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Wednesday, 20th March 2019
Fog at first, but, by 9:00, it is clear, and a little blue sky, at 10C.
The weather soon improves to be warm enough to sit outside a pub, having lunch!
We explore more the "Green Wheel", a sort of cyclists "ring road" around Peterborough.
We cover 15.4 miles, mostly on good tarmac cycling tracks, but, with enough "rough stuff" to raise an "observation" or two from Kathleen.
We stop at the Boathouse Pub, where we are able to sit outside in the sun and have a very pleasant lunch (superior to The
Granary, yesterday). The remainder of the afternoon is spent sitting in the sunshine, reading and eating Magnums. It is a hard life.
Thursday, 21st March 2019
It looks as if it is going to be an even better day, typical, when we are leaving!
Just under 200 miles, major roads for most of the way.
Monday, 18th March 2019
Cloudy with a little sun, and 11C, promising.
We get the bicycles out, for the first time this trip. Eight Miles around the Nene Valley Park, and, to the nearest Supermarket. There are so many cycle tracks, we will have to acquire a map, or, become hopelessly lost!
After a spell of sitting in in the sun (yes, it is true, sitting in the sun, in the UK, in mid-March), we round off the afternoon with a three mile walk through Nene Park.
Tuesday, 19th March 2019
A mix of cloud and sun, with a very reasonable 15C.
Cycle riding, with the aid of a map today! Via route 62 to Bretton, then, along the "Green Wheel" route, and route 12 to town centre, and then, back to Ferry Meadows. 11.80 Miles.
The plan today, eating wise, is Lunch at The Cuckoo, but, when we passed yesterday, it looked as if building works were in progress, and, today, they are not answering their
phone, so, it is The Granary, a Beefeater Pub. Very pleasant place, but, with adequate rather than remarkable food.
Friday, 15th March 2019
Mild, at 10C, but, still windy, at least sun is shining!
The "plan" today is to walk along the signed Riverside Walk, from Hertford to Ware. This forms part of a much longer route, The Lea Valley Walk, (50 miles), which goes from Luton to Lime House Basin, East London. We content ourselves with a little over 7 miles, today, about 5 miles of which is along the River Lea Valley!
We are reasonably fortunate with the weather, it does, eventually, begin to rain, heavily, but, fortunately, by then, we are in Ware, and, conveniently, outside of a Coffee shop!
A little shopping for more essentials (ie Red Wine), and, we catch a bus back to Hertford.
Saturday, 16th March 2019
Mild, 12C, but, even windier!
Lunch in the Barge Inn, courtesy or Kathleen, very pleasant.
Sunday, 17th March 2019
Blue sky, sunshine and 8C when we wake up, maybe weather is improving?
A short (65 mile) drive, to Ferry Meadows CAMC Site (N52.56053, W0.30593).
Ferry Meadows CAMC Site is a typical, CAMC Site, Clean, well organised, good facilities. It is surrounded by the Nene Valley Country Park , with miles of walking and cycling trails, plus other activities. The Nene Valley Heritage Steam Railway also runs through the park, an extra treat for Steam enthusiasts! It is also within easy cycling/walking distance of Peterborough.
We fit in a 3.3 mile walk, around the lakes, the weather is kind, we have blue skies and sunshine.
Tuesday, 30th January 2018
A bright and sunny day, temperatures about what one would expect, for January in the UK, ie 6-8C, altogether a very pleasant day.
Lazing about and reading books, or, Private Eye, in my case, until lunch time.
After lunch, the bicycles are unloaded. This will be our first bicycle ride for six weeks, due to combination of, poor weather, winter coughs and colds, post Christmas idleness.
Peterborough certainly appears to have excellent cycling infrastructure, we are able to ride from the campsite to the city centre (3 miles) on tarmac cycle track / shared path, without once going on the road.
In total we cycle approximately 9 miles, not bad for our first day back in the saddle after a six week break.
It is the first time I have ever been to Peterborough, I am pleasantly surprised, initial impressions are very favourable, the campsite is clean and well organised (as you would expect from the Caravan and Motorhome Club), the Nene Valley Country Park around the site, is well organised and attractive, and, the town centre is pleasant with a good selection of shops (if you like shops).
The site is large, and there are many activities available in the Nene Valley Country Park, so, I would suspect the site is popular with families, which in turn, probably means it is busy during School Holiday times, but, it is pleasantly quiet during our stay, just as we like it!
Wednesday, 31st January 2018
After yesterday, which was rather pleasant, weatherise, today is dull, and, it begins to rain just as I am in the middle of packing up (ie disconnection TV aerial, rolling up EHU cable etc.
We have a leisurely departure (10:00) and make our way the approximately 100 miles to Chertsey.
Despite the fairly constant rain, it is an easy run, even the M25 is moving at a steady speed, so, we arrive at Chertsey Camping and Caravan Club Site (N51 23'27" W0 29'21") before the 13:00 booking in time.
We have been to the Chertsey C&CC Site several times. For essentially a "city" site, (we are only a few miles from Central London), it is rather nice, but, being also just a few miles from Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, some aircraft noise is to be expected. Not enough to spoil our enjoyment, or keep us awake.
The weather brightens, with full sunshine for a while, but, by evening, it is very cold.
Today is our Wedding Anniversary (31 years), after getting booked in and set up, we head to the Kingfisher for a celebratory meal. Definitely a good choice, very pleasant surroundings, right by the River Thames, and a good choice of dishes, some unusual items and, some more traditional meals.
Monday, 29th January 2018
We are booked in to Chertsey Camping and Caravan Club Site, from Wednesday, to visit son Gary, Susana, Gabriel and Salma (it being Salma's second birthday on Thursday 1st February)
The plan is to stay somewhere between home and Chertsey for a couple of days.
I have an inclination to head for the Lee Valley Dobbs Weir Site, it is right alongside what looks like good cycling, alongside the River Lee Navigation. I have seen several programs on TV, extolling the virtues of the Lee Valley Country Park and surrounding area.
An early start, light traffic and a lunch stop, with home made soup, provided by Kathleen's kitchen skills, everything is going well, we are south of Grantham, and on target to arrive at Lee Valley by about 16:30.
Ominously, we are overtaken by an ambulance, siren wailing and blue lights flashing, and we can see, that traffic coming to a halt up ahead. It is 14:00.
We spend the next two hours stationery on the A1, the only excitement being having to move over as far as possible, to allow two Police vehicles to reach the accident scene, and, occasional road traffic reports on the radio, telling us, there is a hold up on the A1 southbound, at Stamford. We already know that, we are sitting in it.
The traffic eventually begins to move at 16:00, and there is no sign of any incident, not even some roadside debris.
There is no way we are going to reach Lee Valley in daylight, so, Kathleen rings the nearest CAMC site, which happens to be Ferry Meadows CAMC site.
So, that is how we come to be just outside of Peterborough, clearly, we are not destined to visit Lee Valley, at least, not on this trip!
