Observations on a trip through the English countryside

While visiting my wife in Cambridge the other week I cycled to visit the neighboring Ely (pronounced “Eelee”) by bike. Ely is known as the site of one of the largest cathedrals in the United Kingdom and a stop on a wonderful bike path that leads through the middle of the “Cambridgeshire Fens”. It was interesting to learn about some peculiarities of English culture along the way.

To get inspired for the trip, I watched this video of Big Jim drinking a bottle of Whiskey and 4 beers while cycling and walking through the Scottish highlands.

Observations

• Driveway gravel: Many shapes and colors. An odd obsession with stones in the driveway. We noticed this earlier at landscape company that offered around 50 different types of aggregates ^[1]. Two main reasons: 1/ The wet climate as gravel absorbs rain better 2/ signaling status. Gravel driveways can cost from £3000 to 15.000 (source). They seem to function as a visible status marker in the UK with public-facing front gardens and material choices as a social signal. In Germany for example, houses usually sit further back or have hedges that surround which doesn’t let you see the complete driveway.
• Houses with personality: Labeled with proper names, houses assume distinctive styles. “Walnut Tree Cottage”, “The Woodland Manor”, “Lily’s Rose House”, “Laburnham Cottage/House”, “The Lilac House”. These labels are typically affixed outside, legible to all visitors. It’s quite corny but cute at the same time. It brings forth a whole host of questions. Who devises the name? What happens if the owners change? Are there any rules?
• Bike path report: Often in bad condition. Pot holes, overgrowth, opened asphalt even on busy streets made biking a difficult endeavor at times.
• The people: Unfailingly polite. Much more so than the Brandenburg countryside surrounding Berlin. Generally older leaning (like most Western countries these days) and several folks initiated conversations with me (“How was your sandwich?” “Good, thanks, coronation chicken is an acquired taste but overall good”).
• A historical factoid: Oliver Cromwell (famed English revolutionary) lived in Ely for a few decades with his family. The only time England had a real revolution but it only lasted 20 years before reformation set back in again and crushed it for good.
• Scones: Delicious, especially with cream. Had one when stopping for tea (an English peculiarity denoting a lunch or late afternoon snack) in Ely proper.
• Cellphone reception: Worse than in Germany in the countryside (never thought I would experience that!). There’s tons of articles and Reddit posts substantiating my subjective experience
• Guided buses: Moving fast, on rails. Never saw one before but they're a thing. The buses have little extra buffers on the front tires that allow them to slot into the rail. Cars cannot access and a long bike paths goes alongside the buses, making for a smooth ride through the country side.

Hope you enjoyed these small nuggets from the bike road and see you next time! In my next post I'll dive deeper into some of the housing developments I saw along the way

Julius

An Eli: Eines Tages kommst du mit auf so eine Fahrradtour! Ich bin gerade noch rechtzeitig zurück gewesen um dich abzuholen :)

1. It happens to house 3 luxury railway wagons from the 20th century where you are waited upon with English “high tea”. Cambridge Carriages is the name ↩︎