Past Ride
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Sat Sep 14th 2024
| Ride and Stride for Churches 2024 | 2* |
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Leader:Steve Swanton |
Start Time:9:30 am |
Start Location:OMH |
Description:The second Saturday in September sees the annual Ride and Stride event in aid of the Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust (further details at: https://ohct.org.uk/ride-stride/ ). The idea is to either stride or ride (awheel or ahoof) to visit as many Oxfordshire churches as you like during the day. Many churches will be open between 10am and 6pm (thanks to the generosity of many volunteers) making for an interesting, sociable ride and a great day out. Discovering historic gems, often in hidden corners of local villages, away from the beaten track, is one of the great charms of this event.The intention is for an all-day ride at leisurely 2* pace (17-20km/h or 11-13mph) covering around 40 miles with not too many hills and (obviously) a lot of stops. Some will be brief and some longer depending on particular points of interest and, where churches are open, the chance to look around and the temptation of refreshments. In recent years we've been north to Witney (2021), stayed around Wantage (2022) and northwest to Faringdon (2023). So this year we will head eastwards through the springline villages to Didcot returning through the Vale - see provisional route below. This would enable us to visit up to 26 churches if we manage the whole route, many of which we haven't visited before for Ride & Stride. But we won't be in a rush and there are lots of short-cut options depending how the time goes... We will stop for a café or pub lunch along the way (probably in Didcot). It's not compulsory to do the whole ride and we can advise on routes home. Riders are welcome to join us en-route too. For those who fancy the whole day, we'll expect to be back in Grove between 6 and 7pm - but lights recommended. Participants are encouraged to seek sponsorship or make a donation. This is split between the OHCT and a participating church you can nominate. This year Lorna and I have set up a donation page through Goodhub supporting St John's parish church in Grove: see https://app.goodhub.com/ohct-steve-lorna-ride-stride-2024. Please contact me for more information and/or please let me know if you’d like to come for all or part of the ride. Guest riders will be very welcome. It's an interesting and fun day out and a very social day awheel. Do join us for some or all of the day. |
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Riders:Anke OttoDavid Bridge Gareth Smith Lorna Swanton Roger Postbeschild Steve Swanton Val Smith Riders = 7 Weather: Report:We had a beautiful sunny day for this year's ride. We managed to visit 25 churches over a long day. Most of the churches were open, allowing us to have a quick look around inside, and provided light refreshments to keep us going.Our first stop was at St John’s in Grove. Prewarned of our early start, Terry the welcomer was already set up in the entrance hall. After signing in, a group photo, inside the church for a change this time. Then it was a short hop to Grove Methodist church, where we surprised the welcomers by our pre-10am arrival. We had at least a couple of miles to cycle to church #3, Holy Trinity in Charlton before we headed out into the villages. At West Lockinge, it was a delight to find All Soul’s chapel open for the first time on a visit. Hidden up a small driveway off the village green, it’s in a delightfully peaceful setting. There is a fine panoramic view towards Wantage and the Downs from the edge of the well-kept cemetery. But we couldn’t help noticing the significant subsistence cracks in the south wall of the nave, highlighting the challenges in maintaining our ancient chapels and churches. At East Lockinge, All Saints was being decorated with flowers for an afternoon wedding and we just managed to visit flower-bedecked Ardington church before their wedding party started to arrive. From Ardington we followed the Icknield Greenway to cross the Ginge Brook and then enjoyed the lovely descent into West Hendred. Holy Trinity, nestling within its ancient graveyard near to the brook was probably the most picturesque and atmospheric church of the day. At East Hendred, St Augustine’s parish church was open, but we could only view St. Amand’s chapel attached to the manor house from a distance, although there was a signing sheet for it at nearby St Mary’s catholic church. With 10 churches visited by 12:15, we now had a longer stretch of cycling, continuing along the Icknield Greenway to the Harwell campus and then down the Winnaway into Harwell village. The impressively large St. Matthew’s was the first of 11 new churches for us along the route. The interior had recently been refurbished with the pews removed and the nave carpeted to make an open community space that revitalised the building. By now we were all starting to feel hungry (despite biscuits consumed at the churches along the way) and as we passed the Hart of Harwell, we were enticed by the scent of spices. Investigation revealed that the pub was open. It has recently reopened as a curry house and a curry lunch made for an unexpected and pleasant change. Rested and replete, we resumed our ride into Didcot, visiting the baptist, catholic and ancient All Saint’s churches in quick succession, all completely different in design and atmosphere. By now, Gareth and Val needed to head back for an evening event and David decided to join them. They returned to Grove via Milton Park while the remaining four of us continued on to the modern church of St Peter’s. This church, in the south of Didcot, is notable for the train on its glittering weathervane and an amazing collection of individually designed kneelers that were on display across the pews. After a quick stop at the methodist church, we headed out of Didcot on NCN5 then continued on to isolated SS Peter & Paul at Appleford. Turning back onto the B4016, next stop was Sutton Courtenay. Disappointingly, the church was closed with no signing on sheet to complete. However, we took the time to pay our respects to Asquith and Orwell buried in the churchyard. At this point, Roger decided to head for home, while the remaining 3 of us continued on to Drayton. St. Peter’s church was still open and we were ushered through to their hall at the side where we enjoyed a sit down, chocolate biscuits and a very welcome cup of tea. Back on our bikes, we made a loop through old Drayton, stopping briefly by the Baptist church, all locked up near the green, then retraced our steps before turning south to Milton. Both churches there were open. At the Methodist church, we saw that Gareth, Val and David had preceded us. We had just signed is as only the sixth, seventh and eighth visitors of the day, when two breathless American ladies on tandem dashed in, signed up and rode off in a hurry to catch a train from Didcot. We met a further Ride & Strider at St Blaise, where the welcomer was just in the process of closing up when we all arrived. From Milton we took the bridleway under the A34 to Steventon. The going was only a little muddy in places on the Milton side but after the A34 we joined the ancient, cobbled causeway through to Steventon green. A little bumpy but great fun. Passing along the road by the Causeway over the level crossing we arrived at S Michaels and all angels church, at 5:55pm. We weren’t surprised to find it closed. However, we took the opportunity for a brief rest, sitting in the evening sunshine before continuing on over Cow Common to the Hanneys. After a photo stop beside St James in West Hanney, we decide to follow the road rather than the shorter track back to Grove. This also provided the opportunity to stop at St James in Denchworth, our 25th and final church, where we were delighted to see a white peahen and three chicks on the small green. We returned to Grove at 7:10 after a very long, tiring but satisfying day. Thank you to everyone for your convivial company and especially to all the welcomers we met who make it all possible. As always, a grand day out. | ||
Distance:59.71 km (37.10 mi) | Ride Details:https://ridewithgps.com/trips/221726307 | |
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| Proposed Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48176367" | ||
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