Quote:
Originally Posted by Whistling Willie
Birdlip or Crikley ?? Birdlip (often confused with Crikley Hill which is now the A417) is a narrow hill that lies to the South west and is an extension of the Roman road Ermin Street. Up and past Witcombe.and historically was used as a test hill for Cotton motorcycles. Nonetheless it is a steep hill with lots of bends and would make both engine and driver work very hard indeed.
Guess it will be Crikley and that will indeed make a sight and also upset a few of the HGV's that will be stuck behind !!! Good halfway parking point to watch proceedings and get some pics.
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When I took the Marshall from Much Marcle to Kemble a few years ago I looked at going up 'Birdlip', that is the old road as you describe.
I chose not to because there is a 7.5T statutory restriction on it. I guess an environmental restriction to stop the HGV's in the event the A417 is snarled up.
I didn't contemplate the A417 and Crickley and if truth be told I didnt fancy a run down the dualled part of the A417 to Cirencester.
There are two problems getting from that part of the world to Cirencester, one is the river Severn, the other where to climb up out towards Cirencester.
I did look at going via Gloucester and Stroud which was quite attractive, given Marcle is a little more west than Welland, but it was a route completely unfamiliar to me, and in the end we laid up after marcle at Eldersfield, a fair bit further east than Marcle.
In the end I chose to cross the river at Tirley (there are only three choices North to South - Tewkesbury - Tirely and Maismore), go through Cheltenham and climb the hill on the A435 near Charlton Kings. This was having been given some 'gen' on the route by Messrs Arrowsmith and Milns. Basically it seemed to be the typical route from Welland to Kemble. Mr Smith was at the same start point lighting up 'Dorothy' having been at Welland and seemed to be going the same way. In any event they left later and, despite our leisurely lunch at the Pub at The Severn Springs they didn't overtake me, though they did arrive fairly soon after we did!.
anyways, I hope Richard is having a nice run, its just the right sort of distance for a fast engine without getting hard work