The Carthusian monastery of St Hugh's Charterhouse in Cowfold, West Sussex, was originally built to house up to 250 monks. When I visited in 1994 there were only 23 monks in the religious community although their numbers have risen a bit now. All of them, novices and the abbot alike, glide serenely along on bicycles for trips round the cloisters from their cells to prayer and work. The monastery is so vast, covering a 240 acre site, that bikes are the most practical way for the brothers to get around it.