I left Upwell and travelled through Outwell and Emneth before heading off down Lady's Drove and Harp's Hall Road towards Walton Highway. Once there I rode into the village of West Walton, a total trip of around 13 miles.
It wasn't long and I was standing admiring the beautiful big Bell Tower of St Mary's and what a tower it is too. This exceptional four-stage tower was built c1240-50 of Barnack Stone with an ancient frame belfry that holds five large bells. The tower is detached from the Parish Church which stands just yards away and all four sides of the tower are pierced to provide walkways, each having moulded arches, all in all, one great piece of architecture and well worth the visit, I'm sure I'll be back on many more occasions.
After spending tie walking around the tower and the Parish Church I decided to take the more scenic route home via Ingleborough Tower Windmill. The Windmill is brick built and was constructed in 1824, it has eight storeys with windows on every floor, it did have six sails when working but these were removed in the 1940's.
The trip home once more took me through the villages of Walpole St Mary, Terrington St John and Marshland St James, a very enjoyable journey of just over 30 miles.
Who ever designed the bell tower must have believed that bells were really important to warrant such an impressive building to house them in. Such a pity that the windmill no longer has its sails.
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