RUTLAND TT NEED TO KNOW
The Rutland TT is one of those loops that come about because various short stretches of good riding get joined up and someone calls it a ‘TT’ – and the name sticks. It’s nothing like the TT – no mountain section or unrestricted speed limit for a start. But it’s a pretty, picturesque ride through classic English countryside, all rolling fields and tea‑and‑cucumber‑sandwich villages.
The ride starts south of Grantham on the recently‑revised roundabout on the A52. Take the B1176 Bitchfield road heading to Boothby Pagnell, then on to Corby Glen. This is an exceptional road, but beware the blind crests – a couple turn unexpectedly over the brow.
Through Corby Glen, then back on to the B1176 down to Ryhall, right onto Ryhall Road and cross the A1 at Casterton, and jink along the minor road until it hits the A6121 out of Stamford. Cross the A47 at Morcott – fill up here if you need it – and onto the B672 down under the Welland Viaduct – 82 arches, 30 million bricks and nearly a mile long, it’s an impressive structure.
At Caldecott turn right onto the speedy A6003 towards Uppingham – grab a coffee at Don Paddy’s – then head off through back roads onto the B664, swooping down into another river valley, then up and away over the dips and crests into Medbourne.
Stay on the B664 until it hits the A427 roundabout at Market Harborough – turn right onto the A6 for a brief spurt down to the Mcdonald’s on the next roundabout. Take the right turn on the B6047 north, heading towards Melton Mowbray, crossing the A47 and winding its way through villages and past the old airfield until it reaches the home of the pork pie. Ride through the town, then onto the B676 towards Colsterworth.
Just outside Garthorpe, beyond the cameras, the B676 gets fiendish with a couple of deceptively tightening bends, then hits a sharp 90° left made famous in countless magazine photo shoots. Then on through Buckminster – never trust a village where all the houses are painted the same – and across the fields to Colsterworth.
Nearing the end of the ride, at Colsterworth turn left and cross the A1 to pick up the B6403 and run along its dead straight length (apart from the super‑tight turn under the railway bridge – watch out in the wet) all the way back to the starting point.
Total length is just under 100 miles – it’s the perfect Sunday blast.
Route Telford Services, Much Wenlock, Hungerford, Church Stretton, The Bog, Clun, Anchor. Length 60 miles
Roads A442, A4169, B4378,
Jack Mytton Way, B4371, Bur Way, A488, B4368.
Nothing better than kicking off a ride around Exmoor with a fry-up at the Ship Inn in Porlock Weir, looking out across the Bristol Channel’s shimmering waters to the Vale of Glamorgan’s ragged coastline beyond. The 240 square miles of Exmoor, designated a National Park in 1954, reward you with ever-changing, dramatic scenery and remote riding.
From Porlock, climb the near-vertical hairpins up the 1-in-4 Porlock Hill. Rising 725ft in under a mile, this part of the A39 is said to be the steepest A-road in the UK. After a short blast over cattle grids, the road breaks from the tree canopies into open moorland and wriggles cheekily between clumps of gorse, Exmoor ponies and sheep lining the verges. The arc of Porlock Bay is way below, embracing a sliver of Bristol Channel sweeping past. The view is one of the finest from an A-road in the UK.
For the next 10 miles the road jinks and darts across the moors, around long sweeping bends, into blind corners over crests, then drops into another birch tree canopy, leafy fingers interlocked overhead while polished green tarmac is always moist and slippery.
But this is glorious riding at any time of year, from the warming tail-end of winter to the last drops of summer.
‘Exmoor rewards with dramatic scenery and remote riding’
Past the Blue Ball Inn and down Countisbury Hill; another steep, twisty helter-skelter, dropping perilously away on one side into sheer drops to the rocks below. Ahead, the village of Lynmouth straddles a deep gorge, houses crowding the tree-lined hillsides like a fragment of Alpine topography. Hard on the brakes towards the bottom of the hill, where gravel traps offer run-off in the case of brain fade or brake failure. At the river, turn right over the bridge into bustling Lynmouth to stop for a brew among the gift shops, cafés and pubs.
Then climb out of Lynmouth, steeply U-turn and head into Lynton and the Valley of the Rocks
– a natural bowl surrounded on each side by brown-fronded boulders and cliffs, studded with goats. Then back up the hill, head through Barbrook – refill at the services – and on to the B3223. And it’s up into moorland again; Exmoor’s hillsides rise and fall against the sky as if the land itself is breathing. The road winds to and fro as you drop into Simonsbath.
The B3223 changes character outside the village, heading due west into classic funnelling hedgerows across farmland until taking a right turn, staying on the 3223 towards Dulverton. After a few miles, past Withypool, the land shifts back to moorland again. Ancient landmarks abound – take a ride down to the medieval Tarr Steps, a clapper bridge of two-tonne slabs laid on supporting rocks across the River Barle.
At Wheddon Cross turn left on to the B3224, then second left at the staggered junction, up to Dunkery Hill. The road passes through high hedgerows, then blossoms out with foxgloves lining the transition to open heathland, then high moor. A sea of heather spreads out in a blaze of purple and brown – the parking area at the tiny stone bridge is the place to stop and walk the mile or so up to Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor. The views are epic in fine weather: you can see the Brecon Beacons across the Bristol Channel, and the twin Severn crossings.
The road drops down towards the coast with more stunning views in front, Wales still glowing across the water. At the bottom of the hill spear off right towards Dunster, with more ancient and medieval history; settled in the Iron Age, occupied by Romans, the village is built around a Norman castle. It’s the perfect place to round off a tour of Exmoor, stopping for a coffee on the photogenic High Street.