Tomorrows Cycle

Tomorrow Saturday 22nd Feb

Cheeky flat 40 miler - Meet at Ians for 8:00am

South on the Lea, Greenway from Bow, Woolwich Ferry, Thames Path to Limehouse, Regents canal to Victoria Park then Home.

The Greenway Circuit on plotaroute.com

This is a possible for Saturday Mornings Ride any thoughts??





The Greenway Circuit on plotaroute.com

40 miles Nearer thy God to thee

It has taken me until now (lunchtime on Wednesday) to feel suitably enthusiastic about cycling to write today’s blog entry…… we left Ainsleys at 8:00 and after 40 miles returned home just before 1:00pm. Completely banjaxed the 7 or so miles from Abridge were “a bridge” to far and our choice of exiting the Roding Valley via Monkhams Lane nearly done for me.

But I guess its 40 mile under our belt in preparation for the Sport Relief 50 miler

https://my.sportrelief.com/registration/event/landing

Ainsley had the following to say about Sunday’s Ride:

"Great effort yesterday as Ian, John J, Leigh and I managed 40 miles. Well done to Paul Lucas for his first time out, who managed to go to Epping and back."

Not only was it Paul's first time out but he did it on a borrowed Raleigh racer with the gear selectors in a very strange place….

 Once again we visited All Saints Church, High Laver, Essex. It looks like I'm pissing on Locke’s memorial I wasn't honestly.

I am getting a bit worried by John Ainsley and Leighs interest in the historical and more learned aspects of our rides, the only thing they were interested in was the name of this Essex Farm.

Yes its Faggotters Farm near the Village of Loyters Green. Little things please little minds So…..

Faggoters Farm was part of the manor of Little Laver. The earliest records are from the late 13th when land was held by a John Otes. The medieval manor had been rebuilt as a red brick Tudor mansion, gabled and castellated. In the early 17th it was purchased by members of the William Masham, a Yorkshire born City businessman. Between 1691 and 1704 John Locke the philosopher lived, and died here as a paying guest of Lady Damaris Masham, a ‘blue stocking’. Later Lady Abigail Masham lived here after retiring as a courtier to Queen Anne. A later resident of was Fortunatus Montagu, the black son of Muslim, Edward Wortley Montagu. Later members of the family sold Locke’s books and generally bankrupted the estate. The building was demolished in 182 although some outbuildings remained until 1952. The site is partly moated and a well and some trees remain.

Another spot we passed is the Church at Bobbingworth.

We also spotted a Church Conversion for sale. To be honest I've seen nicer ones

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26564698.html

I have tried to research the history of the Church but as yet I can’t find anything online

But more interestingly slightly before this and on the opposite side of the road is a Burial ground obviously old but no church. A little investigation has revealed that it is the Foster Street Burial Ground. The origins of the site can be traced back to 1677 when William Woodward first established the churchyard then called 'Potter’s Croft'. As non-conformists were not permitted to be buried in Anglican Churchyards this site acted

as a joint burial ground for two churches at Four Street in Old Harlow and the other originally at Little Parndon, which later moved to Potter Street. William Woodward is believed to have set up both the churches. The most famous resident of the burial ground is Sarah Flower Adams, a hymn writer, who died in 1848 aged 43. Sarah wrote the hymn “Nearer thy God to thee” which played as the famous liner the Titantic sank in 1912.

OK Our next Cycle is this Sunday. We are doing a 40 mile road cycle going up to Epping then on to Harlow. and back via Loughton. Please Meet at Ainsley's at 8:00 (corner of Charter Road and Nesta Road).

This will be a Road Race so use a suitable Bike/Tyres. We should be back by 1:00pm Chains permitting.

I recently got sent a link to this very useful mapping/Route tool that you can use to plot your own walks and rides, check it out .....http://www.plotaroute.com/map 

Starting next week I shall start reviewing the 16 Sections between Bath and Highams Park. The first of these is the 10 miles between Bath and Bradford on Avon, so watch out for these.

there is a lovely blog of this route here if you fancy a look ....

 http://www.paulspages.co.uk/bbcycle/kacycleclassic.shtml

Andy, Leigh, John and Ainsley went out on a ride this Sunday, and it sounds horrendous. Here is Johns Account of events:

"Well another 25 miles of eventful ride today. Andy Scott came along with Leigh who bought a bike and joined us but his chain snapped just outside North Weald. That was a first he wasn't happy the bikes only done 10 miles. Luckily Andy Scott's dawn came and picked him up. Really windy we had to peddle to go downhill. Not the most pleasant ride."

Ainsley's review :

Good effort yesterday especially to those you had not been out before, Andy and Leigh.  Tough luck on Leigh as his chain broke about half way through. Thanks to Dawn Scott for rescuing him :-)

Hope you get your bike fixed soon Leigh.

Was a tough one yesterday due to the 20mph wind, especially around Abridge and Chigwell. That said we did cover just over 23 miles and in good time.

Andy says that "When you have to peddle downhill you know its windy.!!"

Well done to all who cycled, first time out for A and L...... keep it up!!

I managed to avoid this toil ....I was here:

There will be a Cycle next weekend see to the right of this for details as they are announced.

Sunday 2^nd February 2014 Highams Park to High Laver and Moreton, Essex. 135 miles – AF JJ IS.

Here are Ainsleys notes from yesterdays ride:

“Great effort today.  Although nice and sunny there was a noticeable headwind on the homeward stretch.

We managed 35 miles and the average speed was up on last week.”

This was a great ride, Ainsley tagged on an additional 5 miles from North Weald Basset to

the old Tube Station at Blake Hall. These five miles plus a conspicuous headwind on the return leg  made for a  personally exhausting ride.

We left HP at 9:00am climbing up to the Epping New road and continuing to Epping via High Beech. Taking the right fork out of Epping we dropped off the Epping Forest Ridge down to North weald. After crossing the A414 we cycled through what is primarily agricultural land to Moreton. A short diversion to the parish church of All Saints, High Laver, Essex where we stopped for a quick refresh. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/7078010577/

Outside this church  is the brick altar tomb of John Locke (1704). A mural tablet, originally above the tomb, was moved inside the church for preservation in 1932, the tercentenary of Locke's birth.

John Locke wrote The Two Treatises of Government. Two essays that influenced and echoed in phrases in the Declaration of Independence and writings by Samuel Adams that attempted to gain support for rebellion. Of Locke's influence Thomas Jefferson wrote: "Bacon, Locke and Newton I consider them as the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception, and as having laid the foundation of those superstructures which have been raised in the Physical & Moral sciences"

Locke supported the right of the people to overthrow rulers who betray them. The executive and the legislature coexist independently to keep each other in check. Further, Locke asserted that if a leader violates the community’s trust, the people can and should replace him immediately. Similarly, if the legislative body does not fulfill the needs of the people, it should be dissolved and replaced with whatever form of government the people think best.

Any way moving on, Moreton is a pretty  Essex Village that has two pubs, the Nags Head and the White Hart, they both looked like decent boozers for a summer drive and Lunch. (Although why Moreton, with a population of 366, has 2 pubs while Highams Park with a population of 11,355 just has the Signal Box and the County heaven only knows.

As we cross back south over the A414 we drop down via Toot Hill into the Roding Valley and cross it at Abridge. The Roding as we expected has flooded on to the main flood plain although the flood warning here is no longer in place.

River levels have dropped in the Abridge area, however standing water may remain in places. Due to the large amount of rain that has fallen recently the catchment is saturated, therefore the river will be very sensitive to any further rainfall. The remainder of Sunday is forecast to be largely dry and we expect levels to continue to fall. We will continue to monitor the situation. A flood alert remains in force for the middle river Roding catchment.

Keep an eye on the Blog for any details of next weeks ride.

Old Photos from Windsor to get us in the mood

ah.......... Memories