Festival of Britain and Great Exhibition Anniversaries Ride

NOTE. You must register on Eventbrite so we can limit numbers, link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-of-britain-and-great-exhibition-anniversaries-ride-tickets-1987981052844?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Great Exhibition opened in 1851 and the Festival of Britain in 1951, so two anniversaries (75^th and 175^th) to celebrate this year with a ride. We’ll visit the major exhibition sites and also look at some surviving objects from the exhibitions We’ll start 9:00am (again note early start) at the Southwark Gateway Needle (south side of London Bridge) for a first loop (38km), some of the stops are on the South Bank, in Kennington Park, Battersea and Hyde Park. There’ll be a coffee stop in South Kensington. Aim to be back at London Bridge for 1.15pm. A break for food before starting the second (15km) loop at 2pm. This part of the ride goes to the Lansbury Estate in Poplar, the site of the 1951 Exhibition of Architecture. Back at London Bridge at 3.30.  The building which housed the Great Exhibition was relocated afterwards and gave Crystal Palace its name. It was destroyed by a huge fire in 1936, so also a 90th anniversary to remember. If anybody still has energy left they can join a bonus ride to Crystal Palace and back taking about 90 min. Werner leading.

General Information about the Healthy Rides.  Riders of all ages are welcome on Healthy Rides but under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult.  Same for “adults at risk”. Always give way to pedestrians and to other cyclists so all path users feel safe. If you cannot make a ride, please cancel so that someone else can take the place.  Remember things can, and do, happen on bike rides and we sometimes get delayed. It is therefore advised not to schedule anything to immediately follow the expected end time. This ride is part of a regular programme of Saturday rides, more information at https://southwarkcyclists.org.uk/healthy-rides/.