Every August Bank Holiday Weekend in recent years a team of up to 30 cyclists has peddled through Grantham raising money to support the homeless. This year was very slightly different.

Ordinarily the Queen Eleanor Cycle Ride entails 200 miles, from just outside Lincoln to London following the route of the Queen Eleanor Crosses. There were 12 in all built by King Edward 1st to mark each resting place of the funeral cortege of his dear wife Queen Eleanor. Grantham had one of these crosses in St Peter's Hill, where a plaque now marks the site.

While social distancing restrictions are in place, cycling in larger groups and staying overnight on hall floors just hasn't been possible. In previous years Harrowby Lane Methodist Church has kindly provided a floor for all of the cyclists to lay their heads.

Several of the regular cyclists, such as Sylvia Bland, who until very recently worked at the Civic Centre, and Keith Wright, Grantham-born, bred and educated, were part of a relay from Harby, where Queen Eleanor died, to London and Queen Eleanor's tomb in Westminster Abbey. A symbolic cross, carved in Harby and dedicated to all COVID heroes was passed from team to team.

Arriving in Grantham, the wet and bedraggled cyclists were given an interesting tour of St Wulfram's church. Their guide, John Manterfield of Grantham Civic Society, pointed out many fascinating things including stone carvings of King Edward 1st and Queen Eleanor. With the Heritage Open Day at the church on 12 September, it promises to be well worth another visit.

Kelham Cooke, Leader of South Kesteven District Council, kindly posed with the cyclists outside the Civic Centre, having been button-holed whist sheltering under his umbrella on his way back from lunch time shopping. The weather felt more like winter than the height of summer.

The total on Virgin Money Giving so far raised for The Connection at St Martin in-the-Fields is £14,275. And with more money coming in the target of £15,000 should be smashed.

Further donations can be made at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com by searching Queen Eleanor Cycle Ride 2020.

The Queen Eleanor Cycle Ride is organised by the Friends of the Connection at St Martin's, and its ultimate purpose is to raise funds to support the work of the Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields, a fantastic organisation based just off Trafalgar Square in London which supports around 200 homeless and vulnerable people every day and night, to help them on a journey away from living on the streets and back into society.