August round-up

So we are now into the last third of the year, and it's time to take stock of progress over another month. It's been a month for milestones, but more of that shortly. First I must follow tradition and review progress against goals.

• In terms of miles covered things are looking a bit better. I started the month about 130 miles behind plan, and I ended it about 30 miles behind. At the rate I'm going I should be back on track in the next week or so. That will leave an average of 73 miles a week to cover for the rest of the year if I am going to meet my annual goal. It should be emminently do-able. 
• I've also visited a few more churches on my list, and only need to reach four more to take the total to 50. Again, that should be emminently do-able. 
• My Eddington number isn't rising as fast as I would like, but it is well on the way to the goal of 50 for this year, and reaching that shouldn't be a problem. I am steadily racking up rides of more than 60 miles, and I ought to be able to manage another 5 this year to reach the planned total of 30.

We should probably skate over the fact that I'm still more than 8 inches short of the ideal height for my weight, and move onto the milestones.

• Milestone number one is a real one, between Colnbrook and Heathrow. I've been unsuccessfully trying to find this one on several recent outings. It turns out that I was looking in completely the wrong place, on the wrong road, about half a mile away from where I should have been looking. Not the most effective approach. Now that I've got myself sorted, I've completed the list of all the remaining milestones on this stretch of the Bath Road. 
• Milestone number two is just that the new bike and I have now covered more than 2,000 miles together since the beginning of March.
• Milestone number three is getting around my Winter Hill loop for the first time in less than 45 minutes.
• But the best milestone of all is that I've had an apology from a beeper in a hatchback. He followed normal practice, coming up behind me, and sounding the horn to try and make me jump. I looked round and gave the stare that is meant to say "do grow up you silly child", but to be realistic probably just makes me look like a silly old fool. He continued past me, parked a few hundred yards up the road, got out, and as I rode past he shouted an apology. Granted, it was on behalf of his passenger (who he blamed for hitting the horn). And maybe it was some complicated wind-up that I don't get. But it still felt like a breakthrough.

Yesterday's ride

At the start of the year I planned to reach 15 more famous churches on the bike to bring the total to 40. Having achieved that in May I decided to up the ante and aim for another ten. I reached one more in June, but since then I've not made much progress.

Each time I reach one church the distance to the next is a little bit further, so the circle of those I reach is gradually expanding. It happens that this tranche of churches on my list is now starting to reach into London.

So yesterdays ride was a bit different to my normal trundle around rural lanes. It was relatively flat, but route finding needed a bit more attention than it normally gets, and the level of traffic, even on a Sunday, meant that I needed to stay alert. Not that I would admit to daydreaming on a country ride, so lets say that the metropolis offers a higher level of visual stimulation.

Obviously churches in London tend to be clustered more closely than they are in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire Hampshire and Surrey. That means means that it's relatively easy to reach more than one in a single outing. Normally an outing involves reaching one, or at most two churches on my list. Yesterday I reached four: Saint Cuthbert in Philbeach Gardens, Brompton Oratory, Holy Trinity in Prince Consort Road, and Saint Augustine in Queens Gate.

Brompton Oratory is the most impressive from outside, but I wasn't comfortable leaving the bike outside for long, so I didn't spend much time inside. Holy Trinity in Prince Consort Road was locked, so I managed to get the best look inside Saint Augustine in Queens Gate, and St Cuthbert in Philbeach Gardens.

Apparently John Betjeman was particularly keen on the former. It's nice enough, with some interesting wall panels, but the more remarkable interior to my eye is St Cuthbert in Philbeach Gardens (pictured). The web site describes it as "a spectacular example of late Victorian architecture", which pretty much captures it.

There are many reasons why I am enjoying this project to visit famous churches. One of them is that walking into many churches is like stepping back in time. Parish churches have often been around for hundreds of years, and history has left a series of memories in the building and the monuments that traces changes in the way that the community has lived.

St Cuthbert's was different though. Stepping into this church was also like stepping back in time, but into a  frozen state that has passed everywhere else. It wasn't like watching a recreation of Victorian life in a film or television programme, or even visiting a preserved railway or country house. However carefully these are handled you know in your heart that they are now artificial creations. This was more like opening a Victorian book, and making contact directly with a different age. Quite an uncomfortable experience. I couldn't help wondering how much of this past world is still preserved along with the building itself, and why?

I used www.bikeroutetoaster.com to plan my route there and back through Colnbrook, Brentford, and Hammersmith, which all worked fine. Apart from the ride into London and back, the rest of the day was spent tootling between Hyde Park, South Kensington and Earls Court. For London cyclists it was probably all relatively quiet. For me it was quite different to normal. I bottled out on a couple of occasions, and walked the bike through Hammersmith Broadway and busy bits near South Kensington tube, but otherwise didn't find the traffic as much of a challenge as I expected.

Total distance for the day was just over 60 miles, which helps the numbers along. By the time I got home I was more tired than I should have been. That could be all the excitement, but I suspect it really means that I'm out of practice and need to get more riding done.

The expanding circle of the churches that I have visited is mapped here

All Saints, Crondall

Regular visitors will have noticed that the bike hasn't had very many outings recently. Things have been a bit hectic around here, and although we've managed a few short evening rides there hasn't been a long weekend outing for several weeks.

Considering that it has hardly moved from the shed for four weeks I thought the bike did very well today. It was running very smoothly and keeping up a good speed for almost the whole day. That positions me nicely to make some self-deprecating comment about my own performance after a few weeks without a long ride. However I'm not going to do that. Partly because it would be a bit of a cliché, but mainly it's because I actually think I did quite well.

The ride covered sixty miles in total, to visit the 41st church on my list.

I doubt if even its closest friends would describe All Saints in Crondall as one of the prettiest churches in England. It has an impressive tower, and an interesting history. There's quite a lot to see inside, including a Saxon font, an unusual brass memento mori (below), and some crosses inscribed in the door frame by crusaders. But the exterior is a bit of a mish-mash. I have to say though, that the guide book is one of the best I have seen at describing the church, and placing its history in context.

Getting there was a bit tricky. The challenge when I head south is always to avoid a lot of suburban sprawl and busy roads. There are decent routes through, but it's not easy to find them. This time I went out through the edge of Bracknell, then Finchampstead and Fleet. It's not unusual for me to get a bit muddled in Bracknell and today was no exception. In the process I discovered a new route that avoids some of the busiest parts. That should help in future.

Coming back I used the tow-path of the Basingstoke Canal to get back to Fleet, and then followed a slightly different route home through Wokingham.

It was a glorious day for a ride. The morning was a little grey, but the afternoon was sunny. I had a following wind on the way out, but it had stilled by the time I was heading home. It wouldn't be right to expect more than that.

---

“You earthly impes that here behold this picture with your eyes
remember the end of mortall men and where their glory lies"

1,000 churches

The full size version is here

There are parts of the country that I am unlikely ever to reach in my quest to cycle to some of England's 1,000 best churches. But for the sake of completeness I've been trying to plot the positions of all 1,000.

Above is the map as it currently stands. I can't see a similar list anywhere else (other than in the book itself) so I hope this is of some use to others.

There are bound to be some mistakes, so it's a good idea to check location before heading off for a visit. If you do spot a mistake, please let me know and I'll update it accordingly.

For those who are interested in this stuff, there's also a flickr group - here.

Nether Winchenden

When I started chasing down famous churches that I could reach on the bike it seemed unrealistic to try and reach more than a dozen. I did that many in the first year. In the second year I reached another dozen, plus one I'd missed - to bring the running total to 25. This year I planned to reach another 15 and take the total to 40. Today I completed this year's list.

St Nicholas, in Nether Winchenden was the destination.

There's part of me that wants to organise things so that I end each of these tranches on some kind of climax, with a particularly impressive destination, some unexpected revelation, or deep insight in to the human condition.

That would be over-engineering it all though. There is nothing dramatic I can see about Nether Winchenden. I quite like the name of the village, the box pews in the church are very pleasant, and they were offering cream teas in the village for Bank Holiday Monday. But in reality the distinctive thing about the visit was seeing a nice old country church in a pleasant village.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to sample the cream teas, but I enjoyed 20 minutes sitting in the churchyard, eating my sandwich, and listening to the birds.

I reckon that's how things should be.

It wasn't an ideal day for a ride. We have had a lot of weather for this time of year, with a mix of sunny periods, scattered showers, and a couple of hail storms. There was a strong blustery head wind all the way out, which was a bit of a pain, but it helped move me along on the way back.

So the only dramatic revelation I can offer is that I seem to have discovered quite an effective scheme for getting myself out exploring on the bike. Rather than trying to invent a new system, I suspect I'll just continue along the same lines for bit longer.

The map of the first 40 is here

Saint Nicholas, Compton

Yesterday's ride was to St Nicholas in Compton (Surrey). It's a fine church that lies on the pilgrim's way from Winchester to Canterbury. Parts of the church date from before the Norman Conquest. It has a unique two-tier chancel, and some funny 13c century graffiti of a Norman knight.

This is the 39th church I have cycled to from my list of notable English churches. I've ordered the list by distance from home, and Compton ranks 36th. It's just over 22 miles away as the crow flies. However, the actual distances from here to Surrey always work out further because it's difficult to find decent routes. Centres like Bracknell, Camberley, Woking and Guildford tend to get in the way, and the whole area is crossed by very busy roads. It's quite a challenge to find a route that isn't too busy or absurdly complicated.

For destinations to the east of Woking I tend to go down the Thames towards Weybridge, then head south. For destinations east of Guildford I work my way through the edges of Woking. But Compton is further to the west, and I was on unfamiliar ground.

I consulted CycleStreets for suggestions, and as usual it came up with some good ideas. But the fastest route suggested a lot of roads that I was already familiar with. The quietest route was complicated. The "balanced route" was a decent compromise, but I thought I could do better by mixing bits of each. I don't know of a way to edit routes from CycleStreets, so I turned to the Bike Route Toaster to recreate the CycleStreets suggestions that I liked. Bike Route Toaster has the added advantage that routes can easily be loaded onto my Garmin Edge.

It's the first time I've tried this, and up to a point it worked well. The glitches were down to me. In the first part of the journey I rediscovered a much quieter route to Bracknell than I've been using recently. And I managed to work my way round Bracknell mostly on cycle paths rather than on busy roads. All that went well. Unfortunately I hadn't been as smart as I thought in the route that I chose south from Bracknell, so I suffered a few miles through heavy traffic on fast roads through Camberley. From then on things went much better. The ride down through Frimley was fairly built up, but interesting. I had realised over breakfast that the final part of my plan went straight up and over the Hog's Back ridge (which didn't look like a great idea). I found a less strenuous alternative along part of the Pilgrims Way (National Cycle Route 22). So for the last few miles I deviated from the route that I'd loaded onto the GPS. It was a good call - the ride along NCR 22 was very pleasant.

Coming back I retraced my steps (steps?) as far as Frimley Green. I didn't fancy battling my way through Camberley again, so I decided to take a wider loop round Bracknell, through Deepcut, Lightwater, Windlesham and Ascot. I hadn't ridden that way before, and it looked like a much longer ride, but it was a lovely afternoon, and I had plenty of time. In the event it wasn't as far as I expected.

The total distance ended up at just over 70 miles.

A gem of a destination

For a long time my mental map of London tended to be made up of little pockets around certain tube stations. I am still vague about large areas of the city, but over the years the pockets have started to join up, so in some areas I can now find my way around fairly easily. My view of history tends to be a bit like that as well. I have pockets of knowledge around some of the major events and memorable characters. Some of the pockets join up, but I am embarrassed to be so vague about others.

All this was brought to mind by yesterday's destination: a little gem at Rycote, just outside Thame. It used to be the chapel for a house that was grand enough in its day to be visited by Charles I, and Elizabeth I; and for Henry VIII to spend one of his honeymoons there.

The grand house is long gone, but the chapel remains. Outside it looks like a very pretty little 15th century church. Inside it is famous for the fine 17th century woodwork. There is also an ancient yew tree in the churchyard.

I was shown round by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide, who pointed out the highlights, and gave me enough of the history to remind me of my patchy knowledge of great historical events and characters.

Of course I already knew the memorable stuff about some of the famous people who visited Rycote. Henry VIII (wives), Elizabeth I (body of a weak and feeble woman; heart of a king). But just inside the chapel the ceiling is covered with little gold stars, that were supposedly cut out by Charles I, from a set of playing cards. So I can add to my fragmented knowledge of an unhappy man - Charles I: "wrong but wromantic"*, head chopped off, used to cut up playing cards.

It was a gorgeous day for a ride. The sun shone all day, and although there was a light breeze, it never got strong enough to be described as a wind. I rode out through Henley and up to Stokenchurch before dropping over the escarpment down to Thame. Coming back I used the Phoenix trail to get to Princes Risborough, then home through High Wycombe.

The Phoenix trail is a bit of a mixed blessing on a long ride - it follows an old railway line, so it is flat and traffic free. The result is that it is heavily used by families, and progress can be a bit slow. But it's nice to see so many families cycling together. On the way I overheard the full gamut of parental encouragement, from "do hurry up Angela" and "come along Benjamin" through "watch where you are going Oliver", "look out Penelope"; to "not so fast Veronica" "come back William" and "Zac, where have you gone?".

The tally for the log book is one more church ticked off this year's list, 56 miles added to the annual total, the new bike has covered more than 500 miles, Eddington number risen to 44, and a couple of minor details added to Open Street Map.

---

* according to Sellars and Yeaman in "1066 and all that"

More on the chapel and here
More on the history
More on the ancient yew

Iffley & Radley

The weather forecast for Saturday was better than the forecast for Sunday, so I chose yesterday for my long ride, and two more churches for the destination. It turned out that the weather wasn't too bad for March. I got caught in a few showers, but only one that was heavy.

Both of the churches that I visited are fairly old. St Mary the Virgin at Iffley (in Oxford) dates from 1170, and St James the Great at Radley (near Abingdon) dates from 1290.

Iffley is the more famous of the two, as an example of Romanesque architecture. I particularly like the beak carvings around the door. Pictures of the whole building always look distorted, to my eyes at least. It seems too tall and narrow, but that's also how it looks in reality. They built churches that way in those days - without side aisles.

I hadn't visited Radley before, but it's another nice building, noted for four massive wooden posts supporting the roof. I suspect that I'm doing someone an injustice here, but Radley is also the first church I can recall from my cycling trips that has provided bicycle stands.

The round trip came to just over 75 miles. I got a bit lost coming into Oxford, but otherwise everything went to plan. For once I had even estimated the journey fairly accurately beforehand, so I made an early start and I wasn't too late getting home. Because of the distance I tried to save time by not doing as much riding as usual on the quiet back roads. That meant quite a lot of traffic on some stretches, but on the whole the roads were pretty quiet. It was a long haul though, with some fairly demanding hills over Christmas Common on the way out, and then the climb between Wallingford and Nettlebed on the way back. It's a lovely long fast drop down from Nettlebed to Henley, but there's a price to pay on the way up.

There were a lot of other cyclists out - some club runs, and some individuals - with a particularly large number in the Christmas Common area. Most of them looked pretty serious. However, there were also a few who looked as though they were finding the hills bit of a challenge. I suspect that I'm not the only one who is suffering the after-effects this morning.

Imagine my surprise

I've been getting more exercise over the last couple of weeks. One reason is the new bike. The other is lousy planning.

Today's trip was to visit two churches: St James at Shere, and St Peter and St Paul at Albury. On Saturday evening I worked it out at a round trip of about 50 miles, or maybe 60 at a stretch. By the time I got home this evening I had covered nearly 75 miles. I was out by nearly 50%. Even by my standards that's a big error. And for me it's still a bit far for a day trip.

Both the churches I visited have Saxon origins. So imagine my surprise when I got to Albury and discovered this one. It doesn't take an expert to realise that this isn't exactly Saxon. It turns out that the local landowner built two replacements for the old parish church in the middle of the nineteenth century. It sounds as though the village had to move a couple of miles westwards so that villagers didn't clutter up the new park that was being created around the big house, and there was a bit of a local religious disagreement, so each faction got their own new church.

The original parish church is a mile or two outside the new village, and is now looked after by the Churches Conservation Trust. Special thanks to the couple who helped me to find it. It would have been a long trip to repeat because I missed it by a couple of miles.

Apart from messing up the planning, and losing the destination the meteorological office had promised rain this afternoon, but failed to deliver (bless them). It was dry all day, and sunny for most of it. I've been forgiven for getting home late. So things went pretty well. Two more churches have been ticked off. The bike is thriving on it (even if I'm not) and the annual mileage is starting to look a bit more respectable.

The full size version is here

Medieval stained glass

All Saints at North Moreton was one of the two churches that I visited on Saturday. Saint Andrew, at East Hagbourne was the other. Both are close to Didcot.

All Saints has been described as the most perfect medieval church in Berkshire. Which is a little odd, given that it is in Oxfordshire. It isn't the church that has moved. It's the county boundary, which was shifted in 1974 (on April 1st), when Didcot and Wallingford became part of South Oxfordshire.

All Saints is a nice enough parish church, with one outstanding feature. The stained glass in the Stapleton Chapel dates from the late thirteenth century, and even to my uninformed eye, it looks superb.For something that it is over 700 years old, the colours are stunning.

Unfortunately Saint Andrew's church at East Hagbourne was closed when I got there, so I didn't get to see the carvings, which apparently are the highlight.

My route outwards was via Henley and Wallingford. I started along the back roads to Henley, but for the sake of speed I then followed main roads. It's quite a long climb out of Henley, so at that stage I was getting quite warm, but then the temperature dropped noticeably as I descended through Nettlebed to Wallingford in a bit of light fog.

Coming back I followed National Cycle Route 5 across the hills through Stoke Row to Reading, then I crossed Reading along the towpath beside the river. The subtle colours of blue and grey along the river in the dusk were striking, but by the time I came out of Reading it was getting dark and from there I just bashed along the main road to get home.

In the past I've never managed to follow cycle route 5 coming into Reading, because I drifted off route by missing a turning. As a result I've ended up negotiating some busy roads. This time, thanks to the OSM cycle map on the GPS (and, I suspect, some better signage out on the road) I managed to follow the Sustrans route properly.

It's a fun ride, diving down little lanes, and around a park to join the river at Caversham bridge. I found it a big improvement over my previous attempts to cross Reading, and a much more interesting way to get from one side of the city to the other.

All of the roads that I followed were already on the OSM map, but neither of the churches were, so I've now added them. It's getting harder to find places locally that need mapping, but since I got home I've noticed that there are some missing minor roads quite close to the route that I followed. Next time I need to plan some short diversions to plug a few gaps.

Jenkins 2010

These are the 15 churches in my list of destinations for this year, ranked by distance as the crow flies.

Fortuitously, CycleStreets has extended the limit of its route planning in the last few days, so I can use it for some good route ideas.

All I have to do now is the cycling.

Sir John d'Abernon

In Cycle Rides round London, Charles Harper starts his 1902 ride from Esher to Stoke D'Abernon: "Leaving the village behind and pursuing the Portsmouth road". This is now the A307. Maybe it was because the cup final was on at the time,  but on this saturday afternoon it wasn't too busy, so I followed the same route, past Claremont house. Charles continued to Cobham before turning left, but I took a shorter route on quieter roads across country.

Saint Mary, at Stoke D'Abernon is a pretty church, with a host of interesting monuments, and with his liking for churches as museums, Simon Jenkins gives it three stars.

The picture shows one of the the remarkable 14th century brasses, of Sir John D'Abernon, which is possibly the oldest of its kind in England. There are also some monuments of local gentry reclining on their tombs, looking very relaxed, a collection of old stained glass, and some wall paintings.

Often on this project I find a church locked, and even when they are open, many are deserted. But for the second time on this outing I received a warm, and informative welcome. The people of Surrey certainly know how to help visitors appreciate their churches.

Charles Harper believed in speaking his mind: "Stoke Dabbernun, as the rustics call it, is at once exhausted of interest when its church has been seen". Oh dear.

On the way home, just beyond Cobham, a motorbike drew alongside me, and asked if I knew where the nearest petrol station was. He was running very low on fuel. I directed him back to one I had passed about two miles earlier. He turned round. I carried on, around the corner, and passed another 100 yards further on. I just hope he had enough fuel for a couple of miles. 

Princess Charlotte

St. George’s church at Esher (bless you) is the next great English church to be ticked off my Jenkins quest.

The church was built in the 16th century, but superseded by the larger parish church that was built in the 19th century.

St George's church is associated with Princess Charlotte, daughter of George IV and heir to the throne, who died in childbirth aged 18. This is the monument to her, and her husband Leopold (who went on to become King of the Belgians). Had Charlotte lived she would have become queen, and there would have been no Queen Victoria.

The church remains consecrated, in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. I arrived just as they were locking up, but the lady in charge kindly kept it open for quarter of an hour, gave me a quick tour, and showed me the best places to photograph.

Things have improved since 1902, when Charles Harper visited for his "Cycle Rides round London". This is what he had to say (not long after Victoria died).

The old church of Esher, long since disused and kept locked and given over to spiders and dust, has a Royal Pew, built for the use of the Princess Charlotte and the Claremont household in 1816. It is a huge structure, in comparison with the size of the little church, and designed in the worst possible classic taste ; wearing, indeed, more the appearance of an opera -box than anything else.

The authorities (whoever they may be) charge a shilling for viewing this derelict church. It is distinctly not worth the money, because the architecture is contemptible, and all the interesting monuments have been removed to the modern building, on a quite different site, across the road.

It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that the death of the Princess Charlotte in her eighteenth year made a vast difference in English history or, at least, English Court history. Had she survived, there would have been no William the Fourth, and Queen Victoria would never have been queen. Think of it ! No Victorian Era, no Victoria Station, no Victoria Embankment, no Victoria in Australia, no Victoria in Vancouver Island ; and, in short, none of those thousand things and places "Victoria" and "Victorian" we are surrounded with. None of those, and certainly no Albert Halls, memorials, streets, and places commemorative of that paragon of men.

Visiting giants

The "giants" at Aldworth are nine 14th century stone effigies in St Mary's church. They represent members of local aristocracy. The De La Beche family were knights, retainers to the king, and Sheriffs of Oxfordshire and Berkshire. The carvings were bashed about a bit in Cromwell's time, but are impressive nonetheless. Not least because they are supposed to be life sized. Some of the knights are represented as being over seven feet tall, and one is shown with a dwarf who apparently he took around with him to emphasise his own height.

I had been through Aldworth once before, when I got lost mapping the Round Berkshire Cycle Route, which runs nearby. I hadn't see the church before though, because it lies to the edge of the village. From outside it is nice enough, but not particularly impressive. It is inside that is remarkable - mainly because of the giants.

It's been a good day for a ride. The weather was sunny and still - but not too hot. The bike was riding well, and I covered 57 miles in total. I followed the Round Berkshire Route for most of the way out, through Reading. My return journey was more-or-less in a straight line across country through Goring & Streetley, then Henley to home. That's a straight line on the X and Y axes by the way. Vertically it went up and down quite a bit, with some rapid descents and slow climbs. It seems that a week of pulling two heavy panniers around Northumberland and the borders has left me a bit less daunted by hills than I used to be.

Apart from a few stretches on main routes, and through Reading, the roads were fairly quiet, and there were not many other cyclists around. I saw a few, but I was obviously away from the main family and club routes. I traced the whole route on the GPS, but I think most of it is already on Open Street Map. There will be more time to upload the trace tomorrow, and check for anything that needs fixing.

St Mary's was the next church in my Jenkins quest, leaving four more to visit this year. I would definitely include it among the highlights.

St. Mary's, Haddenham

The next church in my Jenkins quest was the delightful St Mary's in Haddenham (Buckinghamshire). It is mainly noted for a Norman Aylesbury font, and for carvings on the pews, but for me the real treats were a formidable Early English tower, a light and airy interior (very little Victorian stained glass) and a charming location, next to the village duckpond.

I rode out via Marlow and Stokenchurch. After a break for lunch surrounded by ducks I rode a couple of miles further on to Nether Winchendon, where there is another Jenkins church.

Oddly the distances to the next eight churches on my list only differ by a mile or so. Although they are only a few miles apart, Haddenham ranks 20th by distance from home, while Nether Winchendon ranks 33rd, and doesn't come close to this years list. When I got there, the scaffolding was up to repair the roof, and the church was closed. The interior seems to be the main attraction, so I've decided it deserves another visit if I am still doing this next year.

After Nether Winchendon I worked my way back via Princes Risborough and High Wycombe. My original plan had been to pass by Lacey Green windmill but in the end I chose to stay on the main road for a faster return. If I had realised that the mill was open today I would probably have made the extra effort.

The weather was sunny and not too windy. I added sixty three miles, or just over 100km, to this years tally without covering much new ground for Open Street Map. There were a lot of other riders out, on a glorious day, and I only hope that they enjoyed themselves as much as I did.

St Mary, Thame

Today was a good example of my self-imposed Jenkins quest at its best. The basic idea is that I use the bike to visit the best of England's churches (as chosen by Simon Jenkins). Each time I visit one, the next is a bit further away. So it forces me to discover new routes, and gradually increase my mileage.

I like old churches. They have been the heart of their communities for generations, and at their best they capture a unique atmosphere. Sometimes exploring my destination is an additional bonus. But when it comes to the crunch the main point of the quest is not the destination, it is the ride.

When I reached Thame, the church was locked. It looks impressive, and it sounds as though the interior would be interesting, but all I could see was the outside and the churchyard. I suppose I could have gone to find a key, but time was short, so I moved on.

Thame isn't very well covered on Open Street Map, and I think I will be able to add a few more streets. But my journey out to Thame, via Marlow and Stokenchurch, then back via Princes Risborough and High Wycombe is already well covered.

It's now a common experience, on the long climb out of Marlow to be overtaken by someone older but fitter, who passes with a cheery "hello", at a much faster speed. Infuriating. Today was no exception.

On the return journey, along the Phoenix  trail from Thame to Princes Risborough, other cyclists  were mostly families. It was nice to see a wide age range, including little girls on pink bikes, little boys on bikes with lots of gizmos, and fathers on high-tech mountain bikes. Elsewhere the people on bikes were mostly what  I think of as "proper cyclists" with knobbly legs, and brightly coloured lycra.

Beyond Princes Risborough I rode past the windmill at Lacey Green, then RAF headquarters at High Wycombe. It's a lovely fast ride down a long descent from Lacey Green to High Wycombe.

So a special day. Fifty-odd miles in total. And all of this because I set out to visit a church in Thame, which wasn't even open when I got there. And why not?

Silchester angel

I managed a long ride today, of just over 60 miles, to reach Silchester and tick off another church in my Jenkins quest.

St Mary at Silcester is another lovely old church, which lies inside the surviving walls of the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, and dates from the 13th century. It contains some impressive woodwork, including a row of angels along the top of the Chancel Screen.

The route I took was a dash along the A4 to Reading, just to cover distance quickly. Then I followed National Cycle Route 4 along the Kennet & Avon Canal. This part was new ground for me, and it was very pleasant, though a bit slow because of the number of people who were out for a walk on a fine Bank Holiday Monday.

When I reached Midgham I turned south, and made my way on more familiar roads to Aldermaston then Silchester. To get home I followed National Cycle Route 23, and the Round Berkshire Cycle Route.

I should have got myself a bit better organised for lunch. Shops were closed, pubs were busy, and I left it all a bit too late. I should have attempted more long rides in recent weeks, so that my legs weren't suffering quite so much as they now are. But the destination, the route, and the weather couldn't have been bettered. It was a good way to spend a bank holiday.

Rickmansworth

This picture of barges at Rickmansworth festival dates from nearly two years ago, but today I've passed the same point on route from Maidenhead to Saint Albans.

Sustrans National Cycle Route 61 would have taken me nearly all of the way, along the Jubilee River, the Grand Union canal, Colne Valley and Ebury way, with a few linking sections. In practice I chose to bypass the Jubilee river part, and instead I worked round the north of Slough to Uxbridge for the sake of time.

By the time I had made my way there and back I had covered 71 miles (and a bit). That's my longest ride yet, and the first of more than 100km. In the process I crossed off another church from my Jenkins quest (Holy Rood at Watford). It was a great outing, and a marvellous route, but I feel exhausted.

Statistics for 2008

Total mileage: 3,020 miles, in 214 trips, averaging 14 miles.

Eddington number: currently 30, up from 12 at the end of 2007.

Best outing: reaching Ewelme, and the church of St Mary the Virgin- the longest, and final trip in my efforts to reach 12 outstanding English churches, which I completed 7 months early - in May.

Worst outing: returning from Henley, in driving sleet, back in February.

Most memorable cycling event: catapulting myself over the handlebars in Windsor.

Favourite route: the ten mile loop over Winter Hill and Cookham, and back along the Thames to Maidenhead is the route that I have ridden most often, but....

Best route: the circle through Marlow, Frieth, Fingest, and Hambleden.

Activity on this blog: 242 posts (this is number 243), 9,317 hits in 4,314 visits, by 1,620 visitors (including roughly one in a million of European internet users).
And on the way, I'm proud of making a very small contribution to Open Streetmap, including a plot of the Round Berkshire Cycle route



OSM 2008: A Year of Edits from ItoWorld on Vimeo.