24km Pinner and Ruislip
Woods, views and a flying coffin
Ride overview
A wonderful mixed surface ride, suitable for MTBs/gravel bikes as well as hybrids. In summer with the paths firm and dry, this is romp along stretches of bridleway through woods and fields, interspersed with sections of opulent housing. There are a couple of stiff climbs, where the reward is an extensive view over the Thames valley. In the mix are a few sections of unavoidably busy roads, but nothing to mar an excellent half day out. In winter, there is more mud, which adds a greater challenge to the ride.
Ride reviewed; November 2022
Ride practicalities
The ride of course can be ridden at any time of year, however the paths through the woods can be very muddy in winter.
START/FINISH: Pinner Metropolitan Underground station. Bikes can be taken on the Metropolitan line, although there are time restrictions. See the TfL website for more details. DISTANCE: 24km. TOTAL ASCENT: 274m TERRAIN AND SURFACES: A good mix of woodland bridleways and quiet suburban roads. The bridleways through the woods can be muddy in winter which adds an extra challenge to the ride. FOOD: Eastcote Garden cafe, Cafes at the Ruislip Lido and Daisy’s at Pinner Memorial Park. A recommended lunch stop is Ahisma Vegetarian cafe on Pinner High street.
Ride Notes
For those who think the suburbs are dull with endless identikit houses, Pinner comes as a surprise. Its high street is an eclectic mix of architectural styles and it is the only place in London where one can see a flying coffin. In the graveyard of the fourteenth century church of St. John the Baptist, is a great triangular wedge of stone through which a sarcophagus is wedged in which apparently, William and Agnes Loudon are sealed. It is said, that the Loudons inherited a sum of money, which would keep paying in instalments whilst they were ‘above ground’ - i.e. alive - so upon their death, their son John Claudius Loudon interred them above ground so that the instalments would continue to comie his way. The reality is a little different - the Loudons are properly buried below the monument. John Claudius was a noted cemetery and garden designer and he was probably just expressing himself in a creative manner!
The Loudon's Memorial, Pinner
The architectural surprises of Pinner are not quite done, for as you ride out of town you’ll see the elegant Pinner House. They way ahead is gently upwards passing a village green with a drinking fountain in the middle, after which you join a bridleway across a large field and pass Pinner Park Farm. The fields and wooded rolling hills are very much part of London, and the views towards the distant sky-scrapers remind you that this rural idyll is indeed part of the city. After a short not-too-busy road section, the route continues up hill along a private road before arriving at a footpath - where you are encouraged to walk your bike for 100m. After the short walk, you re-mount and ride up a bridleway through rough pasture. There is not a house in site. Here, in season you can gorge on delicious blackberries. On the folding hills are oak trees, pasture and berry-filled hedges, which is not London’s typical scenery. The climbing will make you work hard, but at the top you are rewarded by arriving at London’s second highest point from which there is a view over the whole of the Thames Valley. You look right across to the distant North Downs and through binoculars you can make out Leith Hill and its tower, which marks the highest point in South East England.
Having regained your breath, and admired the view, the route continues through some very ancient woodlands, where there is evidence too of Grim’s Ditch, an earthwork, which may have been built by the Catuvellauni as a defence against the Romans. Also in the woods, is the former home of W.S. Gilbert, he of Gilbert and Sullivan fame. He died of a heart attack in the lake of the grounds, whilst trying to rescue a drowning lady. The house is now Grim’s Dyke Hotel, which is a pleasant place for a lunch stop.
The view point at Old Reddings
Having explored the woods and earthworks, the route continues on Old Redding’s, one of London’s oldest roads, but nowadays is rather busy. However, you are not on the road for long, but another surprise awaits you on this fun and adventurous route - some steep stairs over a railway where your bike has to be carried. Thereafter, the route definitely improves as you ride through some quiet estate roads which take you to Pinnerwood Farm and Stud. This is the start of the next big climb, through fields where horses graze, past a golf course and through woods. The cycling here is a sylvan delight. Eventually you exit the woods and ride through the 1930s estate laid out by the Artizans’, Labourers’ and General Dwellings Company. It is another of London’s ‘Garden suburbs’ and this one is particularly opulent.
From here, there is a section of downhill, passing more magnificent homes, before arriving in Ruislip woods, which is another remnant of the great forest which covered all of North London from the end of the ice-age until late Medieval times. Deer and wild boar were hunted by kings and nobles. Today, you’ll not be coming face to tusk with a wild boar, but you’ll most likely see Muntjac deer flitting through the shadows. In spring the woods are famed for their carpets of bluebells. The sandy bridleway can be hard work but is a fun workout nonetheless. Just before the road, there is a track to the left, also a permitted bridlepath, and this takes you down to the great lake.
Here is another rest point, beside the cafe and on a sandy beach. If the day is warm, you’ll be surrounded by sun-worshippers, but swimming is banned due to the presence of blue-green algae. The Ruislip Lido was dug in 1811 to feed the Grand Junction Canal and to supply drinking water to the Paddington area of London. In the 1930s, the lake was turned into the Lido, with boating, swimming and fishing and the beach became a very popular destination. Around the Lido is a two and half mile railway, the country’s longest 12 inch gauge track.
Ruislip Lido
From the beach, you re-enter the woods to ride on another bridleway which can be a mud-fest in winter, and a hard-packed bumpy ride in summer. Light flickers through the trees, the air is green and rich and it’s a great place to be, especially if you are looking for a more challenging MTB/gravel ride than is usual within the city’s bounds. Eventually you exit the woods, ride through more quiet suburban estates before arriving at the Pinner Memorial Park, where there is an excellent cafe and a museum dedicated to the drawings of Heath Robinson. From here, it is a short ride back to the station where the Metropolitan trains will take you back into the heart of the city.
Every route on this website has been carefully researched as well as ridden. However situations on the ground can change quickly. If you know of changes to this route, or cafes, pubs and the like which you think other cyclists need to know about, feel free to share your thoughts below.
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