Pootler

  Section One is about the blog and how to use it.  Section Two   is bike routes, maps and notes. Section One  The dictionary defines 'pootle' as 'to move somewhere slowly and with no real purpose'. This isn't a diary or (usually) a diatribe. Rather, it is a home for: * My collection of  bike routes in the countryside outside N & W London.  * A  gallimaufry of notes. Some provide context on history and landscapes for the bike route and others are simply things about offbeat places and that interest me.  The format  is configured primarily for reading on a phone so  brevity is (usually) my lodestar. One result is inconsistent formatting between platforms, and typos are almost my trademark, but at least it proves I am not using AI!  Everything will always be 'work in progress' and I do this to enjoy it and grant myself a dispensation to  digress, widely, frequently and pointlessly and to update older stuff when I get around to it. I am not treating walkin

  Route GPX File    Woolly Money Intro This is a ride through the centres of the medieval wool trade, which was then the flywheel of England’s economy. It starts at Manningtree Station and crosses the undemanding, rolling landscape of South Suffolk, through visibly ancient and once-wealthy market towns and villages, timber framed houses and towering churches. It finishes at Sudbury where a train can take you back to the main line at Marks Tey. Heading for Lavenham, it mostly follows t he valley of the River Brett, a tributary of the Stour, along quiet country roads and although you might think of Suffolk as being very flat, remember you are cycling up a river valley and rivers don't flow uphill. The first two waypoints are shared with my Dedham Vale Route. Zooming In History porn / Medieval wool towns and ancient villages Ancient and often outsize churches. Flatford Mill / Constable Country Hadleigh, the old capital of the Viking Guthrum and the Saxon Ealdorman Byrhtnoth Sudbur

  Dedham Vale : The Tour de Stour   Route GPX File Denham Vale   Intro The ride circles Dedham Vale, a designated 'National Landscape' of 'Outstanding Natural Beauty' comprising the lower Stour Valley on the Suffolk / Essex border. It begins at Manningtree Station and circles back from Bures. Constable Country so it is beholden to all to visit Flatford Mill and Dedham but there are other sights, particularly for olde building nuttes like me. For the most part it follows quiet country roads (there are a few exceptions) and although you might think of Suffolk as being very flat, remember you are cycling up a river valley and rivers don’t flow uphill. Zooming In Dedham Vale – Bucolic Constable country. Flatford Mill – The scene of Constable’s ‘Hay Wain’. Ancient wool towns and villages Dedham Village The usual oddities including a dragon.  Route Tips Flatford Mill and Dedham are near the start and finish of the ride respectively. The northern leg of the route is

  This is a rather long and dry post I'm afraid and the necessary re-editing is (at June '24) going slowly. But the story of how the countryside in the region came to look like it does underpins a lot of the detail in my bike route notes and other posts. Credits first. This is helicopter history. I do quite a bit of reading and am constrained by the expectation that you might read this on a phone, but if you want a clearer and better informed view, I must recommend David Crowther's 'History Of England' Podcast. Most of the content is free and you have the choice of podcast or transcript. Link:    The History of England Pod: A New Landscape My inexpert summary is that there are four stages in the history of our farming landscape.  As ever, I am mostly focusing the Home Counties north of the Thames.  This is not a neat template.  To add to the confusion, these stages all started and finished at different times in different places. The first is the pattern of agricultu