Bulford Day Out – Standing Stones and Red Flags
Today was always planned as an easier day, a loop without the panniers.
I woke early – daylight peeking in, wanting lower light and fewer people for the first part, and peacocks next door. By 7:45 I was on my way.
First a rural curve to avoid main roads at rush hour, then soon a track and Woodhenge. David St. Hubbins came to mind, but I passed a little while taking pictures with the shadows and edge-lit clouds – and avoiding the camper van just beyond. My new wide-angle lens being just the thing to make drama out of the knee-high representation of the long-gone wood.
On towards Stonehenge. I changed my plan a little as the view and the tracks on the ground seduced me – a walk down the Cursus through a field, instead of a ride through an army base with less view. Looking down amongst the still-dewy grass there were webs everywhere and a few mushrooms starting to show. Looking out there was a big rolling view, with Stonehenge clear but distant and the various mounds of the wider landscape around.
At the end of the field I exchanged greetings with the man parked up next to the gate, and rode up the line of vans, buses and campers to a view near the A303. I paused to let someone turn, and was rewarded with a friendly chat about whether my bike was human powered.
English Heritage were running pre-booked visits only, so I was turned away at the bus drop-off – but pointed towards a gate and path parallel to the boundary – and so almost as close as a paying visitor. This early in the day there were just a handful of security / guides there – the tickets not on sale yet – and they were mostly out of sight. It did occur to me that had I booked, I probably wouldn’t be here without anyone else around. A friendly family asked how I got where I was, from the field behind me – but I basically had the place to myself.
I double backed to the track, and west at the junction. I wandered into Fargo Plantation and saw some of the mounds, then carried on. The visitors were starting to walk towards Stonehenge by now. I chatted to a member of staff, who said there were some tickets available if I wanted. However, it was getting busy and I quite fancied getting on to Salisbury plain and so didn’t stop for now.
A quick bit of fairly quiet main road took me to quieter road beside well-fenced barracks. However, as I got to the byways it turned out that red flags had a chunk of my planned route closed. I’d checked the online diary while planning, but must have misunderstood the extent of what was off-limits (assuming the army wasn’t doing something spur of the moment). The policeman was nice about it, and took the time to look at what I had been hoping to ride. He suggested one alternative, but that involved rather more A-road than I fancied – so I opted for a safe route to the east. I set off into the plain where I went a fair way without seeing anyone on wide, tank-ribbed, gravel tracks.
My next junction was beside another red flag, and I decided to err on the side of caution and less danger and avoid the turn off. Rather than a longer gravel ride I wondered whether a ride back to the stones and taking the tour was an option.
I came down the west side of Larkhill, past big hangers and armored vehicles. However, at the end “The Packway” looked positively hostile after the peace of the byways – fast trucks swishing the verges in both directions. So I headed back onto the plain, and followed the byways round north of the base and then further east. One police car passed with a cloud of dust, but I was mostly alone with a big view.
After coming to a road, I paused to check that the route through was OK with two other cyclists. I crossed a river on a bridge with warnings about one vehicle at a time. A bit further on I saw a group of armored vehicles. I’d left my OS behind, and so without a reference to rights of way I turned and took a quiet lane back to Bulford.
Today was about half the distance I’d planned, at 30km and 330m of climb in a leisurely 3 hours 45 – including a lot of stopping for pictures and walking sections. I was washed and done in time for lunch – which was a ploughman’s in a quiet (there were two other customers) pub garden. I pondered heading back to Stonehenge, but decided that in the heat of the afternoon amongst a crowd I wasn’t going to improve much on the pictures or experience I had earlier. So, I took a walk around the grounds where I was staying – they keep a range of poultry and have created a great space for wildlife, and then read some book and generally took it easy before what promised to be a long next day.
Between & Beyond 