Le Tour de Wiltshire

[Cathryn]

Introduction

A few months ago, during lockdown, we were out on a family run (a fairly rare occurrence) on the railway line which runs between Marlborough, where we live, and Swindon to the north. My son (11), recovering his breath, looked up at the signpost and read ‘Cirencester - 35 miles’. “Can we cycle there?” he asked?

Poor child. He had no idea.

A three day bike ride, of roughly 30 miles each day, was planned and booked. Enough to see if my Dude liked cycle touring but not too much to put him off. We booked hotels. We had to change the dates due to lockdown easing rules but finally, during half-term, we finally did it!

The plan was this!

Day 1 - Ride to Chippenham from our home just outside Marlborough. We wouldn’t go the direct route so it would be approximately 35 miles. Camp out overnight...at a Premier Inn.

Day 2 - Ride to Cirencester, roughly 30 miles. Camp overnight...at a Travelodge.

Day 3 - Ride home to Marlborough, roughly 35 miles. Sleep in our own little beds.

Our bikes are a random bunch. I’ll be taking my beloved Thorn tourer, Liesl. I’ll be using all the panniers I own, pretending to be on a much more glamorous, exciting tour. The Husband is taking his Whyte mountain bike with a bike-packing saddle-bag. (NO idea why he’s not taking his Dawes Supergalaxy, but there you go). My Dude is taking his Trek Mountain bike (his only bike) with just a handle-bar bag.

 

[Cathryn]

Friday

We were in no rush to leave. We wanted to arrive at about 5ish and it was only 35 miles so sometime after lunch would be fine. Just as well - my Dude was at a birthday sleepover the night before and not much sleep was achieved, so a gentle morning resting was in order. We packed quite quickly - the forecast was sunshine all weekend, no chance of rain as I happily told the Husband. He was using a bikepacking-style saddle-bag for the first time - it swung quite badly when he attached it but after a bit of googling, he was able to secure it. We locked up the house and set off.

The first ten miles or so, to Devizes, I knew already. We dropped down the Alton Barnes hill and wound our way through the flower-strewn lanes of Pewsey Vale before getting onto the canal through Devizes. The tow-path was hard-packed and we flew along. We stopped in Devizes for ice-cream - my sleep-deprived son was flagging and getting irritable but a two-scoop ice-cream and a full-fat coke revived him! Usually we eat well but we have no qualms about letting him eat what he wants when he’s burning off energy. Unfortunately, that was the last time I ever saw my debit card, which we had to cancel that evening.

We then had six or seven miles along the canal tow-path and it was utter bliss. It was quite busy around Devizes and down the mile-long drop alongside the Caen Locks but quietened down afterwards and we rolled along. Spring is just perfect at the moment - the hedgerows were full of cow parsley, my very favourite, and it was just so pretty and so sunny. My heart just sang. We rolled past narrowboats, some holiday-boats and many residential and finally, sadly left the canal at Melksham. Melksham town was busy and unattractive, but we stopped in a little park for cold drinks and more snacks, preparing for the final push into Chippenham.

Those final miles included the fairytale village of Lacock, a National Trust village where Harry Potter was filmed. It’s just gorgeous. I was keen to cruise around slowly and take photos for the Insta ,but my boys were getting warm and were keen to press on, so we did. Our route (planned using Cycle.Travel) was beautiful - all quiet country lanes that got us right into Chippenham, where we had the inevitable few miles of unpleasant urban cycling before we got to our glamorous lodging, the Premier Inn. We’d done 35 miles and had had a wonderful afternoon’s cycling.

Premier Inn are notably bike-friendly - they didn’t bat an eyelid as we rolled our bikes along the corridor and into our room. The Husband walked over to the nearby supermarket and bought us a room picnic and we just chilled out.

 

[Cathryn]

Saturday

With 30 miles on the ticket for the day, we were in no rush to set off so we chilled out in our room for a while. There was a Gregg’s next to the hotel so I popped out for breakfast (sausage rolls for the boys, pains au chocolat for moi). It was about ten when we finally slunk out of the hotel.

The route called for half a mile on a busy A road. I glanced at it and knew immediately that we wouldn't be asking our lovely boy to cycle on that. There was a footpath which seemed to link up with the quieter lane a little further up but as we cycled along trying to find it, it turned onto a golf club and the pavement ended at the greenway. We stood and stared, a group of fancy golfers looked back at us. My husband, who speaks Golf, asked if there was a path and, bless them, the fancy golfers told us that there was indeed a path across the greenway - just unmarked to keep riff-raff out. So we bumped along the greenway, waving merrily to golfers, lifted our bikes over the 5-bar gate at the end and set off on our adventure.

I can honestly say that today was one of my favourite days cycling in the UK. The weather was glorious. The route was beautiful - endless, gently rolling hills lined with hedges and cow parsley. There was very little to note, just lovely happily family cycling. We pretended to be pros - Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (me), Sam Bennett (the Dude), Cav (the Husband). We pretended to be characters from my son’s favourite Redwall novels. We just rolled along having fun and it was perfect. At one point, my lovely son cycled up alongside me and handed me a sprig of my beloved cow parsley to wear in my helmet. This September, he goes up to secondary school and we know that he will grow up quickly. We are cherishing these final months of his childhood and this little moment will always remain very special to me.

At lunchtime, we arrived in lovely Tetbury, a gorgeous Cotswold market town. We wanted pizza but there was no pizza, so we had to make do with Co-Op sandwiches on a bench. I did sneak into the stylish bike shop, Veloton, with its cool little coffee bar and my son had his first ice-cream of the day. The afternoon was more of the same - cruising along happily. The Husband had to pump up his back tyre a few times but before we knew it, we were dropping into Cirencester, our destination for the day.

None of us had been to Cirencester before and it was a revelation - a beautiful Cotswold town with stylish cafes and independent shops. It was buzzing with people, all of whom were clean and chic. We’d been recommended the ice-cream shop Chocolate Drizzle - I had to queue for about 20 minutes but it was worthwhile. My mango sorbet was perfect!

Our glamorous hotel for the night was the Travelodge, about a mile and a half out of town. If we’d stayed in town, I would quite have liked to have explored Cirencester whilst the boys chilled, but it was a bit too far so we basically hunkered down in our hotel, watched TV and got a very dodgy Burger King for dinner. I’m learning that family touring is all about compromise - I drag the boys around on a bike all day and, in return, we watch the Simpsons and eat junk. I can handle that compromise.

 

[Cathryn]

Sunday

Despite my promise to the Husband that it wouldn’t rain all weekend...rain was forecast all day Sunday. Nothing dreadful but drizzle all day. We had no waterproofs so resigned ourselves to getting wet. As we left the hotel about ten, the skies were overcast and we had long sleeves on for the first time. Rolling down back into Cirencester, it was a little chilly. Nothing dreadful but I kind of wished I had an extra layer.

For the journey home, we followed signposted Sustrans routes. I’d not done this before and I was so impressed. On the whole, the signposting was excellent as long as you kept a sharp eye out for the signs. We rode through pretty villages until we arrived in the Cotswold Water Park area and veered off onto an old railway line, now transformed into a cycle and hiking route. For the next ten miles or so, we cruised along the loveliest hard-packed gravel that smelled of cow-parsley. Just gorgeous. The final miles, just after Cricklade, turned much less comfortable - they’re rebuilding part of the track for the local steam railway and it got very bumpy. We were relieved to be back on tarmac heading into Swindon.

I was a little nervous about cycling through Swindon. I know they have loads of wide cycle paths but I assumed we’d get very lost. In the end, our ten miles through Swindon were an absolute dream. The cycle paths are wonderful - wide and smooth, and the sign-posting was as good as anything you’d find in Europe. Genuinely blown away. We followed the signage easily, remarking that only idiots could get lost!

We got lost.

We’d stopped at an M&S foodstore to get some snacks (I was hungry and the boys didn’t exactly strongly resist my offer of buns) and, in a sugar haze, missed the left turn immediately back on the path. There followed some convoluted map-reading by me but eventually we got back on track, found the missing turn and kept going. We spent a few miles back on an old rail trail with wonderful views over the Wiltshire hills - we were so surprised at how nice Swindon was! Finally, we cruised through Coate Water Park, climbed the steep slopes up and over the M4 into Chiseldon and rolled happily into one of our favourite local bike stops, the Three Trees farm shop. This was familiar territory now - we ride here a lot and knew exactly what we wanted to eat. So we sat in the sun and ate our sausage sandwiches.

The final ten miles home were very familiar to us - the rail trail down into Marlborough and the little lanes back to our village. The Husband and I could feel the miles in our legs. The Dude pranced along as if he’d just started riding. Darn youth! As we made the final turn, with one mile to go, he exclaimed loudly as he’d been pooped on by a bird and was insisting we clean it up. The Husband and I rolled our eyes that he was such a drama queen he couldn’t do one mile with a bit of poo on him, but we pulled over and found his leg absolutely covered with the biggest bird poo we’d ever seen. Poor child, he said it had actually hurt when it hit him. We cleaned him up, giggling (having taken a photo first) and climbed the final hill before the descent into our village. 40 miles for the day - our son’s longest ever bike ride.

Conclusion

This was honestly a perfect little weekend. Enough miles to feel like we’d travelled, not so many that we were exhausted. Best of all, our Dude said he liked cycle touring enough to do the King Alfred Way in six days in the summer. So once we’d showered, unpacked and had some food, I got out the computer, made a spreadsheet and started booking! We're all booked up!

A triumph!

 

[stoatsngroats]

A great trip for you all, well done for getting sorted finally.
The travelogue and images whet my appetite, so thanks for the effort.

 

[Rusty Nails]

What a great report. Sounds like a marvellous way for the family to spend time together and to introduce the youngster to touring.

 

[bluenotebob]

Nice write-up, great photos and what a wonderful experience for your boy. I hope you do the KAW soon - and I look forward to reading about it.

 

[jay clock]

FABULOUS. Look forward to meeting you in the summer!

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Wonderful write up!

I grew up in Cricklade but haven’t been back since I joined the RAF in 1980. It’s a lovely area (if you ignore Swindon) and I really must make the effort to visit and relive my youth.

Looking forward to the King Alfred Way report.

 

[HelenD123]

So happy for you. Sounds like the perfect trip .

 

[Illaveago]

A very interesting read.
I was trying to visualise which route you took around my town . I assume that you must have gone through Kington St Michael from the golf course ?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Great write up! Well done to the three of ye!

 

[matticus]

A very interesting read.
I was trying to visualise which route you took around my town . I assume that you must have gone through Kington St Michael from the golf course ?

... and I'd like to know your Cricklade-Swindon-Marlborough route, as I've never found any usable infrastructure in the area!

(mainly as I've tended to stick to the road-routes I know, but I have tried Swindon, and not done very well ... )

 

[Cathryn]

A very interesting read.
I was trying to visualise which route you took around my town . I assume that you must have gone through Kington St Michael from the golf course ?

We did!! We hopped over the gate at the end of the golf course, turned right. We turned left at the junction and basically went straight up the marvellously named Honey Knob Hill (!) straight over the M4. Your village is BEAUTIFUL!! That little cafe looked lovely - I was gutted we'd only done a mile and couldn't stop.

 

[Cathryn]

... and I'd like to know your Cricklade-Swindon-Marlborough route, as I've never found any usable infrastructure in the area!

(mainly as I've tended to stick to the road-routes I know, but I have tried Swindon, and not done very well ... )

Of course. From Cricklade, we followed the sustrans route from the B4553. It was fine on a tourer but I'd struggle with a road bike on that path. It got VERY uncomfy for a while where they are adding new rails but we veered off west at that point and headed south on Hayes Knoll Road. We turned left onto Tadpole Lane into Swindon and then followed the signposted Sustrans route 45 all the way round Swindon. It heads west as far as Old Town and then Coate Water park, and then we cut up (still on the 45) over the M4 crossing near Chiseldon, through Chiseldon and then the wonderful railway line to Marlborough.

I suspect that the Swindon element was far from the most efficient route through the city but it worked really well for us with a child. There was only one signpost that we missed just immediately left after the M&S food and then almost immediately left again. Everything else was astonishingly well signposted.