Monday 25th July

Another lovely day in Wiltshire. Certainly better than yesterday turned out to be!


Looking north towards Pepperbox hill from Whaddon

Is this corn???

I couldn't stay indoors on such a gorgeous morning and decided to cycle along the local fields - golden with corn - to Downton. I took Andrew's GPS with me, intending to measure the altitude I climb doing this route, as it feels like constant ascents and descents.





My favourite part of the journey, once I have climbed Pepperbox Hill, is the gentle descent towards Downton through shady old 'hollow roads', lined with trees.

A great place to see squirrels bickering/mating

From Downton I followed my regular route via the Great Yews, and then along dusty bridleways to Odstock. I saw two leverets (young hares) along this way, both very large. One of them came straight towards me as I cycled slowly towards it; clearly it had self-confidence and believed it had right of way!

My return journey took me via Salisbury District Hospital and Britford.
About a mile from Britford I came across a memorial (looking rather like a gravestone!) bearing this interesting sign:

The plaque celebrates the fact that the Salisbury bypass did NOT go through this valley, and a Black Poplar tree was planted at this site by Salisbury Transport Action Committee in 1979 to celebrate their successful defeat of a campaign which would evidently have destroyed the area (this may be open to debate...).

The Black Poplar is still there, but is being crowded out by Field Maples and other hedgerow trees.

I must share a recent discovery. Last year I bought a pair of sunglasses in Lidls which come with three different lenses. I have just started wearing the 'yellow' lenses and am convinced they are more mood-enhancing than every drink I have tried (and that is saying something!) and possibly more of an 'upper' (not that i know anything about such things)than psyotropic drugs. You need to try them. The really good news is that Lidls are selling them again this year.

Lidls sunglasses

As well as lifting the spirits these sunglasses also significantly improve depth-perception, and come with an excellent container which has 6 individual compartments to protect the different lenses from being scratched. The glasses even come in a choice of 3 stylish frames; blue, black and silver. Perfect.
So if you suffer from SAD or depression, or just want to imagine you are cycling in a warm and sunny place (when it is raining), buy some. They cost £3.99 from Lidls. You just can't go wrong.
When I was on Ben More Assynt in Scotland at Easter, I changed to the clear lenses to protect my eyes from the horizontal wind. The next day I was wearing the dark lenses as it was bright and sunny. Such versatility is priceless.
Anyway, enough about the glasses.

According to Andrew's GPS I cycled 19.7 miles and the total ascent was either 1,356 or 1,035 feet. Somewhere I goofed up with the GPS. Maybe I will get round to working it out by hand using the OS map.