Murky Waters

I found that cycling provoked me to study waterways. Water is proverbially likely to be found at the bottom of hills. If I'm riding over a river, I change down a gear. If I'm planning a route, I need to at least be aware if one option follows a ridge or a valley while another might cross them, and make an informed choice. I'd like to say that I have a mental map of the local rivers and streams, but it is so intricate that my memory does not retain it, and I always end up studying a map (The World Wildlife Fund "UK Rivers Map" is excellent)

I have one of those gizmos that tells me where I have been. It says that I was actually riding for just under two hours today to achieve a modest 32km, but it also points out that this included an aggregate climb of over 500m. It is being discreet about the half an hour of stops and the dark chocolate and oats energy bar. It is also unaware that I made seven different river/stream crossings, encompassing water that flows east to the Cherwell, west or south to the Evenlode and north to the Stratford Avon

This is the grand entrance to the hamlet of Little Rollright, on a side road just before one of those climbs, looking back down the approach road. This is marked on the 1:25,000 OS map as an "unfenced road less than 4m wide". There is no map legend for 'with grass down the middle'. The public road continues behind me, on the compressed stone you see in the foreground, through a gate with a notice saying that it closes electronically at 6pm! The terminus is at a church that is undeniably pretty, and some of which was built in the 13th century. The only option at that point is to turn around

This is another location, then, where the boundary between private and public is blurred. The map and the signage indicates it is public. The atmosphere on the ground is private and exclusive. The camera that was photographing me as I was photographing the entrance only serves to reinforce the point

When I got back, I did a bit of digging. In 2014 the entire hamlet was for sale: grade II manor house, grade II rectory, five cottages and 200 hectares. If I had been there with £18M, I could have had it. Whether or not it was actually sold is hard to discover. The only evidence I have is circumstantial. There is a public company called Little Rollright Estate (UK) Ltd. In December 2017 all the former directors resigned - one of whom was the owner who put it up for sale. Three new directors were appointed: a farm manager, an accountant, and Charles Alasdair MacLeod, who is the second husband of Prudence (Prue), née Murdoch, who is the eldest daughter of guess who! Who owns England, indeed