ABC Towns and Villages

[uphillstruggler]

Yup, Feb 12.

That plant at the base of the sign looks a little sad in your picture

It was a lovely day for a ride yesterday.

 

[EltonFrog]

Happy birthday Charles Darwin, happy birthday to you.

Obscure post of the day.

 

[lazybloke]

E & F. Am currently at the office in "G" but didn't see a suitable sign!

 

[Vantage]

42 and a bit miles to grab Orrell

then a crap load of climbing later, Parbold.

Lots of nice friendly drivers today

 

[Shadow]

Areas of this exercise are not going to plan and feel I am being left behind - am out riding but in the wrong places!

I

J - taking a bye for this.

And as an aside, here is a lovely pub that is in the sign-less hamlet of Dragons Green, mentioned upthread months ago!

 

[EltonFrog]

Areas of this exercise are not going to plan and feel I am being left behind - am out riding but in the wrong places!

I
View attachment 466764

J - taking a bye for this.

And as an aside, here is a lovely pub that is in the sign-less hamlet of Dragons Green, mentioned upthread months ago!
View attachment 466763

You’ve got plenty of time, it’s not a race. Jacobs Well is within a reasonable ride from you isn’t it?

 

[Shadow]

Jacobs Well is within a reasonable ride from you isn’t it?

Ha, well-spotted, I've never heard of it!! Checking a well-known online map, its only a 100 km round trip - but not on great roads.
Will consider it, but probably not for long!

 

[lazybloke]

Ha, well-spotted, I've never heard of it!! Checking a well-known online map, its only a 100 km round trip - but not on great roads.
Will consider it, but probably not for long!

Depending on what you mean by not great, there are some nice routes from the South.

You can avoid roads entirely by taking NCN223 aka Downslink, which goes right through Jacobs Well. I've been using the towpath part of this in recent weeks on my road bike - a bit slow but dry, no problem.
NCN223 does divert onto roads for a couple of miles in Guildford, but you can avoid this by looking for the White House PH in Guildford. This is where the route goes over a bridge and up the HIgh street, but if instead you go through the car park and through an underpass you'll get back onto the Tow Path. Stay on this for a couple of miles, past a lock and nature reserve. Turn off when it intersects with Bowers Lane, which leads to Clay Lane - at this point you're on a shared path for the final mile to Jacobs Well.

Personally I prefer faster progress on small roads, so I've attached a TCX from Ellens Green area. This takes you through a ford at Shere, up a "slight" hill (Coombe Lane), and past a prison. This is nearly all fields, woodland and occasional villages.
The lanes only peter out about 3 miles from Jacobs Well. From Tithebarns Lane jump onto the A247 for a few hundred yards to cross the A3, then immediately take the first exit of the roundabout onto a tiny section of the B2215 (feels a bit like a lorry park). This takes you to an offramp from the other side of the A3 - where there is an shared path that runs alongside the north-east bound carriageway. It's noisy but you only have to follow for about a mile before you pick up NCN223 at Clay Lane as above.

 

[redflightuk]

went out for a P this afternoon. A nice wander around the lanes and a couple of miles on the disused railway line. Got back to the Stables just before the rain.

 

[Shadow]

Depending on what you mean by not great, there are some nice routes from the South.

Above and beyond the call of duty - thanks. Will consider further!

 

[Vantage]

The nearest Q for me is too bloody far so this I think will be my first bye.

 

[lazybloke]

Finally got Guildford for G. Didn't find a traditional sign, so have this modern monstrosity outside the leisure centre.
The focus problem is a scratched lens on a loan phone, but the appalling composition and cropping is all my own work!

I'm getting near to a cluster of trickier letters that will have me going longer distances on unfamiliar roads. Excellent timing for the longer hours of daylight and better weather, but X is a PITA. Think it will be the only one I miss, unless I can find something 'creative'.

 

[Vantage]

I got Rivington and Standish today.

 

[LeetleGreyCells]

It's been a while since my last ABC ride, so I went out today and got F and G:

And small aeroplanes at Netherthorpe airfield:

 

[steverob]

Finally got "Y" done, almost two months after I did "W"!

Village of Yarnton, to the west of Oxford, on quite an eventful ride (full write up in the Lunacy Challenge Chatzone thread).

Unlikely I'll get "Z" done any time soon, but I might consider it for late in the year. We'll see...