The Cotswolds Weekend

Manhoc invades the Cotswolds

This is the story of a small weekend break that Manhoc members took recently. [For those who don’t know, Manhoc are the Manchester Honda Owners Club – although we have members who don’t have Hondas. We are a social (very social) motorcycle club who all enjoy riding and socialising.]
Let’s start by introducing the team.


So that’s the crew and we were all to meet up at Poplar 2000 services ready for a 10:30 start.
The day was lovely and the forecast was more of the same. So, on with my holey jacket (string vest with armour, I call it) and my airtex boots (highly recommended) and I set off for the meeting point.

I arrive in plenty of time, fill up and wander into McDonalds to find everyone. Well nearly everyone. There was a bet on as to who would be last and Tony & Rosie were odds on favourites. Sure enough, about 5 minutes before we were due to set off, they arrive. “I’ve got time for a cuppa, haven’t I?”. Oh well, it’s a holiday and there’s no rush.

By the time we set off, it was about 26 degrees Celsius and I needed to tell everyone to drink lots of water. I planned an extra stop as well. [I created the routes and was leading on the way down]. We finally emerged from the services at around 11am and set off for the A49.

First traffic lights – red – so I came to a stop. I felt a “clonk” as I was sitting there and thought my suspension was playing up. So, for the next few miles I was checking it out. It was only when we stopped for the services that Frank came up “I have to apologise- I ran into you”. Oops. But more of that later.

The ride to the Raven was uneventful apart from the number of tractors we encountered. There must be something about a Friday and farming. Oh, and my leading everyone completely around a roundabout when I got a bit distracted. A lovely run down the A49/A41 and within an hour we had all stopped for a cuppa, a fag (Tony) and a chat.

The 10 minute break turned into about 30 minutes so it was around 12:30 by the time we set off again. And so the ride continued. We had some great roads apart from a 1 mile Garmin speciality which took us up this dirt track as a short cut to the next A road. But we all survived well (though the language over the radios was not something you’d want children to hear).

Once back on the A roads we headed for the A49 and the Ludlow Food Centre which was to be our lunchtime stop.Lunch was great, if a trifle expensive, and we lazed around in the sunshine for a while before it was time to get back to the riding. But we had a destination to get to – The Edward Hotel in Gloucester.

So, back into the biking gear and off again. A brief fuel stop for those with small tanks (no, not mine!) and we carried on for the last part of the journey to the hotel. Just outside Gloucester, the weather decided that enough was enough and the rain came down. It was lovely. Cooled us off nicely before stopping and allowing us to get dry again before we stopped. Sat-navs are wonderful things and mine took us straight to the front of the hotel. It was a shame that the parking was at the back – so we had a splendid 5 minutes working out where to go and getting there. But we soon sorted all that out, got checked in and then down to the bar for the first beer of the evening. Ahh, lovely.

As we checked in, the hotel owner had given us a map and described some of the sights we should see. But, being Manhoc, what we wanted was the best and most convenient food stop. Well, it just had to be Café René. Once we had all showered and were down in the bar (some of us had decided that beer came first – didn’t we Mark J) we sat in the garden and let Jules (who had the working phone) book us in.

By the time Rosie was ready (her reputation for “just have to do my hair” was rapidly spreading),
so were we, and we strolled back up London Road into the centre. Café René is a wonderful place. Full of empty wine bottles (ceiling and walls full) and a really nice extensive menu. They even had some real ale (which I like). So, that was easy. We had a table for 11 all ready for us and were soon ordering food and drink in true Manhoc style (that is to say – lots of both). Then, off to another pub to end the day before heading back to our rooms.

A quick word about the Edward Hotel. It seems to be a collection of Edwardian terraced houses all joined together with added bits. So, full of corridors and stairs. Finding your room is an art, helped on by directions glazed into plated stuck to the wall. Very surreal. The rooms are comfortable, but with no air-conditioning, a bit on the warm side. Some rooms had fans in (and in Geoff and Karens room, a power socket that didn’t work) but not mine. Luckily, when I got back to the hotel, I noticed that the check in room had a fan that wasn’t being used (well, it wouldn’t be at 11:30 at night) so I borrowed it. Which meant I could get to sleep. Which I did.

Next morning, the first order of the day was breakfast. This is where the hotel excelled. A full English breakfast with cereal, toast, coffee etc., all included in the (reasonable) room rate. Well, it’s only polite to partake. So we all did. Meeting up around 9am and being ready to go around 10:30. Go? Go where? Well, we had routes planned to take in Cheddar Gorge (or Cheddar George as Judy calls it) and Weston Super Mare.

So, we did both. Once breakfast was done and we were all ready and fuelled up, we set off out of Gloucester and headed down the back roads to Cheddar Gorge. 3 minutes into the run and the cry over the radio “We need to stop, my HID ballast has come off”. Yes, this was me!!!! I have special HID lights which require something called a “Ballast” which supplies 23,000v to the headlight. I’d looked down and it was dangling down near the front brake. So we all pull into a layby/pavement and gentleman Geoff – he of the permanently useful toolkit – produced a load of tie-wraps so I could get it all out of the way. The light (dip) had stopped working so for the rest of the trip, I ran on main beam only. [I think the bump yesterday had dislodged all the gubbins and pulled the connector off the bulb – but it’s all fixed now, so no harm done].

The rest of the route was fine.  We stopped half way down for a brew (because we could and wanted to) and then carried on.

No incidents to speak of (apart from Frank nearly collecting a car on an inopportune overtake). The ride down Cheddar Gorge was superb and I wished I was a pillion so I could have taken in more. We got to the village (I assume it’s called Cheddar) and found a nice (free) place to park the bikes. We all got changed into something more comfortable (in Marks case, I think it was his pyjamas) and walked across the road to a pub for lunch. And what a lunch it was. Of course, being in Cheddar Gorge, we had to have something with Cheddar in it – so it was ploughmans all the way – except there was enough to feed about 3 people on each plate. Far too much for one person (apart from John who had all of his and some of mine and Judy’s).

We sat in the sun for a while (Mark and Cath sat in the shade)  and nattered about nothing in particular until it was time to head off. Next stop – the seaside.We all got dressed again and carried on the 13 miles to Weston. Well, 13 miles and a bit as Mark, who was leading , decided that we would have a small diversion through a new housing estate. Which was interesting as there was a group of 3 other bikes with us and they happily followed Mark up this road, round a roundabout and back down it again. So, back on the proper route we shot into the town and found somewhere to park. Then, off with the bike clobber again and on with the shorts and sandals (or in Marks case, shorts and socks – no footwear). And Rosie had a very elegant taste in sheepskin boots; just what is needed in the hot sun!

First stop was the ice cream parlour. Oh yes, double scoops all round, I think. Yummy. Tonys tongue was an interesting shade of blue. Then a promenade along the sea front, avoiding the pier (“They want HOW MUCH to go in? Don’t they know we are Northeners?”)  and ending up in a pub where tea, coffee and beer (just for Judy) were consumed with relish. Frank, Jules, Tony and Rosie had gone off for a go on the big dipper so they missed out on this bit. But we gather they had a laugh and had photos of themselves whizzing around to prove it.

Far too soon, it was time to leave. I needed to be back before dark and we all needed some decent (as in alcoholic) drink. So, suit up and off we go – Mark still leading and me still tail ender. This worked very well and no-one got lost as we followed the sat-nav route back to the hotel via some nice back roads with only a short stretch on the motorway to get us across the Bristol Channel.

Back in the hotel, we all had some beer (or cider – I refuse to call it “cidre”) while we decided what we were doing. No-one was that hungry and we couldn’t get back into Café René (fully booked) so the majority decision was beer first, fish and chips second and beer third. Sounds like a plan to me. Once Rosie had joined us (yes, the hair excuse again) we toddled off into town to find a good pub. Ignoring Wetherspoons (very loud and crap beer, so I am told) we found a nice old style pub called the Imperial Inn. They sold very nice beer, but not much in the way of coloured cider. So we stayed there for a couple of rounds before heading off for some food at the chippie.

This was a great success. The fish was superb and the chips freshly cooked. They even did pizza for those who didn’t want fish (just two people). The only downside is that by the time we got to eat it, it was around 11 o’clock and the pub we wanted to go to had just closed. So, we sat outside eating it on their outside table and chairs – very comfy. Then onto the pub next door which was still open.

Now this is hearsay as I went to bed soon after, but I gather that there was a small “lock in” for three of us who really needed that last drink (or two) and by the time they came out, half the hotel interconnecting corridor doors had been locked (I’m not sure how much of a fire hazard that is!!!). So, poor Mark (yes, he of the socks) had to do a maze around the hotel to find his room and then knock up Cath to get in. But we were all sound asleep by 2am and so ends another great day.

Sunday came far too soon but then so did another excellent breakfast. John and Judy were zooming back as John had things to do. Which left 9 of us. Tony and Rosie were going down to Salisbury to see some relatives. Which left 7. Frank and Jules were going to see some friend. Which left 5 of us on 3 bikes to bimble back up the A49 and home. Myself, Mark and Cath, Geoff and Karen.

Bimble is exactly what we did. We didn’t hurry, but we did “make progress”  where appropriate. We had a couple of stops – a cuppa in an OK Diner and lunch in a “2 for £10” pub.

We had a couple of minor incidents (a car pulled out in front of Mark and one tried to turn right as I was overtaking it), but nothing to worry about – just normal lazy driving. It wasn’t until we had stopped for the last time, by the M56, that the final inconvenience happened. Mark’s bike got a puncture. So, he and Cath had to wait for the breakdown people to come and sort it out. The rest of us left him to it (well, I didn’t know until I got home – sorry) and I was soon back at the house with the bike cleaned and headlights sorted out.

A brilliant weekend. Our many thanks must go to Judy for organising the hotel AND the weather. It couldn’t have been better!

 

 

Alan's Report