Tour of the 39 Historic Counties of England. DONE!

[Millhouse]

It is my intention to do a cycling/camping tour which includes cycling through each of the 39 historic counties of England, hopefully starting within the next few weeks.
I have used the county boundaries as outlined in the Association of British Counties website, http://www.abcounties.co.uk

I have chosen a town or a couple of towns in each county to visit, so as to ensure that I travel into each county.
I will be setting off from home, Clitheroe Lancashire, and travelling north into Westmorland and Cumberland, then east into Northumberland and from then on travelling in a roughly clockwise direction. I haven’t planned a route in advance, choosing instead to take each day as it comes. I will be carrying all my camping kit etc and using a trailer. My favourite type of cycling is on rural roads with little traffic.

There are a couple or so tricky navigational areas which I would like the forums help with:

From EDMONTON in Middlesex I want to get to AVELEY in Essex, then to DARTFORD in Kent. Does anyone know of any good cycling routes between these towns? What’s it like getting a lift across the Dartford Crossing, OR is there a far better cycling route between these counties?

From RINGWOOD in Hampshire I will cycle through Dorset and Devon to LAUNCESTON in Cornwall, this appears to be quite a difficult navigational task, does anyone know of a good route?

From LAUCESTON in Cornwall I will again pass through Devon to FROME in Somerset, I could do with help with this route, bearing in mind I carry a fair amount of kit and will not be travelling lightly.
Regards Millhouse

[simonhill]

When the Dartford Tunnel first opened there was a bus and trailer for cycles, later replaced by Land Rover.I haven't seen it recently, but you could check it still goes. This would probably be the shortest route from Aveley, although you are not actually riding the crossing (not sure if that matters). Also, there there is a pleasant ferry ride from Tilbury to Gravesend.

See here for a fairly recent list of river crossings http://www.bike99.com/thamescrossings.html

[Millhouse]

Thanks Simon, that's just the sort of information I need. From the link you posted I see that there is a cycle path at the side of the A13 and a path along the side of the Thames to Tilbury.

[Mick F]

What a great idea!

Cornwall: I see you are (only) going to Launceston.

Launceston is the ancient capital of Cornwall, but Bodmin claims the later dates, it only moved to Truro comparatively recently. The trouble with Launceston for the tourist, is that it's only a couple of miles inside the Cornish border! Cornwall is a long county and you've decided to only dip your front wheel into it. Perhaps you could try a little further?

Dorset to Cornwall is a bit tricky, especially as you want quiet roads. Try to get towards Tiverton or Exeter.

Tiverton to Okehampton is hilly to say the least, though you can by-pass some of the hills by using "Rob's Passage". Details to follow if you want. From Okehampton the Old A30 is excellent all the way to Launceston. More details if you want them. From Exeter, the Old A30 is there all the way to Okehampton too.

Old A30 is fairly quiet as the traffic is on the Main A30, and the road is not hilly but wide and easy, just like the old main roads are these days.

[Millhouse]

I agree, I am only dipping my front wheel in a few of the counties. I know that Cornwall has loads to offer, as do all of the other counties. A tour like this could be done as many ways as there are cycleable roads. It's not set in stone, but I do need to aim for towns in each of the counties.
I have roughly guestimated that the tour will be between 1500 and 2000 miles and I will be away from home for between 4 and 6 weeks.
I did a 4 week 1600 miles tour in France in 2008, I really enjoyed myself but I tended to cycle cycle cycle. I want to chill out a bit this time, relax and try to 'tour' rather than just cycle.
I got the idea after watching Stephen Fry take his taxi through all the States in America, it's not quite America but England has so much more to offer.
I cycled the historic counties of Wales in 2009, a great tour but a bit wet, rained most of the time. It took a week, a very hilly week!
It would be great if you could provide me with some routes, it's an area I have never cycled, some campsites would be great as well.

[Mick F]

Fair enough!
Great idea, as I said, and it makes me think about some ideas I have.

Rob's Passage is a route to take you away from Bickleigh Hill and the Cadbury Hills:
http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course. ... rse=145542
I named it after a chap on here called RobS who first described it. He's not been on the forum for some years.

Also, here's the Old A30 Exeter/Launceston:
http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course. ... rse=201664
http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course. ... rse=235741

Camp sites I'm not too hot on at all, sorry.

[Dudley Manlove]

Only the historic counties? It'd be a shame to give Humberside a miss.

[Millhouse]

I'm going through Goole, is that in Humberside?
I chose the historic counties because they have charm and a sense of history.
It is true that I will be missing some amazing places but this is not a tour of every town/village in England, maybe that's next years tour

[thirdcrank]

I'm going through Goole, is that in Humberside?...

It's in the historic county of the West Riding of of Yorkshire, AFAIK. I thought that Humberside had been dumped as an administrative area.

[Millhouse]

I'm cycling East and West Riding, North Yorkshire and York, so Yorkshire's pretty well covered. I think that's quite impressive from a true Lancastrian!!

[thirdcrank]

York is the subject of a bit of an urban myth. I grew up believing that the Ainsty of York was a separate bit of Yorkshire and not in any riding. It was incoporated in the West Riding in the 1830's:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainsty

[Millhouse]

York is the subject of a bit of an urban myth. I grew up believing that the Ainsty of York was a separate bit of Yorkshire and not in any riding. It was incoporated in the West Riding in the 1830's:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainsty

Interesting, the Association of British Counties give York as a seperate entity, I will be passing that way so I may as well call in. I like York, it's a great cycling city and has a cracking cycling shop, Cycle Heaven.

[Millhouse]

I thought that I would share with you the towns that I am visiting in each county. In some cases I show more than one town, this is to provide me with an alternative as I am navigating on the hoof.
I have split them into 3 sets of 13.


County Town
1. Westmorland Kendal
2.Cumberland Penrith
Alston
3.Northumberland Slaggyford
4. Durham Middleton- In Teesdale

5a. North Yorkshire Osmotherley
Helmsley
5b. Yorkshire York
5c. East Riding Bubwith
5d. West Riding Goole
Bolton By Bowland
6. Nottinghamshire Bingham
7. Lincolnshire Grantham
8. Leicestershire Melton Mowbray
9. Rutland Oakham
10. Northamptonshire Oundle
11. Norfolk Mundford
Thetford
12. Suffolk Bury St Edmonds
13. Cambridgeshire Ely
Cambridge

[Millhouse]

Next set

14.Huntingdonshire St. Neots
15. Bedfordshire Leighton Buzzard
Eggington
16. Buckinghamshire Chesham
17. Hertfordshire Tring
St. Albans
18. Middlesex Fortyhill
Edmonton
19. Essex Tilbury
Aveley
20. Kent Gravesend
Dartford
Sevenoaks
Edenbridge
21. Surrey Witley
Godalming
22. Sussex Midhurst
Bepton
23. Hampshire Ringwood
24. Dorset Blandford Forum
Shaftesbury
25. Cornwall Launceston
26.Devon Cycle through twice to Cornwall and Somerset

[Millhouse]

And finally

27. Somerset Frome
28. Wiltshire Devizes
29. Berkshire Hungerford
30. Gloucestershire Lechlade
31. Oxfordshire Burford
Chipping Norton
32. Warwickshire Bidford on Avon
33. Worcestershire Pershore
Great Malvern
34. Herefordshire Leominster
35. Shropshire Much Wenlock
Bridgenorth
Whitchurch
36. Staffordshire Biddulph
Kidsgrove
Stone
37. Derbyshire Derby
Buxton
38. Cheshire Macclesfield
Stockport
Stalybridge
39. Lancashire Clitheroe