WLCG Wokingham to Kidmore End & Art Exhibition - 26 miles

I joined Woodley Art Group about 3 months ago. They meet monthly on the last Thursday of the month, and my watercolour teacher, Elizabeth Baldin, is a big part of the club. They have a spring and autumn exhibition. I remember being asked "would I be exhibiting this year?"   Erm.... I think not. 

Today and tomorrow is their Autumn Exhibition in the Oakwood Centre, Woodley, where we also have our meetings, and I was curious to see the standard of work which the members exhibit.  

I suggested to the WLCG that we could finish our ride there today on our route home, and have a cuppa at Brown Bag coffee shop, within the same building. 

Today we were 5 riders.   Lynne was at home preparing for Brownie camp this evening, and poor Jeanette suffering with an abscess. Ouch. Hope you feel better soon.     Martina had a school meeting until 10, so we didn't set off until 10.15 today.

Route

I had planned a route, but forgot to load it onto my Garmin, but it didn't matter, since I pretty much knew where we were going, and with Gill with us, getting lost in Woodley wouldn't be a problem. 😅

Crossing the Loddon at Whistley Mill Lane.
I've not seen the little ponies here before.

I think they are used for pantomimes and shows.

A gloomy day, as we prepare to lift our bikes over into the field
to cross the bridge at Lands End Ford.


and exiting at the opposite end of the field. 

Shame so gloomy, since some nice autumn shades developing now. 

We crossed through Sonning, and instead of the hill to Dunsden Green, we used the pathway to climb to Caversham Park Village, with the horribly steep section at one point. Then into Kidmore End Road, and immediately left into Grove Road, to drop down Gravel Hill. (I had only done this bit twice before, and thought I could remember it. ) We did drop down a very steep hill, but I had a feeling it wasn't quite as I remembered it. We weren't on Gravel Hill. I see now on my map that we missed the left turn.  

Committed to the downhill,  we then had a 12% gradient uphill to emerge on the bend of a lane. Phew! But we all did it.   A quick check on google maps, and I knew exactly where we were.

Top of the 12% climb up from Highdown Hill Road... well named!

Next we turned left on Tanners Lane. We have ridden this many times
but usually arrive here after dropping down past Reading Golf Club.

Approaching Kidmore End, where we turned right at the pond 
opposite the church, into Sonning Common. Louise knew that.😂

At the top of our climb, we started to head downhill now on an easy route back to Sonning, using Kennylands Road, Bird in Hand Lane, and back towards Playhatch. We used the tracks around the back of Loddon Brewery, to drop down the very steep hill into Playhatch. It was bit messy today, so I suspect wont be using it again over the winter months. 

As we approached Sonning, with Gill in front of me, I thought she was in too high a gear. She seemed to be bouncing around. She had a flat.  So close to home!

Gill spinning her tyre hoping the gunge inside would fill the hole. 

the gunge was bubbling out of a sizable hole, so wouldn't seal

Still bubbling out

She used a tool to stuff a rubber strip into her tyre. seemed to work
and then she filled with air. 

We pulled of the road into Sonning next to the smelly farm.
(thankfully it wasn't too smelly today.. sometimes it horrible!)

We walked through Sonning Church grounds.

Slight up hill. Seemed like hard work in cycling shoes to walk up  here.

Back on our bikes, Gill was in charge to lead us through to Woodley. We climbed passed The Blue Coat School, across the A4, and into Warren Road. Then right at a T junction on Western Avenue, and cut through the track into the grounds of Woodford Park.

Woodford Park Centre.
Martina left us here, since she had a commitment this afternoon. It's now almost 1pm.

Some of Elizabeth Baldin's watercolour paintings on the left.

Great variety of work on display with all sorts of subjects and mediums

Another of Elizabeth's paintings. 

And this one she printed at the Monoprint day which
Gill and I attended recently. Looks great when mounted. 

We were asked to fill in a slip to vote for our favourite painting.
Very difficult, so many were excellent. I chose this Hydrangea watercolour.

And I bought this little felt dog. £3!   What a bargain. Its only 3" tall, but very cute.
It is a gift for a friend who has a Border Terrier, called Holly. 

Louise left after she had looked around the exhibition, to get home. Gill , Andrea and I stayed for a toasted teacake in the Brown Bag coffee shop. It was a bit of a farce, with burned bits, half toasted bits, and Gill's order was not even served to her, since it was burnt to a frazzle. 😆  It was the last one they had, so Andrea and I donated a piece each to Gill. 😇

We chatted about the wedding plans for Emma and Josh's wedding, which was announced about 2 weeks ago, and happening in early December.  (If you are reading this Emma.... I love your wedding planning!)  We all look forward to hearing all about your special day.

NEWS today... the chancellor  Kwasi Kwarteng, has been sacked, after less than 2 months in the job following the disastrous Mini Budget announced a couple of weeks ago. It rocked the financial markets, due to no plan being announced as to how the govt would PAY for the budget changes. Loss of confidence has resulted in sharp rises for interest rates for mortgages, and the value of the pound up and down all over the place. Will the new PM Liz Truss survive this?