Tag: hills

#365daysofbiking Getting the abbey habit

Sunday, October 25th 2020 – I’m enjoying the long rides this autumn, which is making the whole experience of the season much nicer, I must say.

This grey Sunday I wrapped up warm and headed back to the Churnet Valley, and caught the area in a lovely sunset golden hour. On the way I took an alternate route bypassing Willslock and Uttoxeter and found myself passing through Croxden, where the immense and beautiful ruined abbey took me fair by surprise: I must come back and spend time looking around it. I’ve never seen a lane actually run through a set of ruins before…

The Churnet Valley was as beautiful as it tends to be, but I had a different target in mind. Crossing the valley by Lord’s Bridge, up  the gorgeous Barbary Gutter and past the dreadful Alton Towers, I pressed up past Star Bank and Threelows, looping back over the Weaver Hills, to catch them just as night fell.

I returned via Ellastone, Marston Montgomery and Sudbury, blasting down the A515 for a fast run home.

Another beautifully autumnal ride that really lifted my spirits.

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#365daysofbiking Disappearing from sight

January 6th – On a weary, late return from work, mercifully with the wind behind me, I stopped on cresting the remarkably steep Black Cock Bridge, and looked downhill towards the Coppice Road, as I’ve done many, many times before.

It looks like a great downhill, but parked vehicles, a T junction at the bottom and an abundance of cats and kids in summer make it too risky to pile in.

One thing I noted tonight was the orange of the sodium streetlights. That will soon go, as the local council have now announced a plan to replace all Walsall’s old style lights for new, white energy efficient ones, which it has to be said are better for visibility, with less light pollution and lower energy.

But sadly without the comfy, warm orange glow that glistens so well on tarmac.

Oh well.

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June 11th – For the first time in absolutely ages, I found myself in Redditch on a business call, and for old times sake I rode through the gorgeous Arrow Valley Park that bisects the town, with the still quaint little hamlet of Ipsley in the centre of it.

I used to come here week in, week out but the customer changed hands and moved out fo that line of business, so I really find myself here now. But it’s still lovely.

But that climb back up from the south of town to the station is still an absolute killer…

August 11th – I had to pop to Shenstone on an errand on my way home from work, and the chance to ride these sleepy, familiar lanes, even on a dull day is wonderful. 

I crossed Church Hill through the churchyard of St Johns, purely as I hadn’t been up there in a while. I have to say, the grounds maintenance at the rear in the old graveyard is currently not a patch on what it was, but I guess the wildlife appreciates the lack of disturbance.

The church remains what it has always been to me: A remarkable building in a beautiful spot, although not to my taste: A competent, muscular design in Victorian dark gothic that screams foreboding at me, not praise.

However, always good to see this landmark of my life. Love or hate it, it’s a remarkable thing.

April 18th – The Churnet Valley is beautiful – no ifs and no buts – it’s like Staffordshire’s equivalent of the Loire Valley. Featuring a canal, a river, a preserved steam railway, a castle, several beautiful villages and steep, beautiful slopes, the reason it’s generally overlooked is because it contains Alton Towers, the theme park people seem to come to without visiting Dimminsdale or any of the other beautiful places here.

The old Flint Mill at Cheddleton is stunning.

The castle is now a school and religious retreat, an is extraordinary. 

The Churnet Valley does, however, eat cyclists. The 16% and 17% hills in and out of the valley between Oakamoor and Froghall nearly finished me.

But I have to come back.

July 10th – Mission complete. It’s been a hard few days working on a rush job, and I finally handed it on now, and the crisis has passed. I returned home via Stonnall in the late evening light, almost too tired to cycle up Shire Oak Hill.

Cresting this hill – always, always hard work from any direction – is a personal nemesis and when tired, it’s punishing. But once at the top, it’s pretty much a freewheel downhill to food, rest, a good cup of tea and the welcome of family.

It’s over, for now. A great relief.

January 7th – A little further on, I noticed that there’s a huge stock of trail building materials being stored up in the Hednesford Hills. There’s a large area of hardstanding there, whose purpose I’m unsure of – I think it could once have been a building. The Chase Heritage Trail crosses this square, and for a few months now, piles of ballast, road planings and bales of brushwood have been appearing. These are the classic materials used to build cycle trails – I wonder what the plan is?

August 3rd –  The twin churches of Wednesbury are a landmark for miles around. This view is iconic to me, and one I always remember when thinking of the Black Country. It’s a surprisingly hilly area, are there are many such spots throughout the conurbation, but none with such an old-world, English feel to them. I keep saying it, but man, I love this place.