Harris & Hoole at Tesco's, New Malden is a bit off the beaten track for us and I wasn't sure how many members it would tempt out, so it was great to be joined by Bob, Tony, Pam, Gill, Ray, Graham and, making a welcome return after a long absence, Chris. Harris & Hoole proved to be quite a good venue, and not too busy, once you had managed firstly to find your way into the Tesco car park, and then, secondly, to find where in the store the coffee shop was hidden!
After elevenses all of us except Bob set off in the sunshine to meander through the leafy byways of Horatio Nelson country, then along the banks of the Wandle, before the long drag up to Wandsworth Common. We stopped for lunch by an open air cafe on the western fringes of Clapham Common which wasn't too busy.
The skies had clouded over by now and we didn't linger too long as it had become quite chilly, and we headed off across the Common proper, a very busy spot today, but positively quiet in comparison with a heaving Battersea Park which we negotiated very gingerly indeed before crossing the Thames by the Albert Bridge.
Our route was then along NCN4 towards Putney and Richmond Park. NCN is quite fiddly in places with sudden, random turns in residential roads, and by Putney Common I was feeling quite pleased that we kept together on the trickiest parts, but pride always comes before a fall! Most unfortunately, a spur of the moment decision to veer off and inspect the rear side of the unofficial Marc Bolan memorial at Barnes Common led to us unintentionally parting company with Gill! Worse still, despite our best efforts, we could not track her down! Mea culpa, and sincere apologies! The moral is that a ride leader you must never relax your guard!
Anyway, we eventually carried on across Richmond Park, still hoping in vain to be reunited with Gill (the story did have a happy ending and Gill was very nice about it all). We ended up at the Flying Cloud, Teddington Lock, where some stopped for tea, and some headed straight home.
Thanks to all for your company, and to Graham and Tony for your help.
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