Five of us set off on a warm, dry morning from Marldon on 19th June for Hamel Down. At Bickington we picked up two more, one of whom was Thomas, aged 14 and from the Plymouth Section, who had ridden all the way up the A38 to join us. From Bickington, the obvious next stop was Kevin’s where we were offered (and enjoyed) morning coffee and games of badminton. Nobody took up the offer of a swim, even though the day was rapidly getting hotter! We finally pulled ourselves away and got as far as Haytor, where we stopped for ice-creams. We managed to make it as far as Bonehill Rocks before lunch.

After lunch the boys found great amusement in spying on a young, topless lady who was sunbathing amongst the rocks. We finally managed to drag them away from the spot when she turned over to do her back! From here we took the track running below Chinkwell Tor, which is very rideable except for the final step, rocky descent.

We approached Hamel Down by way of the bridle path from Natsworthy Manor, towards Grimspound. This seems to be the best way to reach the Down, being rideable all except for 200 steep metres to the Aircraft Memorial Stone. From here we headed south along the ridge. Thomas left us at Broad Barrow, heading back towards Grimspound, Postbridge and Plymouth. We continued south along the ridge and down the long descent to Southcombe. This was all rideable and I would recommend this route to anyone attempting Hamel Down. Any approach from the south end would requite a lot of pushing.

We were all ready for ice-creams again by now but riding back through Buckland-in-the-Moor and Ashburton we missed all the ice-cream vans and could not find an open shop. Meanwhile three eager riders rode right up to Pudsham Down, only to have to come back down again, and minor repairs had to be effected to stop Glenn’s chainrings falling off!

As we ascended from Ashburton to Combe Cross, still ice-cream-less and nearly waterless in the heat, we all felt pretty shattered. But we called in at the Rising Sun where two sunbathing young ladies allowed us to replenish our water bottles – with water I hasten to add! This kept us going through to Park Hill where we got the long-awaited ices at the garage. The ride home was then a formality.

It had been a smashing ride - sorry you missed it Colin. I expect it will be raining when you make it to Hamel Down!

(Phil Burrows)

[The attendance list for this event is currently incomplete]