PLEASE NOTE RIDE CHANGE

Sunday the 3^rd August

11's is now at The George Staines

Lunch wi be at Moss End Garden Village

Tea at Walton Marina

34 miles total with a few hills.

Tony..

Four Years In The Making

 It didn't start well with no trains running through Worcester Park for 45+ minutes (engineering overrun). But the first service in any direction was for Dorking. I’d arrived early but now I was running late (10-15 minutes). To my surprise they've cut back the A25 verges. I had to investigate -  only as far as the golf course.

At Brockham Dave and Chris were eager for the off. Overfamiliar ways saw us through Newdigate to Rusper. Down from Langhurst (Schroders!) we rode walking over the A264 into Horsham where Wetherspoons was suffering from a temporary lack of clean mugs.

Three were now seven (Alan, Andy, Simon, and Patrick). After a leisurely departure Christ's Hospital was followed by Pear Tree Farm and a brief lecture on Frank Patterson. Here Dave headed for home.

This is Low Weald country so unless you know what's coming up the last 100+ yards into West Chiltington may be a surprise. Thereafter choices are limited. Sometimes single track, sometimes No overtaking (Stream Lane-Wiggonholt-Rackham). Amberley is well worth a short detour if only to admire scaffolding on the Castle!

Alan and I headed up the steep Mill Lane for an unfettered view of the Downs. The rest rode the B2139 (but not the footpath which is sometimes on the right, sometimes on the left and sometimes on both sides!)

At the Riverside Tearooms we discussed where next. Five of six were for going over the Downs and were last seen heading for North Stoke. The lone rider had done that ride early in the month and was yards from a station with no steps to climb.

The back home was not without incidence: Signalling problems (Amberley), Uncoupling (Ford/Barnham), Speed Restrictions, Recoupling (Woking). Four trains but I was home before six. About 40 miles.

a small part of the 1972 South Downs Way  guide

"Nearly" ride 2025 aka 27/07/25 mk 2

Filling in some of the missing details.

Twenty years ago the ride was North Cheam to Amberley and back (90-95 miles) hence the "nearly" tag. A ride to the coast would have been 115-120 miles. FNRTTC rides finished in Bognor (Felpham) rather than Climping.

Sunday will include the missing Amberley to the coast. Each section terminates near a railway station. Whether you ride, train, go only part way or whatever is your choice.

Rough mileage

1 Start (Brockham) ?
2 11s Horsham (Wetherspoons Lynd Cross) - 15 miles
From station S/O rbt into Hurst Road, at end turn L onto B2237,
at fork bear R to cyclists' traffic lights, S/O dual carriageway. Spoons is R.
3 Lunch Amberley (Riverside) - 18 miles
4 Off-road options to Arundel including "catching the train" (0.5 miles) and "over the Downs" (7 miles). The motorists' route (B2139/A284) is no fun (5 miles, 500 feet)!
5 Arundel to the coast and back to Ford - 8 miles
6 Home ?

Train services

leaving the choice of intermediate stations to you! Don't believe all you read

Out

Waterloo - Dorking (probably from Wimbledon or Worcester Park as Raynes Park has no lift)
0802 - 0853

London Victoria - Horsham (probably from Clapham Junction, Croydon East)
0902 - 1006
0935 - 1032 direct
1002 - 1106
1035 - 1132 direct

London Bridge - Horsham (probably from Croydon East)
0939 - 1032
0955 - 1106 (direct but all stations)
1009 - 1106
1039 - 1132

Back 

Ford - East Croydon
xx07 - via Horsham
xx35 - via Worthing
xx48 - via Worthing

Ford - via Havant!
xx06
xx16
xx46

If you wish to browse more of this useful(?) info try

 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Je6L4V9y0nankIAUDb-mswoxudmO3PTj 

"Nearly" ride 2025 aka 27/07/25

In the early noughties there were C&M all day rides to Amberley in West Sussex. Terry led the last in 2012 (see blog). The same roads were travelled by the all-night FNRTTC rides. These started at Hyde Park Corner and ended at the coast with return by train. 

It's time for a revival! An all day ride could be too far for some so I'm proposing: ride to Amberley, train back. I assume most will travel via Clapham Junction and return from any of the following: Horsham, Amberley, Arundel, Ford, Barham, less likely Bognor, Littlehampton (for "Brighton"). 

It's 15+ miles from home to Dorking (18+ to the start). Thanks to my Freedom Pass/Senior Railcard, I need only pay for Ewell East to Dorking and Coulsdon South to Ford.  I'll buy returns for both journeys.

Trains (hopefully accurate)

For Dorking the only direct service is : 08.11 arriving Dorking 08.53.
No Sunday service south of Dorking.

Elsewhere
(1) the only Southern direct service is hourly from Victoria to Bognor (via Gatwick etc).  A second service terminates in Horsham (unless heading to/from Spoons you might be waiting 30+ minutes. Shunting?
(2) From Ford services run west to "Portmouth" and east to "Brighton".
(3) Redhill to Betchworth might be fun (Surrey's least used station)! but arrival time is 0915.
(4) Thameslink has services (mostly direct sometimes nonstop)
      from East Croydon to Horsham at xx53 and xx23
      from Horsham to East Croydon at xx20 and xx50

Possible Route

        Plenty of alternatives except south of West Chiltington

Start: Brockham Reading Room (open 0900)

ride 15 miles to Horsham(11s) Wetherspoons (1100)
        from station to Spoons:
        S/O station rbt into Hurst Road,  at end turn L onto LB2237,
       at fork bear R to cyclists' traffic lights, S/O dual carriageway. Spoons is R.

ride 18 miles to Amberley Riverside(Lunch) 1300)
        Has 2 or 3 pubs, 2 or 3 tearooms, Museum, Castle,  Store/PO
        Traffic lively on B2139. Tarmac footpath from village to station verges sometimes trimmed!

        miles to coast: 0(train home, not step free), 5 (train to Arundel then ride), or 15 (over Downs)
        To whet your appetite:

        Over the South Downs https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/21792
        Gurkha Bridge https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4936877
        other routes (walks and kissing gates guaranteed)

Arundel 

        full of tourists and shops catering to their needs
        long step-free footpath beside A27 connects platforms (not signposted).
        Cycle path (with subway) from/to town centre.
        A27/A259 traffic often nose to tail and overflows onto side roads.
        No more hills max: 25 feet

ride 2 miles to Ford

        level crossing, prison

ride 3 miles to Climping Beach (cycle path beside A259)

        Clear view of the sea thanks to Environment Agency's
        new embankments, extra concrete blocks
        No touristic attractions (café or loos)

The End

       Return from Ford - step free

Miscellaneous Notes

No lifts except Horsham but plenty of steps. 

Getting back other ways (not investigated)
(1)Thameslink(from Horsham) see above
(2)ride from other station eg Christ's Hospital(Downslink) to Dorking and home.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sJ1ucwdtXpTH1mMFmGcahwVhdMebh83b/view?usp=sharing
this link should allow you to copy a GPX file of seven "routes".
The smallest is Horsham Railway Station to Horsham Wetherspoons.
The largest is Dorking to Amberley.

Sunday 20th July 2025 - The ride with 4 tea stops (sort of)

 It was wet, but ok wet, summer wet, warmish wet.

Just four at the Vineries, Effingham for an extended 11's courtesy of the lad on the coffee machine.

May need "counselling" as my old employer used to call it........speed up or on yer bike!

Into the hills we went, for the first hour we were either climbing or descending, Beech Avenue, Critten Lane, Abinger Lane, Leith Hill Road, but after Forest Green we were on a gentle plateau making our way south to the lunch stop at Rudgwick & the Milk Churn.

Famous for posh cheese toasties, Martina & Simon didn't waste anytime munching away whilst waving away wasps huddled under a parasol from a passing shower.

The route home via a lovely new surface on Weare Street, albeit mainly on the less populated lower part, was a joy to ride on.

But after many days of furnace like temperatures & zero wind, I was suprised to find a tree blocking our way!

It's customary to stop & observe life at the pond.

Today, we saw a male & female mallard, a large white duck (maybe an Aylesbury) & a runner duck - pointed out by Simon.

Apparently they run instead of waddle!

We arrived at Capel at three for church teas.....but I had other ideas.

After a quick call to Terry to make sure he wasn't en route, we deserted Capel in search of a new location at Mickleham that were also serving teas this summer.

With a following warm wind & sunny skies, we arrived at the church to find, contary to information I had.....no teas.

So off we go to 51 Degrees North which of course were shut too......I mean who in their right mind would want tea & cakes at 4' o'clock in the afternoon on a sunny summer Sunday? 

Collective rolling of eyes.

Costa in Leatherhead saved the day.

Thanks to Simon for providing a couple of pics, Dave/Simon for backmarking & Martina for coming in what turned out to be an 82 mile ride for her.

A modest 51 for me.

Data from plotaroute:

Uphill - 28%

Downhill - 20%

Flat - 52%

Ride Report for Sunday 13 July - A Bridge Too Far....?

 

I write this from my sick bed as I'm suffering from a bad case of gravel fever!  I think I must have caught it from Pete B or Andy C, and extreme heat and the lack of mud anywhere probably doesn't help!

Anyway, Tony H, Graham H, Andy C, Jennie and Dave J, Keith R, and I were at the Golden Cafe, Addlestone, and I had one of my funny turns and, from my delirium, arose visions of a few local tracks I hadn't ridden in some while!   Graham knows the tell-tale signs and beat a hasty retreat in the opposite direction, and Tony also cannily caught on after a few miles, and turned for home.    

We headed first for the New Haw to Seven Arches footpath.   It's a bit bumpy, but there is also a railway foot crossing.  No big deal, you think, but the problem is that you do have to climb up some rather steep steps to the top of the embankment before you get to the railway.   And then climb down the other side.

To my surprise, nobody seemed to have used this path before (I wonder why? - Ed), and there was one of those 'ah hah' moments when they realised it emerged at 'Concorde corner', Brooklands.   After that, it was plain sailing for a bit.   Muddy Lane was like one of those seven wonders of the Isle of Wight (Cowes you cannot milk etc), because it was dry as a bone and the nettles weren't even much of a problem.

Then we came to the main event of the day, the Send church to Sutton Green footpath.   With fingers crossed I had warned the group that it might not be passable as the footpath has been officially closed for over two years owing to 'erosion', but, unfortunately, the approach path was clear and looked used, and there was no alternative but to carry on!

I don't know who designed this bridge.   They must have been very tall and thin with extremely long legs.   And likely had had a military career designing assault courses!   The fact that it is overgrown with creeper doesn't help either!   It looks innocuous enough in this picture (from an earlier C & M manifestation) but it hardly does it justice!

Anyway, you can imagine everyone's surprise and delight when confronted with this little number!   But we all made it across, dear reader, and after a rather bumpy passage across a field swerving to avoid cow pats there just remained the small matters of the stile across the barbed wire fence, and the climb up the rather steep hump-backed bridge over the canal!

It was getting quite hot by now, and Elm Nursery cafe presented itself very conveniently after a short distance.  The temptation to stop was too great, and plans to continue to Guildford were abandoned.   That meant we missed some more trails on the way back, but perhaps we'd already had more than enough fun for one day!

Thanks all for putting up with it, and thanks to Andy for back-marking and for most of the photos.

One more for the road....(or should that be off-road)?

Sunday 13 July looks like being very hot, just for a change, and the thought of riding some more shady paths and tracks is very appealing, especially as they are so dry at the moment!

So we'll still be meeting at Golden Cafe, Addlestone (NB - cash only), but we'll postpone Langley Park for now and head instead for Guildford (either the Kings Head, or the Rodboro' Buildings depending on time).

Ride Report - Sunday 6 July

 

Pete Beyer had very kindly offered to lead today's ride from Walton-on-the-Hill to Leigh, so a genuine 'bike adventure' was guaranteed!

As a first step, Pete introduced us to new elevenses venue, 'Pedals and Paws Coffee Pod', intriguingly tucked away down a windy lane round the back of Walton pond.  The service was very friendly and the coffee excellent and very reasonably priced!  Chris H joined Pete, Andy, Keith and me for elevenses, then went his own way home.   Perhaps he had inside information!

Pete had said there would be 'a few tracks', and lulled us into a false sense of security by appearing on his road bike.   Imagine our surprise and delight then when he led us down a vertiginous, chalky track leading from Colley Hill to Reigate!   The ruts would have made it fairly difficult to ride anyway, but overnight rain had added an extra frisson to the hard-packed chalk surface, adding to our delight!    But the views were spectacular, and it was well worth the effort!

 

At Dungates Lane, Buckland, we paused at a very pretty corner to entertain some very friendly Labradors and buy some eggs (as you do)!

We had already passed one unusual windmill (the windmill church at Reigate Heath), but the next one followed in quick succession, and was even more quirky - a fully-working, miniature windmill, built on top of someone's house, which powers a sawmill!   'Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever-spinning reel', as my old granny used to say!   Oh, the windmills of you mind!

After that, it was back to normal roads for the last part of the ride to Leigh, and a good lunch at the ever-excellent Plough at Leigh.    Heavy, thundery rain punctuated the ride home, but that was the only disappointment on this excellent ride!   Many thanks, Pete!

Plans for Sunday 6 July

Pete Beyer, who knows the lanes and byways of his part of Surrey better than anyone, has very kindly offered to lead Sunday's ride from Walton-on-the-Hill to Leigh for lunch, then back to Leatherhead for tea.   With Pete's rides you can always expect a few surprises, and some off-road tracks are promised!

One slight change is that our elevenses stop will now be at new venue Pedals and Paws Coffee Pod in the garden of The Bell PH, Walton-on-the-Hill.    To get Pedals and Paws, see https://www.thebell-therat.co.uk/map.html, but Pete will be on hand at Walton Pond at about 10.30 to meet anyone unsure of their way.