Month: September 2017

London to Cologne

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After returning to London having completed the ride up the East coast of England, I packed up my bike and camping gear put it on a ship to Australia.

It was time to start heading home.

Train to Cologne

I had booked my train trip to Berlin a couple of months in advance. The first leg was that Eurostar to Brussels. This was the first time that I had been on this train. It is really good.

I got to St Pancreas in plenty of time to go through that security checks. These are done far quicker than is the case when flying.

Before long, I was flying across that Kent countryside towards that English Channel. The ride under the channel is quick an experience. Check out the video.

Once in France the train really picks up speed.

Soon I was in Brussels where I changed to a Thales Train that took me to Cologne.

Cologne

I had a coupe of days in Cologne. It is famous for its Cathedral and its location of the Rhine. It also has a lot of ancient Roman history.

Berlin
My next stop was to be Berlin.

Flickr Link
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm55jD47

 

 

Alnwick to Newcastle

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I left Whitby by train to Durham with a very brief stop in Doncaster where I visited the Rail Museum. There is one of Stephenson’s first locomotives at that museum.

Time in Durham

I spent a few days in Durham staying at St Chads which is one of the colleges in the University. I have stayed there before. My parents also stayed at this college. It is a great place to stay. The students rooms are small, but very comfortable.

I like Durham. It has good pubs and an excellent little micro-brewery. The restaurants are also good.

One day I travelled into Sunderland. The contrast between Durham and Sunderland is stark. Sunderland is still very much ‘down at heel’. The city voted over 60% for Brexit.

Silly Buggers.

Train to Alnwick

I took the train from Durham to Alnwick. The last time I was in Alnwick was in 2013, when I did the Land’s End to John O’Groats ride. At the end of that ride I rode from Edinburgh through the border country and down the East Coast towards Newcastle. I stayed in Bamburgh.

When I left Bamburgh it started to rain. By the time I got to Alnwick, it was pouring down that it didn’t look as though it would stop.

I gave up and took the train to Newcastle.

This time I was determined to complete the ride to Newcastle, albeit I had a few things to do in Alnwick and the surrounds before heading south.

Trip out to Lindisfarne

One of these was a trip out to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. This is an interesting place.

The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The causeway is covered in water when the tide is in. It is a frequent event for cars to be swept away by the incoming tide. This is notwithstanding numerous signs warning of the danger.

Check out the video with a chat with driver of the bus that took me across to island.

There is plenty to see on the island. There are the ruins of the Abbey, the castle and a small museum. The scenery is spectacular.

There are also a couple of good pubs for a beer and a meal.

David Gilmore Film

Another thing I did while I was in Alnwick was to attended a showing of a film on David Gilmore’s concert at Pompeii. The concert was performed 45 years after the famous Pink Floyd concert at the site.

The film was shown at cinema all around the UK on the 13th of September. I bought a ticket to see it at the Alnwick Playhouse, which is used both as a cinema and a playhouse for live theatre.

The place was packed for the screening. One notable feature of the audience was its demographic. I was one of the youngest there. There was a lot of grey hair or no hair.

There were also several Zimmer frames.

Anyway, it was a great experience. The concert was great, and film captures the sight and sound of the event perfectly.

Riding to Newcastle

I finally left Alnwick and headed to Newcastle. This involved heading east to the coast and picking up Sustrans Route 1 which follows the coast.

The route is a mixture of cycle paths, and back roads that are typically right on the coast. I stopped at café for lunch that was full of cyclists. I am still not sure where they had come from or were going to as I didn’t come across many cyclists actually riding on the cycle route.

Older Couple

However, as I approached Blyth I did come across a couple of cyclists. It was good that I did as this part of the route was very difficult to follow.

The couple, a bloke and his wife, showed me the way into town.

As we approached the centre of Byth, the heavens opened and we stopped in a shelter in a park. As we waited or the rain to ease we chatted. It turned out that the couple were both in their seventies. They were keen cyclists and had been for years. They told me that they were about to head to Spain for a couple of months where they be doing “lots of riding’.

I was very impressed. They were very fit.

Byth is where many the platforms for the North Sea oil industry were built. The technology is now being used to construct off shore wind farms.

Tynemouth to Newcastle

After leaving Blyth, I continued on to Tynemouth, which as its name suggests, is at the mouth of the Tyne.

I then had about 20 klms further to go up the river into Newcastle.

On this leg I came across two groups of cyclists who were completing the Route 7 Coast to Coast ride from Whitehaven on the west coast to South Shields.

It was late when I finally arrived in Newcastle.

Flickr Links
Durham
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm8ohC7e

Sunderland

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4gDorA

Lindisfarne

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm7U5JoW

Alnwick to Newcastle

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm5o1cH8

Garmin Link
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1984790355

About Lindisfarne
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne

David Gilmore Concert Screening 13th September
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-gilmour-plots-live-at-pompeii-film-one-night-only-screening-w485010

Up the East Coast Days 13 to 18

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To Skegness, Louth and Into Yorkshire

The weather was pretty ordinary  as I left King’s Lynn.  I headed north though some rather uninteresting countryside.

I stopped for lunch in a pub in a place called Sutton Bridge.  Given the weather did not like improving I decided to stay overnight in the pub.

Very Busy Road

The next morning, I headed north towards Boston.  The Sustrans Route 1 is supposed to head in that direction, however, I could not find any Sustrans signs and I was forced to ride on a very busy road.  It was not pleasant at all, in fact it was very dangerous.

Foreign Farm Workers

Finally, I saw a Sustrans sign that had led me onto small lanes across flat farming country towards Boston.  The farms were all growing vegetables including cauliflowers.  I stopped to a photograph and video some farm workers picking cauliflowers and loading them on to a conveyer built attached to a tractor.  The workers were definitely not British citizens.  I wonder if they will still be working there after Brexit.  I suspect not.

Stopping in Boston for Lunch

I stopped in Boston for lunch at a very nice hotel. Residents of Boston are known as Bostonians. Emigrants from Boston named several other settlements around the world after the town, most notably Boston, Massachusetts in the United States.

Into Skegness

After leaving Boston, I continued on to Skegsness.  I had booked into B&B not far from the seafront.  It turned out to be really good.  The owners told me that the building had been a family home and the previous owners had converted it into B&B with 10 rooms.  It was a bit like Dr Who’s tardis, in that it did not look possible that 10 rooms with ensuites could fit into the building.

Skegsness is another English seaside resort town that is probably seen better days.

The town is famous for being the site of the first Butins Holiday Resort.  The resort is still operating.  I passed it as I headed up the coast out of the town.  This part of the coast is also dotted with numerous ‘Caravan’ Parks that  are actually full of mobile homes.  Many of these seemed to be being used as full-time residences.

Heading in Land

Leaving the coast and heading inland, the route took me into the Lincolnshire Wolds.  This is another Area Of Natural Beauty (AONB), albeit that it is mainly farmland.

As I rode along, I saw a sign to a Waterwheel.  I thought that could be interesting and followed the sign.

The place turned out to be a café that was in an old waterwheel building.  Next to the café was a small enclosure with some animals, including otters and some wallabies.  It seemed rather strange to see wallabies so far from home.  The otters seemed to be very curious animals and ran up to me as I approached.  They may just have been expecting to be fed. The café served a reasonable Welsh Rarebit – not as good as Fortnum and Mason’s Rarebits, but not bad.

Big Rain

I had planned to camp on a farm just outside of a town called Louth.  As I approached the town the heavens opened, it was really heavy rain.  I noticed a sign saying ‘Royal Oak Hotel 400 yards’ and peddled furiously to get there.  When I arrived, I found that the hotel also had a accommodation. They had vacancies, so I decided to stay the night.

It was a very good place to stay.

Leaving Royal Oak

Leaving the hotel, noticed that the name of the name of the small road  I was on was, ‘Watery Lane’.  I soon found out why – there was a small creek riding across the lane.  It made the lane very watery.

Into Louth

I rode the short distance into the town of Louth.  This is a very nice little market town.  I stopped briefly in a small pub, where I chatted with the owner.  He told me that he used to work for a company that operated a large number of pubs.  He had decided to go out on his own and bought this small pub.  His plan was to start a microbrewery.

Leaving the town, I headed west into more of the Lincolnshire Wolds.  This part of the country is a wheat growing area, most of the fields had just been harvested.

Waltham

The route through the Wolds took me north then east towards the Humber river.  I decided to stay in town called Waltham that is not far from Grimsby.

The hotel I stayed in was basic but all I needed.

Up the Humber and Over the Bridge

The next morning, I rode through Grimsby and then onto the Humber to bridge that crosses the river west of Hull.

It is a very impressive suspension bridge.  Check out the Flickr photographs.

By-passing Hull

I had wanted to stay in Hull however there was no accommodation to be had. Hull is the European Centre of Culture for 2017.  As a result, accommodation has been fully booked for most of the year.

It was late in the afternoon as I pushed on along Route 1 towards the tourist town of Beverley.

I had already booked a campsite on farm close to Beverley.  As I pitched my tent, one  my neighbours came over and asked if I wanted “something to eat and drink”?

I ended up having a meal a couple of beers with him and his family.  He turned out to be very interesting bloke.  He was an ex Special Forces Soldier.  One of his sporting hobbies now days is diving.  He dives all around the British Isles coast.  He told me that diving is very popular in the UK.  This somewhat surprised me.

The bloke and his wife also gave me some breakfast in the morning.  I then headed into Beverley.

Flickr

Skegsness

https://www.flickr.com/photos/twwilko_photos/albums/72157685944761453

Louth

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4eXA9d

Garmin

Leaving Kings Lynn to Sutton Bridge

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1946937490

Through Boston to Skegsness

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1948855710

From Skegsness to near Louth

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1950654482

Through Louth to Waltham

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1953182155

Waltham to near Beverley

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1962011462