A lot of horrible weather recently and a dire forecast for the run up to Christmas - it didn't seem encouraging for Sunday's ride. But in fact Sunday morning brought watery sunshine. What with Christmas round the corner and an iffy forecast, it was only a select band who set off from Hatfield, heading first to Bramfield. We crossed the valley and took the track through Sacombe Park; always nice and the sun was by now doing its best. There was a bit of muddy going and a lot of flooding on the roads. Descending to Barwick ford the river was going full tilt; no takers to do the ford crossing this time. Through Much Hadham we soon came to the golf centre's cafe. There didn't seem to be any golfers around, so we had the place to ourselves, and very reasonable it was. We were a bit late, so a fairly direct route to lunch seemed best. Through Hunsdon and Stanstead Abbotts, we were into the suburban bits leading to Hoddesdon. Hoddesdon is looking up these days as these non-cycling pictures show.
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| The foodless White Swan |
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| Renovated clock tower |
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Arriving in our pub stop (The White Swan), we were shocked to see instead of a welcoming menu, a notice saying they had given up doing food (too much local competition). Oh dear, this was a favourite haunt for some. There is a huge new Morrison's nearby with a cafe, so we gave that a try. It was ok, but busy and we had a wait, I don't think I'd go there again. So, back through the woods and up the hills towards Hatfield and then dispersing to our various homes. I had turned in 55 miles when I got back and, amazingly, it didn't rain once.
Words by Richard, loaded by Carol hence no map!
Carol 22/12/2013
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