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October plans – part 4

I’m not doing the greatest job of keeping you all informed of my plans; but I’m not doing the greatest job of planning, either. I am at that stage in the adventure where everything is done ”just in time”. This is partly because of the unpredictability of the weather in late October, which – although […]

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Maps 176 and 177 – London and the Thames

One of the most frequently asked questions I get about my adventure is ”what will you do when you get to London?”. There were many possible ways to approach crossing the capital – and it had to be done – but in the end I made a success of it by adopting two solutions in […]

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Maps 173 to 175 – Box to Cheapside, Ascot

Having forged my way across South Wales in great weather, it quickly became apparent that the following day was not one to be cycling. The forecast, and indeed the weather that followed it, was very unpleasant and I was lucky to be with friends Matt and Hazel who more or less made the decision for […]

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23 Swansea to Margate Other

Maps 170 to 172 – 3 miles east of Swansea to Box

I’ve never been to Swansea before. I managed to make it through the first 55 years of my life without finding a compelling need. That makes it part of an elite club of British cities that until recently included Dundee and – just for the sake of clarity – NOT Brechin (although I had never […]

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Maps 167 to 169 – Ware to Walton Pier

Every day of this adventure is now restricted by the amount of available daylight; but some are even further constrained by public transport options to get me back across the country. Today was such a day, the last of five continuous days of cycling in my longest coast to coast crossing (all thirteen OS maps […]

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22 St David's to Walton-on-the-Naze Other

Maps 163 to 166: Bourton-on-the-Water to Ware. Where? Yes, Ware.

Bourton-on-the-Water is undeniably a pretty place. The wonderfully named River Windrush glides alongside the main street and there are a handful of small, arched stone bridges that cross it between the buildings on either side, as well as a ford. On either bank are achingly pretty Cotswold stone buildings, including a generous supply of pubs […]

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22 St David's to Walton-on-the-Naze Other

Brecon to Bourton-on-the-Water

After a stormy night, the morning began optimistically early (for me). After a breakfast stop in Brecon, I set out on another lovely day, the roads and the trees all freshly washed and sparkling in the sun. I followed the rough course of the Brecon Canal heading west and was doing quite nicely until I […]

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22 St David's to Walton-on-the-Naze Other

Narberth to Brecon

It rained hard overnight in Pembrokeshire, but by morning everything had settled down nicely and I was treated to another fine day. I had largely empty straight back roads for an hour as far as St Clears and made good progress.This was handy, because when I came to leave my very comfortable lodgings, I discovered […]

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October plans – part 3

I am about 2 days behind in my blogging, so let me update my current plans before I post again. Then you might not notice! Sat 15 Oct – cycle to St Davids and then back to Narberth Sun 16 Oct – cycle Narberth to Brecon Mon 17 Oct – cycle Brecon to Bourton on […]

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Maps 157 & 158 – St Davids

You can’t get any further west in Wales than the peninsula that has Britain’s smallest city, St Davids, at its tip. It marks the start of my longest coast to coast crossing of the country: fully thirteen OS Landranger Maps from 157 to 169. A horizontal line from the cove of St Justinians, where the […]