Today I take a gravel ride out of Peterborough along to Whittlesea (Whittlesey) and further past HMP Whitemoor and into March
Good morning. Trying a new route today. So, my plan is to get to the town of March, which is out in the fence, 25 miles away from home. Um, and this is kind of my first stop. So, I am at the um I can’t remember what this place is called now. Uh but I’m down at the riverside near at Peterbr alongside the riverine. Um and so part of my route is basically following this initially to Whittley. Um and then through Whittley and then further out towards March. The reason why I’ve planned this route in such a way, I’ve never ridden this route. Well, I have ridden as far as Whittley, but I’ve never ridden the whole route. And the logic behind it is that there’s a station at Whittley, there’s a station at March. Um, so if I’m stuck or stranded or whatever, I can get home. But also, uh, I am going to be when I get to March, I am going to be hopping the train back anyway. So hopefully it’s not too full and I can get my bike on. But not the end of the world because worst thing comes to worst. I have a rest and I cycle back. Uh but this will be 25 miles, possibly a bit more because I might have a little ride around March. Uh have a ride around the uh the old railway line and uh up north past uh White Mo Prison and everything where the old yard was and part of the yard still is. So yeah, I’m going to keep going. I’m off the main roads now. I’ve gone gone through the city center. I don’t like filming in the city center. Too many people about. Um but I’m basically just going to keep heading if I can point right. No, I can’t point right that way. Anyway, onwards. Moo. Moo. Moo on the route towards Whittley and uh stumbled across a pill box. Very dark in here. But Of course during the war had Operation Sea Line happened um this would have been one of the lines of uh defense um for East Anglia. So, we’ve got quite a few of these hidden about uh often following the river. So, yeah, these are interesting. So, I’ve transited uh through Whittle Sea. Um quite a lot of not so much traffic, but main roads to contend with. So, you’ll have to excuse me for the foot lack of footage. Um, but still following the GPS and it’s uh it’s taking me along this trail which is uh putting my gravel riding skills to the test at the moment. But it’s uh there a few black clouds about, but I don’t think we’re due any rain. And even if so, I don’t think it will last very long anyway. I could do with a little bit of cooling down. It’s uh it’s absolutely roasting. Well, I’m roasting anyway. Uh, so how far have I come? Let’s have a look at the GPS. So, I have done 12 miles, which means I’m nearly halfway. Um, which I’m quite happy with. Uh, not not too much in terms of climbing. I mean, I’m out in the fence. is, as you can see, it’s all flat as a pancake out there. It there’s nothing to it. Um, I do have to apologize if there is any uh wind noise. I’ve not packed my microphones cuz I want to travel as light as I can today. Um, however, yeah, I think I’m just going to keep pushing on and pushing on and I will film again when well, when it’s uh when I’m a bit further along and it’s safe to stop and do so. So yeah, let’s uh continue with this rudded trail for about it’s about another 200 m or so. So it’s not doesn’t look too bad, but it’s giving the uh Schwabies a bit of a a bit of a test, but so far so good. Anyway, onwards. I’m a gravel rider and I’m okay. I sleep all night and I ride all day. [Music] This is quite fun doing actual off-road gravel and I’m enjoying it. This is actually a bit more interesting than long straight roads. Sorry. I’ve made it to Ring’s End. Just got a a mile or two to go that way. And I’m in March. uh where I can hop a train and get the hell home. This is the old good shed. So um so the line ran out of the top end of March uh through White Moore and up through here uh up towards uh Guyern up there. Um, so I’m just taking five. Um, and my distance is currently 22 miles so far. Um, so I think by the time I get to the March station, it’ll be about 25 miles. So, so far so good. I also want to point out the uh the signal gantry which is up there. Um I think this is an original railway building as well. But yeah, this is all at uh ring’s end and now going across the river towards White Prison, one of the most secure in the country. So I’m riding through the nature reserve now. Um so what’s so important about uh White Law? Well, I’m coming up to one which is actually a memorial site. Um, so let me just stop the bike and uh jump off and show you. There’s some planks here. One for the scout group and this is planted for the Platinum Jubilee. Um, let’s go over to the memorial itself. So, Sergeant George R. Bruce, 929001, pilot, Sergeant Perl M. Taylor, one 07315, second pilot, Sergeant Percy G. Crosby, 923910, wireless operator, Sergeant Henry N. O’Shea 99820 observer Sergeant Ernest A. Lawrence 1378013 Air Gunner Sergeant William M. Evans 99623 Air Gunner Corpal James C. Fox 956797 ground crew. Sergeant Jack Dicks 936940 ground crew. And this is a memorial. This memorial is dedicated to the crew of Wellington Mark 1 CZ Z 8863 KO-N G of 115 Squadron crashed here on November 24th, 1941 with the loss of all crew. It’s lovely and quiet out here. This is a memorial bench. This plaque is dedicated to the eternal memory of Albert Harwin who without regard to his own safety went to the aid of the crew of Wellington bomber Z 8863 on the 24th of November 1941. Uh that’s 115 squadron Royal Air Force despite the elements. And this is about the Wellington bomber. During a training exercise on November 24th, 1941, a Vicaras Wellington of 115 squadron based at RAF Marim when it collided with a line of coal laden railway trucks at approximately 160 to 200 mph and subsequently all nine crew members died. To this day, the reason for the lowf flying is uncertain. Although there are a few reports, all that is known is that three of the crew were ground staff that joined the flight for some experience. Further information on the crew and aircraft can be found at RF Maram and RAF Wtering Heritage Centers. That’s the Wellington bomber, the precursor to the Lancaster. This tree is for Gordon S. at Wakefield AC215618 ground crew. I try not to show too much joy in this sort of place. It’s very somber. It’s very quiet. Lovely for a bit of reflection, I think. But, uh, rest in peace, chaps. Rest in peace. So, of course, as well as that memorial, uh, White Mall was a rail yard. Um, and during the war, it was not sure if it was the biggest, but I think it was either the second biggest or one of the biggest anyway, uh, shunting yards. And in fact, during the war, there was actually a dummy yard set up. Um, I’m not entirely sure where the dummy yard was, not too far away. um to try and attract the bombers because uh cuz White Moore was a major shunting yard uh for the eastern region. So things coming from Anglia and a lot of the great eastern railway and the Midland and Great Northern etc. A lot of the shunting would have been done here. Uh it was like a great big interchange. Um which is why it would be quite attractive to the bombers. So it it lasted um I think up to the 80s I think and then it was part of it has been closed down. Um the yard as it stands is now sort of half its size. There is still a rail yard there, but the northern half um has the infamous White Prison set up built on it which uh houses some proper nasties. So, fun fact, I’ve actually been inside White Mall prison. There it is. The great big walls of uh White Mall prison. Um yeah, I’m not going to film too much as you can probably understand, but yeah, it’s there. This is the uh somewhat mossboard Bramley line which leads from White Mo Junction and heads up towards um Whiz Beach. Now a lot of the track is still kind of in situ. It’s sort of moth board and they keep talking about reopening it and I got about a thousand cars coming past me now. Oh, it was quiet a minute ago, but uh yeah, no idea what they’re doing with it. It’s just sort of muffled. It’s a lot of the infrastructure is being kind of ripped up in terms of the signaling, but in terms of reopening it, I don’t think it would actually require that much work. Um, and there is a heritage group with a yard uh further up the line. Um, yeah, we’ll see what happens. I’m entering the Finland market town of March. Back in Peter now. I’m just heading back home from the station. I’m going to cut the end of the video here because not much else to put. But I made it and maybe I’ll do a bit more explanation when I get in. Hi there. So, I’m just editing this up. Um, as you can see, I’m completely exhausted. Can actually see some of the salt coming off of my head. Anyway, um so there was the 25 mi which I’ve done to March. Um I actually hopped the train, headed back to Petborough and then there was a further four or five miles which I needed to do to get back home. Um so all in all I’ve done roughly about 30 miles today. Uh I’m kind of exhausted. Um, but I’m not completely dead, if you know what I mean. So, like, um, how do I put this? I could have gone further. I could have kept going. Um, and I was actually really enjoying the ride. So, the bike has performed admirably. Um, the the tires and everything were great on the gravel surfaces and the actual route itself was quite safe. I didn’t have to contend with too much traffic or anything. There’s a few bits where I did. Um, but actually I was uh relatively safe and uh I actually enjoyed this quite a lot. The other thing to add with this is um I actually took the train back and I didn’t actually have to book my bike. However, it’s obviously first come first serve. If you’ve booked the bike, then you get the priority and whatnot, but thankfully um back from March is not too much of a problem. Uh there was um adequate space for me to get my bike on the train. Um the train cost me £9 something. Um which was uh essentially an on the gate ticket. I I didn’t pre-book or anything. Um so that was actually quite painfree. I don’t know what else really what to say about that. The the it was it was absolutely fine. I just stood on the train with my bike. Um it was on one of the class 170s, the cross country ones, which was actually going back to Leicester, but I was only going one hop across from March back to Peterbr. Uh once back in Petersborough, hop on the bike straight up the the bike path um to back home. Uh so it’s relatively straightforward. I hoped you’ve really enjoyed this ride out with me. This is kind of um I want to make this more of a normal ride. Doing 25 miles. I want that to be normal for me. So um and I’m getting a lot better at it. But anyway, if you’ve enjoyed this video, uh thank you very much for watching and um hopefully I’ll see you in another video very very soon. Tata for now. 22 miles so far. Um so I think by the time I get to March Station it’ll be about 25 miles. So so far so good. I’m sweating a lot as well.