MMM – September 2019

September 2019outandaboutlive.co.uk 49

England TRAVEL

LEFTCLOCKWISELooking to

the Seven Sisters from

Birling Gap;A sign proving

we’re headingfor Paris;The

ForestWay nearForest Row;

The start of our trip – the

LondonEye

T

heAvenue Verte is a well-documented,
part traffic-free, cycle trail that runs
fromthe LondonEye toNotre Damein
Paris, almost 300miles away. The plan was
tocycle it onourfoldingBromptonbikes

• initially asfar asNewhavenport – andto
  use our’vanasbackup.
  Clearly we were crazy, butwe hada plan.
  Wewould parkthe ’vanat the end of each
  ride, takea train or bustothe start, cycle
  back, retire toa campsite forthe night and
  repeat. You may well bethinking that it
  would besimpler toloadupthe panniers on
  yourbikes andgo, stoppingat B&Bs.Maybe,
  butthere areadvantages inhaving the ’van.
  Firstly, you don’t haveto carrywhat you
  need forthe whole trip.Then,if the weather
  is bad oryou get tired orinjured,you can
  takea day off. And, you canuse the ’vanto
  travel off-route tovisit anynearbyplace of
  interest that takes yourfancy.
  That first morning we were having
  doubtsas we battled with the suburban
  traffic between our campsite near Redhill
  andWallington. Parkingturned outtobe
  surprisingly easy andSouthernRail whisked
  usuptoWaterlooandthe LondonEye.
  The AvenueVe rtesurely starts not with
  a bang, but awhimper. We’d expected an
  encouragingsignsaying‘Paristhis way’;
  the sort of thing you could standbeside
  for a photograph.Instead, there are only a
  couple of NationalCycle Network numbers
  fastened toa post. After afew minutes
  humming andhah-ingover ourguidebook,
  wefinally managed toheadout inthe right
  direction, south onRoute Four.It wasfun!
  Wepursuedthose numbersigns

relentlessly, alongroadsidecycle lanes,

over Clapham andWandsworthCommons,

throughlongstreets of Victorian houses

and, finally, downa winding earthentrail

besidethe River Wandle. The Wandle is

rather a sad river, condemned tospend

its life between units of industryandthick

banks of nettles, butthe track alongsideit

lets you movereally quickly through what

might havebeentediousmiles of suburbia.

The gem wasleafy MordenHall Park,

where wepausedforafternoon tea, courtesy

of the NationalTrust. Thinking back, the

whole journeyseems tohavebeenfuelled by

home-made cake.

Next morning, stickingtoour plan,we

were downat Mersthamstation forthe

journey back toWallington. There’s no

direct line, but arailwayman witha mind

likea latter-dayBradshawappeared on

the scene andpromptly rattledoff all the

changes, timesandplatformsrequired.It

worked and, oncein the saddle again,we

were delighted tofinally meet signs telling

us wewere heading forParis. That day we

ran intoopenfieldsandwoods forthe first

timeand crossed lovely Farthing Downs, all

skylarks and wild flowers, withviews back

toa now-distantLondonskyline.

The memoryof that bucolic scene was

sooneclipsednext day aswecycled right by

Gatwick Airport. Atfirst the pathfollowed

the Gatwick Stream, a lovely clear trickle

windingits wayalong the perimeter ina

thin stripof woodland.

Then, quite suddenly, wefound

ourselves under andbetween the buildings

themselves. Asignoffered ‘cycle lift tothe+

“We crossedlovelyFarthing Downs, all skylarks and

wild lowers, with views of anow-dis tantLondon”

US AND OUR ’VAN

JudySmith...

and husband, Eric, have been

motorhomers for more than 20

years. They like to have a

purpose or a project in their

excursions. Even after all that

time, there’s no dificulty in

inding newones!

2004 Elddis Xpedition 200

(four-berth), withPeugeot

Boxer 2-litre diesel engine. It

feels spacious and gives us a

splendid view from the wide

windows at the back

Next stop, Paris!

Saddle up and head for awonderfulwhite cliffs inale to

an inspiring 99-mile cycle ride usingyour motorhome as backup

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY:Judy Smith