Central London CTC blog

Despite suffering from a month long bug, yours truly dragged himself to Marylebone to find Naomi, Keith, Jon McColl, Steve Taylor and Charlie Keep, along with (relatively) newbie Monica. Martin Hayman was also there to provide me with the news that he too had had a month long virus: nice to have confirmation I wasn’t the only one, in an odd sort of way.
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Nine riders left St Albans station. The purpose of the ride was to visit Mill Green Museum, a restored watermill run by Welwyn Hatfield council. The roads in the centre of town were closed as it was Remembrance Sunday but a kindly policeman got on his radio and we were let through. We left via Sandridgebury Lane passing the fortifications left by the Belgae who occupied the area before the Romans. I made the mistake of relying on my memory not a map so that we got to our coffee stop at Wheathampstead but not by the route I’d planned. There is a newish café in the village called T. Potts which provided us with refreshments before we exited the village on a bridleway.
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This ride promised “Low mileage but it passes the highest point in the Chilterns”. Six riders set off on dry but cold morning but only got a few hundred metres before stopping at a café for morning coffee. Suitably refreshed, we rode along the towpath of the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal. The Wendover Arm was a technical and commercial failure. It was designed to provide an additional water supply for the Grand Union fed by springs in the Chilterns. In the event, it suffered constant leakage problems. It ended up draining water out of the canal system and was eventually abandoned. Today it makes an attractive linear nature reserve and is widely used by walkers and cyclists. more »