Checkpoint Numbers & Names
Oxfordshire 3 – Kencot
Oxfordshire 4 – Great Coxwell
Oxfordshire 5 – Cogges
Questing Day 11 would see me both visit three checkpoints in the neighbouring county of Oxforshire and complete my second BCQ question card.
Having planned the route, parking was easy to arrange as there is a National Trust car park at Badbury Clump only a mile or two away from the first checkpoint of the day at Great Coxwell, so with the car parked and bike unloaded it was time to take to the road.
The road from Badbury Clump in to Great Coxwell was a downhill cruise, with almost no pedalling required before hitting the Barn that constitutes the checkpoint. The question got me a little confused here and I nearly counted the holes in the entire wall not the just the gable end, fortunately I realised my error in time and got the right number.
Continuing on downhill the planned route took me in to the small town of Faringdon, and then on a shortish stint along the A417 for around five miles until I arrived at the village of St. Johns Priory where it was time to leave the main road (which wasn’t that busy thankfully) and hit some nice country lanes on the route out to Kencot.
Turning right at ‘The Trout Inn’ the lanes were now very quiet and with only the occasional car or tractor and I nearly missed the next turning as I was looking at the scenery around me, luckily I spotted the turning at the last minute and headed off in to Little Faringdon.
Just before Little Faringdon it was time to turn off again and continue to follow the quiet roads through the villages of Langford and Broadwell and on to checkpoint number two for the day at Kencot.
There are two roads through Kencot, and in a great stroke of luck I picked the right one to go through the village and pass the checkpoint. So having taken the obligatory photograph and a break for a drink and snack it was time to jump back on the bike and head off towards both the third checkpoint and lunch!
Continuing to travel north on the quiet B4177 it wasn’t long before I passed through the the small town of Carterton, and then skirting along the edge of Brize Norton RAF base and through the small village of Brize Norton itself where the roads still remained reasonably quiet until I reached the outskirts of Witney. After navigating the ring round around the town it was time to turn off the road and down the track / path into Cogges itself and the checkpoint at St. Mary’s Church. As normal, photograph taken and a little look around (although I couldn’t see too much as there was a large amount of restoration work going on).
I planned to stop in Witney for lunch, and continuing along Church Lane I happened upon a pub called ‘The Griffin’ which provided a most excellent Ploughmans lunch and real ale to get me back to the start point. So, having been fully refreshed the return journey was to be a bit of a busier route back to the start.
After leaving Cogges by Stanton Harcourt Road and passing under the A40 the route took a right hand turn along a short section of unexpected off road route along a chalk path through fields until the village of Ducklington, and then south through to the villages of Aston and Bampton from where the route joined the busier A4095 back in to Faringdon and the final climb back up the hill in to Badbury Clump and the car park.
So, question card number two completer and yet another good days questing in a generally flat part of Oxfordshire with plenty of pretty villages to stop at and explore along the way. If you are following my route for this ride then you will have a bit of a steep climb at the end as the start / finish is at the top of the hill, and the section at 23.3 miles to 24.1 miles is a chalk track so may not be suitable for skinny tyred road bikes but anything around 32mm or wider should be OK.
Miles Cycled –37
Checkpoints Visited – 3
Total Miles Cycled – 410
Total Checkpoints Visited – 20
Click here to download a gpx file for this ride
