Fourteen opted to venture out on a bight and sunny winter morning (lull before Storm Dennis) to join the Valentine’s Day ride to Bentley Priory, the second of this year’s Rides of Interest. We meandered, willy nilly, from Uxbridge through several West London suburbs; Ickenham, Ruislip, Eastcote, Pinner and Hatch End. From Hatch End the route was carefully chosen as the most gentle of the available inclines, up to what is the highest point in Middlesex (Maybe that should have been mentioned in the ride description?) A testing climb and the group was a bit strung out by the time we reached the Alpine cross road (named after a pub that’s no longer there). Peter gathered up those left behind by nipping back to the junction, demonstrating that we all need to read and digest the new ride guidance and get better at waiting at turns and the top of hills.
Coffee, tea and cake were waiting for us in the museum café and once refreshed we enjoyed a short tour with an overview of the role Bentley Priory, as Fighter Command headquarters, during the Battle of Britain. We were also given an account of the Dowding system (after Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding) that played a pivotal part in ensuring that The Battle of Britain was won. The links between Bently Priory and the sector bunkers, such as the one in Uxbridge, were also explained. The system used the combined efforts of men and women of RAF, the WAAF and the Observer Corps together with radio and radar technology to ensure that the whereabouts of enemy raiders was almost always known. Whilst going round the museum, Ann was pleased to point out a photograph of her mother, a Radar Operator who served during the war in the WAAF.
The volunteers and staff are incredibly knowledgeable about the Priory and those who built it as well as its users. They were keen to share their knowledge and did a great job of making us welcome. They succeeded in serving a hot lunch to all fourteen of us at the same time adding plates of heart-shaped sweets to each table - greedily consumed by several Loiterers – but with no obvious sign of romantic consequences. A further hour or so was spent going round the exhibits before a return ride by a more straightforward route – straight down the Uxbridge Road from Hatch End. A cracking day out and well worth a second visit.