windmill favourite given its fine selection of homemade goodies.
Not only is Suffolk beautiful cycling country but, if you keep your eyes open, there is plenty of history hereabouts worthy of closer inspection. So it was that our return route, via Thorpe Morieux and Little Whelnetham, took us past the memorial to the seventeen American airmen who died in 1944 when two Flying Fortress’ collided and crashed midair near Hitcham.
Rod, Andrew and Roger at the memorial on the road between Kettlebaston and Hitcham
Later we pulled over to admire the fine 15th century farmhouse near Brettenham.
Popples Farmhouse, Brettenham
Back at the pub Keith bought us all a beer and endured our rowdy rendition of Happy Birthday. Top chap!
Beers at the Rushbrooke Arms
Cheers, Keith!
30 miles anticlockwise from Sicklesmere
Thanks go to Keith for planning the route, leading the way and buying the beers; also to Simon and Robert for the many photographs.
Well we could hear them, but low cloud to start with meant that the flights coming into Stansted from more exotic climes remained invisible to us.
This was the situation as 12 riders gathered in the morning at an old favourite; the Red Lion at Great Sampford. Maurice (sadly absent due to a virus, along with Alan) – had organised an old favourite outing on the mostly quiet lanes East of here.
Safety briefing. Listen up at the back !
Our coffee stop arrived fairly early on into the ride. Tarkas café seems to be going from strength to strength ! Always busy and always worth the sprint along the busy A1017 Braintree road in order to get there. Whilst Charles opted for his usual calorie bomb of hot chocolate (all the trimmings) and a slab of cake (coffee and wallnut), a few riders took Deb’s lead in ordering the new home made teacakes, which definitely gained an approving smile.
Calorie Bomb
We had the usual dose of “Road Closed” points, thankfully all passable by bike or on foot. Maybe the notoriously poor road and drainage by Walthams Cross will be repaired at some point ? – we live in hope ! On this ride, it was probably in as good a state as it ever is – just loose dirt and gravel at the bottom of the hill and a few wet streaks on the steep ascent away.
Obligatory Yeldham Great Oak and Windmill photos and then the, now usual, traffic chaos by the one way bridge in Great Bardfield – and we were on the home leg ! (footnote: Great Yeldham elected a communist coucillor in 1967).
The weather had cleared steadily throughout the morning and by lunchtime, it was pleasent enough to drink our beer outside. After that it was the usual excellent Italian themed food: Good quality, good value and very tasty ! An excellent end to a great ride.
Its a while since we had a puncture on a ride and it looked like this ride would go puncture free until 2km from the pub. Luckily some squirty foamy stuff Charles was carrying lasted just long enough to get Graham to the pub and a tyre change in relative comfort, pint in hand.
Sometimes, despite the most careful planning, not everything happens how you want it, that’s just life. This ride had a large section on compacted earth, the wind blew and the ride was affected by a fire on the A14, filling otherwise quite lanes with diverted traffic. The elements, earth wind and fire, seemed to conspire against us. But that’s not true of course. Actually they just doesn’t give a toss.
We set out as two groups from The George at Spaldwick. Those with racing tires and cleats soon wished they had heeded Graham’s warning of ‘delightful hard packed cycle tracks’. That description was right, but I was surprised by how steep some of the climbs were and how the wheels spun on the dust.
Jenni ascends one of the steep dirt climbs.
We suffered two early casualties when Keith’s chain decided to knot it’s self, resulting him returning to the start. Maurice likewise had to call off his ride to care further for his much loved dog.
Oh dear was this an omen? Was there further trouble ahead?
The sky was blue and the wind was strong. It was a nice day but not the easiest for cycling. The water authority has provided excellent recreational facilities; cycle paths, sailing, fishing, out-door-adventure areas and we fervently hoped A NICE CAFE.
Group 2 crosses the dam wall. Grafham wasn’t formed from a dammed river but is filled by pumping water from the Great Ouse.
Having watched three people get served over about 15 minutes in the ‘Fisherman’s Rest Cafe’ by a single, pained member of staff, the group unanimously decided there were more options at nearby Kimbolton. I was impressed with the club, making a quick decision to move on, displaying exasperation rather than any doing any complaining.
Kimbolton has a castle, well not really, it now looks like a stone manor-house complex and houses a private school. Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife, was sent to the castle here in 1534, and died a little less than two years later. The school does not encourage photos Rob learned. Maybe comparison with state schools, with their RAAC concrete, rather than honey-coloured ancient stone, is unwanted while the need for a 20% VAT reduction is debated.
The church is also fine, with marvelous stain-glass windows and fascinating woodwork.
St George. But the dragon is a bit deminuative I think.
All very nice. But where is the coffee shop? At last all was well and the half-time drinks were only slightly delayed.
The second half of the ride was planned to be through quiet country lanes. But it wasn’t to be. A fire on the A14 had displaced large amounts of traffic off the main road, turning the lanes into long queues of anxious drivers, with people racing down others in an effort to make it to their appointments on time.
Exactly how farming in the UK has developed with all the arable in the east and all dairy in the west, necessitating driving large quantities of dried grasses from east to west, will have to wait until another blog. If you wanted a better example of overly-cheap oil distorting a market economy, it would be difficult to find one. Roll on a revamp of UK farming I say.
So a lovely ride in beautiful autumn conditions, slightly ambushed by the elements of earth, wind and fire. Still what can one do?
Go back to pub I suppose and very nice it was too.
Back together Graham, Martin, MartinB, Brian, myself, Rod, Jenni, Andrew, Rob, Deborah and Alan, reunited for a beer in the warm sunshine. A happy ending to another adventure. Keith and Maurice only score half points, too bad, because despite careful planning you know stuff happens. Better luck next time.
Arriving by train, visitors to Cambridge are confronted with Ariadne Wrapped, an artwork commissioned to grace the new station forecourt. According to sculptor Gavin Turk, the mythical Ariadne is,
‘. . . presented as a packaged shape forever in transportation, informed by the sound of the train the parcel lies in limbo. The criss-cross of ropes and string act like compositional or navigation lines, pointers to new perspectives.‘
Chris and Jenni weren’t impressed
The general consensus among Windmillers was that it was a monstrosity, best replaced by a statue honoring a Cambridge worthy, say Stephen Hawking or suchlike.
Following last week’s hilly ride in North Herts, Brian – this week’s leader – had opted for a flatter ride around South Cambs and, having set off earlier from Little Shelford our first port of call was Cambridge Station.
From there we wound our way along quiet backstreets to the riverside and thence some five miles along the towpath to Waterbeach. This idyllic stretch of the River Cam is particularly peaceful just now as the section between Cambridge and Milton has been shut to boat traffic for the past year. Inspection of the locks at each end has shown the lock islands to be unstable and vulnerable to collapse. Both carry public footpaths over the river and they too have been closed.
Jesus Green lock in Cambridge – closed until further notice
We witnessed some of the short term stabilisation currently underway – see Simon’s pictures below – but the locks are likely to remain closed until the lock islands are rebuilt at a cost of £25M and, as yet, no-one seems prepared to stump up the money. Meanwhile, visitors are unable to reach Cambridge by boat, indeed many boats are stranded on the river and some owners have taken to craning their vessels out in order to leave. The situation seems to be stalemate.
Simon snapped these divers engaged in remedial work on the Baits Bite Lock
Arriving in Waterbeach Brian had arranged for us to visit the Military Heritage Museum on the site of the wartime RAF airfield and subsequently barracks for the Royal Engineers. The base was decommissioned in 2013 and is now a development site for the planned Waterbeach Newtown and it’s 11,000 new homes.
Simon loves museums and, as you can see below, he got very hands-on with the exhibits. We won’t be taking him to glassware museums or maternity wards anytime soon.
Mind what you do with that, Simon
Leaving the museum we headed half a mile further down the road and pulled in for refreshments at the Evolve Coffee Shop & Bar. Refreshed and back on the bikes, we headed for Landbeach where we picked up the Mere Way, a new and very wide cycleway, taking us back to Cambridge. Come the new year this will be extended all the way to Waterbeach where the new cycle bridge spanning the A10 has recently been lifted into position. We must plan a ride in the spring to try it out.
The A10 cyclebridge at Waterbridge being lifted into position on 21 September
Returning to Little Shelford, we piled back into the Side Quest for a well deserved lunch.
For the record, 14 riders completed a 26 mile circuit: Alan, Andrew, Brian, Chris, Deborah, Geoff, Jenni, Keith, MartinB, Nigel, Rach, Ric, Rod, Simon.
. . . was just one of the many oaths heard from the peloton as we crested yet another hill, Keith’s route proving quite a workout as we effed and jeffed our way up ascents totalling some 600m.
Robert, Nigel, Jenni and Rod pause for a breather before the next hill climb
Oaths aside, it was a delightful outing as, blessed with good weather, each hilltop afforded fine views over the north Herts countryside. We were equally impressed with Keith’s choice of refreshment stop, the hitherto unknown Lolleywood Café, tucked away on Fairclough Hall Farm, just a stone’s throw from Halls Green.
Along the way Martin spotted this Commer Q4 lorry, a 3-ton, 4×4 general-purpose workhorse looking very smart in its AFS (British Auxiliary Fire Service) livery.
Martin spotted this Commer Q4 in AFS livery
It most likely dates from the 50s and was used for various tasks such as hose laying and foam and water tendering on military bases and airfields. Many were subsequently converted for civilian use when the AFS was disbanded in 1968.
Other highlights included pulling up to admire George Orwell’s house in Wallington where the blue plaque declares he lived from 1936 to 1940. It’s just down the road from Manor Farm, the name he gave as the location for his Animal Farm.
Much grunting in front of Manor (aka Animal) Farm
Having clocked up 34 miles we returned to The Woodman for lunch and a round of beers, courtesy of Robert this week’s birthday boy.
Some say we’re as much a lunch club as a cycling club
Our thanks go to Keith – for planning and leading the outing – and to Robert for the generous round of drinks.
Happy birthday, Robert!
And – for the record – the turnout was 15 Windmillers: Alan, Andrew, Brian, Geoff, Graham, Jenni, Keith, Ken, MartinW, Maurice, Nigel, Ric, Robert, Rod and Simon. Well done, team!
The Woodman’s bomber squadron heritage34 hilly miles anticlockwise from Nuthampstead
This Thursday’s ride from The Cock Inn at Broom was combined with the chance to watch the Lloyds Tour of Britain 2025, men’s race, stage 3.
Excellent planning by Graham had placed us at the pub in Broom at 1o’clock to see the race go by right at the end of the street and then again nearer Northill, with the race going around the loop above. We were able to sample some of the excitement, passing infrastructure prepared for the race, also by being able to cycle the ‘King of the Hill’ part of the circuit (downwards) and passing cycling-fans who had camped roadside preparing for a good view. A good view of the race that was, not of a Windmill Club ride, which is not yet a popular spectator sport. They looked slightly confused, checked their watches, but our ride was shorter, 75% sorter and quite a bit slower, just under half their average speed actually.
Still, I suppose they didn’t stop for coffee, talk to their friends and finish with beer and sausages. More fool them is all I can say.
It’s hard to credit how quiet the roads are in this area, having got there on bits of the A505 and A1 I had my doubts. Once underway I really enjoyed the ride, especially with much of it off-road and along the river, via Newnham and Willington.
Coffee was at Danish Camp, a log cabin and river boating center. The story goes that the site was constructed by the Danish Viking leader Hastein. It’s true that the upper course of the Great Ouse marked the boundary between English territory and that of Danelaw in the year 884.
The Danes (Aka Vikings) had been making a nuisance of themselves for a few hundred years and had taken much of the eastern part of the country. I know, they say “something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, the populations of Greenland and the Faroe Islands might agree with this even today. But with respect to this site, I’m sorry to inform you that this history is rubbish.
Perchance made up for the tourists?
Serious dating performed by archeologists and reported in Bedfordshire government archives shows human habitation at the site starting from around 1100.
Still it’s a family run business, so who can blame them. And the coffee and cakes were good.
Back at the pub we enjoyed the authentic (c1830) interior and the variety of beers. The pub has won a number of awards ‘Rural Pub of the Year’ and ‘Bedfordshire’s best Pub 2025’. It’s famous for having no bar but barrels in the cellar.
We were back in plenty of time to see the race whizz by. I was halfway though lunch so missed some of it, though one has to get one’s priorities right. I cycled with Rod to catch them 2nd time round, but we missed that as well, so some improvement in cycle viewing is possible on my part.
I was prompted to dwell on why road racing isn’t as popular a spectator sport in the UK as on the continent. This despite considerable UK success in professional races, including this one. Those interested might read this rather thoughtful article
Too much focus on the elite end of the sport, lack of free-to-air viewing, resistance to events by local authorities/police/motorists, limited diversity by ethnicity/age/gender etc, there are a few problems. Myself, I felt the inability to stay in one spot to see the sport happen was the greatest limitation. I can more easily imagine going to a cycle drome or even cyclocross, where you can see much of the course from a single spot. It’s a shame though since road cycling has led the way in the development of data analytics, biomechanics, innovations in sporting equipment and safety gear. The best people in the sport are undoubtably amongst the fittest people in any sport. On the other hand it also has a venerable history in drug use and doping.
A memorable ride and thanks go to Graham. For the record Rach, Rob, Graham, Rod, Nigel, Alan, Brian, Jeremy and myself rode.
Nigel bought birthday drinks and received the usual rendition. Andrew failed to make it, but wishes he had, having seen the price of a new tire on a Range Rover. Ken made it to lunch. A very enjoyable ride where the threatened rain never materialized. We got away with it again.
Time For A Quickie. A phrase which could have appeared on one of the many witty signs adorning Petals Cafe (although we didn’t see this particular one). Titter ye not ! This is not a smutty innuendo but a commentary on the speed at which this particular ride was conducted (at least by group 2 on the road, pulled along by Geoff’s battery power). Maybe the increasing probability of rain in the afternoon was acting as a spur ?
Victor had organised this ride, starting and finishing at the Three Horseshoes, Helions Bumpstead. A pub with a massive garden area, a good selection of ales and fishfinger sandwiches.
Although touching on many familiar roads, this was a new course for me. And very pleasant it was too, swapping back and forth between rural Essex and rural Suffolk (the three counties border with Cambridgeshire being slightly North of Helions Bumpstead and not on route).
After coffee at the pub, two groups headed South towards Finchingfield, passing Jamie’s mansion en route. We didn’t go into Finchingfield on this ride, however.
Passing Wethersfield Airfield on the right, originally an RAF station, the site was later used as the headquarters and training centre of the Ministry of Defence Police until 2022. It is now used for asylum accomodation. Soon after we passed the grade two listed 1869 windmill at Gainsford End, now a house and without sails.
Community pub, The Green Man, and taking a breather
At Toppersfield, group two had caught up with group one (time for a quickie, remember ?) so we paused for photos outside the Green Man community pub to restablish a respectable gap.
PetalsMore Petals
Very soon we encountered the busy A1017 and a short sprint up to the splendid and quirky Petals Tearoom and its aforementioned collection of witty signage. Excellent cakes, too.
Soon off the main road, at Tilbury juxta Clare, we turned into the brisk breeze for our return to Helions Bumpstead.
Cloud Streets
My meteorology is not great, but I think the splendid cloud formations we were treated to were Cloud Streets. Cloud streets are long rows of cumulus clouds that are oriented parallel to the direction of the wind. Their technical name is ‘Horizontal Convective Rolls’. Typically, they form straight rows, but when the wind driving the clouds hits an obstacle, the clouds might curl into patterns and become von Kármán vortex streets. So now you know.
Lunch under the big sun shade
If anything the pace picked up further (or maybe it was just the head wind ?) and by the time we arrived back at the pub, we were all together as one group and thirsty. The forecast rain didn’t materialise (at least not until much later when all riders were safely home), so luncheon was taken on the patio under the biggest sun shade possible. Sadly no birthdays this week.
Helions Bumpstead church (part thereof)
Thanks to Victor for a great route.
Geoff, Rod, Alan, Rob, Rik, Keith, Graham, Simon,Victor, Andrew, Martin B, Nigel, Howard, Jeremy
When people ask where the Windmill Club is based, there isn’t really a simple answer. With members scattered over a wide rural area we don’t so much have a home base as a home patch straddling the Cambridgeshire / Hertfordshire / Essex borders and roughly bounded by Royston, Baldock, Stevenage, Bishops Stortford and Saffron Walden. But now it seems a name has been given to this particular neck of the woods – The Barleywolds.
I can find no mention of the name in the historical records but there is a newish website – barleywolds.com – making the case for this “. . . area of wolds (gently-rolling hills) and 60 villages, about 30 miles north of London, between Royston, Stevenage and Bishop’s Stortford, on the border of Hertfordshire, Essex and Cambridgeshire”.
While Barleywolds has a certain ring to it, academic opinion would seem to favour The Hundred Parishes, so named by David Heathcote, Saffron Walden historian and author who coined that name in 2009, as defining “a large, attractive, gently-undulating area, around 450 square miles, of northwest Essex, northeast Hertfordshire and southern Cambridgeshire that is largely unspoilt and is richly endowed with many fine examples of agricultural and built heritage.” Indeed, two years ago the Windmillers enjoyed a presentation from the Hundred Parishes Society.
Whatever the name, this was the area Keith chose for Thursday’s outing. Setting out from The Black Horse, Brent Pelham, he led the way along quiet roads and the occasional bumpy track to Ermine’s Café, Thundridge, a new (to us) venue and, given the high standard of refreshments on offer, we are likely to return in the not too distant future.
32 miles anticlockwise from Brent Pelham
Thanks go to Keith for planning the outing and getting us all organised.
For the record our peloton comprised: Alan, Brian, Geoff, Graham, Jeremy, Keith, Ken, MartinB, Paul, Ric, Rod, Simon and Tom.
A sunny August morning saw Maurice leading the peloton out of Balsham and over the Cambridgeshire border into East Suffolk where, this being harvest-time, each rise in the road opened up vistas of golden fields dotted with hay bales and bounded by dusty hedgerows. What a delightful part of the world.
Ken pauses to take on water . . .. . . while Geoff does some grim reaping
Along the way we pulled in at Café 33, ever popular with motorcyclists, cyclists and prison visitors, for coffee, cake and ice cream.
Returning to The Black Bull, we enjoyed a hearty lunch on the patio and free beer (hooray!) courtesy of Ric, this week’s birthday boy.
Happy birthday, Ric!
For the record the turnout was: Alan, Brian, Geoff, Graham, Jeremy, Keith, Ken, Mark, Maurice, Nigel, Ric, Rod and Simon.
Its not often that birthday drinks are so far removed in time from the actual birthday that a rendition of “Happy Birthday to you” felt too embarrassing to sing, even for the normally vocal (but musically challenged) Windmill club. That obviously didn’t stop us drinking the beer that Simon had kindly bought us at the Crown at Hartest, though. And very nice beer it was too. Brewed at the Crown’s own Brewshed Brewery, the unfashionably dark best beer was going down particularly well.
But that was later. Firstly, sixteen of us had Keith’s fantastic Suffolk lanes tour to ride.
Leafy Suffolk Lanes
Setting off in three unusually well organised groups, we cunningly outflanked Hartest Hill (claimed to be the steepest hill in Suffolk, who are we to argue ?) and headed out towards Stanningfield before heading for Cockfield.
Cockfield will be featured in the Men’s Tour of Britain stage 2 next month.
The tour has a strong field with top stars like Remco Evanaepol and Gerraint Thomas featuring, amongst others. There is no mention on their route of either our Cafe Como coffee stop or the Crown, however. Their loss.
Brent Eleigh
From Cockfield, we skirted around Lavenham, with its prominent church tower visible from miles around. Not for us today, Lavenham ! Instead we headed for the hamlet of Brent Eleigh and the fantastic cyclist’s destination cafe of Cafe Como. Homemade cakes to die for, all in the wonderful sunny garden !
Maurice behaving like a teenager at Cafe ComoCoffee in the sunshine
Reluctantly, we eventually had to leave, picking up a headwind on the way to Acton, then skirting the West side of Lavenham before arriving at the top of the aforementioned Hartest Hill and a fast plummet straight to the pub. Drinks outside, but too many wasps for us to eat in the immaculate garden. Instead, we tucked into sandwiches and beer inside whilst admiring the real linen napkins. A great day for a great ride.
Windmillers pride themselves on being courteous and proficient cyclists. Alas, their table manners can be, well, rudimentary with dining mishaps legion and well documented; witness Simon throwing beer around and Martin sousing everyone in hot coffee. But this week it was Victor’s turn as he demonstrated a whole new way to dispense ketchup by smashing the bottom end out of the bottle; an effective, albeit messy, technique and fellow diners are advised to probe their lunch for glass shards.
More ketchup, Victor?
So it was just as well that, mindful of landlady Mel’s carpets, curtains and soft furnishings, we were dining al fresco at The Cock in Henham. Ketchup capers aside, we enjoyed an excellent lunch and Andrew, whose birthday passed quietly several weeks ago, finally bought us all a beer.
Andrew, top chap, conducted the choir in a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday
All this followed a very enjoyable ride. Planned and led by Graham, it was scenic, quiet (apart from the occasional Ryanair approach to Stansted) and traffic-free with a mid-way coffee stop at NT Hatfield Forest.
Photo courtesy: Graham
Many thanks, Graham, for devising such a lovely route and getting everyone organised. Our thanks also to Andrew for the drinks.
For the record the turnout was: Alan, Andrew, Brian, Deb, Geoff, Graham, Jenni, Paul, Simon and Victor.
Always a popular ride this one despite being a full day out and 43 miles, most of which can’t be done at full speed, because it is along canal tow paths or through very urban spaces. I was pleased to see the club acquit themselves well, giving other path-users plenty of space and friendly thanks. We pride ourselves on being a polite club and I was glad to see high standards upheld on this ride, despite some difficult conditions.
The group contained new members (Rob) and those that hadn’t done it before, like Rach. The weather wasn’t great, especially for the return leg, but I hope they enjoyed the ride as much as the regular ‘crew’.
As usual we assembled at the Lee Valley White Water Centre. E-bikes and Brian formed the first group (Charles, Martin, Rod, Maurice, Brian). The rest; Rach, Victor, (new)Rob, Graham, Andrew, Tom, Paul, Deborah, Howard, Rick and Me were meant to form two more groups, but counting and organising proved too much of a challenge without the ever-patient guidance of Brian, the trip organiser. However, Brian had left us both a route and a plan. They are both useful things we found.
The route.
The plan.
This was for the e-bikes and Brian to take the Silver Town Tunnel Shuttle Bus and the rest of us to take the cable car, pardon me, the ‘IFS Cloud Cable Car’, because e-bikes are regarded as too self-combustible to be transported by cable car.
You see it’s better for bikes to catch fire inside a tunnel, inside an electric bus. A bus with a much bigger electric battery, along with other people, who also have combustible e-bikes. Together with an innocent driver, on minimum wage, dressed in an inflammable nylon uniform. You see not enough poor people have been set on fire by rich London boroughs, since Grenfell.
No seriously, the point is in a tunnel, any fire will be out of sight. Where people can’t take photos of burning cable cars with ‘IFS – Solutions for Every Industry’ posters in the background.
The bus driver does look a little bit nervous in this photo. Still who can blame her with all those bikes, bikers and the prospect of another trip through the tunnel ahead. Meanwhile we enjoyed ourselves on the cable car.
When a river crossing at this point was first proposed, in 1998, it had to be ready for the year 2000 celebrations. Sustrans suggested a walking and cycling bridge. But Sustrans is a charity, with the slogan ‘liveable cities and towns for everyone’ so they were ignored. Instead, and I’m not making this up, it was decided that London commuters would ‘flock to’ a cable car. The then London Council insisted that, whatever link was created, the journey must be payable by Oyster Card, so as to make it available to ordinary Londoners. After an 11-year delay and 10-fold increase in cost, to £60 million, the cable car was just about open, ready for the Olympics in 2012. After the games, commuters only flocked to it in a limited way. Oster Card data showed that 16 people a week used it for commuting.
At exactly 1000 meters the cable car looks excellent value at £60K per meter against HS2 at £295K per meter, the latter without including the cost of the proposed Euston terminus.
As always it was good to see Charles on this ride, dressed in his inimitable style. Behind him you can see a silver Rolls Royce (center left) waiting for an ordinary Londoner who has commuted to work by cable car. Just like Boris predicted they would after the Olympics. I missed my cup of coffee getting that photo you know.
Lunch at Greenwich’s Trafalgar Inn provoked some controversy. With beer (and cider) at that price, that was inevitable. Brian, with supercharged diplomatic skills, eased the club into an early lunch rather than forging on to later venues. His next challenge will be a negotiated peace in Gaza.
Nelson had abjured naval power for flower-power and Howard had brought a map in the unlikely event that he got lost.
The route along the south bank is complex and we had some problems keeping the group together. Crossing Tower bridge was as exciting/scary as ever.
With the crowds of tourists, crawling traffic, noise and rapidly worsening weather it was a relief to drop down to the Limehouse Basin. Unfortunately Rach and Graham go split off at this point. And the rain became increasingly yuk.
Some of the infrastructure in London is incredible. One example is Bow Locks. Rather than have some e-bikers dismount, other club members pushed them up the ramp. Anyway everyone go to the top safe and sound in the end. Good club effort.
To be honest the route home was a challenge, with cold rain, greasy cobbles, puddles and grit. Non of this dampened the good spirits of some of the group who still found time to encourage young cyclists along the way to continue enjoying their riding.
I suppose a cycle is what you make it. You can always ignore the weather, spread your love of riding and just hope for a drier, warmer day tomorrow. This Maurice has truly mastered.
Special thanks go to Brian for organizing this one and navigating the difficulties along the way with aplomb. I enjoyed it in a slightly masochistic way, but then nobody can control the weather. Onwards and upwards.
The Windmill Cycle Club 