Out And About.

[Maladict]

Interestingly I wasn't wasn't wearing a helmet, which wouldn't have helped,  as bizarrely nearly all the impact force went through the underside of my chin/jaw. Medics not sure how that could have happened.    (somewhat appropriate smilie )

Bad luck mongers, good thing you were already slowing down.

I always wear a helmet, but it never helped me either, I've taken all my crashes on my chin for some reason.

[mongers]

Glad you are ok.  You are going to start wearing a helmet now right?

Thanks, interesting advice, in one sense it is thoroughly sensible but in this instance because of the odd way I landed, it might have interfered with my head flexing backwards ? Who knows.

[mongers]

Interestingly I wasn't wasn't wearing a helmet, which wouldn't have helped,  as bizarrely nearly all the impact force went through the underside of my chin/jaw. Medics not sure how that could have happened.    (somewhat appropriate smilie )

Bad luck mongers, good thing you were already slowing down.

I always wear a helmet, but it never helped me either, I've taken all my crashes on my chin for some reason.

Thanks.   

Yeah that's odd isn't it.

I guess even at slow speeds of like 10 mph you still have 4 times the momentum of walking at just 2.5-3 mph.

My mate, the epic downhill/pro-mechanic had a slow speed one and was knocked unconscious. 

[CountDeMoney]

4 wheels good 2 wheels bad, Mongers.  Goddammit, when will you listen to me? 

[mongers]

Ouch.

I saw a guy wipe out last Friday while driving home (he didn't appear injured). For you guys that take it seriously, those falls don't look pretty.

Yeah the van drive said it was quite spectacular, even though it was at low speed.

[mongers]

Haven't being doing a great deal this summer for various reason ie fitness, time, finances and so forth. 

Popped out this evening with the intention of exploring a 'bit of map' 10-15 miles from here and finding a new part of the route up the valley that avoids a couple of somewhat hazardous hills on the eastern side.   

Whilst its part of my home county I've not visited the area in detail before as it's not especially on the way to anywhere.

Crossed the river here, over a nice flat late-Victorian iron bridge that I've not used before.



Immediately next to the bridge over the main channel is the mill stream crossed by this old three arch bridge.



Notice the building at the top left, it has a concrete pill box built into one corner of the barn with the two machine gun slit still visible, these cover the bridge and the millstream's wide ford south of the bridge.

It's one of several defensive features built in mid to late 1940 around this crossing of the river valley, part of a 'stop-line' to slow the enemy advance, parts of which can be still found up and down the valley from the coast to Salisbury plain.


On my way back I stopped at the Saxon church next to the 'Elizabethan'* house in the village of Braemore. As you can see it's largely saxon in appearance with a few norman additions like the porch:



In the porch is the badly damaged, but just still visible depiction of Christ on the 'Saxon road' which somehow escaped complete destruction in the late 16th century.



I didn't bother going into the church as it appeard locked, so I sat on one of a couple of wooden benches in the porch before heading home. Very pleasant spot and one of the benches is dated to before the civil war.








* I say this because whilst originally it was Elizabethan, a fire in the mid-19th gutted the place so the rebuild is an attempt to replicate the original whilst being a Victorian version of it.  Though there are plenty of Elizabethan cottages and farmhouses in the village and surrounding area. 

[mongers]

Have maps, off out exploring some little used byways in a while.

[The Brain]

Nice church.

[Ed Anger]

What's a map?

[mongers]

What's a map?

Something that show where you are and lets you explore, unlike say car sat navs ?

[mongers]

Explored a line of old byways and bridle paths leading out of the valley and up onto the chalk downlands. 

I'm guessing it may have once been a significant route-way over the downs to Salisbury, named Green Lane at it's 'start' in the small town I pick it up at.

And it remains greener than the chalk hills around it for 3-4 miles before reaching the uplands where it aligns with some old earthworks and a long barrow and carries onto a high point which is marked with a large wood of yew trees. 

Also it's rather wider than a typical rural road or agricultural lane and in places it's several 10s of yard wide, which suggest maybe these are customary stopping placed for people to rest up the night with the animals they're moving. But that's just a guess on my part. 

Hadn't noticed it in the field, but once I got home the map indicates it is the boundary for the old established county boundary for several miles.

My guess, this suggests it was a notable route for a long time. And following on the alignment of that boundary further, highlights a natural way down to the next little river/stream valley. From where it's only 2 miles over a small downland ridge before it would meet a good ford at the site of a prominent and still existing mill (it's now a rather nice pub).
Then it's a short distance across water meadows to the city and it's cattle market.

I shall use a different bike and try and come back that way in the next week or two. 

[Maladict]

Reminds me of Robert McFarlane's latest book. I envy your countryside.

[dps]

Interestingly I wasn't wasn't wearing a helmet, which wouldn't have helped,  as bizarrely nearly all the impact force went through the underside of my chin/jaw. Medics not sure how that could have happened.    (somewhat appropriate smilie )

Bad luck mongers, good thing you were already slowing down.

I always wear a helmet, but it never helped me either, I've taken all my crashes on my chin for some reason.

Back when I was a kid, I had a few bike wrecks.  In most of them, I never hit my head on anything, but in the 2 wrecks in which I did hit my head, it was chin-first.

[mongers]

Interestingly I wasn't wasn't wearing a helmet, which wouldn't have helped,  as bizarrely nearly all the impact force went through the underside of my chin/jaw. Medics not sure how that could have happened.    (somewhat appropriate smilie )

Bad luck mongers, good thing you were already slowing down.

I always wear a helmet, but it never helped me either, I've taken all my crashes on my chin for some reason.

Back when I was a kid, I had a few bike wrecks.  In most of them, I never hit my head on anything, but in the 2 wrecks in which I did hit my head, it was chin-first.

Yeah that's interesting, surely there must be plenty of people who've hit their foreheads or the side of their skull ?

[mongers]

Reminds me of Robert McFarlane's latest book. I envy your countryside.

Thanks for that, 'The old ways' looks like an interesting  read. 

My viewpoint is finding alternatives to modern busy routes, so one has to strip most of those roads out of the landscape and I guess in part you're then looking at it like people in the past would have.

And to some extent you're then faced with finding solutions to similar problems.