I have only just discovered this section. Even if I have found it before, I had forgotten. So here goes.
I sold the exhaust for the X Country, the original one, I have a Scorpion on it and so don't need it. A chap who lives in Tow Law bought it, so rather than courier it I used delivering it as an excuse for a day out on the bike, and what a day it turned out to be.
I dropped Anna down to her Globe saviours and then came back and fuelled the bike from the outboard tank, oiled the chain and loaded up. The A50 was closed and it turns out that our financial advisor and long standing friend, 50 odd years in Anna's case, had died on the road in the early hours. No details, other than her name, have been released, so that is as much as we know. I had to retrace my steps and go back through the back lanes, along with all the trucks, vans and reps, that held me up by over an hour. Oh well, it was going to be a long day. I fiddled my way up to the A68 and stopped for lunch at the 68 Cafe, taking advantage of their over 60s offer - roast, pudding and coffee for a £10er... the roast beef was, I think, the sole of an old shoe and the Yorkshire pudding the inner liner! I would recommend bypassing the place and finding a nice country pub instead. I rang the purchaser, who wouldn't get home until nearly 19.00, oh joy, but he said his wife was home if I wanted to drop it off and get on my way and he would transfer the funds. Hallelujah! I trusted him, the X community is a small and close knit affair, besides which, I know where he lives.
Exhaust dropped off and local knowledge gained I set off to get onto my ride south, see route notes! What fantastic roads, especially the little lanes that join the villages, Doc would hate them, he would say they are crap roads, they're not, they are proper nadgery, tight, twisty, upsydownsy, technical roads with hidden hazards, fantastic views crossing magical streams and rivers on ancient, narrow bridges, oh man! I got to Bowes and realised I had done a Streetfighters shoot here years ago, a white bike from memory, a girl's bike that we got across the little walkway and into the interior of the castle. I didn't bother because I wanted to get on to the pub. Great, the road south from Bowes is private, yet it is on the road atlas.... the estate has put a locked barrier up necessitating another detour, along the A66 and then turn off for Kaber just after Stainmore summit (1700 feet) and follow the perfectly surfaced road to the end, around some 180 degree hairpins and dodging the grouse picking grit off the roadside and the sheep lying on the sundrenched surface. Turn left at the end and follow the sign to the Tan Hill Hill, crossing the border into the wilds of the North Yorkshire Moors.
The pub is an absolute icon and if you have never been, make it a pilgrimmage. The highest pub in the British Isles, also one of the most remote. You can camp here, or book a room and they have some top music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, check for dates, but the likes of Blondie have played here... I mean top of their game bands, household names. A good selection of ales and great food. I regained my strength with a few pints of Three Swords and a plate of fish pie. Bloody marvellous. Then headed south for Thwaite and Keld, the hill road has been properly surfaced, smooth tarmac but with plenty of moorland subsidence undulations and bumps where people have grounded out, beware the hairpins over a brow and totally invisible until you are on the crest, the scars and scattered debris on the moorland tells of people who were less attentive, or too enthusiastic!
The road to Hawes takes you up and over the tops, I ended up on the Buttertubs Pass road, but I can't remember where now, Hawes is cobbled streets so be careful in the wet. The rollercoaster just went on and on and on... Saghem moor I remember at one point, down through to Ashton-u-Lyme and thence Stockport, which is where my notes stop because I know my way from there, down through Glossop, Chapel, Buxton, Harper Hill and over the top to Longnor, through the Manifold valley to Wetton Mill, Islam and home... or you can go like I did from Longnor stayed on the main road to Ipstones and Cheadle and home that way because it was getting late and the light was fading. 391 miles all told, it was simply fantastic. Some pictures, hopefully, if they will load.
I sold the exhaust for the X Country, the original one, I have a Scorpion on it and so don't need it. A chap who lives in Tow Law bought it, so rather than courier it I used delivering it as an excuse for a day out on the bike, and what a day it turned out to be.
I dropped Anna down to her Globe saviours and then came back and fuelled the bike from the outboard tank, oiled the chain and loaded up. The A50 was closed and it turns out that our financial advisor and long standing friend, 50 odd years in Anna's case, had died on the road in the early hours. No details, other than her name, have been released, so that is as much as we know. I had to retrace my steps and go back through the back lanes, along with all the trucks, vans and reps, that held me up by over an hour. Oh well, it was going to be a long day. I fiddled my way up to the A68 and stopped for lunch at the 68 Cafe, taking advantage of their over 60s offer - roast, pudding and coffee for a £10er... the roast beef was, I think, the sole of an old shoe and the Yorkshire pudding the inner liner! I would recommend bypassing the place and finding a nice country pub instead. I rang the purchaser, who wouldn't get home until nearly 19.00, oh joy, but he said his wife was home if I wanted to drop it off and get on my way and he would transfer the funds. Hallelujah! I trusted him, the X community is a small and close knit affair, besides which, I know where he lives.
Exhaust dropped off and local knowledge gained I set off to get onto my ride south, see route notes! What fantastic roads, especially the little lanes that join the villages, Doc would hate them, he would say they are crap roads, they're not, they are proper nadgery, tight, twisty, upsydownsy, technical roads with hidden hazards, fantastic views crossing magical streams and rivers on ancient, narrow bridges, oh man! I got to Bowes and realised I had done a Streetfighters shoot here years ago, a white bike from memory, a girl's bike that we got across the little walkway and into the interior of the castle. I didn't bother because I wanted to get on to the pub. Great, the road south from Bowes is private, yet it is on the road atlas.... the estate has put a locked barrier up necessitating another detour, along the A66 and then turn off for Kaber just after Stainmore summit (1700 feet) and follow the perfectly surfaced road to the end, around some 180 degree hairpins and dodging the grouse picking grit off the roadside and the sheep lying on the sundrenched surface. Turn left at the end and follow the sign to the Tan Hill Hill, crossing the border into the wilds of the North Yorkshire Moors.
The pub is an absolute icon and if you have never been, make it a pilgrimmage. The highest pub in the British Isles, also one of the most remote. You can camp here, or book a room and they have some top music on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, check for dates, but the likes of Blondie have played here... I mean top of their game bands, household names. A good selection of ales and great food. I regained my strength with a few pints of Three Swords and a plate of fish pie. Bloody marvellous. Then headed south for Thwaite and Keld, the hill road has been properly surfaced, smooth tarmac but with plenty of moorland subsidence undulations and bumps where people have grounded out, beware the hairpins over a brow and totally invisible until you are on the crest, the scars and scattered debris on the moorland tells of people who were less attentive, or too enthusiastic!
The road to Hawes takes you up and over the tops, I ended up on the Buttertubs Pass road, but I can't remember where now, Hawes is cobbled streets so be careful in the wet. The rollercoaster just went on and on and on... Saghem moor I remember at one point, down through to Ashton-u-Lyme and thence Stockport, which is where my notes stop because I know my way from there, down through Glossop, Chapel, Buxton, Harper Hill and over the top to Longnor, through the Manifold valley to Wetton Mill, Islam and home... or you can go like I did from Longnor stayed on the main road to Ipstones and Cheadle and home that way because it was getting late and the light was fading. 391 miles all told, it was simply fantastic. Some pictures, hopefully, if they will load.
