Most of us caught the 10.40 train from West Hampstead (others getting on at St Pancras) and a while later got off at Flitwick, where the ride started.
| Through Wrest Park | Wrest Park | |
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| We rode eastwards through the villages of Greenfield and Flitton and into Silsoe, where we crossed the main street and entered Wrest Park, an English Heritage Estate whose gardens have been done up recently. We used a bridle path to cross the estate (shown on the photo on the right).We then continued to ride through pleasant countryside to the village of Upper Gravenhurst. |  |
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Click on any photo to see an enlargement
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Along the way, we passed several village churches, most built from a dark brown stone (called ironstone rubble). The first we saw were in Flitton and Silsoe. St Mary’s Church, Lower Gravenhurst, is a redundant Anglican church. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building. As the day went on we saw several more churches with castellations on both nave and tower. |
| greenway | ||
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Not long before Shefford, we took a pleasant little greenway that dived under the A507 and avoided the roundabout at the junction with the main road to Bedford. We went through the small town of Shefford and after a short spell on a B road, joined another Bedfordshire lane, passing through woods and reaching our lunch spot soon after 1 pm. |  |
| Lunch at Shuttleworth | ||
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We reached our lunch stop soon after 1 pm. This was at the café belonging to the Shuttleworth Collection in Old Warden park. The small airfield is sometimes used for flying displays of the collection of planes. After lunch, we had an option: to set off on the longer route back to Flitwick or to view the aircraft in the nearby hangars and then take a shorter route back. |
| Shuttleworth collection | ||
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We decided that the two groups should rendezvous at the White Hart Maulden. In the end, the group with the shorter route arrived before the others. We enjoyed a convivial drinks before setting off again for the station at Flitwick.
Photos by Paul Braithwaite and Geoff Stilwell
Separate maps for the two options and downloadable GPX files:
Track CCC Flitwick – Shuttleworth 15-7-12 long loop
Track CCC Flitwick – Shuttleworth 15-7-12 short loop