Cirenscester to Cheddar

I had a most relaxed day in Cirencester, and am very grateful to a friend, Jeremy, for showing me around the town, visiting his leatherwork studio, and taking me to the local art centre. I was most impressed to observe a local craftsman blowing and shaping glass. Not having seen this process before, I was surprised by how malleable heated glass is. Having collected a lump of molten glass on the end of a pole from a kiln, the craftsman then blew a small amount of air air through it, before twisting and turning the pole, and using a series of tools for measuring, shaping and cutting. It also required reheating the glass from time to time during the process. A big thanks to Jeremy and his wife Carla for their warm hospitality, sharing their thoughts so generously in exchange for two pennies, a bed and delicious meals, and giving me the space to rest. I am also very grateful to Jeremy for loaning me a wheel from a Moulton bicycle to use for the rear wheel for my penny. Unfortunately, I have had another broken spoke, and cannot repair the wheel until I get to Cheddar. I Jeremy and Carla well with their recently established leather business, making and selling inspiring and uniquely designed leather goods.

I had one of the best day's cycling on the trip so far to today, beginning with cycling across the beautiful  Cotswold countryside, the fields largely laid to grain crops - corn, wheat, barley and oats. One or two fields were carpeted with red poppies, The sun was shining in a largely cloudless sky, and it was the ideal temperature for cycling. As I passed through villages, workmen who were dry stone walling, laying cable, or pointing old stone cottages with lime mortar, stopped work, smiled and waved, or chatted. Children being dropped off to school either shouted excitedly, or stopped and stared in amazement; either that, or their parents would see the bike, and enthusiastically point it out to their children. A teacher stopped me on her way to school and took a photo. "I must show this to my class," she said. And a friend of two women I had met camping in Prestwick, who had just completed cycling Land's End to John O'Groats, also flagged me down and took a photo. She recognised me from her friends snaps.

I passed a large flock of goats, seemingly so white and clean, bleating loudly; saw a sparrow hawk hovering in a light breeze; once again saw and heard buzzards, circling on thermals; and flitting between the numerous flowers in the hedgerows, saw butterflies; including tortoiseshells, cabbage whites, and marsh browns. At the side of the road, just outside the village of Crudwell, gipsies camped on a verge beside the road, travelling in a traditional and ornately decorated caravan. A woman was poking a fire as I passed, and horses were feeding on the grass. A large sign said 'work wanted.'

My route eventually brought me to the edge of the Cotswolds, to a high vista point. Below, in the distance, I could see the Welsh mountains, and the two long suspension bridges crossing the Severn. Nearer, I could see the city of Bristol, sprawling out in various directions, and planes flying in and out of Bristol airport. I was able to find minor roads down to the busy Bath to Bristol cycle track, that follows the route of a disused railway. Passing through the city was relatively easy, partly because of my knowledge of the city, and partly due to the excellent network of cycle paths. I began to feel I was nearing home; even more so when the 'Strawberry Line' cycle track - so called because steam trains once transported amongst other goods, strawberries from Cheddar - passed through cider orchards, and trees laden with mistletoe. There is a long tunnel on the Strawberry Line, just outside Cheddar, which is unlit. It was an unnerving experience cycling through it, in complete darkness apart form the arched light at the end of the tunnel, especially when my front wheel hit something and nearly threw me off. Eventually, after passing the sparkling waters of the reservoir in Axbridge, I arrived into Cheddar, thirsty, hungry and tired.