Not a pub crawl !!!

This weeks Tuesday ride for the 3 Amigos totalled 35 miles over the beautiful Henley and district hilly, yes hilly countryside.
I decided to try to photograph every pub we went past, but after the first 4 or 5 Sally and Tim got a bit fed up and kept leaving me behind, but before that we passed, the Horns at Crazies Hill,






The Flower pot at Aston,














then after following the river through Aston we crossed the Thames at Henley, past the Red Lion Hotel and the Angel on the bridge.




After walking through Henley due to being scared of the traffic we headed off towards the Assendons, past 2 pubs which I was not allowed to stop and photograph, then gradually up hill through Lower and Middle Assendon, and a mile up a very steep hill through the woods to Maidensgrove Common where we stopped for lunch at the Five Horseshoes.
















At the Five Horseshoes we ate a very splendid lunch which included the best chips so far on our training trips, and possibly a little too much of the liquid refreshment. We are thinking of having a kind of star rating system for pubs and chips, but instead of stars we will use saddles, so we duly award the Five horseshoes 5 stars for chips, hospitality, and a great view.






















After lunch we headed off through Chrismas Common past the Fox and Hounds, then down hill for several miles, what a relief, through some spectacular Bluebell woods which stretched for miles,










through Turville Valley, where Tim bravely cycled past The Bull and Butcher, another 5 saddle rated pub as tried and tested previously by Sally and I.










A quick look back over the hill to Ibstone where lies the Windmill which was featured in the film Chitty Chitty bang bang.
By now we were quite tired, so bearing in mind this was originally to be a 40 mile ride I decided to cut out a hill which even my car struggled to climb, by taking this brilliant short cut, which turned out to be a river, but we made it through safely.








Next through the beautiful village of Hambleden which is very unspoiled and sports 12th century church St Mary the virgin,a very good pub,the Stag and huntsman, an old fashioned shop which acts as a coffee shop, Post office and Butcher too, and a garage which looks like it is still in the 1950's
A couple of horses passed while we were there, and again I demanded we stop for sweeties to give energy for the last leg of the journey.

















We soon had to cross the busy Marlow to Henley road but then back into the countryside as we crossed a spectacular wier back to Aston, where we re-traced our route back home, unfortunately mostly up hill again.
















My next ride will be from Thame, meeting up with Sally and also David and Anne Snowden, so a few different faces for the blog next time.