Day 21
The plus side of punctures
After a slightly later start than planned (did I mention the red wine we took back to the camp site?) we were off. We rode along some rather muddy tracks in an area of lakes, very pretty but two punctures later (one each) we were feeling a bit low. It was 11.30am, we had ridden 2.2 miles, had about 40 to go and we were hungry. Nothing for it but to stop. As we turned a corner into Down Ampney, there in front of us, were two ladies, Helen and Elizabeth, setting up a tea and cake stall. We were back in the Carlsberg ad! The village were raising funds for their local church and we were more than happy to contribute. Elizabeth very kindly took no offence at my instructions of just how I wanted my coffee. I think the lemon drizzle just about beat the coffee and walnut cake!
Refuelled, and on Helen's recommendation, we decided to visit the church and rather wonderful it is too. Inside the walls and ceiling are painted with hundreds of red flowers, each one said to represent a person who died of the plague that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages. The nursery rhyme, ‘ring a ring of roses’ tells the tale of that horrible disease, a shocking reminder of how much worse covid could have been. On a more cheerful note, the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams was born in the vicarage in 1872 and there is a very interesting and informative display about his life and works in the church. I do love a good read!
The sun continued to shine as we cycled through beautiful Cotswold villages, clearly well away from the major tourist areas. Quiet narrow roads led us onto Princess Anne's farmland where after a lovely chat with a gentleman wearing a PT Landscapes shirt, and his son, we stopped for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the views. From here it was more pretty villages until we descended into Nailsworth. After buying a couple of tubes at the local bike shop, Five Valley Cycles, run by a very nice guy called Rob, we braved ourselves for the climb out. Again Carlsberg saved the day by sending us Geoff. He was a wonderful man, very interested in us but more importantly guided us on a slightly easier route out of the village. It was still steep, we expected to see a chap delivering loaves of Hovis cycling by, but we only had to push part of the way! Thanks Geoff, it was great to meet you, and hopefully if you read this , you will be pleased to know that apart from the very last bit of Somethingham Lane we cycled all the way!
We were not far from our campsite for the night and surely, we were done with the hills? No, but thanks to Carlsberg they mainly went down, though as we neared the campsite the hill was so steep Tom struggled to slow his bike, thanks goodness for muddy banks, they work great to aid stopping!
We didn't have time to stop properly at the sculpture park, but without those two punctures we wouldn’t have had such a wonderful day!
