Two cathedrals ride: Cycling from Salisbury To Winchester via the Roman Road

(Afternote: In September 2021, I was more successful in following the Roman Road: see here.)

Having made it to Winchester on my ride of 22 June, I wondered if I might progress further westwards and journey between the two cathedrals of Winchester and Salisbury. Not wishing to ride both there and back, I needed a rail option for one of the legs. Study of the rail routes revealed that, whilst there is no direct service, it is possible with a change at Basingstoke. In the end I decided to put the bike in the car, drive down the M3 and park at Basingstoke station. There being a strong south westerly wind, I judged it would be best to start at Salisbury and take advantage of the tail wind.

It was a fine summer's day - the hottest of the year so far. The first problem was paying the (exorbitant) parking fee (£8.00) at Basingstoke station car park: the credit card option wasn't working, so I had to use my mobile phone, with a laborious menu and extra 'booking fee'. The train to Salisbury was of a type I had not used before: there seemed to be no marked bicycle compartment, but I found a space with three folding seats which did well enough. From Salisbury station I made my way to the cathedral (I am now familiar with negotiating annoying city one way systems, where you can see your destination, but the one way streets take you ever further from it). The cathedral and its setting, surrounded by lawns, were just as magnificent as Winchester, especially well set off by the brilliant blue sky.

The map of my route is here.

I planned to go north out to the original site of the cathedral at Old Sarum, then head East following the path of the the old Roman Road between the two cities. I reached Old Sarum traffic-free via National Cycle Route 45, beside the River Avon. For the final few hundred metres, the path beside a recreation ground was made difficult by overgrown vegetation, especially stinging nettles: not nice when you're wearing shorts! This was a harbinger of problems to come. The earthworks at Old Sarum are impressive and can be viewed to a certain extent from outside. I had previously visited the site proper, so didn't go inside this time, but headed out on the road through the village of Ford: the straightness of this road confirms the it follows the route of the Roman Road. I had hoped to continue to follow the path of the Roman Road along the Byway which starts at the crossing of the A30. However, this proved to be totally overgrown, and would have been impassable on foot let alone on a bike. This was disappointing, but an occupational hazard of high summer cycling: maybe there's a Goldilocks time in Spring: not too muddy, not too overgrown. So I stuck to roads instead - through Pitton and on to The Common near Middle Winterslow.

I was able to follow the bridleway east from here for a mile or so, but it was pretty rough in parts. I returned to road near Buckholt Farm. Near Horsebridge, I crossed the various braids of the River Test, which were delightfully clear. After re-victualling at the village shop in Kings Somborne I pressed on via the hamlet of Ashley, and, after passing several large fields of lilac opium poppies, now being grown extensively for (legal) drugs, I called off at the impressive viewpoint at the Farley Mount monument (to a race horse): the 360 degree panorama extends to the Fawley Refinery, Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower and Salisbury Plain. The descent into Winchester was fine, but being rush hour, the last bit on the B3040 was rather busy. I had left Salisbury around midday and arrived in Winchester at about 5, quite slow for covering this 30 mile trip, but then it had been a very hot day. I was pressed for time, so didn't have time to return to Winchester Cathedral, but headed straight for the station for the train back to Basingstoke.