Post by Dave on Sept 28, 2014 17:47:13 GMT
The Granite Way Cycle Ride
Sunday morning on the 28th September 2014
Since I took up cycling earlier this year, I have compiled a list of rides I would like to do. One of them was The Granite Way that goes from Okehampton to Lydford. When you drive over 1200 miles every week for your living, you do not always fancy driving to far over the weekend. I know Okehampton is not that far away from Torbay, but its still far enough away to do a ride that is only just over 18 miles in length.
A friend of mine recently did the ride and raved about it and when you read about the ride on line, it sounds like a ride you just have to do. Before I go any further I will say I really enjoyed today’s ride, it was not as exciting as I hoped and was short on real points of interest. There were things of interest along the way so I don’t want to put anyone of riding this route, maybe a good ride along a disused train track needs long and dark tunnels for me.
It seems everyone riding on this cycle route that comes by cars, park in the railway station car park and so that is where I headed. As I left home at 7.45am the car park was empty when I got there, so I parked up and got the bike out of the back of the car. Once the front wheel was on it was time to set off and you only have to go through the car park gate and across the road for the start of the ride.
You cycle some two hundred yards up the lane before turning off the road onto a tarmac path that runs along side the track they now run steam trains on. Then you come to the Meldon Viaduct and from here on you cycle along the old track bed that once carried trains from Plymouth to Bude via Okehampton.
This viaduct is only one of two remaining viaducts in the UK that were built of wrought iron and cast iron, the other one is Benerley Viaduct that is in the north of the country. Meldon was constructed in 1871 and was built to carry only a single line. In 1878 an almost identical viaduct was build beside so there could be a down line and an up line.
In 1931 a carpenter Mr F. Rock was killed on the viaduct while replacing decking timbers, I wonder if any of the construction workers were killed while working on it.
The line was closed down 1968 but one track remained and was used to service the nearby Meldon quarry. In 1970 a road was built on the viaduct for Lorries to use to take materials for the nearby Meldon dam construction site. In 1990 the viaduct was considered to be unsafe for trains to run on it and it was closed down. Thankfully a few years later work was done on the viaduct to strengthen it and put it back into use for cyclists and pedestrians.
The views from this viaduct are wonderful and if you look over the left hand side and almost in the far corner of the valley, you can see the Meldon dam. It was at this point I wished I had brought my Finepix HS50 camera with me and not the Nikon coolpix one. The Nikon does a decent enough job and fits in my pocket, but this was a time I needed a good long zoom lens.
Once over the viaduct it feels like it does riding along any other old railway line, I did not count them but I guess there must be at least ten road bridges that go over the line. There are a few gates to open along the way and one part where you have to cross a very quite road, but apart from the very end of the ride its all traffic free.
I forgot to mention that just before you get to Meldon viaduct you pass the quarry and its here you discover so many old and ruined railway carriages. This site is the end of the line for the steam train and one wonders what if anything will ever happen to all those carriages.
There is a second viaduct you cross, Lake Viaduct that was constructed in 1874. Not a lot to say about this viaduct only that it is not as impressive as the stone built viaducts that can be found on the Drakes Trail.
You then come to a point where the path seems to end and you have to go through a gate( a note on it says only if the owner has not locked it) and through a small dark wood on a rough track only about two feet wide. While it adds to the enjoyment of the ride, road bike users might find the track a bit to rough for their liking. I changed the tyres on my new hybrid cycle when I bought it to more road friendly tyres and they sure did not like the surface they were now going over.
Once out of the dark wood its back onto a nice wide tarmac surface again all the way to the end where you come out onto the main road just outside the village of Lydford. I cycled through the village to the castle and then took another road where I found a nice green to sit and eat my lunch. It felt good to be back in Lydford, the last time I was there Carol and I walked the gorge, happy times but I knew she was with me there to day as she is everyday in my life.
On my ride from Okehampton Station to Lydford I hardly saw anyone else, which was not the case on the return leg. Once again so good to see families out on their bikes, but there were nowhere near as many people out an about on this ride than you will find on many of the rides in Exeter.
I always find at the start of a ride my legs never feel that willing, but when I have done a few good miles, they seem to want to get going on and on. So much so that when I got back to the station I felt I wanted to do the ride again there and then. But I decided to head back home for Paignton as there were a few things I needed to do at home.
Never thought this time last year I would have given up smoking after smoking since I was 14 years old and out riding a bike.
