Sunday 3rd March 2013

I can't say I'm keen on the A217 as a road for cyclists but today I decided on a direct route to Hookwood and this road serves that purpose.
I left the tea hut (Epsom Downs) at pretty much dead on 9.15am but this was a BIG mistake.
In a matter of seconds I was surrounded by folk coming in all directions who had read the runs list "Meet at 9.15" as precisely that......not leave at  9.15am.
Apologies to those concerned including Janice & Daniel who arrived moments after we had left.

This Tesco now serves Costa coffee.........unfortunately at Costa prices.
Leaving Bob and an unshaven Ray,Graham & Daniel we made for Smallfield and Lingfield to lunch at Cowden's "Fountain".
After half a cider made by Badger I think,it was a short hop to tea at Godstone having a quick look at the"Crowhurst Yew" on the way.
The following is a piece written by Clive Aslet of The Telegraph:

I understand why our pagan ancestors worshipped trees. Last week, I made a pilgrimage to the Crowhurst Yew, in the churchyard of that Surrey village. I had visited it before, but this time, having formed the idea that the BBC needs a documentary about trees, I was with a film crew, and the constant need to pause and retake because of passing planes and traffic allowed me to deepen my acquaintance.

Yews grow wild in Surrey and this one certainly predates the 12th-century church, perhaps by several thousand years. It is difficult to date ancient trees because the trunks, as with this one, are generally hollow; carbon dating cannot be applied because the tissue is still living. But the accepted wisdom is that this tree is about 4,000 years old.

Like other very old beings, the yew is in need of a little support, and rests its limbs on wooden supports. But it still puts forth a great bush of green. The experience of walking inside it, though, is astonishing. With all the soft wood worn away, the walls look as though they are part of a grotto, formed by lava that has solidified.

Even in Charles I’s reign, the girth measured 10 yards; 400 years later, it is a few feet bigger still. At some point, somebody put a door in it; that was presumably before another fissure opened up in the trunk, allowing you to step through without using the door. I suspect the local publican; he was charged with looking after the tree. Perhaps he also installed the table and chairs that it was supposed to have contained at one point. In 1820, a cannonball was found in the trunk: the tree had absorbed it presumably during the Civil War, and carried on.

I am told that yews can sprout again, long after they have been turned into beams and built into houses. Not surprisingly, they became symbols of regeneration, as well, in the Christian context, as resurrection. They are an appropriate accompaniment to churches. I would only note that, if you happen to be sitting on an iron bench on a bright but biting day, it can be awfully cold underneath one. 


A mostly cloudy day with occasional glimpses of sun.
Mileage around 50,I parted company with my computer sometime after tea :-(