Getting from A to B

One of the few advantages of being in lock down in 2020, was that I managed to save enough money to upgrade my mode of transport to an electric cycle. I have had it since August 2021, and I love using it. I have been on a few long distance journeys, some with my partner and some solo journeys. We cycled to Cirencester, which is about a 30 mile journey, there and back, it was really enjoyable.

On Tuesday I ventured out on the cycle on my own. It was still quite gusty from Storm Eunice and Franklin. My intention was to cycle to the House in the Tree, which is a pub on the outskirts of Cheltenham. I have fond memories of the House in the Tree, it was one of the first pubs that I visited as a teenager. I owned my first Mo-ped, it was a Garelli quite a horrendous thing really, but I managed to upgrade after a while!

The journey to the pub was a little precarious, because the road was closed. Apparently some trees had blown over and caused an obstruction. Luckily as I approached the no entry signs, some men were in the process of removing the signs to allow traffic to use the road. I was a little nervous travelling along the road, because of the possibility of more fallen trees, but it was OK. The journey didn't take long at all, but when I arrived there the pub was closed.

Maybe I will attempt the journey again, I hope there will be some more interesting long journeys in the near future, I'm still getting used to my bike.

The House in the Tree, February 2022

Stepping out of the comfort zone

There are times in a person's life, when you have to push yourself to the limit. Up until now, I've never really done this, its possibly down to lack of ambition, or just plain laziness. Last week, I “geared” myself up to go on a long cycle ride, little did I know that it would end up being the longest Journey by cycle, that I have ever attempted.

My journey began in Gloucestershire, I intended to follow the same route that I had taken in October last year, but I took a slight detour to photograph The Shutter Inn in Gotherington. I have photographed this pub on quite a few occasions, even visited it a few times. There have been quite a few different owners since I first photographed it, I'm glad to say they seem to be doing well at this time. It is certainly the most picturesque that I have seen it.

The Shutter Inn, July 2021

After I had finished photographing The Shutter Inn, I cycled out of Gotherington, and along the Evesham Road. I cycled along this road until I reached the Ashton-under Hill turn off, it is at this point in the cycle ride from last October, that I decided to turn back. But I wanted to photograph The Star Inn, I didn't have too much trouble finding it, I asked someone for directions. I was relieved to find that the sun was in the right position, so I took a few photos, well more than a few, I went into machine gun mode as my partner often says. It would have been nice to stop here for a while, and visit the pub, but I was not certain if they were open at the time of photographing it.

The Star Inn, Ashton Under Hill

My objective at this point, was to cycle to Evesham, the road that I had been travelling along, was extremely busy – more so than when it was last October. I spotted some cyclists and asked them if there was a safer route to Evesham, they suggested that I took the Sedgeberrow turning and find the cycle path. I found the turning, and rode into Sedgeberrow village which is quite pretty, but I didn't find the cycle path. So I cycled to The Queen's Head to photograph it. I have passed by this pub on a number of occasions when I was using the 540 bus service, from Tewkesbury to Evesham. In fact I was trying to use this route to get to Evesham.

The Queens Head Inn, Sedgeberrow

After leaving Sedgeberrow, I found myself back on the very busy road to Evesham. I am not confident enough to cross over busy roads whilst cycling, so I tend get off the bike and walk across the road. It was a nightmare trying to cross, I must have stood there a good 10 minutes. I finally managed to cross, and continued cycling along the road, but then I passed the turning into Childswickham and Broadway. So I decided to alter my plans, and take a safer route. I spent another 8 minutes trying to cross the road again! I travelled along the road, until I reached The Childswickham Inn or The Inn & Brasserie at Childswickham, to give it it's proper title! I have been to this establishment before back in May 2019, I don't often visit pubs because of the great reviews they've received, but I broke with tradition and decided to try it. I was quite impressed. 

Up until now I had been engrossed in my long journey and had momentarily forgotten all about Covid 19, but the reality of it hit me when I was confronted by the safety precautions one has to adhere to. They were nothing extreme, just a reminder that Covid is still lurking out there. I complied with their precautions and was shown to a table in their marvellous beer garden. The trip to Childswickham is worth it for this alone! Once again, the food was excellent, I wish that I had brought my partner here, I'm sure he would have enjoyed it. Although I enjoyed the meal, and sitting in the beer garden, it didn't feel the same as my pre-Covid visit. I think people are under a great deal of stress at the moment, whether this has been eased by “freedom” day remains to be seen.  

The Inn & Brasserie at Childswickham

The pub was becoming quite busy, which is good, but it was my cue to leave. I set off along the long road to Broadway, I had abandoned my plan to travel to Evesham. I reached Broadway, found a bench and rested for a while. As everyone is aware, Broadway is a lovely village with honey coloured stone buildings – the stuff chocolate box covers were made for. I've travelled here quite a few times, firstly with my partner and his brother, more recently using the bus service from Cheltenham to Broadway. It was on this journey, that I first discovered the Childswickam Inn. The highlight of my epic cycle ride, had to be cycling along the main High Street in Broadway, passing the lovely shops and hotels. I felt like Rocky ascending the steps after he had completed his fitness regime! I rode to the top of the High Street, and photographed The Horse and Hound pub, it looks wonderful with the sun on it.

The Horse & Hound, Broadway

My final task was to photograph the legendary Crown & Trumpet pub, which meant travelling back down the High Street and turning off into Church Street. The pub was renowned amongst other things, for it's long established landlord, I'm not sure if he is still there, but we were lucky enough to meet him, when we visited several years ago. The pub usually has cars parked outside, making it difficult to get a reasonable photograph, but on this occasion there were socially distanced tables outside. I may have captured a rare moment in the pub's history!

The Crown & Trumpet, Broadway

By now, my legs and thigh were aching significantly, I didn't feel like I could travel much further, so I headed off in the direction of Cheltenham. I took a few wrong turns, and ended up on a long and arduous journey through Winchcombe and down the Cleeve Hill Road. Later that evening, my partner calculated that I had cycled 30 miles. I hope I get the chance to go on an equally interesting journey in the near future, Lets hope my photography skills are up to the challenge.

Out and about in Oxfordshire

Back in September, I travelled to Oxfordshire using the recent addition to Stagecoach bus service the 835. I originally wanted to go to Swindon, but at the last minute I noticed a bus to Oxford appear on the horizon. Service 835, used to be operated by Pullhams coaches, which I used a couple of times to travel to Witney. There has been a lot of chopping and changing of bus services in my locality, over the last few years. Normally I would buy an Explorer ticket that covers the whole of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and parts of Wiltshire. The Oxford service has a different system, so I bought a Day gold, I'm glad I did because a day return would have been quite restricting. I decided to take my “proper camera” which has had little use this year. 

The Day gold ticket enables the passenger to travel to many areas of Oxfordshire. The 835 travels to Oxford Via the A40, it passes the Burford roundabout and travels through Witney to get to Oxford. On my first journey using this service, I stayed on the bus until it reached Oxford, the only downside of this service, is that it is infrequent.

As the bus arrived in Oxford, I noticed a picturesque looking pub in dappled sunlight, so I gingerly crossed the road to photograph it. I googled some information about the pub, which I frequently do to pass the time whilst on long bus journeys, and walking around seldom visited places. The Eagle and Child has a distinguished history, apparently C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien used to visit. The pub is closed at the moment, but with such a unique history, I'm sure it won't be long before it reopens. 

The Eagle and Child, Oxford

Walking further into the centre of Oxford, it soon became apparent that they take social distancing and mask wearing quite seriously. I guess they need to, with so many buildings in close proximity to each other! After attempting to photograph a few pubs, I decided that the centre of Oxford, might not be the safest place for a photographic expedition, so I limited the amount of time I was there. Quite a few of the pubs in Oxford have tables and chairs in the street, some of the streets are closed off at the moment. One of the pubs I managed to photograph was The Plough at 38, it has recently re-opened, after being closed for 95 years. For many years, the building was occupied by Austin Reed, until they went into administration. It really is heart-warming, to have some positive news about the hospitality industry in the current climate.

The Plough at 38, Oxford

Another pub that I photographed was The Red Lion, a rather splendid curved building, with a traditional pub exterior, I really enjoy photographing this type of pub. I ventured as far as the internal entrance, to have a swift half, but I was a little deterred because of the rigmarole you had to go through, just to buy a drink, so I decided against it. On reflection, they were probably right to take all these precautions. I tried to take some more photos of the pub, but the sun did a disappearing act. Normally, I try to take photographs of pubs without people in the foreground, but the best photo I took, had a lady wearing a mask. As this is an important historical time we are living in, the photo represents an interesting record of the events of 2020

The Red Lion, Oxford

It was quite a few hours to wait for the bus back to Gloucestershire, so I caught the S1 bus service to Witney. On the journey out of Oxford, I noticed a large pub called The Seacourt Bridge, which is in Botley. I googled it and discovered that It was the last remaining pub in Botley. At this point I didn't get off the bus to photograph it. The bus continued to Eynsham, passing a roadside pub called The Talbot Inn, which looked picturesque with the sun upon it. But I stayed on the bus, until it reached Eynsham village. I immediately got off, and caught the bus on the opposite side of the road, heading back to Oxford.

The Talbot Inn, Eynsham

It was a short journey, because I got off at the Talbot Inn to photograph it. I also went inside to have a much needed drink. The Talbot is an Arkells 3 star hotel and pub, with picturesque views of the River Thames. I sat outside and gazed at the river for quite some time, it was quite relaxing. I then caught the bus back to Oxford, to photograph The Seacort Bridge. From the photos I have seen of the interior of the pub, it looks quite impressive with it's traditional bar and stained glass embellishments above it. I didn't go in, because it is not really my kind of pub – it is family orientated, so it would have been a little shall we say, noisy! The photographs I took of the pub, had every element of clutter imaginable – including an electricity pylon in the background! I did manage to cut out the bus stop in front of the pub though.

The Seacourt Bridge, Botley

After this amusing interlude, I caught the S1 to Witney, but got off at Eynsham village again, to have a look around. It is quite a pleasant place, but like Oxford they were taking social distancing quite seriously. I took a few photos of The Red Lion (which was closed at that point) and The Jolly Sportsman, which has a traditional exterior. Unfortately the photos I took were not that good, so I have omitted them from this post. I would have liked to have called in for a drink, but I wanted to make the most of the time I had left, and the light that was available.

The Red Lion, Eynsham

Time was getting on, but there was still quite a long wait for the 835, so I travelled back to Witney and caught the bus to Woodstock. This is the beauty of purchasing such a versatile bus ticket, you can cover quite a lot of ground in one day, and you can plan another journey, whilst you're travelling on the bus, driving through yet to be discovered areas. On the journey to Woodstock, I passed a few interesting looking pubs – The Masons Arms in North Leigh, and The White House in Bladon. I stayed on the bus, had a brief glimpse of Woodstock, and travelled back to Witney again. A while later, I caught the bus back to Gloucestershire, whilst planning a return trip to Oxfordshire.

 

One step beyond

Last week I did something I have never done before, I cycled into another County –Worcestershire to be precise . As I have mentioned before, during the lockdown I became very unfit (I was unfit anyway). So recently, I have been gradually increasing the length of my cycling journeys. There are obvious benefits to cycling instead of using buses all the time, the main benefit is it is very good exercise. In recent times bus travel, has become a bit of a chore because of the wearing of face masks, as I have said before, it is not healthy to wear them for long periods of time.

I wanted to photograph the Teddington Hands, which is close to a very busy roundabout. As I have cycled here before, it wasn't too difficult, so I photographed it, but decided to see how far I could cycle afterwards. I cycled to The Beckford Inn, dismounted and took some photos, I have never been in this pub before, I have seen interior photos and it looks really nice but I decided to carry on with my journey. I cycled towards Ashton-Under-Hill, where there is a pub called The Star Inn, which we visited back in 2014. It felt so amazing cycling into another county, I let out a cheer when I saw the road sign for Worcestershire! At this point though, it was becoming quite nerve racking, cycling along such a busy road, there were huge lorries driving passed me. When I reached The Ashton-Under-Hill turn-off, I decided to go back the way I came, it was getting late and I didn't want to cycle in the dark. I decided to start much earlier in the day, for my next journey.

The Teddington Hands

The Beckford Inn

A few days later, I decided to cycle to Conderton and Kemerton, which are on the border of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. As I have mentioned in my previous post, village pubs need our support during these difficult times. I cycled into Conderton, and dismounted to photograph The Yew Tree. I first came across this pub, when I was travelling on the 540 bus service to Evesham. It used to be a Wadworth pub, but it has recently changed hands. The pub looked quite picturesque with the sun on it's facade, I photographed it and decided to call in after I had cycled to Kemerton. I continued with my journey, and arrived in Kemerton to photograph The Crown Inn. It was closed, and at this point the sun was playing hide and seek, so it was difficult to take a reasonable photo. After that, I cycled back to The Yew Tree.

The Yew Tree, Conderton

I was quite impressed with the safety precautions the pub had implemented, A hand wash dispenser was easily accessible as you walk in the front entrance. I was pleased that there had been a sympathetic refurbishment of the interior of the pub, it is much as I remembered it. The ales on offer, were Doom Bar and HPA. I ordered a drink, and went to sit in the rather pleasant beer garden, I stayed there for quite a while.

Afterwards, I cycled back towards the Beckford Inn junction, but instead of going home, I noticed a road sign for Great Washbourne. I had previously looked on a map, and noticed that Little Washbourne was not far away, there is a pub there called Ye Olde Hobnails Inn. It closed for a while back in 2019, but it has thankfully reopened again. I cycled towards Great Washborne, along a country road It seemed to be taking quite a while to cycle to the Hobnails, I wasn't quite sure where it was. I ended up in Alderton, where there is a pub called The Gardeners Arms, we have been here before. I didn't stop to photograph it though.

I remembered how to get to the Hobnails and cycled there, the sky was looking a little ominous by now. I only managed to take one or two photos of the pub, because the road was so busy, they seem to have built a new wall next to the pub since my last visit. I would have liked to stopped for a drink, but at some point, I would like to go there with my partner, it seems like a nice place to have a meal. Maybe we will go there in the not too distant future.

Ye Olde Hobnails Inn, Little Washbourne