Recruitment Drive

Present: Al, Tee, John, Em

"The more the merrier", eh? So with that in mind Tee and Al arranged to meet their pals, John and Em half way between their respective homes (Hambledon and Fareham) to see if they could drum up some TCA subscriptions. John and Em had taken the route much familar to the Founding Fathers, up Mayles Lane from Funtley to Wickham, arriving a little before the tandem team. In true TCA-fashion we went straight to the first pub we could find, The King's Head, for our first pint (above, right).

Leaving Wickham to the north after our beer we headed up-hill following Mill Lane and Frith Lane before the gentle decent down Newman's Hill towards Mislingford. Turning right at the cross roads we then crossed the main A32 before descending the embankment at Upperford Copse to introduce our new recruits to the old faithful railway line (above, left). This was the first time 'off-road' for the tandem too but it coped pretty well on the hard-packed ground, picking up quite a speed; Al taking the brunt of the overhanging foilage impact!

After some pondering about which bridge marked the turn-off for Soberton and the White Lion we eventually located our exit and stopped for another pint in yet another beer garden (above, right). The weather was a little chillier than it had been of late which kept most folk confined to the inside bars so we felt we had the place to ourslves. We decided to head home after our second beer of the afternoon, opting for the more gentle climb up Hambledon Lane from the west rather than endure the drirect northerly approach using the Chalk Hill climb. Thus we pottered back to Hambledon for a barbeque and a few glasses of wine at Al & Tee's gaff.

After staying the night John and Em headed home in the pouring rain [almost converted?], using the railway line again. However, they explained later that (contrary to Al's advice) they had continued down the line past the usual turn-off at Wickham. Eventually the path reaches a dead-end as it meets the still-used main line between Fareham and Winchester. This then requires a u-turn and retracing of steps for a couple of miles, back to Wickham, before joining Mayles Lane again; a mistake Al and Paul had made to their cost years earlier. According the Al's advice the couple then stopped at our regular bike doctors "Cycle Paths" (nee "Action Bikes") in Fareham for a chat about an upgrade to Em's bike. Needless to say it turned out to be an expensive weekend as they walked out of the shop with a brand new GIANT hybrid!

(Posted by: Al)