Pootler

     This is the first in a series of posts aimed at providing some general background on the development of the rural landscape to accompany the local detail the posts on my bike tours in the countryside north of London. Landscape of Northern Home Counties  A useful but very crude simplification is that you will find two 'typical' types of rural landscape in the region. Both had their roots in the practices of medieval agriculture.  The predominant pattern today, in the northern part in particular, is a 'planned' countryside landscape of large rectangular arable. Good examples include the clay lowlands and rolling, open hills to the north of London, lightly shaded in the map above.  The other is the 'Ancient' countryside which has defied planning and where the layout owes more to serendipity. Examples include the wooded hills which are darker on the map, but also meadows, woodlands and the old estates.  It would be handy if this was a neat distinction...

  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 Timber framed houses and supersized churches. Flatford Mill / Constable Country Hadleigh, the old capital of the Viking Guthrum and the Saxon Ealdor...

  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 r...