Sunday Club Ride 5th January 2010

Meet as usual, Brookley Rd Carpark 8.50 a.m for a 9.00 a.m start

We head out of Brock via The Rise and Burley Rd, over Wilverley to exit left onto Station Rd down to Wootten. From here we take a left to the tranquil mediaevel hamlet of Tiptoe.

Despite the calm, some might say dull facade that Tiptoe presents today the village once achieved a degree of notoriety. in the 1879 Mary Ann Girling and her religious sect of 'New Forest Shakers' erected tents at a farm at Tiptoe. Girling believed that the Second Coming of Christ would soon occur and that, well basically she was it, writing to the local rag she preached, ' ....I now close this letter with the true and loving declaration that I am the second appearing of Jesus, the Christ of God, the Bride, the Lamb's Wife, the God-mother and Saviour, life from heaven, and that there will not be another'. and that she 'would surely live forever'.

The claim was marginally undermined by her death at the Tiptoe farm on 18 September 1886.

Although Girlings name was largely lost to history, Rockabilly combo 'The New Forest Shakers' did make a comeback in the 1960's with their classic version of 'Tiptoe through the Tulips'.

We head left again through Middle Rd before taking a left to meander along Mead end rd to Sway. Exit right along another Middle Rd, right again along Manchester Rd before crossing the rd to Pitmore lane and continuing until we reach and cross the A337.

Follow Rope Hill through Boldre, Pilley Hill through Pilley and Bull Hill to Norleywood. Avoiding the East End we turn left then left again up to Easy Boldre. We head back down South before turning East to St Leonards and then North again towards Beaulieu.

Once at Beaulieu Rd we take a left up past Hatchett Pond and all the way to the safety of Brockenhurst and some well earned Vittles at the Sett.

Forecast is decent enough so hope to see the usual good turnout

I am currently fighting heroically against a dose of 'chesty man-flu' so may or may not be there this Sunday. Might be worth someone downloading the route which I normally get wrong anyway.

https://www.strava.com/routes/22669583

Phil H