May 7, 2012
Tiverton
through Exeter and north to Bickleigh
The middle-aged Dutch couple look slightly aghast at my full English breakfast: all this fried stuff - no fresh vegetables; no fruit - while I'm more concerned about the weather. It's raining hard as we sit in the B&B's dining room, the wind sweeping the trees in the garden and the rain pattering against against the windows as I tuck into my fried bacon, sausage, eggs, baked beans, mushrooms and baby tomatoes. They order toast and cheese.
The Dutch guy notices a little patch of blue sky appear on the horizon, just visible through the front, west-facing window. It slowly grows and by the time I've packed my panniers the sun is out. It takes some believing.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
It's obviously welcome, but at the same time I'm also pleased not to be waking up in my tent up on the moors near The Warren Inn. Last night I'd thought about. It'd be a horrible wet start to the day and it'd have been a cold night up there on the high, exposed terrain.
The road goes up and down as it does in Devon and the first climb lasts a couple of kilometers, but gives a great view of the county's rolling landscape - a patchwork of vivid green fields bordered by hedgerows, with stone farmhouses nestled on hillsides.
The B 3212 takes me into Dunsford. The church spire marks it out on a small hill to my left and the lane leading there climbs a little and I take a snap of some thatched cottages before locating the street Frank Patterson drew - the dirt track now paved, but still curving down towards the church and flanked by rustic dwellings, again with traditional thatched roofs.
There's a tea shop open and it's tempting to have a cuppa, but it seems too early for a break so I carry on to take advantage of the reasonable weather.
It's only a dozen more kilometers to Exeter, although the sky has seriously darkened by the time I get there. I drop to the quay before riding up into the city to find Moll's Coffee Shop and Stepcote Hill, two places Frank Patterson drew.
As if to authenticate my snap, it starts raining just as depicted in Paterson's drawing and after the shower and a coffee shop photo session I search for the small cobbled lane that's very steep.
The sun appears - again.
Patterson, like any photographer, found it hard to depict how steep the lane drops but it's clear why Patterson had the cyclists peering round the obtuse corner at it - the rider no doubt wondering if it's possible to descend without suffering injury. It's certainly tricky and my feet slide on the damp stones as I set up my tripod.
The A 396 is much better than my mind's eye had envisaged. Shown as a red line on my sheet map, there're not too many vehicles and my speed is reasonable as there are few hills - it's in fact pretty flat, following the River Exe along its wide valley floor.
Bickleigh - the 'right' one - is just to the east of the main road and the farm cottages Frank Patterson drew are the first buildings I come to after making a right. They are thatched and the first building has been redone quite recently, the straw still light-coloured.
Being around 7:00 PM, the light is now poor for photography and I wonder about finding a local B&B so as to get a better shot - hopefully - in the morning, but the one place with rooms is full, so I drop back to the A 396, cross the river via a wonderful old stone bridge and inquire at a riverside pub/hotel and get quoted 79 pounds and say no thanks.
The New Inn that I searched for a few days ago in the 'wrong' Bickleigh village is right beside the road, but rain starts to come down just as my tripod is up, so I walk to a bus shelter to wait it out.
It eases up after 15 minutes after taking a few quick snaps, my PVC jacket is on as I ride to Tiverton, where there're sure to be reasonable rooms.
The first two B&Bs - The Bridge and The Angel - have 'no vacancies' signs hanging in their windows and the rain is coming down hard as I reach a pub on a corner. Inside, the barmaid tells me there are two places and I say I've just seen them, then a couple at the bar say the sign at The Angel is there because they're in here and it seems incredibly lucky to have chosen this pub and found the Angel's owners, who kindly agree to return to let me in.
Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 2,690 km (1,670 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |