Reading to Hook (Epilogue - Epiblog?) - 07/03/20

I repeated the Reading to Hook route with my son. Here are some additional observations.

Alternative route at Stratfield Saye House

I tried taking an alternate route at Stratfield Saye House. There is a road with a picket fence. Just after it crosses the river Loddon. It seems to give alternate options in joining the A33 further down. Unfortunately, it is more of a track than a properly surfaced path.

About 1/2 way along you need to cross the river Loddon again to continue on the path and then it is more of the same gravelly/muddy path. I would not recommend this route again and if it is cold or very wet then forget it.

(attach picture)

Punctures
I got 2 punctures on this trip. They were both caused by the same stone. We took a wrong turn at Stratfield-Saye and ended up at the Iron Duke pub. On the detour back I noticed my front wheel getting very soft and stopped.

I had a spare innertube, but decided to try and patch the tyre; the reason because I could not find the cause and suspected I would get another; which is what happened.

The 2nd puncture was not immediate (surprisingly). We stopped for water and my son, Joseph, could visibly see air leaking out of the tyre. I removed the innertube, for a second time, and found another hole. It was in a symmetrical position in relation to the valve; so I had obviously flipped the tube last time, and hit the same stone. Joseph then found the stone in the tyre and removed it.

We had stopped to fix the puncture on a traffic island with a nice bench, next to a bus shelter, in Hartley Wespall. A kind lady stopped her car to check if we were ok. She said her husband had a garage full of tools and could help if we needed. We did not need the help but it was a nice gesture.







Hook loopback route to Rotherwick

Stopped at a Café in Hook for a 2nd breakfast.

Then over the railway past the big Tesco towards the M3 motorway junction. It's a bit trickly crossing the M3 slip road as the traffic tends to speed up off the roundabout to join the M3 to London. The other side is better because there are some traffic lights.

Then along the A287 for about 100m and take a right onto Hook road. Here again, we went on the pavement until the junction and then crossed the busy dual carriagway very carefully. Once onto Hook road it is much quieter.

Where the streets have no name
Through the sleepy village of Greywell and onto 'The Street'; I have noticed there are lots of roads called 'The Street' with this name in many of the villages.  The word street has its origins in the Latin strata; meaning "paved road" - abbreviation from via strata (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street)

My theory is that in many of these villages this street was the first to be paved where the others were all just dirt roads. Effectively, the village equivalent of High Street in any town.

Stopped at the junction with Upton Grey Rd for a break - this is the onward route heading for Chawton (where Jane Austen lived) which I will cover in a later blog post.

Then followed the curving road to Up Nately. Turn right at the red telephone box into the woods, heading back to the M3. This time there is a bridge and you just fly over in no time. Just under 1/2 mile more and you have to cross the London Road (A30). It was not very busy on this occasion but I would take care when it is!

Straight across, then onto Crown Lane heading for Newnham/Rotherwick. This is a very pretty road leading under a railway bridge.