I left Cambridge early heading north on a route through Huntingdon, the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell, and then north to Water Newton where I hoped to find Durobrivae, site of a Roman garrison.  The weather had turned dark and rainy.

I discovered the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, an old railway line converted to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Where the rails might have been there are concrete guides for bus wheels and next to the guides was the bike path I used for much of the way to Huntingdon.

I got to Huntingdon before the Cromwell museum located at his elementary school opened. But this trip was about Harold Godwinson; I could focus on Cromwell and the Civil War on another trip. I kept moving.

Throughout the trip guidance from Google Maps was excellent, always getting me from A to B on the most bike friendly path as possible. But to get to Water Newton, where the archeological site was supposed to be, I essentially had to ride in a downpour on a freeway. It was a crazy ride in car wash like conditions just inches from trucks and cars.

What I found was a placid and isolated little archipelago, bounded by the highway and a river, but no discernable Roman archeological site. There was a little stone shack to eat lunch and dry out. There was no way out but the way I came in, so I was back out on the busy, wet freeway.

I stayed in Stamford, and at dinner I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was eating it in a dining room dedicated to Lord David Burgley. Something for another trip is to try to do what Burgley did: complete a run around the great court at Trinity College in Cambridge while the clock strikes 12.  

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