River and canal: All day ride Saturday 19 August

Outside Wisley Church

At Pyrford Lock after lunch.

Wisley airfield
 

Stephanie's summer ride took us on a beautiful route, with many sights of interest.  We mainly followed her along cool waterways, and passed by a huge Victorian mill (with linked enormous millpond), through a community farm, past a leading national garden, and through a disused WWII airfield along the way.  Our route was shared with walkers, rowers, a few other cyclists, canal boats, rowing boats and canoes, but very few cars over the entire day, which was a real pleasure enjoyed by all of us. We passed a boat race on the Thames, taking care through yelling supporters outside their clubhouse on the Thames towpath; and a couple of us were nearly knocked off the Wey towpath by an enthusiastic coach running alongside racing canoeists!

Twelve of us met at Kingston Bridge on a glorious warm and sunny August morning, starting along the Thames towpath to Hampton Court. Here we crossed the bridge to follow the towpath from East Molesey.  The river was lovely this morning, with not as many people as is usual on a Saturday afternoon, but still quite a few enjoying watery activities.  There were a few puddles after rain earlier in the week, and this route can be a little rough in places, but generally conditions were good. Toni had unfortunately brought the wrong bike, so left us after a few miles.  The rest of us carried on through to Walton on Thames, a couple taking some of the route in parallel by road, then Stephanie lead us along the cycle route through Weybridge to the River Wey Navigation.
Much of this route is lightly shaded by trees, so it was a pleasant ride all the way to Pyrford Lock, where we arrived early for lunch at the Anchor.

Back on the road, we followed the quiet lane through Wisley to the pedestrian bridge over the A3 just past the RHS Wisley entrance. Having crossed it, we found quiet fields (including the airfield)of maize and grazing cows, with our route taking us through a farmyard and onto a quiet lane. This had recently been resurfaced with large pebbles so we had a very bumpy ride for a mile or so!

We spent the afternoon on quiet lanes making our way back to Molesey and the Thames, having enjoyed a wonderful day's ride.  Many thanks Stephanie for a great ride and to all for your pleasant company on a lovely day out.