PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
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MrsHJ
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by MrsHJ »

Mick F wrote: 4 Jan 2022, 4:30pm
Old A30 list.
Find a map and trace it out.

Penzance town centre to Longrock, then basically the same as the new road to Hayle.
Hayle town centre to Connor Downs, Camborne, Tuckingmill, Redruth, Blackwater, Three Burrows (Chiverton Cross).
From there it follows the main single carriageway A30 soon to be bypassed with a dual.
Old A30 went through Zelah and then through Mitchel, Summercourt, Blue Anchor, Fraddon, Indian Queens, then Goss Moor (now partly a cycle off-road track) to Victoria.
Then Lanivet to Bodmin town centre.
Out via Asda :wink: then over Bodmin Moor, but most of the Old A30 no longer exists.
The Very Old A30 went through Temple, but that was bypassed during the Turnpike days of the 18c.
Then through Bolventor past Jamaica Inn then Trewint and Kennard's House and Tregadillett. The stretch to Launceston has been obliterated.

Launceston to Exeter is all complete and mainly an un-named, un-numbered road.
Launceston over Polson Bridge into Devon and to Lifton, then Tinhay, Portgate and Lewdown past (the late) Jethro's place.
Through Bridestowe village centre to Sourton.
A few hundred yards of Old A30 obliteration, then off down to Okehampton. You can bypass the obliteration very easily without going out of your way.

From Okehampton town centre, go up the hill and head for Sticklepath and South Zeal, then Whiddon Down.
Crockernwell, Cherition Bishop, Tedburn St Mary, Pathfinder Village, to Exeter St Thomas.

Hope that helps! :D
That’s a list that’s ripe for someone dropping it onto cycle.travel. It won’t be me now though as I have a stinker of a headache so am going to remove myself from all screens.
dodger1
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by dodger1 »

Should have known Mick F would have been there. I like the route to Swindon and, luckily, I have a place to stay over there, so looking good.
Now need to wait for a spell of settled weather and fine tune to stay away from A roads as much as possible. :)
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
horizon wrote: 2 Jan 2022, 2:47pm
Others may correct me, but off the top of my head (so I'll check) I can't think of any impossible section (i.e. requiring going on the dual carriageway). The bit I cannot be certain of is Heathfield to Chudleigh Knighton where the cycle path (if it exists) runs alongside the A38. I haven’t done this for a while so not sure about it.

The route would be:

Plympton
Smithaleigh
Wrangaton
Ivybridge
South Brent
Harbourneford
Dean
Buckfastleigh
Ashburton
Mead Cross
Bickington
Heathfield
Chudleigh Knighton
Chudleigh
Clapham
Shillingford
Alphington
St Thomas

HTH :)

PS I intend to do this route shortly so I would like to know myself. Back in the day I was willing to cycle parts of the A38 but won’t now. However, in that time, a cycle route has in any case emerged.
PPS I'm still checking it!
The routes that Horizon and Mrs HJ suggest, are accurate, my concoctions were hurriedly posted :P
Me and Mick cycled the cycle route Heathfield to Chudleigh Knighton, and indeed its adjacent to the dual a38.
The only problem there was keeping Mick on a tight leash :lol: :lol:
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
I mentioned further back that I thought the route from Tavistock to Oakhampton a bit boring and soul destroying.
The bit was Tavistock along the cycle route north to Lydford, going north.
The A road linking those above is quick and very slick, and I have used it several times, scenic too, better going south for sure, northwood you climb out off tavistock, and also onto the moors out of marytavy, killer hills :P
Its never that busy I have found, and sometimes lanes are more a hazard, but if you are after quite then hedgerows it is, just takes the edge of quick, as there are too many dips and climbs albeit slight along with bends.

It al depends on weather and how you feel that day.
Lanes will always be slower, time and effort, depends on how you want to travel, if you have the time and what you want to see.
I see mick now favours the granite way!? :)

My memory of that bit of the cycle route (27) might well be tainted when I last was up there, one day later I was in hospital with a racing plus 150 resting heart rate :(
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
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horizon
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by horizon »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote: 7 Jan 2022, 4:50pm
The routes that Horizon and Mrs HJ suggest, are accurate, my concoctions were hurriedly posted :P
Me and Mick cycled the cycle route Heathfield to Chudleigh Knighton, and indeed its adjacent to the dual a38.
The only problem there was keeping Mick on a tight leash :lol: :lol:
Thanks for that NA - that's great. I hitch-hiked this route (Exeter to Plymouth) in 1971 or thereabouts at an impressionable young age following of course what was then the A38. It was a beautiful road, passing through places like Ashburton. When I came to live in the the south west twenty years later, it had been transformed into a dismal, predictable, uninspiring and characterless dual-carriageway. The brain-dead engineers who ripped this road from its landscape, history and geography crushed the old road beneath the new. Worse still, tantalising stretches were left inaccessible or could only be cycled in one direction. To be able to find a half-decent route and cycle some of the stretches they spared is a real joy.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Why I like / luv Dartmoor.
Its not changed ......much apart from the a30 dual.
Resurfacing some existing paths.

The Moor off road walking or if you want on your bike, I hope will never change in my lifetime..We wish :)

But how can you halt economic growth (as is seen today) and ever increasing house prices...especially in devon and cornwall.

P.S.
Mick has cycled the A38 bridges recently so he is best versed on whats not good anywhere that stretch.
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
Thehairs1970
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by Thehairs1970 »

It’s that time of evening when I like to be a pedant…and then be wrong.

Natural Ankling said the A30 was on Dartmoor and I thought “Really?”. Quick map check reveals…

Most of the A30 forms the northern boundary but a small section from Sourton(ish) to Okehampton(ish) is actually in the park.

But try and get planning permission for an extension…
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horizon
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by horizon »

Thehairs1970 wrote: 7 Jan 2022, 9:01pm It’s that time of evening when I like to be a pedant…and then be wrong.

Natural Ankling said the A30 was on Dartmoor and I thought “Really?”. Quick map check reveals…

Most of the A30 forms the northern boundary but a small section from Sourton(ish) to Okehampton(ish) is actually in the park.

But try and get planning permission for an extension…
The A30 was subject to huge controversy when it was planned.and built in the 1980s. But then nothing really stands between politicians/road builders/motorists and a new road. Most would be happy to see it built over their mothers' graves. And then, when the traffic jams return on the new road, another built over their fathers' graves. There is no stopping them.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Norman H
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by Norman H »

Thinking some more about your onward route from Swindon to Tring. I live in NW London on the borders of Hertfordshire and know Tring and the surrounding area quite well. The Chilterns are delightful for cycling but if you want to avoid hills it would be better to approach Tring from the west, rather than the south or south west.

From Swindon I would head towards Oxford, possibly through the Vale of White Horse. From Oxford follow the Thame valley to Thame (Route 57), and then onwards to Tring via Stoke Mandeville.
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Mick F
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by Mick F »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote: 7 Jan 2022, 6:28pm Mick has cycled the A38 bridges recently so he is best versed on whats not good anywhere that stretch.
Yes, done all the bridges over the A38 Exeter to Bodmin. A38 ends at Bodmin.
I thought there were 61 of them, but NA showed me a new one! That makes 62 :D

Not easy TBH. Lots of ins and outs on minor roads with difficult hills especially towards the Exeter end. The A38 (including the "Old A38") takes the simplest route but some of it ........ like the Old A30 ........... doesn't exist in its old form.
A few stretches of the dual carriageway at the Plympton/Ivybridge end have a cycletrack alongside the "motorway" .......... now called The Devon Expressway.

Done all the bridges over the A30 Exeter to Penzance - 79 of them.

Done all the bridges of the River Tamar. 27 of them - road crossings. There are a few more, but they are rail crossings and ferry crossings, and a footpath crossing where it specifically forbids bikes.
Total crossings number 33.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by Mick F »

The hardest bit was the last day.
Just dug out my ride records, and surveyed it.

I drove to a longstay carpark in Exeter, and rode down to meet NA at Bridge 15 .......... but it turned out to be Bridge 16! :lol:
This was my route, and this is my OS plan of the bridge numbers.
Screen Shot 2022-01-08 at 17.21.33.png
9 -16.jpg
My ride that day, 21st Sept 2021, was 38.7miles but with 4,000ft of ascent. Some of it rather steep and long.
Screen Shot 2022-01-08 at 17.31.16.png
Mick F. Cornwall
dodger1
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by dodger1 »

Norman H wrote: 8 Jan 2022, 1:19pm Thinking some more about your onward route from Swindon to Tring. I live in NW London on the borders of Hertfordshire and know Tring and the surrounding area quite well. The Chilterns are delightful for cycling but if you want to avoid hills it would be better to approach Tring from the west, rather than the south or south west.

From Swindon I would head towards Oxford, possibly through the Vale of White Horse. From Oxford follow the Thame valley to Thame (Route 57), and then onwards to Tring via Stoke Mandeville.
Good route, and I've driven it and it's usually busy as far as Thame.
Not really worried about hills around the Chilterns after much of Cornwall and Devon and I've tried driving back lanes to avoid Oxford and go from Swindon through Abingdon. NIGHTMARE! Seems to be permanent gridlock, but easy on a bike.
Thought I'd head towards Princes Risborough, possibly Wendover or Ashton Clinton/Western Turville then on to Marsworth, which is about 2 miles from Tring. Some scenic and quiet roads. I now have some newish OS maps, so route planning has started.
ChrisButch
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by ChrisButch »

horizon wrote: 7 Jan 2022, 9:50pm
Thehairs1970 wrote: 7 Jan 2022, 9:01pm It’s that time of evening when I like to be a pedant…and then be wrong.

Natural Ankling said the A30 was on Dartmoor and I thought “Really?”. Quick map check reveals…

Most of the A30 forms the northern boundary but a small section from Sourton(ish) to Okehampton(ish) is actually in the park.

But try and get planning permission for an extension…
The A30 was subject to huge controversy when it was planned.and built in the 1980s. But then nothing really stands between politicians/road builders/motorists and a new road. Most would be happy to see it built over their mothers' graves. And then, when the traffic jams return on the new road, another built over their fathers' graves. There is no stopping them.
The Oakhampton bypass section of the A30 was the subject of a notorious political event. Two routes were considered. One passed through low-quality farmland to the north, the other transgressed on the medieval Oakhampton deerpark on the northern fringe of the National Park. There was a lengthy public enquiry, which eventually found for the Dept of Transport's preferred route, despite a formidable array of environmental opposition. When the decision was announced, the Transport Secretary, Nicholas Ridley, hosted a champagne party to celebrate: an event which permanently blighted any hope that the then relatively new Thatcher government would take the environment seriously.
Last edited by ChrisButch on 16 Jan 2022, 5:13pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mick F
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

Post by Mick F »

I remember the hoo ha very well indeed.

Just spent a while trying to find the layby heading east on the bypass where there's a memorial plaque regarding when it opened and by whom.

I'll keep trying.
Mick F. Cornwall
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Mick F
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Re: PLYMOUTH TO EXETER

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Mick F. Cornwall
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