HAMPTON COURT 18/02/07

Good old Henry VIII featured heavily in today's ride. We stopped off
at Merton Abbey Mills, site of the former Merton Priory which was
destroyed by Henry, although the reclaimed bricks were used to build
Nonsuch Palace. The cycle sign at Abbey Mills claims it is only 4
miles to Kingston. Whilst that isn't strictly true, it doesn't take
long using the quiet backsteets, traffic-free paths and a stretch of
separated cycle track along Coombe Rd before you're slap bang in the
middle of Kingston town centre with it's confusing array of cycle
routes.

A quick nip along the pedestrianised high street put us back on track
and after being overtaken by a couple of teenagers on skateboards (the
shame!) we turned onto the Thames Path and rode all the way to the
back gates of Hampton Court where you have a very clear view of the
Henry's former palace. The group shot of the 2006 ride was recreated
(see the Flickr galleries) and we discussed whether to cycle aroud
Bushy Park or turn up at the pub at opening time.

We opted to go direct to the pub which was a good move as The Albion
gets busy very quickly. It's a chain pub and has a standard but
reasonably priced menu with swift service. No beer garden so our bikes
were tied up outside by the pavement.

The original idea was to head towards Morden Hall but it turns out the
cafe is closed for refurbishment. Instead, Lynda took over led us
through the parks and quiet streets to Nonsuch Park which only added 2
miles to the ride. The whole park is under threat so we signed the
petition against the proposed council sell off.

We've ridden back from Nonsuch quite a lot recently so we followed the
same route out past the wooden houses and the Whitehall into Sutton
town centre and onto Carshalton Ponds where we picked up the Wandle
Trail to Mill Green and back to Pollards Hill.

11, riders, 30 miles, out for 6.5hrs. See the pix on Flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pollardshillcyclists/sets/72157594542610479
or
http://tinyurl.com/ywhvl2

===

Next week completes the loose trilogy of rides passing the houses of
Henry VIII as we pass Eltham Palace. Lunch will be at the ancient
Tudor Barn. 9:30 at the library.

All those who had their pictures taken last week for the Tour de
France ad should hopefully hear something this week. The Kate Evans
agency will contact you direct if you're going to be asked to be in
it.

Cheers
Mark
PHC Co-ordinator
07711 688189