May 31, 2012
Worcestershire - Droitwich to Cleobury Mortimer
south by train and into Shropshire
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Should I, shouldn't I?
After two wonderful days of sunshine - instead of the predicted wet weather - drizzle is sweeping across Lincoln as I wonder about setting off for the train station to catch the 9:32 departure down to Worcester.
It'll just take 10 minutes to get there and I ponder until the very last minute, then don my yellow jacket to keep me a bit dry and say see you later to Dave. Off I go.
Mostly downhill, I make it in time and the fare is almost 45 quid and just a pound or so more for a return. It makes sense to get one, although I doubt the second part will be used. On board, the ticket collector prints out an itinerary showing the times and places to change trains: it's going to take around four hours.
Instead of going all the way to Worcester, I hop off at Droitwich, one stop prior, as this's where I have in mind due to Frank Patterson sketching one of its streets. The two women in the town's tourism office point me in the right direction.
Before getting there the lure of charity shops gets the better of me and I end up with two tea towels to take home as souvenirs, old ones probably from the 1970s, but in as-new condition with printed designs on in colours that you don't see often nowadays.
The scene Patterson drew has changed a little. The pillared gateway has gone, replaced by a side street, and the pair of terraced houses have been joined together - it's a dental practice now.
After I'd done taking photos I pop the print of Patterson's drawing through its letterbox, aware that no doubt the people inside will wonder where it came from.
The grey weather doesn't look as though it's going to improve any time soon and my photocopied maps have ended, so it's a case of simply riding north, hoping to see signs pointing me to somewhere I know, to some place shown on my folded A4 sheet.
It doesn't work out that way. Instead, I get lost.
It takes a couple of hours to find where I am and sort out a route toward Hopton Castle.
The drizzle gets heavier and I sit in a petrol station near Stourport for about an hour, setting off when it's a bit lighter.
The terrain is hilly and it's past 8 o'clock when my wheels roll in to Cleobury Mortimer, where I end up having fish, chips and peas that cost eight quid and I wonder about a place to camp.
There's a pub across the road from the chippy, so I sit in there with a pint of beer that tastes a bit like vinegar and know I should take it back and ask for something else, but can't be bothered.
The Wi-fi keeps me busy for an hour or so and darkness is well on the way when I pedal off into the countryside to find a field to sleep in and once away from the town, I make a right onto a small lane and cycle a short distance and up a hill.
near the top is a gate which is easy to open and I walk my bike behind the tall hedge and pitch my one-person tent on the long, wet pasture grass with my LED helping me see. Nobody can see me.
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I also like that snap - taken while in search of a spot to pitch my tent, which I found just over the crest of that hill.
3 years ago
3 years ago
Today's ride: 59 km (37 miles)
Total: 3,272 km (2,032 miles)
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