Monday 23 November 2015

Day 17 Nuneaton to Kineton

Old farts re-united
Warwick, West Gate
After a reluctant goodbye to the folks it was back down to the Cat Gallows Bridge to meet an old friend Martin who'd borrowed a mountain bike and was going to accompany me as far as Coventry, which was great! After 5 minutes I had the first puncture of the day, but it was the front wheel which made a pleasant change. It was  quick change as well: I was getting quite slick after all the practise! At the Coventry Basin, where the canal terminated  I said goodbye to Martin and headed across the city centre to join up with NCN52. As usual there was a dearth of signage but after a couple of detours a posse of taxi drivers pointed me in the right direction, and it was off-road all the way to Kenilworth, where the signs once again dried up and I struggled to find the NCN52 where it left the town. A combination of back roads and cycle paths saw me into Warwick where a sign proclaimed 'NO MORE CYCLE SIGNS'. I liked that; at least they were being honest! Christmas lights were out in force even though there were still 33 days to go!  I took the NCN41 out of Warwick, but missed the turn-off at Sherborne, so took a drive that was marked on the OS map, through some very large well-kept lawns. By the time I reached the PRIVATE NO ENTRY SIGN I thought I might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, so continued blindly on, emerging by the church and onto the Hampton Lucy road. I chatted to a chap sweeping leaves. "You came through the hall?! Bloody hell, you're lucky they didn't shoot you!" The Hampton Lucy road was an absolute delight, and I stopped for lunch near the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, one of the few towns where I didn't get lost! From Stratford I joined The Greenway, another extinct railway line, then through Pebworth and Honeybourne, and along Ryknild Street, an unclassified road but quite busy. From Saintbury my route was an unrelenting climb of over 200 metres, and I had sore legs and a concerning left sore knee. I found out later the hill had twice been used for national hill-climbing championships, and I belatedly congratulated myself  for such an excellent route choice......
Hampton Lucy road
The Greenway




On the summit I passed Broadway Tower, then a sign saying NUCLEAR BUNKER OPEN THIS WEEKEND. I thought my brain might be playing tricks, so I turned around and checked to make sure. Yes the Cotswolds has a nuclear bunker! At Temple Guiting I had my water bladder filled at a farm, as the day was getting late, then I passed through Kineton which had a promising-looking pub. A few hundred metres further on I saw a good camp spot in a field which had been cut and not replanted, so I led Horse down to the edge of a wood and put the tent up as dusk fell.This was one advantage of the short days: stealth camping was a skoosh. I made a brew, repaired the puncture from the morning, boiled up a sachet of rice and set about eating the cooked trout my folks had given me. It was a 3 pounder, and it had to go. I wasn't going to bike with any leftovers. Suitably replete I lay in the sleeping bag digesting and reading until it was late enough for me to go to the pub without feeling like a total jakey.
The Halfway House was a great pub, with friendly locals who offered me a bed in their converted barn for the night. If I hadn't already set up camp I'd have gratefully accepted. I had a couple of pints, and was back in the sleeping bag by 8.30.


Day stats 100km  625 Metres of ascent
Off road 35km 
A road 6km 
B road  3km 
Unclassified road 56km