Some years ago while on holiday in Lincolnshire (Donna Nook) I did some research on the notable churches at Boston and Louth, which brought to my attention an organisation called the Greater Churches Network.
http://greaterchurches.org/about/
Although that link states clearly that promoting a wider appreciation of these unique buildings forms part of the group's objectives, I don't see much evidence of this happening. It seems to be far more concerned with internal matters, which seems to me like a neglected opportunity.
A network can be explored, at what better way to do that than by bike? Four member churches in my part of the world are Cheltenham Minster, Tewkesbury Abbey, Pershore Abbey, and Malvern Priory. Together with the cathedrals at Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester, that formed the basis of my imperial century a month qualifying ride for May, ridden yesterday.
Starting just before 6:30, I took advantage of the early morning quiet for a hassle-free ride to the centre of Cheltenham. The minster sits in the most unflattering position, surrounded by more recent buildings presenting their backs to it:. I managed to make it look much more leafy than it really is:
The next stop was Pershore, before which I was overtaken twice by a friendly guy called Gary (I knew a straighter route) and we chatted for a while. The abbey at Pershore is in a thoroughly more glamorous situation:
I then headed northwards so that I could approach Worcester from the Droitwich direction. There were two locations to visit in Worcester, a very rare Edward VIII post box and the cathedral. The sound of the choir rehearsing carried loud and clear over the water:
Onwards towards Malvern, the road soon starts to rise for the day's big climb. There is a flat section in the centre of the town where the priory is located, and also a roadside drinking fountain fed by spring water. Many cyclists and others were taking advantage just as I was:
Just the final mile of climb the summit at Upper Wyche, and then into delightfully rural countryside on the way to Hereford, much of which I hadn't seen before. One interesting sight was the parish church as Bosbury, which has a tower separate from the main building. It seems this isn't that unusual, but the one at Bosbury is quite notable because the tower itself is such a massive structure and sits adjacent to the road with the church behind it. I was travelling rapidly downhill at the time and couldn't easily see how to photgraph it. Another time.
I seemed to reach Hereford quite quickly, with a following wind starting to pick up. The cathedral sits imposing above the river Wye:
It was now around two-thirds distance and in an atmosphere seemingly full of pollen I started to get very tired, so I took a straightforward route back to Tewkesbury. If I'd had a bit more energy I might've found a better spot for a photograph. Then back down the good old A38 to Gloucester and the final location. In contrast to the choral music emanating from Worcester, at Gloucester there seemed to be preparations for a rock concert taking place:
I think that blue sky behind the cathedral says it all. Sensible use of sun cream and my trusty cycling cap meant that I didn't suffer any ill-effects from the sun, but I can't remember feeling more tired for a long time. 123.24 miles.
and headed into Shrewsbury, through The Quarry, then out to Upton Magna, Walcot, Eaton Constantine, Cressage, Acton Burnell, Longnor and back via Condover.
