Nice pix, Bob--I especially like No. 4 (though one might crop out the bicycle frame at the extreme right); I also like the look of those pints of Young's (my favourite).
Rick --- Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I came back yesterday from a cycle trip around > Dorset, Wilts and > Hants. Here are the pictures in case you don't want > to read all the > guff below: http://www.web-options.com/Byway/ > > Here's a couple of old boys who should join the > PDML: > http://www.web-options.com/Byway/content/_6185590_large.html > > I cut the trip short a few days because I blew my > accommodation budget > in just 3 nights - it was costing me 2-3 times more > than anticipated. > The prices of B&Bs around there is outrageous, and > frankly I got sick > of traipsing around looking for somewhere reasonably > priced, then > having to settle for the top end of the market > because there were no > other vacancies anywhere. > > Anyway, the cycling itself was very enjoyable, but > difficult at times. > I don't know why they call them Downs - they seem > mostly to be Ups, > into a headwind. I took the train to Tisbury on > Monday, cycled to > Shaftesbury, which is a lovely town, and spent a > very enjoyable > evening there. In the morning I cycled across > Cranborne Chase via > Melbury, Ashmore, Farnham and the Gussages, up to > Cranborne, Tidpit > and Rockbourne to Fordingbridge, where I had a huge > problem finding > accommodation, but eventually found a grotty little > place in a nearby > village. > > By that time one of my spokes was breaking, which > made the back wheel > wobble and catch the brake pads. I had to loosen the > brakes almost to > the point of danger to let the wheel spin at all. I > couldn't find > anyone to repair it quickly in Fordingbridge, so the > next day I cycled > up to Salisbury along the edge of the New Forest via > Brune Purlieu, > Woodgreen, Alderbury, East Grimstead, Farley and > Pitton. > > I found a very good, helpful bike shop in Salisbury > (Stonehenge > Cycles, if you ever need a bike fixing in Salisbury! > http://www.stonehengecycles.com/) and he was able to > replace the spoke > and true the wheel in the morning. He was also > helpful in recommending > several B&Bs, but they were all full and I had to > settle for the only > vacancy I could find, which was humungously > expensive - not much > cheaper than one of the top hotels in town. Next > morning I heard one > of the guests had arrived at 2am after searching the > whole of > Salisbury, accommodation being so scarce. Probably > all the druids have > booked the rooms. > > When I had the bike back I headed back to Tisbury > via > Stratford-sub-Castle, the Woodfords, Wylye Valley > and then down across > Cranborne Chase via Dinton and Teffont Magna. > Including various > side-trips (and getting lost) I cycled about 110 > miles - over half of > it on an out-of-true back wheel. > > The countryside and villages are quite spectacular. > Some of the > villages, especially on Cranborne Chase, are quite > breathtakingly > beautiful, they're so ancient and crumbling. Mostly > I didn't even > bother trying to photograph them. To get the best > shots you need to > wait around for the light, and to find the best > view, but even then > you'd just have a postcard view. To do the places > justice I think you > need to live there and have the places as a > background to the locals' > lives, as James Ravilious did in Devon. > > But it's a wonderful area to cycle (although some of > the hills are > hard work) and shows the very best of tourist board > England. I was > very surprised in Hampshire though that so few of > the villages still > had pubs. I'd planned on pub lunches, but from > Fordingbridge up to > Pitton not a single village still had a pub. The pub > in Pitton > wouldn't serve me any food because it was after 2pm > and the chef had > gone home. Apparently only chefs can make a > ploughman's lunch, which > probably explains the absence of ploughmen in > Hampshire - they've all > starved to death. The villages in Hampshire seem > dead - just dormitory > villages - whereas at least in Dorset and Wiltshire > they seem to have > something other than rich commuters. > > Salisbury and the area around the Cathedral Close > are really stunning > in the summer evening light. Unfortunately the > cathedral itself is > covered in scaffolding at the moment, but the > cathedral close is very > beautiful. > > I'd like to have gone to Filly Loo tonight in > Ashmore (that's their > annual festival when they have pagan rituals round > the duck pond), and > earlier I was still debating whether to drive over > and back today, but > I'm very tired (slept 11 hours last night), so I'll > give it a miss > until next year. > > I still plan to cycle around South and West Dorset > and visit various > Hardy sites, and the prehistoric and Roman sites, > but I'll do it from > a base near Dorchester. Maybe even next week, if I > can find some cheap > accommodation at such short notice. > > Cheers, > Bob > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > http://www.photo.net/photos/RickW ____________________________________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
