Game: Name that road!

[Tribansman]

Yes, that's the road. It's a streetview pic you should be able to find the exact spot.

Here!

 

[lazybloke]

Here!
View attachment 553358

Well done @Tribansman , spot on. (https://goo.gl/maps/kr2u2JbWkLWt65CN6)
Had done quite a long ride that day, mostly unmemorable until suddenly we were climbing above the surroundings from Hutton-le-hole. The air freshened as we climbed and all was silent apart from 80s gears clicking and the gentle huffing (wheezing) from unfit cyclists.
At the top of the climb a wide panorama opened up - yes it was bleak, somehow reminding me of a Ladybird book picture I'd read as a child (Jack & the beanstalk)

But not completely devoid of life - there was greenery , birds, sheep and an undeniable wild beauty, especially when the late afternoon sun poked between the clouds and touched everything with colour. Even a few drops of rain couldn't spoil this experience.

I kept expecting the road to descend to a valley but it seemed to carry on for miles at the same height. The land would fall away into a distant valley to one side or the other, then rise back up again, only to fall away on the other side. It went on like this for miles, with sunset developing all the while.

Eventually the land fell away on both sides, and the ridge grew ever narrower yet still continued every onwards. Finally after being close to heaven for over 10 miles the ridge ended with a fun descent into Castleton, then onwards to our accommodation in Staithes for a late but well-earned dinner.
I now felt like a "proper" cyclist

That was 1991. Why have I never been back?

 

[Tribansman]

Great account that @lazybloke.

The North York Moors certainly serve up pretty memorable vistas. Have been there a couple of times, the last of which was absolutely brutal...at the end of the longest ride I've ever done, Letchworth to Whitby.

Made all the harder as the ride up till then had been pretty flat so although I knew it was coming was a shock to the system. I also arrived just as it had got pitch black (having set off at 4am), so had to do all the climbs - and it felt like they just went on and on! - by feel as could only see a few feet in front of me Made sure I got some nice views in the next day by taking the cinder track to Scarborough and the train home, although the pretty grim surface for road bike tyres made that quite a challenge too!

Anyway, don't think this will present too many problems...

 

[Aravis]

I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in England, probably southish.

 

[lazybloke]

Looks like a church steeple in the woods. Is it by any chance a derelict church?

 

[Tribansman]

Yep, England and South-ish.

Angle of photo is a bit deceptive, church def not derelict. In fact, it's pretty impressive.... and impressed a famous poet when he passed through the village it's in (which is also very nice, lots of historic buildings and a fine brewing history)

 

[lazybloke]

Yep, England and South-ish.

Angle of photo is a bit deceptive, church def not derelict. In fact, it's pretty impressive.... and impressed a famous poet when he passed through the village it's in (which is also very nice, lots of historic buildings and a fine brewing history)

Difficult...
Really thought it might be Lavenham but can't find the spot.

 

[shnjmsn]

Wiltshire........ ish ? 🤔

 

[Tribansman]

Famous poet impressed by church made me think Arundel (Philip Larkin) so I went and searched round Arundel. I had some nearly-but-not-quite matches, but I had a nagging doubt about this, checked and found that "An Arundel Tomb" is actually about statues in Chichester cathedral, which isn't a village church.

But anyway these are decidedly South, not South-ish.

Good thinking, but not Philip Larkin. The poet was John Betjeman.

Chichester too far south, Lavenham too far East. It's near a county border

 

[figbat]

I thought Betjeman, but basically he spent his life charging around gushing about churches, so it doesn't narrow the field down all that much!

He also gushed about Slough.

 

[Tribansman]

I thought Betjeman, but basically he spent his life charging around gushing about churches, so it doesn't narrow the field down all that much!

Fair point!

This should help...the church hit national headlines in 2013 due to a row about its chimes being too loud...

Failing that, it's about 5 miles from where i live (a bit of forum stalking should reveal where that is)

 

[figbat]

Claybush Road, heading towards Ashwell - the church is St Mary's.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.032...i2Qw0bOnJo7XXRTbG5OA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

 

[Trickedem]

I think I may have found it.
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.032...4!1sjkjyK5TXqZ7I1hLkAX4m0A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

[MontyVeda]

Claybush Road, heading towards Ashwell - the church is St Mary's.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.032...i2Qw0bOnJo7XXRTbG5OA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

View attachment 554665

How did you figure it out Figbat?

Pipped at the post @Trickedem ...but how did either of you figure that out? Local to the area? A road you rode once? Distinctive Steeple?

 

[Trickedem]

Claybush Road, heading towards Ashwell - the church is St Mary's.

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.032...i2Qw0bOnJo7XXRTbG5OA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

View attachment 554665

The clue about being near @Tribansman 's house led me to find a google news article about a church in Herts in 2003 that had a problem with bells being too loud.