Our Cycling Tour in England

By Reuben Gold Thwaites189215 chapters22 images

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Contents

• In Kent (opens in a new tab)

  The tour begins on 18 May 1891 at Caterham, Surrey, with the cyclists taking the train to get an easy start over the Kentish plain before riding via Ashford through hop-gardens, sheep pastures, and chalk downland villages. They reach Canterbury on the 21st, covering thirty-six and a half miles past hamlets including Chartham, Kennington, and Penny Pot, admiring the River Stour and the county's ancient stone cottages.
• In the Heart of the South Downs (opens in a new tab)

  Riding through the Sussex South Downs from Northiam on Sunday the 24th, the cyclists pass through Staple Cross, Battle, Pevensey Level, Ringmer, and Lewes before reaching Brighton and the coast westward towards Arundel. They observe sweeping chalk downland, the ruins of Battle Abbey during a village fair, and encounter Southdown sheep flocks tended by lone shepherds on the rolling green hills.
• Chichester, Goodwood, and Midhurst (opens in a new tab)

  Arriving at Midhurst on Friday the 29th after a morning in Chichester, the cyclists visit Goodwood House, seat of the Duke of Richmond, then ride through Charlton and Charlton Forest to Midhurst. They explore the ivy-draped ruins of Cowdray Castle, burned in 1793, and push on via Rogate, Petersfield, East Tisted, Farringdon, and Chawton to reach Alton.
• With Hampshire Folk (opens in a new tab)

  Staying with friends at Alton, Hampshire, from Sunday 31 May, the cyclists make daily excursions through Alice Holt Wood, Binsted, and out to Old Lytton hill above Selborne. They visit Farnham, Aldershot camp, and Farnham Castle, riding through quiet Hampshire lanes and over Woolmer Moor, enjoying the local hospitality and rural society of the region.
• Winchester and the Isle of Wight (opens in a new tab)

  Leaving Alton on Friday 5 June, the cyclists ride twenty-seven miles through Ropley, the Itchen valley, and odd-named villages to Winchester, where they spend several days visiting the cathedral, St. Cross Hospital almshouse, and Winchester College. A rail-and-steamer side trip takes them to the Isle of Wight, where they cycle around Sandown, Shanklin, Bembridge, and Carisbrooke Castle before returning to Southampton.
• Village Life (opens in a new tab)

  Cycling Wednesday 10 June from Winchester to Salisbury by the lower coach road via Romsey, a run of twenty-seven miles, the author offers an extended study of the English village and its social fabric. He describes parish schools, farm laborers, the squire, the parson, and the village inn, drawing on scenes from the Embley Park estate (once Florence Nightingale's home) and the hamlet of Crampton Moor.
• Wiltshire Downs and Salisbury Plain (opens in a new tab)

  Continuing from Salisbury on Wednesday afternoon the 10th, the cyclists climb the Wiltshire Downs in scorching heat before descending to Salisbury itself and then venturing out to Old Sarum and across Salisbury Plain to Stonehenge the following day. The return route follows the Avon past Heale House (where Charles II hid after Worcester) and Ogbury Camp back to Salisbury, covering the rolling chalk plateau dotted with ancient earthworks.
• In the New Forest (opens in a new tab)

  Departing Salisbury on Friday 12 June after a morning at the cathedral, the cyclists ride eighteen miles via Downton, Brook, and Minstead to Lyndhurst, the tourist centre of the New Forest. The next day they make a roundabout circuit of thirty-three miles to Christchurch via Bolderwood Lodge and Burley Lodge, visiting the Rufus Stone where William II was killed in 1100, encountering gypsies, New Forest ponies being broken, and verderers in Lyndhurst's ancient hall.
• Across Dorset (opens in a new tab)

  Based at Christchurch on Sunday 14 June, the cyclists explore the town's Norman priory before riding Monday twelve miles up the Stour valley to Wimborne Minster, with its Saxon chest and chained library. They then push westward through Dorchester, the Puddle villages, Cerne Abbas with its Celtic hill figure, and on to Bridport, riding over high chalk ridges with wide sea views and passing Roman earthworks and barrows.
• The Hills of Devon (opens in a new tab)

  Entering Devon on Wednesday 17 June, the cyclists ride from Charmouth through Lyme Regis, Axminster, and Honiton to Exeter, wrestling with relentlessly steep hills and oppressive heat in a region where a lady cyclist is still a rarity. They then press on from Exeter via the Teign valley, Dunsford, and Doccombe up to the highlands above Moreton-Hampstead, admiring deep wooded combes and talking with local farmers and laborers.
• From Dartmoor to the Sea (opens in a new tab)

  Abandoning their plan to reach Land's End, the cyclists leave Moreton-Hampstead on Saturday 20 June and strike north via Whiddon Down and Merrymeet Inn to North Tawton, then descend the Taw valley through Eggesford and Bishop's Tawton to Barnstaple on the Bristol Channel coast. They encounter dense village curiosity in every hamlet and ride quiet, isolated roads flanked by Devon's heavily wooded river valleys.
• On the North Devon Coast (opens in a new tab)

  From Barnstaple on Tuesday 22 June, the cyclists travel to Ilfracombe and then take a horse-drawn coach along the cliff-top road past Combe Martin to Lynton and Lynmouth, before visiting the artists' village of Clovelly with its precipitous cobbled street descending to a fishing harbor. They enjoy the Hobby Drive woodland cliff road above Clovelly and view Lundy Island out in the Bristol Channel.
• Somerset, and the Valley of the Wye (opens in a new tab)

  Taking the train from Barnstaple on Friday 26 June via Taunton and Highbridge to Glastonbury, the cyclists spend days exploring Somerset before cycling via Wells, Chilcompton, Radstock, and Bath, then making excursions by rail to Bristol, Monmouth, Raglan Castle, Tintern Abbey, and the Wye valley. They climb Wynde Cliff for a panoramic view of the Wye and visit Chepstow Castle before returning to Bath.
• From Bath to Oxford, by the White Horse Vale (opens in a new tab)

  Leaving Bath on Friday 1 July, the cyclists ride via Chippenham, Wootton Bassett, Swindon, and Shrivenham along the Vale of the White Horse, making a detour to climb White Horse Hill to see the ancient chalk figure carved in the hillside above Uffington. They then continue through Wantage and across Berkshire, eventually finding Oxford through dense forest tracks with confusing signless crossroads.
• The Thames Valley (opens in a new tab)

  Setting out from Oxford on Monday 6 July, the cyclists ride to Standlake to inspect a Bronze Age burial site discovered in 1857, then follow the Thames downstream via Witney, Abingdon, Streatley, and Pangbourn to Reading. They press on past the Roman site at Silchester, through Stratfieldsay and Swallowfield into Windsor Park where they glimpse the Emperor and Empress of Germany in royal procession, and finally reach Magna Charta Island before cycling via Kingston and Caterham back to their starting point in Surrey.