The slow tour has let Yorkshire for London. It could take us two and half hours on Hull Trains our, in true slow tour fashion it could take for days via Birmingham and Oxford.

In Birmingham we made up a leisurely bike route of around 20 kilometers. It was better than any GPX file I could find. It included, in slow tour style, an accidental visit to Cadbury World. Bournville is:

• ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak
• a model village on the south side of Birmingham
• site of the original ‘Factory in a Garden’
• best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate
• one of the nicest places to live in Britain.

The ride was made up of two parts. To Cadbury World and from Cadbury World.

To Cadbury World

We started near New Street Station. That was quite confusing to work out which way we should go given all the buses and taxis around the area. But it didn’t take long before we found the entry to the canal.

The Birmingham towpaths seem to be in pretty good shape. At times the path becomes quite narrow because of the bordering hedges or the right and low bridges.

Cadbury World

Fortunately, we arrived too late to get entry to Cadbury World this day. After buying some chocolate, we retreated to Bournville the model village built around the factory. As you ready earlier in this post, Bournville is one of the nicest places in England to live.

We visited a nice cafe and Selly Manor.

Returning to Birmingham

On the way back we rode though some suburbs and Birmingham University to Edgbaston and through Cannon Hill Park.

Resources

• There is no clean GPX file for this rude. You might get some ideas from our Strava accounts. Part 1 was to Bournville and Part 2 was the return.
• Cycling In Birmingham has good information to help you put your own route together.

The Hull Hustle

The final day of our Slow Tour of Yorkshire allegedly involved a loop around the city of Hull. We did have a GPX file to follow. But we quickly abandoned that route and followed something more random.

Part 1 of the route broadly followed the River Hull and then moved towards Hull University. Coffee and food provisions were bought from Newland avenue.

Part 2 of the route involved a random ride towards Helen’s Uncle’s House. If you follow it pop in and say hi to Bob.

Part 3 of the route involved a direct ride back to the Hideout Homebase along Anlaby Road in the wet!

The first two parts of the route are provided below, The last part, unfortunately, was not recorded. You know how it goes with tech. Works 95% of the time but let’s you down for the last 5%.

We spent three weeks in Hull. We found a city with a group of people that are taking the history of Hull and making something with it. There is a good theatre and music scene. There is also good food and coffee.

Frankly, the Hull City Council has continued to improve the shopping and old town areas. Everywhere is having a tough time with commercial properties given the disruption of retail by the internet. But I wonder whether Adelaide is a one-trick pony. Rundle Mall in the 1970s can not be all there is to be done? So many of our city streets are run down and there are indeed things that our Adelaide City Council could learn from Hull.

If you’re in Yorkshire – visit Hull – it might be at the end of the train line – but it has much to offer. Here are some photos to tempt you.

Resources

• If you actually want to follow the correct loop, then it is available from Let’s Ride UK.

You know it’s big when …

Like the Tour de France, the Slow Tour of Yorkshire demonstrates its success by leaving its namesake for this stage of the tour. While starting at Hessle, most of Day 9 was actually conducted in neighbouring Lincolnshire after crossing the Humber Bridge. Overall the ride was about 49km.

Humber Bridge

The Humber Bridge is:

• a breath-taking, Grade 1 listed structure which links Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on the A15.
• a single span road suspension bridge
• fifth longest bridge of its kind in the world
• one of Hull and East Yorkshire’s most iconic landmarks.

Lincolnshire

Most of this figure 8 ride was undertaken on quite country lanes. While there were some steady climbs the downhills were the best of the ride.

The views included farming, ports, industry and mining. A truly worthwhile ride. Barton upon Humber was the only significant urban area that we traversed.

The route has a special loop into Ulceby so you can visit the team rooms for lunch. Te@6 offered a lovely ploughman board and soup for lunch. Along with some good tea!

The villages had some fine buildings and a nice duck pond.

Hessle

The ride back over the Humber Bridge in the afternoon was better than the ride in the morning. Less wind and more sun.

We finished off the ride by heading into the village of Hessle. This is a well serviced area with a range of shops and coffee shops. It has plenty of bus services to Hull and is serviced by train services.

Resources

• We based this ride on a GPX file from Let’s Ride UK.
• You can see our version of this route on Strava.

Goole, Howden and surrounding areas

On Day 8 we visited the Goole and Howden area. Surveyed the region with a loop ride. Howden is:

• a small historic market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
• dominated by its Minster.
• strategically placed as one of the most inland ports in the UK.

The ride was made up of a number of distinct segments which we found on a nationwide bicycle route and group ride site called Let’s Ride. The first map shows the route we took from Goole to Howden. We then returned to Goole to catch the train back to Hull.

Goole to Howden

The route from Goole to Howden was largely traffic free path alongside (for the most part) a faintly busy minor road. But it did the trick of getting us to Howden. Crossing both the motorway and the Ouse River.

Howden

Howden is certainly dominated by its Minister. Part of the Minister is a ruin.

Howden seems to be well served with trendy eateries and wine bars. But this ride was on Monday, so some where closed. The ones open were doing good business. We went to the Kitchen – which seems to make the biggest cakes in the world. Our lunch was HUGE – I had to put the wide angle lens on my iPhone to fit in the boards.

After lunch we did a loop ride from Howden to Howden. It was quite country lanes, which meant that the ride was fast and fun! They are certainly the best routes to ride.

Overall the ride was about 30km. We did visit the Goole Library when we returned. If you are concerned that we are not getting enough libraries in.

Resources

• The GPX file came from Let’s Ride. Goole to Howden and Howden Loop.
• Details also came from a guidebook published by rideast.co.uk
• If you want big cake and lunch go to the Kitchen.

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Here at the Leeds Art Gallery.

Our favourite coffee and cake stop in Hull Trinity Market.

Scarborough to Whitby

A picturesque, and a times treacherous, 35 km ride through the Yorkshire Moors.

The North York Moors is

• a special place
• one of Britain’s extraordinary places
• an upland area in North Yorkshire

The Cinder Track follows the former railway from Scarborough to Whitby. In parts it is in a terrible condition, so much so that it is nothing more than a mud bog, There are plans to improve the track and spend some money that it desperately needs. Surprisingly, there are local objections to widening the track.

In its current conditions you need to double the time you expect to complete the track in. I do not have any photos of the worst paths. We were just trying to stay on our bikes.

I would highly recommend eating at a pub along the way. Whitby is a tourist town and if the weather is fine will be over-crowded.

The views, however, make this ride a must do.

Resources

• More details about our ride are available from Strava
• We used the GPX file from GPS Cycle and Walking Routes.
• More information about the Cinder Track from Scarborough Council