Ebike Sunday, which was quite handy for some of the climbs today. Although I do plan to do this route on my gravel bike in the summer, dragging some friends along.... screaming😂. We discovered a little church in Shalden last summer, with lots of Cherry trees and I had made a note in my diary to check it out in spring, when the blossoms would look lovely. John decided to do the route today, but knowing it was too premature, with just the Hawthorne trees in flower atm. (Not the same route we did last summer, since on that ride we went to the Candovers, and today we headed to Chawton. )
Route link
Parking at the Canal in Odiham, a very familiar route via Greywell, through Upton Grey, and up to Herriad. At the top, we normally carry on straight through, heading to cross the A339 to Bagnor, but today a left turn into St Johns Lane instead. I've come up this way several times, but haven't been down it for ages. It joins The Avenue at the bottom passing Lasham Airfield.
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| Left into St John's Lane as we reach the top of the climb at Herriad. |
We ride along The Avenue for about a mile, then a right turn into Shalden Lane. I immediately recognised the fence line, leading to this house (Called Bowood House)
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Well Lane, towards Bentworth but we turn off towards Thedden
A gradual climb to start with.
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Looking back at the long gradual climb up Well Lane.....
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Had we continued to follow Well Lane, we would soon be in Bentworth, but we almost doubled back on a gravelly sharp left turn, to climb up this hedgeline on Snode Hill... Its steep!
But doesn't last too long. |
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| As it levels out on Snode Hill, some hazy views to Alton in the distance. |
We took a right turn next into Wivelrod Road, and spotted a large property on our right. This was Theddon Grange. Typical metal fencing surrounds the grounds which according to Wikipedia are some 40 acres. The house, used as a POW camp in the 1940s, is now several properties. Has also been used in several films and dramas.
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| We emerged at this junction. |
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| Now we headed to Medstead. |
Had we turned left here towards Beech, just a couple of hundred yards along is a gatehouse to Alton Abbey. The website suggests anyone can enter the grounds of the Abbey, so one for next time.
Through the insignificant village of Medstead next, we followed a family on a tagalong bike whizzing along Roe Down Road! We couldn't keep up😂. At the TJunction with Red Hill, they went straight over, whilst we climbed up the short distance to disappear into Chawton Park Wood, and onto the forest track, which is part of a nation cycle route ... 224? Have done this a few times now, originally with Jeanette but also with John in both directions. Its a long downhill, and last summer some new gravel was a nightmare! Not too bad today.
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| Teacups hanging from the ceiling in Cassandras. |
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| A good display of Daffs next to the tearoom in Chawton |
It never really warmed up today, so we were a bit chilly as we set off through Alton. John had just let Garmin chose the route since it's a one way system through town. It was fine, just going with the traffic passing a couple of supermarkets and eventually onto a cyclepth as we branched off heading to Holybourne.
(I had a recollection of Holybourne being the place with the unusual brick graves in the church yard. I remembered we stopped for a snackbar sitting on a log, WAY up a hill, before we dropped down. I also thought we had missed a cafe stop in Holybourne? But checking my old blog, it was just a nice bench by a lovely village pond where we could have sat! Must revisit it sometime. We had dropped down a huge hill called Brockhamhill Road from Froyle Road)
It started to rain lightly as we passed through Holyborne, but never came to much, as we dropped under the A31, and later dashed across it at the Hen and Chicken, to start our climb to Froyle, Upper Froyle, and up a bit more up .....to Lower Froyle. (never quite got that!)
Nice to use power now and with plenty battery left, we cruised up Froyle Road, to turn at the "field with the horse". Except that today it was donkeys in the field. 😉A bit too far away since in the field farther over from the road. A whizz now passing the back of Lord Wandsworth school and to Long Sutton and back to Odiham.
A lovely route, and one to repeat when the foliage is out and crops in the fields. The benefit of this time of year of course is that you can see through hedges and over, but would be nice to see a bit more green. Its coming!
