The delightful main street of Sedbergh

Aysgarth Fells in Wensleydale

The Allenheads Inn built 1770

Rookhope Arch

Ford at Stanhope. Driving here a few weeks ago my car SatNav tried to take me across!

Rebuilding dry stone walls above Nenthead

Plan of the route

This afternoon was the 7th (and Jubilee) Whittle-le-Woods Flower,
Craft and Vegetable show in the Village Hall.

Winner of the Photographic Competition
(flower section)

I drove to Weardale with my bike in the car then set off on a ride via Blanchland. I rode back the way I’d come but soon headed up the climb to Burtree Fell on the B6295. It’s a steady gradient and enjoyable climb. The summit crosses from Co Durham into Northumberland. For a couple of miles I freewheeled down to Allenheads then turned right up a narrow lane for the climb towards Rookhope. It was another great climb where the gradient didn’t get too steep. The summit had great views and a large stone currick cairn and also the border back from Northumberland into Co Durham. The road descends towards Rookhope and gives amazing views down to past industries as I was able to see old winding gear and buildings of long closed lead mines.

W. H. Auden once called Rookhope ‘the most wonderfully desolate of all the dales’. At Low Redburn I took the left turn up a steepish climb on to Rimney Law. The Rookhope road had a few cyclists on it as it is on the popular Coast to Coast cycle route. I was now on a road that wasn’t and had an enjoyable ride to Hunstanworth. After the bridge over Beldon Burn I reached Blanchland. I stopped a few minutes to take in the atmosphere as it is a strange collection of Abbey buildings which look ancient but several probably aren’t.
W. H. Auden stayed at the Lord Crewe Arms with Gabriel Carritt at Easter 1930, and later remarked that no place held sweeter memories.

Village store in Blanchland

Another celebrated poet Philip Larkin used to dine at the hotel when staying with Monica Jones in Haydon Bridge. In July 1969, Benjamin Britten and Sir Peter Pears stayed at the Inn.
I followed the B6306 to Edmundbyers then a sharp right turn and up the long haul over Muggleswick Common. A steep descent to Stanhope took me to the A689 where I turned right for an easy ride back to the car. In my view the North Pennines have some of the finest cycling roads in the UK.

Lord Crewe Arms, Blanchland.

Passing through Chorley this morning I had a look at the post-box that has recently been painted gold to commemorate the gold medal won by Bradley Wiggins in the Olympic Time Trial on Wed 1st Aug 2012. However, for me his most memorable achievement was when he won the Tour de France, the first Englishman to do so, on Sun 22 July 2012. Bradley lives in the nearby village of Eccleston.

The post-box was for Bradley's Olympic medal.
This sign in Chorley is an acknowledgement for his Tour de France win.

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The Wishing Well today

The Wishing Well in 1948

Inside the Wishing Well

This afternoon I visited the old Wishing Well building near the ruins of Hollinshead Hall off the Belmont Road. On the left its the picture I took and on the right is an illustration from a 1948 booklet describing the well and legends associated with it.

Drove to Nenthead where I left the car and set off on my bike on a circular ride via Hexham and Stanhope. On the 20th July 2012 I cycled along West Allen Dale and noticed the entrance to Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey. A sign said they were open to the public at certain times. Yesterday I sent them an email to arrange to call in this morning. I received a prompt reply to confirm that it was OK. It was a 5.5mile ride to reach the Abbey and I arrived at the pr-arranged time of 10:30. I met Rev. Hugh who was to show me round the monastery. He was busy for a while as there was a large group of people leaving after staying for a retreat.

 

Our first visit was to the main shrine room and I was impressed to see the carpet on the floor. I have visited Buddhist Monasteries in Nepal and all have been bare board. The outside of the building is quite unassuming and the view from the north gives no indication of what is inside.

View from the north.

Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey main shrine room

I left to continue my journey. It was a very easy ride on to Hexham but I couldn’t see anywhere obvious to stop for lunch so continued on along the B6306 to Blanchland.

Hexham

Here is an interesting collection of what looks like old Abbey buildings. My original plan had been to continue on the B6306 but I decided to follow the moor road by Horseshoe Hill as I’d never been on it. The tail wind I’d had earlier was now partly in my face and by the time I reached Stanhope I knew I’d be riding into the wind for most of the 16miles back to Nenthead. Patches of sunshine came out making the ride more pleasant and the wind turned out not to be the major problem I thought it would be.

Blanchland.

On my way home from Blackburn I called at Withnell Fold to drop something off and saw Eddie and Dean with their kayaks by the village square about to set off for a training paddle along the Leeds and Liverpool canal. They are training to paddle the 62mile length of the Caledonan Canal in Scotland. Then paddle back again!

This morning I cycled over to see a friend in Abbey Village who used to be one of the top British cyclists in the 1950s. I was keeping a promise I made several months ago. In 1966 I had a Merlin Racing Frame built by Bob Jackson Cycles in Leeds. It was made from Reynolds 531 tubing which was cutting edge at the time.

Today’s news had a disturbing report that a part of my childhood may disappear. Through the 1950s one of my main sources of reading was The Dandy Comic, first published in 1937. The character Desperate Dan and his amazing appetite for Cow Pie with horns protruding was one of the original characters. Several of the other comics I used to enjoy have already gone but I think The Beano is still struggling on.

The Dandy stamp

Last night was the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. After the most incredible and imaginative opening ceremony, followed by Olympic events of massive enjoyment and organisation I was expecting an extraordinary closing ceremony. It must be me because this morning’s news is about how successful it was. I found it lots of colour, noise, old rock artists well past their sell by date and was disappointed.

Above Langholm I visited the Hugh MacDiarmid memorial which I saw for the first time the week before last when cycling through the area. The striking steel structure is by Jake Harvey and is a memorial to Hugh MacDiarmid which is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve (1892 – 1978), a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century. It is made of steel and bronze in the form of an open book and highly decorated with images from MacDiarmid's poetry.

Behind the artwork and further up the hill is the obelisk of the Malcolm Monument, a memorial to Sir John Malcolm who died in 1833. Sir John Malcolm lived from 2 May 1769 to 30 May 1833. He was a soldier and diplomat during the expansion of the British Empire.
 

Malcolm Monument obelisk

I drove on through Newcastleton on the B6399 towards Hawick. I stopped briefly at the Whitrope Heritage Centre to have a look from a distance.

The old reservoir is now a mass of weeds.

This morning I’d booked my Toyota car in to Toyota Blackburn for its 40K service. I was told it would take about 1hr 30 min and after 2hr 30mins I’d heard nothing. I’d have expected some kind of update if they were running an hour behind schedule. When it was ready I found the car radio programme had vanished and all I got when I switched the radio on was static. After asking what was wrong I was told the battery had been disconnected for part of the service and the radio had reset to the factory default. I shouldn’t have had to ask, I should have been told I’d have to re-programme the radio. That’s not what I call good service.

While cycling to Edinburgh I called at Rosslyn Chapel to join the mostly foreign visitors. It was made famous by the Dan Brown book The Da Vinci Code. The Chapel is the setting for part of the novel and for part of the subsequent 2006 film of the same name.

Rosslyn Chapel

I reached Edinburgh and made my way to Waverley Railway Station to catch the train home. I was horrified at the complete mess being made of the city by the construction of the tram rail system. Its been going on for years and will probably go on for several more years.

The old parish church of Cockpen near Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, dates back to the 13th century. The church has been in a dilapidated state for many years but the burial ground is maintained. It is the burial place of the Marquess of Dalhousie (1812 - 1860). The Marquess, James Broun-Ramsay, served as Governor-General of India from 1848 to 1856.

While cycling towards Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders I reached the entrance to Ferniehirst Castle. The last time I was here was July 1966 when on a cycle Youth Hostelling holiday with friends. It was a Youth Hostel then and we stayed the night before continuing south back to England. It was a Youth Hostel from 1934 to 1984 but is now a private residence. The original castle was built by the Kerr family around 1470.

I was cycling above the small town of Langholm in the Scottish Borders and saw this striking steel structure.
It is by Jake Harvey and is a memorial to Hugh MacDiarmid which is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve (1892 – 1978), a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century.
It is made of steel and bronze in the form of an open book, highly decorated with images from MacDiarmid's poetry

Today was another very special day in the history of British cycling. Sun 22 July 2012 was the day Bradley Wiggins became the first British winner of the Tour de France with Chris Froome, another British rider, coming second. Mark Cavendish won the final stage on the Champs Elysees after an amazing lead out by Bradley.
Today the victories continued in the Olympic time trial in London. All the pressure was on Bradley to win the gold medal and he certainly didn’t disappoint. To make things even better he shared the winner’s podium with Chris Froome who won the bronze medal.
The ride was phenomenal with Wiggins a few seconds down at the first time check but then he hauled the deficit back and forged ahead to win the 27.3mile course in 50min 39.54 sec. An amazing average speed of 32.3 mph.
Before the men’s event the women’s time trial was held on a shorter course. The British women performed extremely well but were outside the medals.

Bradley Wiggins wins gold

Britain's Emma Pooley about to start

Bradley Wiggins on the course

Almost there. The gold medal is just round the corner.

Left to right: Tony Martin, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome

The results that say it all.