Day 5: Bredenbury to Whixall (63 miles)

Having learned our lesson after getting a soaking on day two we set off from the farm actually wearing our waterproofs. Five minutes later the sun came out and we were treated to fantastic views of the Herefordshire countryside:

Our 16 mile ride to our first stop at Ludlow proved the old adage, what goes up must come down, does hold and we actually got to cycle down some hills rather than just struggle up them like yesterday.

It also highlighted one of the other problems we face, finding suitable wee stops. Unsurprisingly we don’t come across many public toilets on our quiet back roads. And on the odd occasion we do, we have usually disappeared into an open gateway a few miles back. On this occasion, Liz and I were both squatting together on the corner of a low hedged field when a high truck came past, definitely getting an eyeful.

Liz to Jackie, still with shorts down: ‘I hope the driver doesn’t know my dad.’

Jackie: ‘Why? Do you really think he would recognise your bum?’

We reached the 33% mark of the LEJOG route while we battled up Tinker’s Hill, which lived up to its name.

Ludlow has a lovely castle, apparently. What I confirm is that the Citizens’ Advice Bureau is very popular and you have to be at least 65 to live there. Support driver two (Jane) can confirm it’s a good place to buy a charity shop fleece.

By now we were in Shropshire, where we faced some short steep climbs but also some long swooshy descents. 

At midday we celebrated not having gone wrong once. We’ll come back to that later.

Our lunch stop was at Attingham Park, a National Trust property with a very long drive! Our welcome party was Chris’s parents, Kev and Jan, Auntie Jenn and godmother Faye. They are all pictured here, along with Jane sporting her new fleece:

We then set off destined for the Brunts farm in Whixall. We passed through the village of Clive and even saw him drive past. Well, we assume it was him.

At about 53 miles we cycled straight past our turning. Our distraction was none other than a field of cows moving to another field. In our defence, there were hundreds of cows. And they were all going through a tunnel under the road.

We also went through Wem. We all recognised the name but haven’t been able to figure out why…

We arrived at the farm at 3.30pm, our earliest arrival by at least two hours. We have even had time to meet the dogs and horses.