The morning rendezvous was Squires at Godstone where a pot of tea is still £1.
Whilst glancing through "FridayAd", Mike arrived with Andrew, Ed, Pete, Daphne, Steve & Ann with Graham arriving via a different route and much later, John & Terry.
Within 200yds of the entrance to Squires, Pete punctured. This proved to be bad timing when 30mins later we encountered a nasty hailstorm whilst ascending Tiburstow Hill.
Despite this, the day was fine although with a significant windchill.
En route to Cowden, Graham turned back at Lingfield concerned that the N-Westerly may hamper his progress back to Kingston.
The climb up past Dormansland BR was rewarded with the wonderful Smithers Lane, surely one of our most prettiest roads.
I have fond memories of Cowden stretching back to the mid-eighties when we lunched at "The Crown" situated opposite the church. This pub was converted into cottages in the nineties which left the perfectly acceptable "Fountain".
On this occasion there was nothing more substantial than crisps but the jovial landlord and comfortable surroundings made up for the lack of food and it meant I could eat my sandwiches inside the pub.
Mike's chosen route home was blocked at the BR bridge in Edenbridge where heavy cranes appeared to be hard at work.
Remarkably all 7 of us stopped for tea in Tandridge LC then it was straight up Tandridge Hill Lane to join route 21 past Woldingham School.
On nearing home LEDs were activated probably for the last time until October. (BST next weekend - Hoorah!).
Whilst glancing through "FridayAd", Mike arrived with Andrew, Ed, Pete, Daphne, Steve & Ann with Graham arriving via a different route and much later, John & Terry.
Within 200yds of the entrance to Squires, Pete punctured. This proved to be bad timing when 30mins later we encountered a nasty hailstorm whilst ascending Tiburstow Hill.
Despite this, the day was fine although with a significant windchill.
En route to Cowden, Graham turned back at Lingfield concerned that the N-Westerly may hamper his progress back to Kingston.
The climb up past Dormansland BR was rewarded with the wonderful Smithers Lane, surely one of our most prettiest roads.
I have fond memories of Cowden stretching back to the mid-eighties when we lunched at "The Crown" situated opposite the church. This pub was converted into cottages in the nineties which left the perfectly acceptable "Fountain".
On this occasion there was nothing more substantial than crisps but the jovial landlord and comfortable surroundings made up for the lack of food and it meant I could eat my sandwiches inside the pub.
Mike's chosen route home was blocked at the BR bridge in Edenbridge where heavy cranes appeared to be hard at work.
Remarkably all 7 of us stopped for tea in Tandridge LC then it was straight up Tandridge Hill Lane to join route 21 past Woldingham School.
On nearing home LEDs were activated probably for the last time until October. (BST next weekend - Hoorah!).
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