Monday, and with Daphne sunning herself abroad and Linda off her bike for a break, just me and the boys today. John fancied Hartley Wintney and put a route together which initially went over Observer Way, Arborfield, then down Swallowfield Road.
Since Church Road Swallowfield is closed to all traffic after the lorry took out the side of the bridge recentley, no cars passed us all the way down from Arborfield to Swallowfield. Bliss!
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| Swallowield Road. The fields greening up at last, but still plenty of puddles today in the low lying areas. |
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| Church Road and the bridge being checked over once more by council workers. They were not able to offer any more information about next steps to re open the damaged bridge. |
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| A substantial flood still on Part Lane, Swallowfield, followed by this pretty border of daffs. |
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| Part Lane/School Lane ahead, as we go straight on to cross at Bull Lane, Riseley. |
We whizzed down Welsh Drive, (noting a ROAD closed sign at the top end), but assumed we would get through on bikes. John and I passed here last Monday when this bridge was being inspected after some damage to one side. But it appeared perfectly safe. And now it's closed to ALL traffic including bikes. This seems like overkill, and a HUGE inconvenience. How long for?
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| Welsh Drive, where it joins Chequers Lane. |
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| We were all thrilled of course, that we now had to climb back UP Welsh Drive back to Bull Lane, Riseley |
We were heading to Hartley Wintey, and our route was to cycle around Statfield Saye to Sherfield on Loddon then to Rotherwick, to cross at Dipley Mill. None of that was now possible, so I suggested we head for Laundry Lane, Heckfield, to Hound Green to pass Hortus Loci, then Vicarage Lane to Bottle Lane, where we could finally cross to Dipley Mill. I was quite chuffed that I came up with all that on the spot.😇😂. I couldn't help wondering what Daphne would have done.😂😂😂
So after backtracking down Bull Lane and Part Lane, we joined School Lane skirting the edge of Wellington Country Park. Until Friday, I had not been this way for AGES... and here I am again 3 days later, but in the opposite direction.
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| Mill Lane opposite Wellington Country Park boundary. The ferns all in their pale brown winter state. |
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| John passes as I stopped for a photo on Mill Lane, Heckfield |
A little bit of main road to the roundabout then our turn off into Laundry Lane, which I had come up on Friday.
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| Hawthorne blossom on Laundry Lane. We saw quite a number of Hawthorns today. |
A left turn at the bottom of Laundry Lane. We normally dog leg over here into Bar Lane, but apart from the fact its probably still flooded, its a longer way round to get to where we want to be. So, we used a short section of the main road, passing Hortus Loci garden centre, and soon turned into the rural Vicarage Lane.
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| Heading down Vicarage Lane, to join Bottle Lane which emerges opposite Dipley Mill Road. (back on our planned course at last!) |
Into Hartley Wintney, passing West Green Gardens, and to Valentinos coffee shop. I knew about this shop, but not actually been before. We managed to get a table indoors, with it's quirky decor.
A shorter return route, which started by joining West Green Road, at the Victoria and Jubilee Hall
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| daffs opposite the Victoria and Jubilee Hall |
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| A right turn to climb Arrow Lane, where I spotted this carving near the top. |
Next a downhill on Hazeley Bottom Road and back on familiar roads to The Mutton.
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| Hazeley Road. We had seen quite a few patches of snowdrops today, some past their peak now, but this variety looking splendid. |
From Plough Lane, straight over into a very squelchy, muddy Bramshill Path, which we had to walk. Too messy to cycle. But the main path through was fine after that.
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| Bramshill Forrest path. |
A very pleasant 13 degrees this morning, even if no sunshine. And a route we may never repeat, since it was not what we planned.
John has found some information, that the road closure is for 2 days only and for tree work... nothing to do with the damaged bridge! Would be nice if the signs had told us that, since my route on Wednesday is going that way, so sounds like it will be fine by then.
