On a chilly, grey day in autumn, Di and I had stumbled across the Sturton Primitive Methodist Church. Although I had cycled past many times on the Edinburgh Bikeway, the church’s brown stone acted like camouflage. I had never spotted it through the surrounding trees.
Rhonda and Murray had not yet seen this historic church (built in 1856). I was keen to show them how to get there.
Carisbrooke Park is always a great place to start a ride.
After following the Little Para Trails for three kilometres, we crossed under the Salisbury Highway and the railway line before turning right at this bridge across the river.
Edinburgh Bikeway
We continued past Salisbury High School, crossed the railway line again and turned left onto First Avenue, the start of the Edinburgh Bikeway. This former road has now been closed off to traffic so we had the road to ourselves.
The Edinburgh Bikeway heads north alongside West Avenue for eight kilometres to Bellchambers Road.
At Taranaki Road we took a diversion and joined East Avenue, another largely unused road that also leads through to Bellchambers Road.
After a short stretch along Bellchambers Road, we joined the bikeway again, this time heading south. We crossed the road to see some of this military hardware at the entrance to the RAAF Base.
On a previous occasion when taking a photo of this tank, the security man at the checkpoint emerged to tell me to point my camera the other way so as not to include the checkpoint or its occupants!
Sturton Primitive Methodist Church
It was time for our packed morning tea. We turned right onto Sturton Road and the church came into view. A rough gravel pathway led to the door.
Rhonda and Murray read about the history of the Jeffries family, who had settled in the area in 1850 and established the church.
We noticed that the graveyard was still being used by descendants of the family, with a few new graves among the older ones.
The headstones were in good condition and we loved the intricate ironwork fencing around the graves.
We said goodbye to this little piece of history and pedalled past the National Military Vehicle Museum before returning to our start point.
We had cycled 24 kilometres and climbed 129 metres. You could shorten the ride to 18 kilometres by starting near the Salisbury Swim Centre.
Another longer flat ride in the area is the Stuart O’Grady Bikeway, while a lovely seasonal (and also easy) ride is the Almond Blossom Ride.
