Why this ride
From Amersham it runs 709 km to Oxford; allow about 17 h of riding. It goes by way of near Midhurst, Pevensey and Scenic stretch in South Benfleet. The climb of the day is near Henley-on-Thames.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Essex Saltmarsh and Suffolk Villages + London · Cotswolds Stone Villages Loop
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 709 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 10 h 55
- Journey
- One way; return travel is separate
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Fuel stop near Amersham
Amersham is two towns in one. Up on the hill is the modern town, built around the station at the end of the Metropolitan line in the early twentieth century, the heart of what was marketed as Metro-land. Down in the valley of the Misbourne is Old Amersham, a beautiful street of coaching inns, timber-framed houses and Georgian façades, with a seventeenth-century market hall on its arches. The contrast is striking.
Read the complete Fuel stop near Amersham write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Essex Saltmarsh and Suffolk Villages is where the day begins. Next is High point near Henley-on-Thames.
2. High point near Henley-on-Thames
Every summer since 1839, rowers have raced up a straight stretch of the Thames at Henley, and the Royal Regatta has become one of the fixtures of the English social season, with blazers, boaters, Pimm's and picnics on the riverbank. The rest of the year, Henley is a handsome market town on the river, with a fine bridge, old inns and the River and Rowing Museum, which tells the story of the Thames and the sport.
Read the complete High point near Henley-on-Thames write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
You top out here; the road stops climbing. Next is Food stop near Midhurst.
3. Food stop near Midhurst
Midhurst is one of the nicest market towns in the South Downs, and it sits on one of England's most loved biking roads. The A272 runs east and west across Sussex and Hampshire, through villages and woods and over little hills, and it has a cult following among riders who prefer charm to speed. Midhurst is a natural pause along it, with old coaching inns, timber-framed houses and a broad main street.
Read the complete Food stop near Midhurst write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
A break here. Next is London motorcycle escapes return.
4. Pevensey, on the way back
In September 1066 William of Normandy brought his army ashore here, onto a shingle shore that has since moved, and camped inside walls that were already seven centuries old. Pevensey Castle is that layered thing: a late Roman fort, Anderitum, built against Saxon raiders, with a Norman castle planted inside one corner of it. The Roman walls still run most of the way round, and walking the circuit takes ten minutes and a lot of imagination.
Read the complete Pevensey, on the way back write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
London motorcycle escapes return, early in the day. Next is Scenic stretch in South Benfleet.
5. Scenic stretch in South Benfleet
Vikings once had a fortified camp at Benfleet. In 893, the forces of Alfred the Great's kingdom stormed it while most of the Danish army was away raiding, capturing ships, women and children, and archaeologists later found charred remains of ships in the creek. Today, South Benfleet is a quiet residential town on the Thames estuary, but the creek is still there, lined with boats and mudflats, and the history adds depth to an otherwise suburban place.
Read the complete Scenic stretch in South Benfleet write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Scenic stretch in South Benfleet sits at 313 km, about halfway. Next is Photo stop in Mayland.
6. Photo stop in Mayland
Mayland lies on the Dengie peninsula in Essex, on the southern shore of the Blackwater estuary, a flat, quiet landscape of farmland, saltmarsh and wide skies. The village and its neighbour, Maylandsea, have a marina where small boats lie on the mud at low tide, and the estuary stretches away to the north, glittering in the sunlight.
Read the complete Photo stop in Mayland write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Photo stop in Mayland comes up 392 km in. Next is Essex Saltmarsh checkpoint 8.
7. Wembley
The arch is what you see first, a white steel hoop rising over north-west London, visible from the North Circular, from Harrow, from the planes coming in to Heathrow. Wembley Stadium was rebuilt and reopened in 2007, replacing the old twin-towered stadium where England won the 1966 World Cup. The new one is bigger, slicker and less romantic, but on match nights the whole district still hums.
Read the complete Wembley write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Essex Saltmarsh checkpoint 8 closes the day. Next is Back to Essex Saltmarsh.
8. Back to Essex Saltmarsh
Amersham is two towns in one. The old town, on the hill, has a broad high street of timbered inns and Georgian houses, while the newer town, down by the railway, grew up around the Metropolitan line, which ends here.
Read the complete Essex Saltmarsh write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Finish at Back to Essex Saltmarsh. That is the ride. Next is Oxford coffee.
9. Oxford coffee gate
Oxford is where you want to arrive late morning, when the commuters have settled and the tourists have not quite taken over the pavements.
Read the complete Oxford write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Food at 627 km, roughly 11 hours into the riding. Next is Burford stone street.
10. Burford stone street
Burford's High Street drops down a hill so steeply that you can see the roofs below you before you see the street, and it ends in a medieval stone bridge over the River Windrush. That one view is the whole reason to stop. The town grew rich on Cotswold wool in the Middle Ages, and the honey-coloured limestone houses with their tilted stone-tiled roofs, the big church and the arched doorways all date from that prosperity. Later it became a coaching stop between Oxford and the west, and some of the old inns still serve travellers.
Read the complete Burford stone street write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Burford stone street comes up 705 km in. Next is Stow-on-the-Wold.
11. Stow-on-the-Wold
Stow-on-the-Wold sits high. At roughly two hundred and fifty metres, it is the highest town in the Cotswolds, and the wind across its market square is famously keen. Old roads meet here, including the Roman Fosse Way, which runs along the edge of the town, and the place has been a market since the Middle Ages.
Read the complete Stow on the Wold write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
783 km in you reach Stow-on-the-Wold. Next is Broadway Tower ridge.
12. Broadway Tower ridge
A Cotswold escarpment does not announce itself from the Vale of Evesham side; you simply turn a corner at Broadway and the road tilts upward, steeply, toward a tower on the skyline. Broadway Tower is a folly, built in 1798 for the Earl of Coventry on one of the highest points of the Cotswolds, at about three hundred and twelve metres. It was designed to look like a small castle and to be seen from the earl's estate far to the west, and the legend says that on a clear day you can see sixteen counties from the top.
Read the complete Broadway Tower ridge write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Broadway Tower ridge, late in the day. Next is Back to Oxford.
13. Back to Oxford
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oxford write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back to Oxford closes the day.
Leg by leg
Fuel stop near Amersham to High point near Henley-on-Thames
Fuel stop near Amersham → High point near Henley-on-Thames is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
High point near Henley-on-Thames to Food stop near Midhurst
High point near Henley-on-Thames → Food stop near Midhurst is 125 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Food stop near Midhurst to Pevensey, on the way back
Food stop near Midhurst → Pevensey, on the way back is 124 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Scenic stretch in South Benfleet to Photo stop in Mayland
Scenic stretch in South Benfleet → Photo stop in Mayland is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Photo stop in Mayland to Wembley
Photo stop in Mayland → Wembley is 126 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Back to Essex Saltmarsh to Oxford coffee gate
Back to Essex Saltmarsh → Oxford coffee gate is 76 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Oxford coffee gate to Burford stone street
Oxford coffee gate → Burford stone street is 46 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burford stone street to Stow-on-the-Wold
Burford stone street → Stow-on-the-Wold is 25 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stow-on-the-Wold to Broadway Tower ridge
Stow-on-the-Wold → Broadway Tower ridge is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Broadway Tower ridge to Back to Oxford
Broadway Tower ridge → Back to Oxford is 85 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.