I drove south with my
bike to do a cycle ride south of London. I set off just after 7am
and dove via the M6, M42, M40, M4 to Hartley Wintney to Susan Band’s
house which I reached just after 11am.
Deepcut
Basingstoke canal. A delight to cycle
along. Completed in 1794 and built to connect
Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge.
I assembled my bike
and panniers and after a coffee left my car and set off under a
cloudy sky with a cold wind blowing I headed east along the A323
through Fleet and Farnborough to Deepcut. I stopped to eat a banana
and two older men walkers emerged from a path looking at their map.
Brick lined lock on the Basingstoke canal
We chatted for a
while and they were intrigued by my planned expedition and method of
camping on the way. Further along I joined the Basingstoke canal and
an excellent cycle route along the towpath. It was surfaced and easy
riding. The occasional locks along the way were brick lined and not
stone as is usual in the north. It was built in 1794 to link
Basingstoke to London. I followed the canal all the way to Woking
where I left it to head in to the town centre.
Woking
I wheeled my bike
into the shopping centre to try and find the Tesco store. It took a
while but eventually I found it and bought 2 2lt bottles of water
which I tied to my rear pannier frame. As I wheeled by bike out of
the shopping area I was stopped by two security men who said
wheeling bikes in the shopping precinct was not allowed. I explained
that I was leaving and hadn’t seen any signs banning bikes. As I
left I looked around and confirmed to myself there were no signs. I
set off again east through Wisley and past the Anchor Inn on the
River Wey Navigtion.
Riding a muddy trail through Bolder Mere
There were plenty of
people there sitting outside in spite of the cold. I crossed the
main A3 road by a footbridge then through woods at Martyr’s Green.
Part of my route was along a very rough unadopted track which was
deeply rutted and full of water in some places. I needed to push the
bike round some of them.
These Galloping Horses were originally built by Robert Tidman &
Sons c. 1895 in Norwich. It is still powered solely by steam.
Back on the proper
road I reached the surfaced road I crossed the M25 and in to Cobham.
Along the A307 I crossed over the main A3 again and looked out for
somewhere to camp. Down a lane to the left I found a path through
the woods and a flat spot to camp. Unfortunately it was still rather
close to the roads and there was quite a lot of traffic noise.
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Whittle Wanderer
