Saturday 23 August 2025 - Fabulous Day Out

Usually we have a break in August, but this ride was postponed from July, when we decided to not go riding in a storm.

Seven Further Faster regulars met at St Albans City station on a bright morning and made full use of the cycle spaces on the 0911 service Bedford, disembarking at Harlington.  This time next year there should be lifts, but for now we lugged our trusty steeds up and down rusty stairs.

The first part of the ride was taken briskly, being one of those slightly busy roads you don't want to spend too long on.  Even so, we took in the fabulous views of Sharpenhoe Clappers.  Once through Barton we were on quieter lanes through Higham Gobion and Hanscombe End and along to Ion Bridge Farm for elevenses at Disco-licious, a very friendly farm shop and cafe.

Onward through scenic villages.  We were very taken with the churches at Lower and Upper Gravenhurst, the brown stone and the building style is so different from our Hertfordshire flints and spikes.

On through Campton, and an underpass spared us a tussle with the A507 and dropped us into Shefford, quite the bustling town.  The B658 is to be endured rather than enjoyed, but we were soon on little roads again, twisting and turning through Southill and the woodland of Warden Warren.

Through picturesque Old Warden and on to lovely Ickwell Green, where the cricket pitch was being prepared across the road from the maypole.  We had a little rest to soak up this quintessential Englishness.

Through Northill, then a steady climb up the Greensand Ridge to Deadman's Oak.  The Tour of Britain will be coming past here on Wednesday 4th September, doing a loop on its way from Milton Keynes to Ampthill, the yellow sign deatils the road closure.

We came over the crest of the ridge and admired the view, the Cardington Airship Sheds really are rather huge.  We whizzed down into Cople and then along to The Barn farm shop and cafe on the outskirts of Cardington, where we enjoyed a leisurely and very tasty lunch.

We stopped off to visit St Mary's Church where there is a display of artefacts telling the story of the R101 airship, which set off from Cardington on 4th October 1930 on a flight bound for Karachi.  The weather deteriorated and she crashed in northern France, 48 died and 6 survived. After lying in state in Westminster Abbey - 90,000 people queued to pay their respects - and a state funeral in St Paul's,  the dead were buried together in St Mary's churchyard.

Having crossed John Smeaton's bridge over an Ouse tributary, we negotiated the junction at Cardington Cross and wiggled through the business park and wended our way through Priory Country Park.  We took this last part of our day out very gently, as there were plenty of people out strolling on the shared paths.  We continued our easy pace along NCN 51 along the old railway line and then along the Ouse into Bedford, over the river on the new bridge and through the back streets to the station for our train back to St Albans.