National Byway-Southwest

Quoted message said:

I did in in 4 days, riding 49, 43, 46 and 65 miles per day including
lots of stops for photo and video taking.

Smashing. Any chance of sharing some of the photos?

taz' of urlhttp://groups.google.com/url said:

A few months ago I wrote on this group that I was going to ride said
byway, and asked if anyone had ridden it, and if so any suggestions of
places to visit etc. I never got a reply. So either no-one has ridden
it or they coldn't be bothered to reply.
I have just ridden it and would highly recommend it. I am a 15-20 mile
a day commuter and weekend tourer, which put me in good stead for the
route. I had to walk a few of the hills over to the west of the route.
I did in in 4 days, riding 49, 43, 46 and 65 miles per day including
lots of stops for photo and video taking.

For those of us not from the south west, can you tell us where this route
goes? Sounds like it could be the basis of a little baby tour, if there
are a reasonable number of places to stay along it.
--
Steph Peters
Chorlton Wanderers Cycling Group
Monthly slow and easy rides from South Manchester
http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/cycling/chwan.htm

Quoted message said:

For those of us not from the south west, can you tell us where this route
goes? Sounds like it could be the basis of a little baby tour, if there
are a reasonable number of places to stay along it.

I will be posting some pictures on a blog and will give the URL when
it's finished.
The route is a sort of circular route from Winchester and back via Old
Sarum, Shaftesbury, and Fordingbridge. It takes it lots of very narrow
lanes, some steep hills and some of the most beautiful scenery. I live
in Sussex and ride around the downs at weekends, but some of the views
on this route put the downs to shame. I stayed at Great Wishford, near
Salisbury, on the first night. At Compton Abbas near Shaftesbury the
second and at Whiteparish near Salisbury the last night. This was the
furthest from the route, about 8 miles. I visited Old Surum castle on
the Saturday and Old Wardour castle on the Sunday, both worth a stop.
I had pub lunches 3 days and stopped at Winchester Cathedral cafeteria
for a cake stop(cheese scone, eccles cake and a coffee) on the way home
on the last day. Altogether I clocked up 206 miles.
Gaz

taz said:

Quoted message said:

For those of us not from the south west, can you tell us where this route
goes? Sounds like it could be the basis of a little baby tour, if there
are a reasonable number of places to stay along it.

A leaflet with a very good map and a detailed route description are available
from the various Tourist offices or from:
http://www.hants.gov.uk/cycling/natbyway/index.html

Quoted message said:

I will be posting some pictures on a blog and will give the URL when
it's finished.

Great. I'm looking forward to it.
Its a lovely area and one I know pretty well. Many of my days out are on parts
of the route, especially between Winchester and Salisbury. I particularly like
the lanes up to and around Farley Mount.

Quoted message said:

I had pub lunches 3 days and stopped at Winchester Cathedral cafeteria
for a cake stop(cheese scone, eccles cake and a coffee) on the way home
on the last day. Altogether I clocked up 206 miles.

I was in there on Saturday. Its not a bad tea stop, although a bit pricey.

John B