CTC ride to Westholme and Winfrith Newburgh

Magna Road

Its the last Sunday ride before Christmas and for me probably the last club ride of 2013, so once I have written this it will be time to close this years 'blogsite' with a review of the year before we enter 2014. However, there is this ride to deal with first and it's a start from Merley Bridge and a ride out to West Holme for coffee. Last night there had been extremely strong winds and very heavy rain so most of us had some sort of challenge just to reach the start point. I had to negotiate the newly formed lake on Magna Road and those arriving via the trailway had to climb over and through a fallen tree. So we all had a reasonable idea of what the roads were going to be like for the ride and we were all checking to make sure we had spare tubes and repair kits!

We took the usual route to West Holme carefully picking our way along the grit and debris strewn roads. The route out to coffee turns out to be uneventful and the six hardy riders that started out all get there safely.

At the tea stop we bump into the Inters who are leaving as we arrive en route to their Christmas Lunch.

John enjoys his tea

..as does Derek

..and Jim

Tea shop at West Holme

Once we have finished tea and after some discussion we decide to still try and head for our planned lunch destination of Lulworth Cove, although we have concerns about the weather that is forecast to be heading in.

We head out via East Stoke and East Burton passing the site of the Old Winfrith Nuclear Reactor. Now decommissioned, it opened in 1958 and was used for nuclear reactor research and development into the 1990s. The last reactor was shut down in 1995, although decommissioning of the site will not finish till 2021. Winfrith housed nine reactors including the experimental Dragon reactor and a large Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor(SGHWR) feeding the National Grid from 1968 to 1990. It also housed a used nuclear fuel examination facility, with the associated hot cells. By now the wind has picked up and the skies are darkening so a decision is made to have lunch at Winfrith Church and not to push on to Lulworth and risk being caught in the midst of a 'nuclear winter!'

Winfrith in the days when operational

The stop at Winfrith Newburgh, to give the village it's proper name is lovely and the church is another gem. The other thing that the church has to recommend it to passing cyclists and walkers is a toilet accessible to the public. There has been a church on this site since the 11th Century. However, the oldest remains are from the 12th century church and include a Norman external doorway. The church is mentioned in the Doomsday Book referring to Bolla the priest who has the church of Winfode. The church today when we visit it is all ready for Christmas with nativity scenes and a mice choir atop the font Interestingly the font lid used to be locked to stop local farmers from pinching the holy water to sprinkle on fields!

After sitting under the shelter of the lych gate which leads to another interesting fact. The word lych is evolved from the saxon word for corpse and the lych gate was traditionally a place where corpse bearers carried the body of a deceased person and laid it on a communal bier. Inside the church on display is an old funeral bier, a four wheeled trolley used to carry the deceased in and out of church.

Lunch in the lych gate

Bikes parked for lunch

From here we head for home dodging the puddles, stopping at Bob C's for tea and then the ride home where the weather eventually catches up with me. I arrive home a little damp but rewarded with a rainbow but no pot of gold. However, my reward has been a great ride and as always in good company.

Puddles on the road home

Rainbow to greet my arrival home