To Marlborough

August 23, 2022

First, let’s correct an important omission. I was surprised at all of the complaints that I didn’t include a photo of my new haircut, so with apologies here it is.

So why can’t I take a photo that includes my reflection in the iPad? It doesn’t matter what I do with lighting or the camera, it’s always whited out. Makes me think of the Picture of Dorian Gray.

Once again, a day which threatened rain as recently as yesterday looks to be dry all day when we check the forecast this AM. This is getting so routine that maybe I’m going to stop commenting on it eventually, but it feels like we’re traveling inside of our own personal little force field that fends off the rain. Nice for us, but I imagine less so for a land that would like to see more of it.

It’s partly cloudy when we leave the Old Bell for the last time, probably ever. I have the sense it’s a place that will price itself out of our range before long - it looks like it’s being tracked to become a destination accommodation.

Conditions look fine for our ride east to Marlborough: dry at the moment, comfortable, a modest tailwind. The ride’s one that looks deceptively easy by recent standards - it’s pretty short, and the net elevation gain is modest. There is the one half-mile climb halfway into the ride that looks worrisome though as we jump up the chalk plateau at the edge of the North Wessex Downs AONB. We wonder if it means anything that it passes through the ominously named Clyffe Pypard.

Leaving the Old Bell, with the ruins of the neighboring abbey behind. The 800 year old hotel is the building on the right, but we slept in the modern wing on the left.

There’s not much to get excited about in the first fifteen miles as we enjoy a quiet ride through fields and pastureland well populated with cows. It feels a lot like the ride I took yesterday, which is very nice but doesn’t prompt many stops. One comes a mile into the ride when Rachael calls from behind to stop because she’s got a problem. Then she calls me to circle back because she needs my help. Worrisome - I’m thinking her chain’s gotten itself thrown maybe, and hoping it’s nothing worse.

Nothing that complicated though - she stopped to check the SD card on her GoPro because the camera’s beeping at her like the card’s missing or dislodged. She opens it up, and the lid falls off in her hand. No problem, and easily reattached. While we’re stopped with this in a driveway a woman walks out to check up on us and see if we need assistance. We have a nice chat - she’s been tending her lovely garden, today focusing on pulling up the hops that keep reseeding when they propagate from her neighbor’s yard. Eventually our conversation runs it’s course and it’s time to roll on. She offers us some cold water if we need it (we don’t), a take a snap of the colorful flowers lining her yard, and we’re moving again.

We’re back in more open country again, thankfully - no more solid green walls lining the road, but we do tunnel through stretches of woods between the pasture lands and shorn wheat fields.

The character of the ride abruptly changes as we near the AONB border and the climb up to Clyffe Pypard. We can see the Clyffe ahead through the trees, looking like a 200’ vertical wall and more meanacing the nearer we get to it. We’re stopped at a junction looking at the Garmins and trying to decide if we want to add a mile detour to a more gradual ascent when a mail delivery van stops beside us and the driver rolls down the window to ask if we need directions. Nice!

We don’t, but we explain the situation and our destination. He cautions us that the route ahead goes up “quite a steep hill”; and repeats this exact description twice more as the discussion evolves. We’ve seen a lot of steep hills in the last month, so if the locals think this one is steep we should be fearful. We take his advice and opt for the alternate route up that I’d scoped out back at the hotel this morning, cirling north through Broad Town.

Undoubtedly a much better choice than straight up through Clyffe Pypard, which for unknown reasons is the one the NCN network has mapped out. Better because the climb through Broad Town is steepish but manageable, but also because it gives us a nice view of the Broad Town White Horse. It’s in a rather secluded location and we wouldn’t have seen it at all if we hadn’t come this way.

The Broad Town White Horse: 80 feet wide, 60 feet high, visible from 20 miles away if you find the right sight line. Composed of compacted white chalk, it was cut in 1864 by a local farmer.

I’m surprised by this horse, because the location doesn’t seem right. I knew our route passed by one, but I thought it was higher up in the plateau ahead. And I was right. On the slope a mile ahead we see a horse again, but it’s a different one this time. This one’s the Hackpen Hill White Horse, cut in 1838 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Victoria. There are nine of these chalk white horses scattered across Wiltshire, and it’s by coincidence that we’ve stumbled across two so close to each other.

This one’s a beauty, prominently visible on the broad sloped face of Hackpen Hill. I stop to take shots at multiple spots as I descend toward it and then start climbing, and Rachael captures the experience nicely on a sped up video. And we’re not alone - there’s another biker here doing the same. He and I chat for a bit while we’re stopped to admire the horse ahead, and then he descends the hill; and soon stops again when a window of sun passes over the horse, briefly illuminating it. As do I. Brilliant!

Another! This is the one we expected to see.

Video sound track: Tanya, by Cal Tjader

Visible from far off from this direction, with this broad open vale in front of it.

It’s best to be here on foot or bike if you want to admire it though, so you can get off of the narrow road.

The lateral view is worth a sideways glance too.

Awesome. Besides being more open, this one’s also larger than the previous one at 80’ square.

And the live horses are worth a look too. This splendid animal is pacing the fence line, looking at a trio of horses walking the opposite ridge. When she passed by earlier, this guy gave Rachael an encouraging whinny on her way up the hill.

Up on top, I’m stunned when I look back down from the top of Hackpen Hill. The view is fantastic, especially under today’s conditions with shadows and windows of sunlight flying across the recently cropped fields.

That’s Broad Town Road below, the one we climbed up. The Broad Town White Horse must be somewhere on the far side of that green swath, but I don’t think it’s visible from this direction.

After that the rest of the ride’s a breeze, gently downhill and downwind nearly all the way to Marlborough. For the first few miles we’re mesmerized by the scenery around us until we lose enough elevation and the views go with it. The ride holds one last shocker though, when I’m speedily descending and look ahead to see a large bird flying straight at me - about fifty yards ahead and maybe ten feet off the ground, at my higher elevation it looks like we’d be staring each other in the eyes if I could see better. it’s a red tailed kite, racing up the road ahead of an oncoming truck. Then he sweeps off into the trees, circles back briefly so I can snag a quick shot as proof, and soars off.

We’ll be in Marlborough for four nights, so there’s time to talk about it and our unique room in the Green Dragon later.

This must be the closest I’ve ever been to one of these birds in the wild. Nice that he briefly circled back for a better look.

One last look. Not our direction and a private road, but we pulled off to admire the last of the views.

Video sound track: Swing, by Yasmin Williams

Heart

Comment

Link

Ride stats today: 27 miles, 1,600’; for the tour: 2,083 miles, 125,200’

Today's ride: 27 miles (43 km)
Total: 2,082 miles (3,351 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	14
Comment on this entry	Comment	0