By bike to the Camel

Our eldest son James and his family came down to stay with us recently at Cider Cottage.  We decided to have an active day cycling with the children beside the River Camel along the Camel Trail.  This delightful route runs to Padstow from Bodmin and Wenford Bridge along the disused railway tracks.  It is relatively level and well surfaced, with occasional picnic benches, railway artefacts and lovely scenery of the river bank as it grows from a tumbling inland river to a wide, wide estuary.  Being traffic-free, the trail is safe for all ages to use and was well patronised when we visited, with walkers and cyclists enjoying the route.

James and Clare hired bikes from one of the bike hire shops in Wadebridge - there also hire shops in Bodmin and Padstow, too.  Two different child carriers were picked to suit the ages of the girls (1 and 3 years).  The bigger attachment, the American WeeHoo trailer was much admired and allows the child to 'help' with the cycling, although in reality, it's Dad who did most of the work.

Lynn and I loaded up our own bikes and joined the route at the former Grogley Halt, where we met a fisherman and parked the car.  We all cycled to Boscarne Junction (the end of the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway), before retracing our path downstream all the way to the end of the line at Padstow.  By the time we had returned to our respective starting points, we had covered an impressive 21 miles.  We returned, slightly saddle sore, in little more than half an hour to Cider Cottage for a well deserved Cream Tea and a rest !