Wolds Wanderings – Tuesday 16th May 2023

A new Run for our calendar and the first one organised by Mick Appleton and myself for the VMCC, the Wolds Wanderings took place on Tuesday 16th May 2023 and began from The Mile Cafe at Pocklington. The cafe is not normally open on a Tuesday but a bit of smooth talking from Mick, who lives nearby, meant that the enthusiastic owners were delighted to open up especially for us and provide us with hot drinks and some fine food both before and after the ride. They also had plenty of space for trailers which is a bonus.

We were pleased to see about 25 motorcycles turn up for the event, the route being planned for flat tank and girder forked machines, a good proportion of which made up the total. Some of the participants had travelled across from West, South and North Yorkshire as well as from Lincolnshire, south of the Humber. A scattering of more modern machinery made up the numbers.

Following a pre-ride briefing highlighting particular areas of the route that may be more challenging the riders set off on this tour of The Yorkshire Wolds with a short section of the Howardian Hills being thrown in for good measure.

East Yorkshire AJS and Matchless Owners Club member John Balshaw had volunteered to follow the route on his modern Kawasaki and take photographs of the bikes on the move and Phil Green on his new BSA Gold Star has put together a video of the run (https://youtu.be/1bmDnPHdz4s ).

Heading north from the cafe our route took us through the picturesque dry valley of Millington Pastures, one of several in The Wolds left behind after the ice age, and crosses the Roman Road linking Exeter to Edinburgh. The road surface along here was best described as variable with sections beginning to fall away. Turning sharp left before Huggate, the highest village in The Wolds, we headed north, over the quiet A166 to Thixendale. From here it was a steady climb through what is probably the prettiest of our valleys to the spectacular views over the Vale of York at Leavening Brow.

Towards the top of this climb was the first and only hiccup of the day. A BSA flat tank machine picked up a puncture but with the aid of a can of spray it was reinflated and managed the rest of the run without a problem.

Beyond Leavening we headed for Kirkham passing the ruins of the 12th Century Kirkham Priory. It is not widely known that the British Army also came here and trained for the D-Day landings where they were watched by Winston Churchill.

After crossing the Derwent by the more traditional, stone bridge and the railway line we then turned south following a little used lane towards Crambe, Barton-le-Willows and Sand Hutton before reaching our lunch stop at the Breezy Knees Gardens and Nursery near Stockton on Forest.

Fully fed and watered our return route took us back over the Derwent at Buttercrambe – a very narrow crossing that has seen the demise of many caravans and wide vehicles despite the numerous warning signs of the width restriction.

Beyond Buttercrambe our route took us via Skirpenbeck, Youlthorpe and Bishop Wilton back to The Mile Cafe to end the day.

Judging by the favourable comments we received it appears the day was enjoyed by all and even some local riders told us it had taken them along lanes they’d never used before which was particularly good to hear.

A repeat performance for 2024 was requested by many participants. Who are we to refuse? Some more of the same is planned for Tuesday 21st May 2024.

A grand day out and our thanks go to The Mile Cafe and to all those who turned out to make it a success.

                                                                                                                        Steve Shone

Sunday, 17th September 2023 was the date of The Beamish Trophy Trial. A c120 mile VMCC run that had been eagerly anticipated for months by three local VMCC members – David McAfee, Mick Appleton (both previous entrants) and yours truly (previously unsullied by the event).

David had chosen his Villiers twin powered Greeves, Mick with his faithful G3L and me on the Matchless G80S that once belonged to the late Steve Rea and took the AMOC National Concours Award in 2009. The bikes were duly prepared over the days prior to the event and cars/vans loaded up with gear the day before.

I was up at 4am so that I could get an early start for the long drive up to Esh, just west of Durham, on a gloomy day with a less than prefect forecast. Showers on the way there were a portent of the delights to come.

150 bikes had registered for the run and the grounds of the New Board Inn at Esh was crammed with tents, vans and motorhomes belonging to those who had travelled up the day before.

Overflow parking had been arranged with a nearby farm and was down a very rough and muddy track about 600yds from the pub. Nursing the car and trailer through this off-road section brought me to the field entrance. It wasn’t looking promising with a fairly steep uphill section over very wet and soft grass. Needless to say, with the traction control working overtime I eventually managed, with a push from other early arrivals, to find a bit of more or less level ground that might enable an easy get away later. Getting out of the car I soon became aware that the field had been used very recently by a herd of cattle that had all obviously suffered from severe bouts of ‘Delhi Belly’. To cap it all, it started raining. Mick and David arrived soon afterwards and we, along with other entrants, were soon employed in helping later arrivals extricate their vehicles from the rapidly developing quagmire as they eagerly sunk into the mud.

All this activity left us sweating and practising a new vocabulary for well over an hour. We did eventually get down to the starting area, though by then it was too late to enjoy looking at the range of machines that had turned out as our start times were already pre-arranged.

In due course we set off together in increasingly heavy rain into the hinterlands of Weardale and the Northern Pennines.

Had the weather been good, we would have enjoyed some spectacular tiny, wooded lanes and superb panoramic views over open moorland. As it was we had all on negotiating road surfaces liberally coated with wet mud, that farmers had brought out of their fields to wash, and leaves before entering a surreal, white world of thick fog which kept speeds down to 20mph and eyes peeled for almost invisible sheep. Given that the majority of the machines, being off-road types, had no lights the situation felt far from safe.

At one point we had to negotiated a ford. The stream was flowing fast and deep and it was disconcerting to feel the once shiny Matchless slipping sideways over the hidden surface below as the water poured over my boots on the footpegs. Thankfully we all made it unscathed though I’m not convinced that everyone had been so fortunate.

There were a number of breakdowns, as may be expected in such conditions. David’s son, John, on his Bantam experienced fuel problems not long into the run and was compelled to wait for the ‘van of shame’ to arrive.

We soldiered on manfully (or was it foolishly?) and decided to forgo the last 10 or 15 miles of the 65 mile pre-lunch route as it again would have taken us over cold, fog-shrouded high hills. Instead we elected to go straight to the lunch stop and ‘enjoy’ our pack-ups in the shelter of an old mine building. By this point, to add to the pleasure, the wind was picking up.

It became clear that none of us was enjoying the experience and David called for his son, by now back at the start, to come out with his van and take him home.

Thankfully, Mick had had the foresight to pack his Tomtom in his rucksack and was able to get us back to Esh by a more direct route of about 25-30 miles.

We arrived back at Esh where the roads were at last beginning to dry and were at least able to load up the bikes without rain adding to the misery of the day. By this time it was about 2pm and we were both looking forward to getting home and enjoy a warm bath and a beer – or something a little stronger.

I can honestly state that as a day out on a motorcycle, especially such a cherished one, it ranked amongst, if not the most miserable experience I have had.

A great shame as the area is stunningly beautiful, when it can be seen, and the organisation of the event superb. It seems that greater forces exist out there to puncture one’s dreams.

The next day, Monday, I passed an hour and half washing off mud and unmentionable other substances from the poor old Matchless, which had performed faultlessly, the car, the trailer and even the loading ramp.

Would I do it again? Certainly not! At least not if drought conditions didn’t exist.

Steve Shone