Fairweather Cyclist

Hooray, apart from the snow at Easter, yesterday's hailstorm and today's chill, Winter is behind us.

Yes I know I'm an optimist, but I have a very good reason. Now that Spring has sprung, my bike has at last emerged from its over-wintering in the garage. It's been dusted down, the tyres have been pumped back up and I am back in saddle.

So it's back to pegging it into town, then pushing it slowly back up that hill...

So keep your eyes peeled for the mad woman with the big smile or the red-faced old bird with the grimace.

Off to town on my bike

Regular readers will have caught my musings about cycling into Bury St Edmunds. It's a fantastic ride, which allows you to free-wheel for most of the way. I can bomb down like a big kid, but there is always payback on the journey home. The long steep path back home to Moreton Hall means that I don't cycle into town as often as I would really like, as being a fairly unfit 21st Century Mummy, I normally have to get off the bike and push for most of the journey back (disgraced by all those fit young things whizzing by)!

However, on a sunny day like today, there was just no stopping me! I had to go into town to get an ink cartridge so I can print out my son's birthday party invitations. I made it into town in just 15 minutes (and I didn't even fall off when my friend beeped at me from her car). However, best of all (and please allow me a big pat on the back), I cycled back up those hills with no stopping and made it home in about 20 minutes flat! Ooohh "get me"!

Here's a picture of what I call Devil's Lane...I don't know what its real name is, but it's a Devil of a job to cycle back up.

So - twas a great day out, no car park to rush back to, had a fabulous relaxing stroll around the shops, a leisurely lunch, got everything I wanted including material for the birthday bunting...

..."oh booger",

I've just realised that I've forgotten the ink cartridge that I went in for in the first place!

Center Parcs or Moreton Hall?

Please stick with me on this one...hopefully you will get my drift...

When cycling around Moreton Hall, I often think that it feels a bit like a holiday park, especially when it is sunny (unlike our current weather).

There are many safe cycleways, which lead around the estate and connect into the local centre as well as routes that take you further afield e.g, into Bury St Edmunds, to the Airfield (which has lots of interesting events such as the Kite Festival as illustrated on Ruby's blog) and onto Thurston, or to the pig farm at Rougham, etc.


There is also a great variety of playgrounds, all of which offer safe play and have different elements of interest.

For activities, you can even sign up to the Moreton Hall Health Club for two months over the summer holidays, providing local access to swimming facilities, creche provision and other events (see Mystery Shopper review here). The Self-Centre, which doesn't require membership also organises children's activities during school holidays, as well as regular workshops for adults.

(Copyright in photo belongs to Moreton Hall Health Club)

So with the kids sorted, what about indulgence and relaxation time for the grown ups? For those who enjoy the pub, there is the choice of the Moreton Hall (see photo on Moreton Hall Diaries) or the Flying Fortress, shown below.

And for that extra bit of pampering, we are lucky to have the beauty salon at Stephen John, as well as facilities at the Moreton Hall Health Club.

I know this is beginning to sound like a plug for local businesses but it is not meant to be. However with facilities like this on tap, perhaps we'll stay here for our summer holidays...might even consider renting out our house for a week. Now what do Center Parcs charge I wonder???

Entrepreneurial Tangents: Please could we have...

...a bike taxi

Now, I love my bike and there is little I like better than the exhiliarating experience of cycling (or rather free-wheeling) down what seems like the only hill in Suffolk, into Bury St Edmunds. It has all the benefits of fun, fresh-air, freedom, fitness and being a friend to the environment.

But, there is the problem of what goes down must come back up, defying the law of gravity. And it's not really an incentive when you have to climb that steeeeeeeeep and long hill with a 15kg toddler on the back and a tonne of shopping on the front.


Oh if only there was a bike taxi, which you could just ring to rescue you from the Everest that lies ahead. I know I'd lose out in the fitness stakes and would only be half a friend to the environment, but it wouldn't half be nice. I'd be much more tempted to cycle into town on market day.

Taxi companies, please feel free to take this idea and run with it and if it's successful, I wouldn't mind the odd free ride. Just look out for the red-faced woman pushing the bike up the hill, going two steps forward and one step back.

Woods and Pigs

Wow, what a day! We have discovered a whole new world within 20 minutes of Moreton Hall. After doing the usual Saturday morning jobs of washing, more washing etc, we decided to take the children out in the countryside for a long walk. Our first venture was a drive out to Bradfield Woods, a coppiced wood which is part of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust.

This was our first visit and what a gem. The leaflet that we picked up when we got there states that the woods (which are made up of Felsham Hall Wood and Monk's Park Wood) were once owned by the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds and some of the giant coppice stools, that you find on the trail, date back to this time. Coppicing was developed as a way to harvest woodland, cutting the trees just above ground level so that they grow with many stems rather than a trunk, in order to create a crop of timber poles. The first record of coppicing at Bradfield Woods dates from 1252.

Our young boys had a great time, running along the paths. Even for this time of year we saw loads of butterflies and the birdsong was in full flow.

Bradfield Woods is a bit out in the sticks, which is part of its appeal. No Ice-cream sellers, no cafe, just pure bliss. The only thing that you might need money for is to put a donation in the donation box, or to buy some of the coppiced wood. This will now become one of our regular haunts for the family.

And off on our bikes

After a hearty lunch at home (and more washing), we decided to go on a bike ride to explore a cycle path that I had noticed just off Kempson Way (Route 13 of the National Cycle Network). It runs between the new Suffolk Business Park and the older Moreton Hall Business Park.

We cycled down the path, which soon led to a brand new path which runs alongside the A14 and down to the underpass, which goes under the A14 (which was created when the A14 was redeveloped). When we reached the other end , we discovered a real treat, an enormous pig farm. It was huge, almost like a housing estate for lots of pinky & perkys. Couldn't help thinking of a bizarre song about a pig farm which I found on the net ages ago. If you have a mo' click on this link to play the "Give it all up" song. A bit bizarre but entertaining.

It was a great ride to take the children on, all within 20 minutes of our house. The ride home wasn't too bad either (except for the hills)!

Cycling in Moreton Hall

I have just noticed Ruby's lovely photos of the views from Moreton Hall in her Living in Bury St Edmunds blog. They are definitely worth a look. Meanwhile, it got me thinking about other lovely aspects of the area. The first thing that came to mind was cycling. The network of cycle paths that are being developed create a really safe off-road area for a gentle family activity. Cycling into town is just a 15 minute journey, even from the farthest outreaches of Moreton Hall (admittedly ~ it's not so fast coming back!)