colour it green

I cannot believe how long the good autumn weather has lasted. It seems we keep having days out as we must take this one last chance, then get another.

This one really did feel like the last chance for a long while, between family commitments, timing and the forecasters warning us that autumn will be arriving tomorrow, we opted for a long cycle, well long for us. We cycled Exeter to Exmouth, admired the sea, then caught the ferry to Starcross

The paths to Exmouth are great, and most of the other side too, but they are still building the new cycle route between Powderham and Turf Locks, and the path is rough and difficult, however being right next to the deer on the estate was lovely and did make up for it. Really looking forward to the new path being in – it will transform the route.

Once back on tarmac we sped back to Exeter, and were lucky to witness a boat actually going through Double Locks – in all my years of visiting this pub *cough*twentyplusyears*cough*, this was the first time I have actually seen it in use.

Will do this route again, though I hope they finish surfacing the new paths soon.

This early autumn has been amazing, with sunshine and warmth – it comes as a surprise with the sun downs so early, as it feels so summery.  And as always the feeling of this window closing and less opportunities to get out and about when winter sets in, pushes us to pack in what we can.  It has been at least a decade since I cycled to Turf Locks – back then the cycle path was a rough track through high nettles dangerously close to the canal – not something you want to do whilst towing a not so small child on a tag-along bike  Now the path is lovely, a fairly easy twelve miles with great scenery and a pub lunch.

Today we left our son in the care of his grandmother and headed to Bath to cycle the Two Tunnels Greenway circuit.

We started in central Bath and took the cycle route, which was quite pleasant in itself going along back streets and over Pulteney bridge, before dropping down to the towpath of the Kennet and Avon Canal. It was beautiful and so quiet, only the sounds of our tires.

Including the Dundas aquaduct. After admiring the aquaduct and the traffic on it for a while, we continued on the cycle path away from the canal, onto some minor roads and into Monkton Combe for a pub lunch.

After that we joined the disused railway line that goes past Midford castle,

and then upto the entrance to the Combe Down tunnel, which is the longest traffic free cycle-walking tunnel in Europe at an impressive 1672 metres – just over a mile. As we approached the unassuming entrance, a blast of cold air hit us from the tunnel

Inside the tunnel is amazing – just the shear size of it. The picture doesn’t do it justice – about in the middle all you can see are the lights going off to the vanishing point, and it is cold – a blessing for us on a really hot day in September.
Eventually there was a light at the end of the tunnel, we cycled out into the heat, and then back into the next tunnel – another long one, though not as long as the Combe Down.
Woodland gave way to parkland gave way to town, with a high over road bridges, before we came back into town along the river and back to our starting point.
A really lovely couple of hours cycling, the 12.8 miles taking in many changes of scenery. Definitely one to do again.