The
Wandle Way to Wimbledon Windmill
At
Beddington Park on Saturday ten turned up, including two complete newcomers, despite
a coldish, greyish, unpromising day.
Colin took the newcomers and three regulars up to Flitton’s, a
traditional tea stop with big, if bleak, outdoor facilities south of the Smallholdings
but only two wanted a longer ride up Wimbledon Hill with Maggie and me. The plan was to suss out Megan’s, a cafe on
Wimbledon High Street with heated outdoor tables which welcomes groups of four;
but since you have to book a table, to carry on this time and have our outdoor coffee
at the Windmill Cafe.
Karen
K would in normal times be regarded as a newbie but recruitment is vigorous at
the moment, so someone whose first venture with the club was the All Day
Walton-on-Thames ride two months ago is now considered an old hand! Roger was our other companion, rarely without
Anna, who had eaten something spectacularly dodgy on Thursday. Get well soon, Anna.
We
decided upon the gentle but circuitous route all the way up the Wandle Path to
Earlsfield and on the way, at the Hack Bridge, while going through the delightful
little public garden that Claudio Funari, a local resident. has created for the
enjoyment of all, we came across the creator himself, proudly showing us his
third certificate of recognition!
Claudio Funari in his garden on the Wandle at the Hack Bridge
At
Earlsfield we headed west to cross the busy Durnsford Road at the lights and
enter Wimbledon Park under the overground Underground, Wombling free. Sooner or later, anyone who goes to Wimbledon
High Street has to climb a hill and since we had taken the river route we did
it all at once up Home Park Road.
Once
Megan’s (not difficult to spot) was duly sussed (pleasant, crowded, only lamp
posts and the like to which to secure your bike) we used Parkside and Windmill Road
to make the trip a circular one. We were
in the Windmill Cafe last week on the way back from Chiswick House, only this
time the rain was gentler, though we again secured a spot in the Marquee (is
that outdoors? Who cares?) Home the direct route across the common, past
the Crooked Billet, down the Downs, through Lower Morden and across Morden
Park. We split at St Helier’s and
although the winter has not quite set in, a hot home cup of tea was very
welcome.
