Bluebell Railway

Ros had proposed this weeks ride and was scheduled to lead it, but unfortunately she'd broken her wrist a few weeks back and still cannot ride her bike.
Barbara had ridden the route with Ros and so was going to lead in her place, but unfortunately she'd hurt her ankle yesterday.
Bob had contacted Ros to find out the route details, but unfortunately he didn't have any injuries and turned up at the start!!!!!

Bob was joined by Johnny at Three Bridges Station and together they headed off on The Worth Way for an uneventful ride over to East Grinstead. In spite of the early rain, which had caused Bob to put his knobblies on his bike and his waterproofs on himself, the sky was clear and blue and although the breeze was quite fresh it wasn't cold. The surface of The Worth Way was very good with very little splatter coming up from the tyres and it only took us 35 minutes to get from Crawley to East Grinstead.

We stopped at East Grinstead Station to see if anyone else would be joining us and after a couple of minutes Alison rolled up. As this ride had been rated as "Easy" she had decided to give it a try. Looking at the map, Bob felt that due to the hilly terrain the ride probably warranted more of a "Medium" rating and decided to shorten the route slightly to keep it pleasurable. Leaving the station and heading downhill, a map-reading error saw us turn right at a roundabout instead of going straight on and we were into the first climb of the day. A left turn took us past the Hockey and Rugby clubs and down to Saints Hill Green. From here we back en-route and headed west towards the tail end of Weirwood Reservoir. As we were going down the hill I took this picture of the reservoir. What the picture doesn't show is just how low the water level is compared with how I remember it from 30 years ago - I reckon it's a good 20 feet lower, possibly more!

Next we took Legsheath Lane for the long climb up into Ashdown Forest. As we rode along this lane we were overtaken by several sets of cyclists before we got to the crossroads. We all headed straight over but then we turned right into Twyford Lane (the other cyclists carried straight on). This lane was the usual pleasure to ride with a glorious mile or so of freewheeling before it steepened down further to twist and turn through some woodland before splashing through a ford.

Unfortunately my camera battery faded at this point, so no more pictures I'm afraid.

Now I started to deviate from Ros's route and took a sharp right to go down and cross another ford before going up a short, sharp climb that saw Granny have her first outing of the day. We carried on west then southwest to Cinder Hill and a little further on took the right turn and down a slight incline to turn into Horsted Keynes Station on The Bluebell Railway.

Locking our bikes up outside (probably quite unnecessarily) we purchased platform tickets and entered the station. On the middle platform is the station bar and buffet and here we got our refreshments - hot Cornish Pasties and tea/coffee. Johnny found a nice bench in the sunshine and we sat there consuming our consumables, watching various trains pass through the station and chatting about this and that.

Eventually it was time to get going again and as we approached the first junction I asked my fellow riders which route they wanted to take - turn left for a short, steep uphill, a sharp downhill and equally sharp uphill before a longish but pretty gentle climb or turn right for a long, draggy climb. They opted for the long, draggy climb so we turned right and climbed up and through Highbrook and then on and on up to Sharpthorne. Here it was good to see that the pub looks like it will soon reopen (it was once called The Vinols Cross Inn, but I think had been renamed The Fabulous Fox or something like that).

The rest of the ride would be on the fairly busy road through West Hoathly and on to Turners Hill. On the way several cyclists went past us again and I took the opportunity to chat with one of them and found out that they were taking part in a Sportif ride organised by Evans Bikes. It had been raining when they started and the route had involved a lot of hills but they were now only about 5 miles or so from the finish.

We said goodbye to Alison at Turners Hill as she lives there, and Johnny and I headed back down to Crawley past Tulleys Farm (the road has reopened after its closure last week). When we reached the Worth Way we turned onto it and retraced our tyretracks all the way back to Three Bridges Station. From here Johhny headed back to his hotel in the town centre and I headed home to Furnace Green where I noticed a reading of 30 miles on my speedo.

It seems hard to believe, but next weekend it will be December! Our ride for the Sunday 4th December will be a very easy, beginners ride starting at Three Bridges Station at 10:00 hrs. Depending on who turns up, it will probably head for Redhill Aerodrome where refreshments are available at the cafe, and then get back to Crawley before 13:00hrs.

The week after (on Sunday 11th December) will be the club Christmas Dinner. Riders can rendezvous at Rusper at 11:15 for a short ride down through Faygate, across the A264 and up Tower Hill to arrive at The Dragon in Colgate with time for a festive drink before Dinner at 12:30. Why not bring along husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends for what we hope will be a pleasant and enjoyable festive meal. The cost will be £15.95 a head and you must let Barbara know by December 1st. See the website for more details: http://www.horshamandcrawleyctc.org.uk/
Barbara can be emailed at: Barbara@HorshamandCrawleyCTC.org.uk

Skimmington Castle

Six riders on five bikes turned up for todays ride - Frank was leading with Pats help, Pete and Marian were on their tandem, John C was on his Van Nicolas and Bob was on his Kona.

It was a bit foggy/misty and as we left Crawley and headed over the M23 it seemed to be getting thicker (and colder). We were expecting Old Hollow to be cold and it was, but we were not expecting a King Charles Spaniel to be sitting on the middle of the road - and Frank did not expect that he would have to put so much effort into pedalling in an effort to outrun the crazy pooch! After about half a mile the little dog (how did its legs go so fast?) turned off and rejoined its owners, leaving us to carry on and Frank to get his breath back.

We crossed the A264 into Copthorne then went along Copthorne Bank to head for the Black Corner crossroads. Just before we got there the lady driver of some 4x4 Tesco Trolley told Frank off for riding two abreast - Frank was so surprised by this that he says he didn't manage to get a reply in, so it looks like Mrs "I don't know how big my car is but you cyclists should scurry along in the gutter" has got away with it this time....

We headed west of Smallfield and crossed back over the M23 before turning north at Weatherhill (reminds me of Weathertop in The Lord of The Rings). After two small climbs and a a wiggly lane we arrived at Redhill Aerodrome and the prospect of a nice hot drink. The cafe was quite busy but we managed to find a table for six - right by the window so that we could keep an eye on our bikes - and we were soon tucking into teacakes and mugs of tea.

There was no flying action today - I think these two pictures give some clue as to why not:




Suitably refreshed we remounted and headed south then west to cross the A23 at Salfords. Soon after we joined Lonesome Lane and headed north before slipping through the southern outskirts of Reigate. Reigate - famous for two things (as far as I'm concerned) - (i) it's where I bought my Kona (ii) The Cure recorded the scream at the end of a track on their first album in Reigate Tunnel.

We followed Slipshatch Road as it became Clayhall Lane and then turned right onto Flanchford Road. After a small uphill section it was an equally small downhill before the road emerged into more open country, occupied by a golf course. We then turned right onto Bonny's Lane which led us up to the lunch halt, The Skimmington Castle.


We hadn't booked a table and all the tables were reserved, but the landlady managed to fit us in - though we had to promise to vacate the table by 13:15 hrs. Not a problem, we had about an hour to eat our lunch and have a pint - easy!

Pete and Marian arrived a couple of minutes later having taken a different route from Reigate in order to "case a joint" on the way ( although Frank suggested they were perhaps reliving their youth).

As promised, we finished before 13:15 and were back out on our bikes. It was still misty but the sun was making a gallant attempt to break through.

We headed west along Trumpetshill Lane and Wonham Lane to arrive by The Dolphin at Betchworth. From here we turned south then west again when we reached The Seven Stars. The next left took us southwards once more until Parkgate and The Surrey Oaks. Here we turned left down the hill and left again onto Blanks Lane and then Stan Hill.



As you can see, it was still misty as we made our way through Charlwood and passed the Half Moon and The Rising Sun before hitting the Ifield Road which took us all the way back to Crawley Town Centre



It wasn't long before I was back home with about 40 miles on the clock - very pleasant and not at all arduous.

Next weeks ride starts from East Grinstead Railway Station at 10:50, although there is the option of leaving Three Bridges at 10:00 hrs to ride the Worth Way across to East Grinstead.
From East Grinstead we will head south to have lunch at The Bessemer Arms at Sheffield Park Station on the Bluebell Railway. I've been told that the ride there is easy but that it's a little hilly on the way back - I reckon that could be a cue for a rail trip behind a steam engine!

Hopefully the Indian Summer will continue over next weekend and give us yet another pleasurable days cycling, see you there!

DA AGM - Pulborough

Second week of November, still quite warm!

Todays ride was down to Pulborough to attend the West Sussex DA AGM.

I was always going to struggle to get to Horsham for the 09:30 start so, on realising I was going to be at least 10 minutes late, I contacted Barbara (the ride leader) to let her know. She sent me a message back to confirm her route would go via Woods Hill and so I just rode straight through Horsham and out on the Worthing Road. Turning right at Tower Hill, I sped down Two Mile Ash Road past The Bax Castle and on to Barns Green. Valewood Lane then took me to West Chiltington Lane and onwards to Coneyhurst where I safely crossed the A272. Then, as I reached Broadford Bridge I spotted the lone figure of Barbara just ahead and we tackled Woods Hill together - it's nice to have a someone to chat to when tackling a hard climb.

After West Chiltington we went along Stream Lane and soon after pulled up at The Village Hall in Pulborough where about twenty of us from the three sections of West Sussex CTC had congregated for the AGM. The meeting worked through its agenda with reports from all three sections and also the Treasurer before we observed two minutes silence at 11:00hrs.

When we resumed the meeting, the results of the various DA competitions were revealed and I'm pleased to report that Horsham and Crawley section won three of the four on offer! Well done everybody, we may have the smallest membership of the three sections but we've certainly punched above our weight this year.

AGM completed, we headed for lunch at The Rising Sun in Nutbourne where we sat outside in pleasant sunshine and enjoyed food, drink and each others company.

Here'a a "contre-jour" shot by Barbara:

On the way home I spotted a lot of fungi along the roadsides and took a couple of snaps of them:

Our next ride is on Sunday 20th November, starting from Three Bridges Station at 09:30.

Frank will be leading a fairly easy 30 mile ride up to Redhill Aerodrome for elevenses, across to The Skimmington Castle pub for lunch and then back to Crawley - who knows, the weather may still be mild.

Veteran Car Run 2011

This was a nice easy ride with the emphasis more on the occasion than the riding.

The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is held every year on the first Sunday of November and has been a constant in the lives of the people of Crawley for many years now. Indeed, the old Crawley Clock which I've mentioned in previous posts features this very event. As I arrived at Three Bridges Station for the start of the ride, I could see two cyclists waiting for me - Pete S and Sandra. Unfortunately Pete was on his way to a meeting and wouldn't be able to ride with us. Sandra and I waited for another 5 minutes but no one else turned up - I knew Anton was unable to make it and a couple of other riders had also said they were unlikely to be out.

We headed through Three Bridges and then down The Boulevard and Bank Lane to get to The High Street. Here, a jazz band was playing to welcome the "Old Crocks" into the middle of my home town. There were about 50 of the cars parked in the High Street and it was interesting to spot the different types and see how the vehicles were refined and evolved in their early days. Sandra preferred the ones with Dark Green or Maroon paint schemes, I seemed to lean more towards the garish yellows! We both liked this one because of the woodwork!

After spending the best part of an hour chatting and watching the cars as they came in and out, we decided to get some riding done. We headed out on the cycle path along Southgate Avenue which conveniently was the same route the Veteran Cars were taking (although they were using the road and not the cycle path!!).

Then it was up Pease Pottage Hill. This is a real test for the old cars as well as for a cyclist - though I ride up it every other week on my way to our Horsham starts.

I sat in the slipstream of a tallish Veteran Car with a lady driver and crew - they fairly shot up the hill at about 15 mph and I managed to stay with them all the way. At the top I stopped for a breather and took the following pictures:

The lower the number, the older the wehicle. Number 8 therefore was one of the oldest and you can clearly see the roots of the motor vehicle come from our world - the cycle world - it's all our fault!!

Sandra managed the hill and even commented that it wasn't as steep as she'd imagined.

I'm pleased with this picture of a steam-powered car. It's a bit blurry but, along with the cloud of steam, that was exactly how this vehicle appeared as it powered, relatively quietly, to the summit.

This one is quite advanced - it easily made it up the hill and overtook the one in the background. Not only that, it's got a windscreen and a folding roof! But then, looking at the numbers you can see that it is younger.

From the top of the hill we rode the short distance to The Black Swan at Pease Pottage. In the old days The Black Swan would have been a popular stopping place for vehicles travelling between London and Brighton, but now that it's not visible from the main road, it doesn't get nearly as much business. As Sandra and I pulled up, we were tooted by a campervan and looking inside I could see we were about to be joined by Ros and some friends. Ros was not riding today because she had an unplanned dismount from her bike the other week and broke her wrist - she's waiting for it to be plated and pinned but has been told that as soon as that is done, she'll be able to ride her bike again. She's a bit sceptical about that (as are we).

At the same time John V turned up, looking very dapper in casual wear and a flat cap, on his mountain bike. We lunched on beer and bagettes and various stories/reminiscences before heading back home in our various directions - Sandra back to Horsham along The Forest Road, Ros back to East Grinstead with her friends, John and I back to Crawley through Tilgate Forest. Mileage? Don't ask, suffice to say that I didn't even make it to double figures!!

Next weeks ride starts at Horsham Pavilions in the Park at 09:00 hrs and will head straight down to Pulborough Village Hall for the West Sussex DA AGM (which starts at 10:30 hrs). Once business has been concluded, we will head up to Nutbourne for lunch at The Rising Sun before heading back home more or less retracing the morning route. Mileage from/to Horsham will be about 35.