Sunday, August 19, 2018

18th August (cloudy and mild) 49 km


After a euphoric days riding yesterday, this morning began with the usual early morning bird cacophony, which does not seem to affect those who live indoors, but most definitely irritates the hell out of those of us who venture outdoors.
Our two favourites were to the fore this morning. The coo coo of the pigeon perched upon the roof. The black crow with its caw caw. We rose at 6.30am, but had been woken much earlier by crows fighting outside the tent. Ornithologists would explain in great detail the beauty and finery, the colour and finesse in the feathers. I say…shoot the noisy bastards. Don’t care what they’re useful for…shoot the lot of em..!
The other group of inconsiderates I would gladly shoot are the parents of very young children. These children are happy to spend all their time at home, with their parents, selfishly soaking up all the parent has available to offer. There, they are able to make noise….doesn’t matter what noise….any will do. And that is fine…because inside the confines of the home, no one else is affected. Joe public does not care that a parent is perhaps is going insane with an ADHD child causing major disruption to home and married life……as long as that child isn’t taken on a camping trip, in order to inflict that on anyone else. We do not want to hear that little Johnny doesn’t want to do something once….let alone 40 times in the space of 5 minutes, especially right outside our tent. We have noticed over the years, that annoyingly loud children and adults are drawn to a ten foot radius of our tent.
We’d had a pretty good night for our first camp however. Perfect temperature and enough of a breeze to keep the tent dry from condensation and dew.
After a cup of tea we packed up our dry tent and tried posting the blog but the free wifi isn’t up to it and neither was the data on our phone. We had ordered breakfast from Rose, the very nice camp owner….bacon and egg butties..two pounds each and they were delicious. Just the start required for the day ahead. Once again using Maps Me, we took beautiful country lanes, passing through villages straight out of postcards. The sights, sounds and smells and lack of cars made the riding very pleasant.


Came across Moreton Corbet Elizabethan Manor. First erected on the site as a timber structure in 1100 AD, then rebuilt in stone and brick in the 15th century. What a nice surprise. As we weren’t expected at Tahlia and Duncan’s until early afternoon, we spent time exploring the ruins and taking some shots. It was perfect weather for cycling, overcast and still, with the sun popping out from behind the clouds every once in a while.




We were taking our time as we didn’t have far to go, taking off road bike trails and paths and soaking up the conditions. Arriving in Telford, we were nearly at our destination when we realised that the address we had was for Duncan’s parents’ house, where we had stayed last time. A call to Tahlia soon put us right and we spent the last half hour of the trip slogging up more hills than we’d covered all day.
Duncan and Tahlia met us and they look great. They are both very happy and looking forward to the wedding. Showed us their new Audi cars, very nice sports models. Took a trip to The Ugly Duckling. A typical quaint English pub which has been remodelled two years ago. Enjoyed a drink and some crisps before heading back to the house for more drinks and a delicious pork roast. Sat talking until 9pm when I had to retire to bed due to an excessive amount of alcohol. Can’t remember when I last drank that much, but it won’t be happening again. An occasional drink for me is great but not in great quantity. And so to bed per chance to …not throw up..!

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