The Manchester Honda

Owners Club

Eyam - the full story

A wonderfuls days ride - even if I do say it myself.

Most of us met up at Birch Services - we had arranged to meet a few a bit further down the road. It was a lovely day and we did spend a few minutes basking in the sunshine while waiting for any stragglers. But soon it was time to depart. So, on with the coat and hat and off to meet the rest at Hyde. We set off with about 16 bikes and picked up Steve on the motorway (“I needed petrol”).

Got there without incident (well, it was only about 15 miles) to find 4 bikes raring to go. Well, actually 3 bikes raring and one bike not wanting to play at all. The classic VFR “rectifier” syndrome had struck. After much frantic pushing, it fired up, but quickly died again. So, we left without them, but with a promise to see them in Eyam if they made it. Just before we left, Peter managed to drop his bike but being a Deauville, no damage at all (apart from his little toe).

We set off over Woodhead Pass which, for a change, was reasonably empty, so we were able to make good progress. Then, onto some back roads to cut below Buxton and into Eyam. There were a few comments over the radio about the state of the roads, but I did ignore them. I did manage to introduce a U turn - I blamed the sat-nav for not telling me soon enough (everyone else said I was just “doing a Gary”).

After about 70 miles, we arrived at Eyam and set about finding somewhere to park. First try was too gravelly, second try was a Pay & Display, so we went around the corner to the free one. Eventually, we all parked up, disrobed and wandered down to the village to see if we could find some refreshments. As it turns out, there was just the one pub - but it served nice food (and excellent chips), so the Miners Pub in Eyam, can be recommended.

We sat outside (well, you would, given the sunshine) and munched on sandwiches and chips - Rob D, of course, needed a full Sunday lunch -and nattered on about biking and the world events; mostly biking.

Then, the lure of ice cream became too much for some, so we got our chattels and movables together and wandered off to find a shop. It was about this time that we saw Dave & Mark  (you remember, the VFR that wouldn’t go) parked up, so we walked over to be greeted by “The battery’s flat again”. Oops. So, much merriment ensued and we all sympathised. But there wasn’t a lot we could do, stuck in the middle of nowhere, so we left them to it. Dave did have some breakdown cover if needed.

Then, onto the next part of the journey - more back roads down to Ashbourne then onto Blore and another pub stop. These roads were excellent and I think we all enjoyed them. We saw Dave & son heading back, so we knew they were OK. I did manage another U turn and we did, at one point, end up going down a private road - but it all worked out well and soon we were at our last stop of the day.

The drinks were a bit on the expensive side (£3.20 for a pint of coke???) But the view from the veranda and the warm sunshine more than made up for it. Once again, chat ensued and we all relaxed before the final push down to Leek, Macclesfield and home (which for Phil and myself, ended up with some great back roads over to the airport).

Personally, I thought it was a cracking day out - and I think others felt the same. So, below is a medley of pictures showing what we got up to.