Writing this whilst The Apprentice is on in the background; what a pointless load of self promotion and mutual ego-bashing. As Henry Robinson used to tell me, 'Self praise is no praise at all', being an intellectual and incredibly modest individual I understand where he's coming from.
Anyway, what news do I have for you? What gems (or duds?) for you delectation and delight?
Not much, truth be told.
So, what's occurin?
Well...
I've covered about 110 miles in the last three days - not sure exactly how many because my mileometer is slightly lame, only registering approximately 2/3 of what I'm actually cycling.
Lanquished in Lichfield then left last Lundi (Top Alliteration as Mr H would say) and, basically, have cycled down to a lovely little place in the Cotswolds called Ewan. Lots of people say the Cotswolds are beautiful, that's because they are; quaint, pretty, picturesque. Lots to see and quite a bit to do and if you can manage to dodge the coach loads of mature, camera laden tourists then you're laughing.
I could bore you with prosaic descriptions, but I'll leave that to someone else. Why reinvent the wheel?
This part of the trip has proved no surprise, however, what was a shocker was my meander through Brum.
What I should explain is that I followed National Cycle Route 5 (Thank you Sustrans) from Lichfield to somewhere above Stow-on-the-Wold, the cycle route invariably takes the pretty, little country roads which are three times as long as the direct routes. The great thing about taking these roads is that you get to visit places you would never see otherwise. Take, for example, my trip through the sprawling metropolis of The Midlands. (Take it, go on.) I went through some of the most densely populated areas in the British Isles. This is what I saw:
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| Lichfield |
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| Burntwood |
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| Dead centre of Walsall |
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| More Walsall |
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| West Bromwich |
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| Smethwick |
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| 'Gold Fingers' - Birmingham |
Arrived in Redditch on day two of my wanderings, thought I'd stop for a coffee. No cafe, so I chose a pub. Landlady refused to charge me because she felt guilty about not having enough milk. Whilst sitting in the beer garden (where I could keep an eye on bike) a group of morning drinkers asked why I wasn't doing my rounds ??? Confusion. With my neon vest and panniers, (and probably due to their consumption - beer, not the disease) they thought I was the post mistress.... I moved on.
Arrived in the Cotswolds yesterday afternoon. Stayed in Moreton-in-Marsh, a lovely place. If you ever come to the Cotswolds don't go to the much publicised places, go to the less well known ones - fewer coaches, fewer tourists, quainter. Also (much to my chagrin I didn't discover this til I left) Moreton is the home of the Firefighter's Training School. Sigh.
Another little known fact about the Cotswolds is the Fields In Bloom, Balanced Equity Rotation. Which basically means that, in order to preserve the beauty of the area, each farmer has to ensure his/her lands follow a strict colour scheme.
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| Red field |
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| Blue field |
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| Green field |
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| Brown field |
And so on. I also saw yellow (rapeseed) Golden (wheat) and purple (heather) but they were viewed as I was going uphill and I can only do photos on the downs.
Also seen today:
A stoat. I have never seen one in the flesh before. Did you know that stoat is smaller than its habitual prey of rabbit? It manages to catch them, however, by doing this funny leapy dance which captivates the rabbit's attention so that it forgets to run away until...POUNCE!
A deer. It was a female roe deer, an indigenous type, which died out in the 18th C and was re-introduced.
A buzzard. I know nothing about these birds, except it swooped down about a meter away from my face and it was big.
One thing I have realised about this blog is that I cannot share sounds and smells with you (obviously). The Isle Of Man was one of the most enjoyably smelly places I have ever been to. I don't know if its the wind (it being an island), the plants, the density of the plants...whatever it is it ponged beautifully; firs, pines, cut grass, hay, sea, flowers, herbs all mingled together to create a smellevision I can't begin to share.
In the Cotswolds its noises:
On Monday night I fell asleep to this (click here)
Tuesday morning sounded like this..
Wednesday morning was...
Tonight I've got this ...and this at the same time..
I won't subject you to Tuesday evening's offering though - painful karaoke.
Who knows what it'll be tomorrow? More goats? The weather? As long as it's not dreadful (or any) karaoke, I'll be fine.
Work starts Friday, only one more day of freedom before I have four weeks of 'rest'. Bit nervous, but
then I always am with a new job. Thirty miles and one more B & B to go.
I'll keep you posted.
