We gave the weather a little chance to warm up with coffee at Crofters before setting off for Dean Hill at 11.15, narrowly keeping ahead of a bunch of elderly cyclists out for a spin. Dillan's sprained wrist (a school injury) and the chilly conditions prompted us to decide against the possible Ugborough Beacon ride today so we headed down to Avonwick, passing one of the elderly contingent answering a call of nature right beside the road!

Taking the road towards North Huish we discovered a brand new play park, constructed last summer by Avonwick parents at a cost of £30k. George and Dillan tested each piece of equipment methodically and gave the whole park their unanimous seal of approval.

Dillan and George really are much faster these days, so the long climb to North Huish didn't even slow them down today. Once they had checked the village out, establishing that the only public building was a church that was no longer used, we proceeded down the long steep hill to the bridge over the River Avon near Manor House. The lack of sunshine detracted only a little from the natural beauty of the area, and the youngsters enjoyed skimming stones and doing gymnastics on the bridge.

Our return route through Diptford to Rattery took us alongside the brand new Coombeshead Solar Farm near Shorter Cross. It will generate 7.86MW of power when it is connected to the National Grid this month, enough to power 3350 households.

After ringing through to Ashley to get him to put some Rowe's Pasties in the oven we proceeded at good speed through Rattery and Pennywell Farm, successfully negotiating the visitors to the Buckfastleigh Races along the way.