Easingwold, a dozen miles north of York, is a pleasant market town (pic) – pubs, handsome square, friendly local vibe, farmers chatting by the bus stop – but is unlikely to make those tedious ‘1000001 Places to Visit Before You Die’ lists. Yet it has one very odd, virtually unknown, attraction, and that was why…
Author: Rob Ainsley
Don 2: Sheffield to Goole
Day 2 of the River Don ride featured a lot of weirs, a lot of town centre, a lot of drab flatland, and glimpses of the Netherlands. I stayed in an EasyHotel last night: £20 for a clean, modern, ensuite room right in the centre of Sheffield. No windows – an advantage, as I couldn’t…
Don 1: Dunford Bridge to Sheffield
River Don Source Great Grains Clough, Dunford Bridge Mouth River Ouse, Goole Length 70 miles Towns Penistone, Sheffield, Rotherham, Doncaster, Goole Create Routes or Search for a route from millions at MapMyRide The first of my Rivers Rides was a two-day, 70-mile scoot from the Pennines to the Ouse along the River Don. Day 1…
Bristol: Miles in the Banksy
Bit of route research round Bristol on my folder. By gum, the city’s unrecognisable from when I used to visit, occasionally, during my time living in Bath in the 1990s. So am I, except that Bristol’s looking newer, smarter and wealthier.
Ilkley: On Ilkla Moor baht ’elmet
I’d never been to Ilkley. Or Otley. Or Ilkley Moor, with or without a hat. So today I did something about it, cycling up and over Yorkshire’s most famous tract of upland: the windswept plateau which gave birth to its ‘national anthem’, On Ilkla Moor baht’ at. I took the morning commuter train from York…
Stanhope 3: Case for a winter bike
Cycled home from route research in Weardale just as winter arrived. Time to switch to a winter bike, then. Hmm. I don’t have a winter bike. Better do something about that, then.
Stanhope 2: Railtrails and reservoirs
More thrilling route research round Stanhope and Weardale.
Stanhope 1: England’s highest roads
More cycle route research, this time in chatty, friendly, hilly Weardale – home of England’s highest three roads.
Salisbury 2: Plain speaking, Gold Hills
Two more days of glorious sunny autumn days doing cycle route research round Salisbury. Obviously I couldn’t take my bike everywhere I wanted, because of stern, unbending military rules making me feel most unwelcome as a cyclist. I don’t mean the Army, on the Plain. I mean English Heritage, at Stonehenge.
Salisbury 1: Stonehenge (fail)
Route research round Salisbury. Stonehenge: Fail. There are still many unanswered riddles about the ancient monument, such as, where am I supposed to park my bike, English Heritage? Needs better signage and parking. Staff oblivious, press office hopeless about bike access and facilities. Honestly, anyone would think it was the Stone Age.