coffeejo
Ælfrēd
- Location
- West Somerset
@Peteaud has already summed up yesterday's ride quite nicely, except he left out the bit about navigational chaos, though that's probably for the best.
It was hilly. I walked up a couple of bits so I didn't ruin my new bibs by toppling over sideways.
The view from Hare Lane. We cycled up to the top and then back down. (Don't ask - not my idea.) The sun finally came out on the way up so I stopped on the descent to admire the view in case it clouded over again. (It did. And then the sun came out. And then it clouded over. And then the sun came back out... and so on for the rest of the day.)
By coincidence, just a few feet from where I stopped is a memorial for a military air crash in November 1945.
"A terrible plane crash occurred in the fog on the Blackdown Hills, near morning. The crew of five and 22 passengers, all British Army personnel returning to India after leave, were killed - 26 outright, the other dying on the way to hospital. The aircraft, a Liberator of R. A. F. Transport Command, had taken off from the Merryfield R. A. F. Station, near Ilminster, some four or five miles away, at 10 a.m. Apparently it did not attain sufficient height to clear the hillside (which rises to 930 feet), struck a tree, caught fire and burned out in a field not far from Castle-Neroche..."
The newspaper report also described it as "a lonely spot". That has not changed in the seven decades since that awful day.
Looking up the road from the memorial:
Having come back down Hare Lane, we then did a few more lumpy bits before tackling the hilly horror of the day, Folly Lane. As I said, I walked and admired the scenery...
After lunch, we headed over the ridge and came down Adcombe Hill, which offered some splendid views of the village of Corfe and the countryside surrounding Taunton, but the descent was ruined by a large heap of gravel and sticks in the middle of the narrow lane at a corner, followed by even more gravel and a dodgy road surface. Need to head back into the hills this weekend to get my proper reward!
And then to home. 40 miles for me, including the ride from home and back.
It was hilly. I walked up a couple of bits so I didn't ruin my new bibs by toppling over sideways.
The view from Hare Lane. We cycled up to the top and then back down. (Don't ask - not my idea.) The sun finally came out on the way up so I stopped on the descent to admire the view in case it clouded over again. (It did. And then the sun came out. And then it clouded over. And then the sun came back out... and so on for the rest of the day.)
By coincidence, just a few feet from where I stopped is a memorial for a military air crash in November 1945.
"A terrible plane crash occurred in the fog on the Blackdown Hills, near morning. The crew of five and 22 passengers, all British Army personnel returning to India after leave, were killed - 26 outright, the other dying on the way to hospital. The aircraft, a Liberator of R. A. F. Transport Command, had taken off from the Merryfield R. A. F. Station, near Ilminster, some four or five miles away, at 10 a.m. Apparently it did not attain sufficient height to clear the hillside (which rises to 930 feet), struck a tree, caught fire and burned out in a field not far from Castle-Neroche..."
The newspaper report also described it as "a lonely spot". That has not changed in the seven decades since that awful day.
Looking up the road from the memorial:
Having come back down Hare Lane, we then did a few more lumpy bits before tackling the hilly horror of the day, Folly Lane. As I said, I walked and admired the scenery...
After lunch, we headed over the ridge and came down Adcombe Hill, which offered some splendid views of the village of Corfe and the countryside surrounding Taunton, but the descent was ruined by a large heap of gravel and sticks in the middle of the narrow lane at a corner, followed by even more gravel and a dodgy road surface. Need to head back into the hills this weekend to get my proper reward!
And then to home. 40 miles for me, including the ride from home and back.
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