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Diss, Gissing, Aslacton, Forncett, Wymondham round 2 29/6/18

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I said I would go back and do it properly, and I did.  It was something of a last minute affair. The afternoon was free.  I could just get on the train, there would be plenty of available light, there was no need to stress. The distance would not be a problem. With two unfortunate earlier expeditions, dark questions had called into doubt the whole concept of trying to roam around this corner of the country by bike on my own. Things go wrong; am I really up to the matter of getting out of tricky situations? One way to find out.  This time I was adequately equipped: compass, check.  Map, check. Food check. Water, well, juice, check.  And this time I knew which end of Stowmarket station bikes loaded from. The short story is it all worked. It came during a spell of idyllic weather. No problems with the train to Stowmarket, my anxiety entirely unjustified. The train at Stowmarket turned out to be the friendly little ones, that you just push the bike on and fit it anywhere it can fit.
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Kings Lynn to Wisbech to Watlington 5/7/18

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This new way of getting to bellringing practices is habit forming.  Need to be in Wisbech? Sure, a mere hop skip and jump, at 15 miles from Kings Lynn, or 13 miles from Watlington. Why not. I had thought to leave at something past one, get to Kings Lynn at something past two, get to Wisbech by 4:30, see the Rose Fair, attend the evensong and see the ringers started on their quarter peal and then make my way back to Watlington in a leisurely and decorous fashion.  It was not so, but it was more fun, because Alan came along. For starters, he suggested a tour of the Elgood Brewery, which meant getting to Kings Lynn for 2:00. Which meant the 10:35 train, which eventually shambled along, late, as all trains are at the moment. We then sniffed our way through Kings Lynn to the old part of the town, and the ferry, just in time to see the ferry slipping across the river - twenty minutes to wait for the next ferry. While paused for the ferry, it is worth giving a plug for the old town, the
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Diss, Gissing and Attleborough

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I have made a map of East Anglia, decorated with blue spots representing churches with evidence of Anglo Saxon features, and red spots denoting railway stations.  The intention is to launch raids from the railway stations and visit these churches, over time, in this way, conquering all of East Anglia by bike. Why.  Well, I like the old churches.  It gives me a sense of calm to think of a community not quite destroyed throughout a thousand years, to touch the evidence, which, if not concrete, is at least flint and mortar, or perhaps dressed stone. I like the Saxons; I like their proud and gloomy nature, the disaster of the battle of Maldon (ofermode - allowing the enemy an advantage to make things more fair), the despairing tone of Bishop Werferth's letter to King Alfred, regretting how the country had gone to the dogs.  I share it. Nonetheless, the churches provide a route, but of course, the real purpose is to get out of the house, to attempt the trip, to meet the problems, de
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