London to Paris on a Brompton

A while ago someone came up with a idea of a signed London to Paris cycle route and in 2006 I rode the route on a organised ride arranged by East Sussex County Council and French partners. Since then I've ridden the French route 3 times but not the UK sections. In 2012 the route was finalised and actually signed but with very little publicity. Since then a website has been developed,  

The Avenue Verte first in French and now in English. So in the spirit of adventure I decided to ride the whole route and write a short blog about the trip. I invite assorted persons who I thought would be up for the trip and on the 24th May 4 of us departed (in heavy rain) from the London Eye taking 5 days to get to Paris via Newhaven/Dieppe. The following is my own personal account of the trip - the names have not been changed because they are very definitely not innocent. They were Garth Taylor (who I have known since meeting in Lewisham Hospital in 1986) on his smart looking touring bike, Simon Pratt (who is a regional director for Sustrans - so lots of the bad sections are his fault) astride his made to measure tourer which must be over 30 years old and Tobias Bauer who was the cycling officer for E Sussex back in 2006 and pretty instrumental is devising the route (of which more later) and someone I've kept in touch with ever since. Both Simon and Tobias are strong riders which meant that they had plenty of time to hang around waiting for Garth and myself. For a reason that I can't remember I decided to ride the route on a borrowed 3 speed Brompton (standard gearing), the only adaption was spd pedals. Something I was to regret but having ridden the original route on a 6 speed Brompton a couple of times I didn't think would be a problem.

The maps and gps tracks were recorded on my mobile phone using a app called My Tracks.  The elevation gain looks suspiciously dodgy as 5000 feet of climbing seems unlikely especially on the more flatter days.

Day 1 - Friday 24th May 2013

We started at around 10am in very damp conditions. I would love to say that there was a lot of information about the route and history of the project but there wasn't. There was nothing. Fortunately various gps tracks and Simon having ridden this a few times meant that finding the small 'AV' signs helpfully added to existing NCN wasn't a particular problem and off down the banks of the Thames we went heading north over Lambeth Bridge. Reasonably quiet roads to Chelsea Bridge where we left NCN4 and headed south - along a road called Queenstown Road. Well a more unattractive, busy, hilly, road you would be hard pressed to find in this part of London - I can only guess that the poor cyclists coming from Paris will be so knackered by the time they get to this section that they just wouldn't care about the road. It is truly horrible. Given that when you get onto Clapham Common itself (and from here there are mainly quiet roads) you come across the London Cycle Network route 3 - which goes very close to Lambeth Bridge - I just can't understand the logic - going into Westminster can't be THAT important can it? There were many other strange alignments to come. Welcome to the world of Wandsworth with all the '£30 fine for cycling on pavement' signs everywhere and a amazing 'no cycling' bridge on Wandsworth Common. Welcome to the UK cyclists. Signage wasn't bad and from here it was onto the Wandle Trail.which isn't too bad as it headed south following the lovely fast flowing river. I like the Wandle Trail - shame it never managed to reach the Thames but its been promised for years, and years and y... It was now pouring but did we care? Actually not really. Tea and cake (no beer) in Oaks Park Sutton where this photo was taken and tweeted. You can see the small 'AV' additions to the normal NCN signage.

Through the delights of Coulsdon and then up onto Farthing Common where we encounter some rather strange speed reduction measures - well done Croydon Council (a herd of cows) - less well done was the complete lack of signage leading up the the common. Normally there are great views all around - today just cloud. A pretty fast descent down and over the M25 (we must be out of London) clocked me at nearly 30 mph - I must be mad. Then the first section off road, interesting, but the delights of the Inn on the Pond near Redhill. Sign on the door said that they served food till 2.30 and as it was 2.10 we were pretty pleased. Of course only in the UK would you get a pub to send its kitchen staff home early as 'they were quiet' so it was a (very good) pint and off into the rain. More sodden paths (impassable in one place) and onwards into Horley for a toasty and tea. I always love cycling through the centre of Gatwick Airport where you have a motorway, airport and the train station right besides you. Quickly through Crawley (the only way) and off along the Worth Way - a old train line (pretty common thread on this trip) from Three Bridges to East Grinstead and beyond. The path crosses a main road beside a old station called Rowfant Station. It was here that Tobias's rear wheel decided that it had had enough and with a loud bang split along the rim. That was the end of his cycling (it was still raining),

some people will do anything for a taxi ride. Strangely the local minicab controller didn't know where the Station was - good heavens it only closed 50 years ago. The minicab driver didn't seem to worry about a dirty bike being put in this boot... not a damp Tobias. This is where the battery on the phone gave up the ghost so missed the last 5 miles to the East Grinstead Lodge . Very comfortable and a hot radiator was very welcome. Around 50 miles traveled. See this link for full route.

Day 2 - Saturday 25th May 2013

What a contrast in the weather and after a hearty English breakfast and a high pressure hose on the Brompton it was on the road again. Through the centre of a nice looking East Grinstead we picked up the Forest Way south of the town and along the route we passed some of Tobias's claims to fame, Stainless steel cycle racks next to picnic benches. Still there after all these years. The surface of the Worth Way isn't too bad considering and we made reasonable time. Even after the end of the old railway line the route took quiet (and not flat) local roads until Eridge station The Huntsman pub looked very nice but no time to stop  Here you have to (almost) guess you head through a gate and then up a steep (grass) slope a run parallel with the A26 for a few hundred yards. From here its pretty undulating passing through a few nice villages/towns. A very nice pint of local cider at the Kings Arms in Rotherfield and onwards towards Heathfield. We avoided the 'official' Sustrans route which heads up a very steep 'trail' into the local woods and kept to the road - Newick Lane - very steep to start with and less steep after that. Once into Heathfield its a dropdown and onto the Cuckoo Trail, yet another old railway line released to walkers and cyclists by Dr Beeching.. It was (literally) downhill all the way into Polegate via a bikers cafe in Horam. Pretty flat from here on into Seaford but via a 'challenging' cross country part of the NCN - for those used to Sustrans rural routes you would not be surprised. Still it makes London's roads seem pretty smooth.

Cuckmere River - the wrong route though, average standard for NCN ;-)

Garth and I decided to explore the wrong route into Seaford but at least we got a good view of the river and Seven Sisters cliffs - much whiter than those in Dover. This was a hill! Morrisons for cakes and other emergency rations for the next morning and then a beer at the very nice Wellington Hotel is Seaford, impressive beer selection. Next stop the ferry terminal (3 miles) for the 2300 4 hour crossing. 4 berth cabins booked - all ensuite and pretty comfortable. No time for beers as the crossing is only 4 hours and they start banging (literally) on doors from 2.15 (UK time) onwards. Loads of cyclists onboard including many who had ridden that day from London, rather haphazard cycle parking arrangements on the boat but once all tied down they were not going anywhere. We somehow had a (more expensive) cabin  with a port hole, Much better than I thought they would be and as there was 4 of us worked out at about £25 per person. You have to book a 4 berth even if there is only a single person. We all thought that it was worth the extra costs and more comfortable than a floor (too old for that I think).

The Seven Sisters

The daily total was about 55 miles (including the Seaford to the ferry section) and about 7 hours in the saddle. Pretty hilly especially in the Weald.

As you can see from the track the route is not exactly direct which is a recurring theme of the Avenue Verte. I guess some might say that it adds to the charm of the route - others may disagree. See this for the full route.

Day 3 - Sunday 26th May 2013

2.15am (3.15 am French time) lights flashing, bells ringing and bangs on the door. Yes we were still at sea but the crew wanted us out. Just another 5 minutes....We didn't rush and when told we were the last we thought he was joking - he wasn't. The corridor was strewn with bedding and vacuum cleaners and most bikes had gone from the car deck. Into the cold air at 4.15 am and through passport control pushing into the queues of cars and occasional lorry. lots of red flashing lights going away into the almost deserted town that is Dieppe. A odd few locals wishing us a good evening and after a quick look round the town it was obvious everything was closed - 4.30am so not really a surprise! The only thing to do was to get going and find the real Avenue Verte. We picked up a couple of British cyclists who looked lost and escorted them the 9 km to the start of, yes you guessed it, the old Dieppe to Paris railway line. A different meaning to shades of grey at this time of morning - no sign of the sun peeping through the clouds on the horizon as we passed the well closed cafe near the start (very nice local cider sold here). So 40 km of the Avenue Verte in all its glory. I pointed out the few places that have a cafe just off the route as this is the 5th time I've ridden this section. Its great initially but can get slightly boring as its slightly uphill all the way with little to see. The road junctions are really well designed so sight lines are great - you hardly have to adjust your speed. Pretty good chance to try drafting the rider in front of you. Neufchatel (famous for its cheese) is the first town of any size that you go through - this was our chance to see if there was a open cafe and bakers for refreshments - well there were two bakers but no cafe...well not until well after 9 am said the baker. There were a few other Brits munching croissants/baguettes and partaking in various juices/coke that the boulangère sold in a OK pocket park. From here it was back on the the AV, next stop Forges. The end of the original route finishes at the main rail line, the route itself does use some small paths and makes it was right into Forges where you come to the town centre pretty buzzing at around 9.30 in the morning with many boulangère, cafes, supermarkets etc. We stopped at the Cafe de Dieppe right on the cross roads along with a few other Brits who were also on the ferry, I've been here a few times before and its not too bad. After some coffee, tea and a beer for me things were looking up - apart from a rear puncture on the Brompton. Whilst I fixed the bike the others went off to the local supermarket to stock up with something for our evening meal at our overnight stop. We were then off into the countryside, one 'feature' of the AV alignment is that it will do almost anything to avoid a slightly busy road (with one or two exceptions) even if it means the route is fairly hilly. Next stop was Gournay-en-Bray where we found a nice cafe for lunch, local beer and some wine. The initial idea of the official alignment was to follow the old railway line and indeed the plan was to now follow the old railway track. this is what Simon expected to see nearly ready. Was he in for a surprise. Instead of loads of cyclists using the old track bed someone had decided to reopen the train line (see here for all you could want to know and photos etc. scroll down. Due to open for freight later in 2013 and a passenger service in 2014. So the AV will have to use the very quiet country roads including the hills.

I did like the occasional use of the 'warning cyclists' sign which was a fairly common site in this area. We also stopped to look at a village church, names Notre Dame, which was pretty impressive and the bells were being rung for reasons best known to the ringer. From here it was into St Germer-de-Fly with its very impressive former Benedictine abbey . The direct route from Gourney would have been approx 12km to our accommodation but given a road that is slightly busy the official route heads out east and takes a very roundabout route, including the other AV alignment that goes to Beauvais. Not sure of the distance but I can tell you it was considerably more than 12km and included a few ups and downs along the way. Given that the sun was shining and pretty warm I guess we didn't mind too much. The extra weight of the wine I was carrying was assisted by the knowledge that we would soon be able to drink it along with various cheeses and meats (not to mention Tobias's radishes). The final climb was only a few km from our nights stop at Domaine du Patis in Amecourt. Pretty steep hill but once at he top it was all along the ridge for miles. The place was amazing, a working XII century farm which, given the clear blue skies, looking very impressive. Stored bikes, showered and sat in comfy seats in the garden, the only downside was a persistent dog who just wanted to play. Our evening meal was what we had carried around most of the day and was taken in the main section of our accommodation building.

Warming by the fire - end of May??

A nice touch was that our hosts had left a wood fire burning which was very welcome as the evening was a little chilly. A great place to spend a few days relaxing and somewhere to return to, almost whatever the weather. Highly recommended and a reasonable price.Full route here.

 

 

Day 4 - Monday 27th May 2013

In the background is the accommodation

Entrance to the farm/accommodation

As you can see from the photographs the weather was lovely, slight chill but due to warm up later. A nice breakfast and Garth (who speaks fluent French) had a long chat with the lady owner which included a, almost, life history of the family, family name and the ownership of the farm. I just happened to mention a liking of Calvados and guess what... yes the farm does make its own and the lady kindly provided us with two half bottles to sample later, saying that is was tough not to try then and there.  Good job I was focused on the day ahead.

From here it was along the ridge before dropping down into Gisors which is famous for a very impressive church and fort. The fort itself is inside a public park so no admission charges and a nice place to rest for a while.
Gisors is a busy town and there was a market on as we went through. We did stop to look at the famous church, with impressive spiral stairs to the bell tower. Some culture need to be included rather than just cafes even if its just for balance.

From Gisors the AV seeks out yet another old railway track, this one not quite as good as the AV out Dieppe way but still pretty good compared to Sustrans routes in the UK (sorry Sustrans). We did pass fields of vines in the Dagnu area but little info on the internet about this. We didn't stop (shame) at 2 nice looking cafes in Les Bourdeaux de Saint-Claire, just off the route, but I saw them. I guess because we were heading to Bray-et-Lû for lunch. One cafe in the town, right opposite the zinc factory (with official plaque). Nice simple lunch at the Tabac/PMU washed down with local beer and not so local wine.

Back onto quiet roads including one of my favorite (!!!) sections as you can see in the photo. Must be nice in the wet. This linked up 2 on-road sections so I guess it makes sense but it would be nicer to have a proper surface. Another slight diversion from Maudetour-en-vexin to Arthies as the formal route uses a narrow, rough unmade path (worse than the photo) rather than an adjacent road with very little traffic. One has to ask why but this part of the route does have some strange ideas of where to go. We all noticed a sign for local cider in Arthies and I was first to follow these even if it was taking us off route. Unfortunately the lady of the house was off to collect grand children from school so had to close for approx 30 minutes, Much as I  like to try local drinks (especially cider) I've come across the phrase "30 minutes" in rural areas and these are seldom that short... so onwards.  Just after we met a local cyclist clad in full lycra and on a nice looking bike. We started talking, as you do, and after my usual couple of French words I left him with Garth... amazing what you can learn in a few minutes conversation but he, in his mid 70's, still competed in local races but he said that he struggles to compete with others as they still doped even though they were 60 years plus old. It must be a very hard practice to stop. He then said that he knew the route - and as we were English we wouldn't but once he understood Simon knew where we were going chose to follow us. I think I might have mentioned open cafes or something similar and he seemed to indicate nothing open in the area. Now I like hunting out cafes to make sure we don't dehydrate but Simon has a particular liking for boulangèries - which I can sort of understand. He rode with us till Vignes when Simon noticed (and I think knew of) a nice looking bakers, before he knew it we had stopped. I expect he just put it down to English eccentricity and carried on by himself. Just before this the AV took a right into a made up path round some type of building, we stuck to the road. Again shortly after the route heads up a farm track and up and over a hill whilst the road (with cycle lane) heads up a medium trafficked road to meet up a few kms further on. It was my turn in Sagy and the temptation to stop at a nice looking cafe, with tables and chairs outside, was too hard to resist. Here many other UK charity cyclists streamed by perhaps looking enviously at us with cool beers. Very nice break it was too. A few more hills and one of the busier roads (perhaps no alternative) brought us into Cergy and our hotel for the night.

Cery is approx 30km from the centre of Paris and the end of a RER 'metro' route. The centre is a brand new complex of cafes, supermarkets, a multiplex and the usual types of places for satellite towns. Lots of stainless steel as well everywhere. Oh and a very good boulangère. Simon had wanted to go and see something called the Axe Majeur Axe Majeur so after stocking up on bread and cakes (I brought a bottle of wine from the nearby supermarket - I always try to have plastic glasses and a bottle opener - you never know) we headed off that way. Pretty impressive view from the top over central Paris and we sat around eating and drinking (as you do) watching the world go by - oh and personal trainers taking their clients though the paces up and down the steps.

Our hotel was pretty close and whilst not as good as the night before (it would have been hard) was acceptable as all Etap type hotels are. Complete lack of any restaurants in the area bar the normal corporate Courtepaille Not too bad but slightly pricey. Morning route here. Followed by the afternoon trip.

Day 5 - Tuesday 28th May 2013

Now for the river level view of the Axe Majeur.

Not exactly a direct route

We dropped down, via the previous evenings boulangère for breakfast - a very strange arrangement of ordering, paying (with change from a machine) and separate service - to the river bridge which is one of the few River Oise crossings around. After having a look around it was off towards Paris following the AV itself. Now its about 30km into central Paris if you were a crow but he AV winds its way along rivers and clocks up about 70kms. Dead flat. For most of the day it was pouring with rain and with a small stone covering on the paths made for dirty bikes, not to mention dirty clothes. The route heads south following the river Oise (which starts in a small town called Chimay in Belgium) and included a brand new surfaced section. We did wonder about this part as it was very slippery and in our opinion just didn't work. Large signs about the amazing new, sustainable, way of path covering but don't try this at home...

The end of the Oise and the start of our Seine following for much of the day. Big rivers these with much commercial river traffic. As you will see from the map the route does meander much, along the river, over the rive, through a forest (not a bad surface I thought) and into Maisons-Laffitte with a complete lack of signage (they were not interested I understand) and past the end of the horse racing course. Chatou was our lunch stop - right place at he right time. Nice friendly restaurant where we sort of dried out. It was now about the time we were hoping to get to the finish - it was not to be. From here it was along the Seine - again - and then via some pretty busy roads through the dock area (yes if you think it sounds bad it was). Just north of Gennevilliers we picked up the local tram route - a off road cycle route was welcome but given the rain a less busy route would have been nice. Unfortunately Garth didn't spot the tram tracks hidden by a strategic puddle and down he went. Even more unfortunate was the 3 of us weren't there to see it - not to laugh (honest) but to assist. I waited on a corner in St Denis - not something I would recommend as those of you who have been to St Denis would know - and sometime later along came a bloodied Garth. The next section of the route follows the canal right into the centre of Paris - pretty good way into town even if its via the riot police sorting out certain 'issues' under motorway bridges. At the junction of the canals you can either follow the canal - and old alignment - via cycle tracks to Bastille (and beyond straight onto the Isle St Louis and Notre Dame) or the AV route which heads, via quiet streets to the Rue Saint Denis - which is not the quietest of roads - not motors lots of peds. Still both take you to the finish at Notre Dame. By now the rain had stopped and the sun was out. Ever busy of course and I did strike up a conversation with a gentleman from the USA who was there touring with 4 Bromptons. You just can't get away from them.Final days trip here.

Sign right by Notre Dame

Me and the Brommie - Verity.

Photos taken, one with the AV sign in the background (didn't see one in London), Garth just about managing to smile through the pain (he had to rest the leg for 4 weeks afterwards). Just time to find a local (not too local due to prices) cafe for a beer or two before I cycled off Gare du Nord for Eurostar home. 5 days to get there and 2.5 hours to get home.

So, in conclusion.... Would I ride this again. The English side...well no. I am glad that I have done it but don't really think I would rush to do so again. As for the French side well yes, parts of. I quite fancy riding the Beauvais section into Paris but would most likely not follow the exact alignment and use a few busier and more direct routes. I think I would also choose a bike with a few more gears ;-) I did struggle with the spd's after a few days with knee hurting (good job I had some pain killers). Not sure why as I haven't had that problem on other bikes including Bromptons. If the French could sort out a few of the major issues, including the busier sections, nasty off road parts and some improved signage I would recommend it to others.
Worst part of the whole route - realising that it used Queenstown Road SW London which must be one of the busiest and least cycle friendly roads in the area. All despite LCN route 3 going from Lambeth Bridge to Clapham Common. Why oh why I have to ask myself, I can see no logic in that alignment.

Trent & Mersey Canal Trip 2011 - Savoy Hill

We again hired the BBC Club narrow boat, Savoy Hill, for our week's holiday on the UK's waterways system, this year the boat was moored at Kings Bromley marina just outside Lichfield in Staffordshire. This will have been the 11th year in a row that we have hired and for the last 2 years have also rented a  ukboathire boat - see separate blog entry below of our Warwickshire Ring trip. As you will see I decided to try to create timelapse videos of each days travel as I thought it would help us to remember the trip and could help others see exactly what the canal (and River Trent) is like - not just the canal but towpath, general area etc. I think we captured about 90% of the trip but there were times when it wasn't noticed that the camera had turned itself off - battery lasted about 3 hours, or when I didn't delete the day before photo's. Each day generated about 5000 640k photos and was stitched together using a freeware package called Photolapse 3.0 and it pretty easy. I've uploaded these to my youtube account (RoggieLondon) for all to see. Also setup Google Latitude so anyone who wanted to visit us could see exactly where we were.

We do a big shop first - this time at Tescos in Lichfield but there is also a large Morrisons in the town so we have enough food to last the 7 days - always enough beer and wine as well. Happy, friendly staff at Kings Bromley and the marina seems very secure.
Wasn't sure which route to take this year as we have been round the 4 Counties (both ways) and over the last 2 years have been around a fair few parts of the BCN - so decided to try to get to Newark via the River Trent. Not too sure about rivers though, went from Bath to Bristol and back last year and think we prefer canals to rivers. Still worth a go and www.canalplan.org.uk said it was possible at about 8.5 hours a day.

Started Saturday lunchtime (about 1.30) from Kings Bromley marina - reversed out of the mooring and the front was caught by the wind (63ft length) - give it some welly said the lady in the nearest boat - so much for taking things gently at first eh? Managed not to emerge into the cut in front of anyone else and proceeded towards Frandley Junction - weather slightly overcast but fine. Got as far as Barton Turns before mooring just after the lock. Day 1 video

Didn't start till almost 10.30 - very lazy and the weather was very nice indeed. Moored up just after Swarkestone, miles for anywhere. Day 2 . Every now and again you see the same boats, either you go past them or they past you - almost a ever present on the outbound trip was Joshua (seen here moored by Hurst Pierpoint). My wife and I had a look at a old BCN tug boat not used for hiring via  Saisons who have a couple of boats with portholes - I quite like this style but she thinks they made the inside of the boat too dark - so I was interested to speak to the owners to see what they thought - finally caught up with them on our return trip when we saw them moored on the Trent - I'd applied for 2012 tickets to watch the white water events and it was a good opportunity to see the course which is right by the side of the river. Ice creams for sale nearby as well. The owners kindly let us look inside the boat, and very nice it is too - Trish still isn't sure about portholes...











I think about now I realised that Newark wasn't possible (or practical) so decided to get as far as the River Trent in Nottingham and moor outside County Hall on the river itself - good moorings with loads of rings on the steps to moor to. Day 3

Given the appalling weather forecast (heavy rain, thunder etc.) decided to head down the Trent to the Ferry Boat Inn at Stoke Bardolph, one lock away, as the other alternative, the Erewash canal wouldn't be that much fun in the rain - given all the locks. As it happened we had a few spots of rain and then it was lovely and sunny all day - the pub has few moorings and so that wasn't on (area marked out for a 'trip boat'. So it was back into the Nottingham Canal - showers all round and filled up with water (next day noticed we left behind the BW key) and moored next to the Nottingham Castle marina - nice place to moor and a very busy towpath. Day 4

Yet another warm and sunny day - noticed no BW key at Beeston lock so thought we would try up the Erewash to the couple of boatyards there - no joy but at least we can say we have been up the canal - even if it was only for a few miles. Crystal clear water with loads of fish visible  - shared the lock back down with a just collected 74 year old (no name) boat going to the Ellesmere Canal Museum - impressive beast.

BW key and cork purchased from Sawley Marina so that's OK then. £10'ish so not cheap....Day 5

Yet another nice day - no wonder the water levels are low everywhere. Dropped into Mercia marina to buy a 'insurance' BW key for next time.. early finish right by the railway line - at least it would be quiet at night - it wasn't,. Doom and gloom said the weather forecast for Friday Day 6

Well the forecast was right - rained all morning and most of the afternoon - heavy at times as well.  Still you don't appreciate the good weather if thats all you get. Camera inside the cabin looking through the window rather than outside. Spotted Granny Buttons at Horninglow Marina - I've been reading Andrew's blogs for a few years now and it was good to see the actual boat itself - very nice too,

Popped into Barton Marina - picked up some bread but no newspapers on sale. Provisions (and fish & chips) from Alrewas before finally finding somewhere to moor 3 locks past Fradley junction. Day 7

Last day before returning the boat - needed to fill with diesel, water and get the 2 toilets pumped out. Good job it wasn't that windy as not too sure of manoeuvrings the boat in marinas - there isn't loads of space. Took a look at the 70ft hire boat Ivy May which lives at the marina - loads of space on board and possible a future hire boat for us. Day 8

Given that we enjoy boating and the life on the canals we are giving some serious consideration as what to do next. Current options are to look to hire for about 3 weeks next year - perhaps end of May/June - to see whether we link being on a boat for longer than the week - given that this will cost about £2k (less if we went for Ivy May) I'm thinking of buying a boat at about £15k - saw 3 for sale around this price on our route and I have the numbers to ring - would fit into a £20k budget - and could possibly be re-sold for approximately the same if needed. Of course this comes with the £3k per year costs and where to buy a mooring.... So many decisions.

Finally - a boat after my own heart - his n'her Bromptons, as sometimes you have to get off. Neat I thought.

Warwickshire Ring Canal holiday April 2011

Easter Sunday April 2011 we hired a UKBoat Hire narrowboat out of Rugby Marina, 4 of us and making good use of our Tesco clubcard vouchers. Decided to see whether time-lapse video are easy or not (or worthwhile), you can now be the judge. Left the marina and decided to do the Warwickshire ring clockwise - thought it best to get the Hatton flight out of the way earlier rather than later. Day 1 is here:-

Warwickshire Ring Day 1

Brought a extendable tripod from Maplins and fixed it to the front of the boat - the flexible mount worked pretty well and the Ricoh R8 camera took a while to set-up (1 photo every 5 seconds, lowest resolution & screen off, some freeware software to put all the photos together, Photolapse 3 http://photolapse-3-3-0.soft-free-download.com/) but worked well. Main problem was making sure the battery (we fortunately had 2) hadn't run out without us noticing - difficult from 40 feet away of course. Day 2 is here:-

Warwickshire Ring Day 2  

Day 3:-

Warwickshire Ring Day 3 This was a really hot day but we did manage to pair up with another boat for the Hatton flight - only because I pedaled up the flight on the Brompton and asked the boat a few locks in front if they wanted to share - I did say we were 1 lock behind which was a slight exaggeration (we were 3).

Day 4 saw us going through the litter strewn canals of Birmingham, mooring overnight at Star City with the ever present hum of the M6. Got stuck in one of the locks due to litter - couldn't understand why we were not moving - nor did the other boat waiting for us. Its a strange canal, going round the back of everywhere, some industrial dereliction and some residential but we had been into gas Street basin the year before so thought we would try the Grand Union this time.

Warwickshire Ring Day 4

Day 5 had a few locks but we had done most of them in the ring so time for a more relaxed time 

Warwickshire Ring Day 5
Same for Day 6 

Warwickshire Ring Day 6 

Day 7 was Royal Wedding day, poor TV reception on the TV so we decided to make for the Greyhound at Hawkesbury Junction, just made it in time for the wedding.
Warwickshire Ring Day 7

Battery packed up before getting back to the maria hence no shots of us entering Rugby Wharf. 

So they you have it - perhaps useful in that you can see where some good moorings may be - also you can just see the state of some of the towpath. Or is it boys with toys? Will try again on our next hire - Trent & Mersey towards Derby mid August out of Kings Bromley on Savoy Hill, if you see us coming w/c 20th August give us a wave.

Alvinne Brewery Visit July 2011

5 of us made our annual trip out to Chimay, Belgium for the l'Audax des Fagnes cycle ride http://audax-de-chimay.over-blog.com/ As usual we try to find a brewery to stop at on the return journey (and on the way out of possible). This year we contacted Glenn at Alvinne and he was kind enough to invite us to visit their new brewery, which was not yet brewing due to the new equipment not being installed as yet. Freshly imported all the way from China - cheaper than buying from the EU we were told.

The brewery has moved to a small town called Moen, a village near Kortrijk, where they have bought an old industrial building to put in a brand new brewery. The address is Vaartstraat 4a, Moen (Zwevegem), 8552 http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Vaartstraat+4a,+Moen+(Zwevegem),+8552&hl=en&oe=utf-8

We arrived just after noon, as planned. Glenn invited us to a nearby cafe for a spot of lunch - lovely hot and sunny day and a pleasure to sit outside and talk about beer, Flanders, governments (or not as the case was) and even bikes. Back to the brewery to see what is planned - stainless steel everywhere and waiting for a engineer to link them all together.






At the back of all this steel are the wooden barrels that they hope to use to mature some of the beer. Many collected from a recent visit to Bordeaux and having a amazing small of the Monbazillac that had been matured in them previously. These are the barrels they use to mature the Cuvée d’Erpigny beer (15%) Here you can see Glenn explaining how they got around 17 barrels back from the Bordeaux area to Flanders - must have been a large van, shame the barrels were empty as some contained some very nice Bordeaux wine.




So now it was upstairs to taste some of the beers. Very comfortable it was too - as you can see from the photos. Not finished yet and the bar area still had to have the shelf glued on. One pump for draft beer and some very comfortable seats at eh end. We tried most of the regular beers finishing with the Cuvée d’Erpigny. It was then downstairs to purchase a few beers to take home with us. I was pleased to see a good selection of Fantome beers - which are very difficult to get even in Belgium itself.

 What better site than a fridge full of beer - and all at a very reasonable price with small tasting glasses available and the opportunity to be talked through each one by the brewer himself.

Thanks very much Glenn for all the trouble you went to to make us so welcome, Hopefully they will update their website and add details of local gites etc. for those wanting to visit and not drive - perhaps info on cycle hire in the area to explore the nice (flat) countryside to generate a thirst.