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Moulton Bicycle Club Ride Around The Cotswold Water Park – Sunday the 13th of May 2012

The weather for the previous 3 weeks hadn’t been good so it was a big relief to find the sun shining down on the 11 intrepid Moultoneers (along with two ‘big wheel’ cyclists) who set off on a Sunday morning ride to visit some of the local sites drawn by cycling artist Frank Patterson. Riders came from far and wide to take part, including a contingent from the South Bucks CTC who happened to be on holiday in the area. Most models of Moulton were represented, from a lovely F frame painted with the Union flag through to Am’s, Land Rovers, Bridgestones, Pylons, Speeds and TSR’s.

We left the start to ride to our first stop in South Cerney - this Patterson drawing caused some debate as the artist states that the scene is in Sommerford Keynes (a village some 2 or 3 miles away). We then rode via Fridays Ham Lane (I guess there was a pig farm in the area once) to a lovely view in Ashton Keynes that has remained virtually unchanged since the time of the drawing. On the way out of the village we passed two of the four stone crosses in the village that were pushed over (but since have been rebuilt) by Cromwell’s men! We carried on visiting two more ‘sites’ including one in Latton and another in Marston Meysey.

Riding on to the dinner stop past RAF Fairford caused some riders to ‘fly’ like that had a jet engine on board! We stopped for lunch in Fairford, with some opting for The Bull, whilst the teetotalers sat in the local bus shelter to eat their sandwiches (only the finest dining places will do for riders of such high class machines). The bikes attracted a lot of attention outside the pub.

After lunch it was only a short ride to another of the Patterson sites at Fairford Watermill, and with the river now in full flow after the recent rain it was a truly picturesque sight. On the way to the next stop a rumour went around that we were going to go by a fantastic micro brewery / real ale pub and when I confirmed that this was the case, the pace seemed to speed up! Unfortunately by the time we got to the pub it

had run out of beer, which was maybe just as well as we needed to push on. With the last Patterson stop out of the way (in a lovely Cotswold churchyard), we cycled to the village of Down Ampney to visit the birth place of composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It was such a nice day that the party decided to carry on to see a local war memorial dedicated to the men and women that took off from the Down Ampney airfield in World War 2. We then rode on to the local church were there is a small display to Vaughn Williams. Unfortunately I was unable to arrange for a lark to ascend which would have finished off an excellent day’s ride!

Thank you to everybody who came along and see you at BOA?

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Roger Osborn

LEICESTERSHIRE RIDE SUNDAY 27 MAY

Four Moultoneers met at 10am in Syston for the Leicestershire rural ride. Two riders were mounted on TSR 27s, one on a modified Series 3 and my chosen stead was a TSR 30 tour SR. As the temperature was already about 22C there were no takers for cake, scones and toasted tea cakes but water and tea were eagerly consumed.
Before the ride Matt Dunn was presented with the Johnston-Major Cup for identifying the best original painted vintage Moulton in the known universe.

The ride was mainly on lanes and minor roads, often gated, from one Conservation village to another most of which are mentioned in the Doomsday Book. The terrain in this part of Leicestershire is surprisingly undulating and affords excellent views and, for the densely populated Midlands of England, is delightfully free from vehicular traffic.

Many of the historic buildings in these villages are made of a type of sandstone called ironstone so the area looks like the Cotswolds but without the crowds and traffic.

Starting from Syston we headed eastwards into High Leicestershire through the villages of South Croxton, Beeby and Ashby Folville. Then we took the gated road and climbed to Thorpe Satchville, turned westwards to Gaddesby and then north to Rotherby, Frisby on the Wreake and then having crossed the river Wreake to Asfordby, only stopping briefly to check out an old Sun bicycle frame perched on top of a gate and to apply a generous smearing of sun block.

We then took the lane to Ab Kettleby which involved a three mile moderate climb and then on to Wartnaby the former ancestral home of Lord King of British Airways. We then turned west and rode along the only main road on the ride, the B676, before turning off to Grimston where we watered and fed in a leisurely and kingly manner at the Black Horse pub, before proceeding on our way along gated lanes having taken on additional water supplies. The temperate had soared to 26C – much too hot for the puncture gremlins!

Heading south we passed through the villages of Saxelbye, Rotherby and Brooksby. In the chapel of what is now Brooksby Agricultural College is the memorial to Lord Beatty of Brooksby and the North Sea - I always find the juxtaposition of the village of “Brooksby with the “North Sea” rather amusing. Admiral Beattie fought in the battle of Heligoland (August 1914) and Doggerbank (June 1915) and became Admiral of the Fleet in 1919.

Next came the villages of Thrussington, Radcliffe on the Wreake, East Goscote and finally the most dangerous part of our ride, along a cycle path crossed by occasional entrance drives to houses, then through the churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul church in Syston (the first priest of the church was appointed in 1206 and if memory serves me right one of the early vicars was called Achibald the Bald).

When we got back to base no one wanted cake, scones or toasted tea cakes but the iced water produced by my wife was gulped down vigorously.

The ride was 42.66 miles.

The uneaten cake, scones with double cream and jam were most effective in helping me rebalance my energy deficiency.

Alex Johnson

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North West Ride under Manchester on the canals May 2012

Only 3 of us for what turned out to be a day of reasonable weather and a fascinating journey of discovery.

Our bike ride under and through Manchester and the Great Manchester Run interweaved all day. We start off in South Manchester at the Chorlton Water park, already thronging with outdoor people including a gaggle of fungi hunters.
After some very quiet back streets we emerge at Old Trafford.

From this point on our fortunes and the 40,000 runners will cross as we zig zag around greater Manchester. We are below them, alongside them, and occasionally above them. The complex canal system of Manchester is at complete variance to the road system, so even if I think I have a plan of Manchester in my head Mark's route pops us up at the most unlikely places. Then we are alongside the Manchester Ship Canal and heading to Media City. ITV and BBC guns drawn across the Irwell.

Back through the middle of Manchester and a bean pole of a trannie falls off her heels requiring a swift manoeuvre on my part, just a normal day in the gay quarter of Manchester.

Gorton is a rough old part of Manchester but Mark's route gets us into the rural idyl of Vale Cottage pub for our lunch stop, and second beer break, thirsty work is Manchester.

A sweep round East Manchester on the very rural Fallowfield Loop (national cycle network 6) gets us back to Chorlton around 20 miles later. Thanks again for the excellent route planning of Mark Taylor. If you knew how good are the events he organises you would all be along in droves.

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Five Moultoneers met up on a fairly non-descript road of semi-detached houses in a suburb of Chester with the threat of heavy showers literally hanging over us. At about 10:50 a shower started, punctuated with hailstones, some of us sought shelter in the doorway of a “house to let” but as all 5 couldn’t get shelter and 11 o’clock had now come and gone, we set off into the rain.

[flickr size="medium" float="right"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/moultonbuzz/7112996723/[/flickr] After about 30 meters of road we dropped onto national route 5, a beautifully smooth track based on the old rail line from Chester to Shotton steel works. After about 5 minutes the rain stopped and that was the last time it inconvenienced us for the rest of the day. Making good progress along the track, into a slight head wind, we travelled down this straight track passing numerous cyclists, dog walkers and ramblers. The tarmac was truly smooth, not damaged by tree roots or dug up & patched by utility companies etc, a real pleasure to ride along. We crossed the pedestrian bridge over the main A55 coast road by the ever-shrinking RAF Sealand facility. We continued on the national route 5 riding over the river Dee bridge, along the platforms of Shotton railway station and down onto the Chester Road for a café stop at the Corner Kitchen, with a great bike stand outside!

[flickr size="medium" float="left"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/moultonbuzz/6966919860/[/flickr]Suitably rested, fed & watered we set off taking a slightly different route back to the Dee bridge, crossed it once again and rode along the river side path with the strengthening wind now behind us. We passed the beautiful John Summers building, the old reception & management offices for the Shotton steel works – now sadly a boarded up listed building; I have visited the reception in the past when it was a fabulously appointed building, well worth preserving and using again in some form. The miles sped by on this smooth tarmced pathway as we passed the shooting school on the left then BA and its A380 Airbus wing facility on the right.

[flickr size="medium" float="right"]http://www.flickr.com/photos/moultonbuzz/6966920774/[/flickr]Shortly after we passed the water treatment works we turned off the riverside path and up Tower Road, turning right at Telford’s Warehouse to join the Shropshire Union Canal and up a flight of locks (the biggest climb of the day!). Once on the top of the locks we followed the canal through a deep & damp sandstone cutting topped with houses, along a cobbled section (love the suspension on Moulton’s) and out into a nicely re-developed area of Chester. We passed numerous renovated warehouses with bars & cafes, moored up canal houseboats, pedestrians – a really well manicured cosmopolitan area. After we passed the old shot tower, used for the manufacture of lead shot for shooting and an area about to be re-developed, we turned off the canal and re-joined the road network again. Taking a back road route passed the site of the old Chester hospital we returned to our cars in a few minutes.

All in all a pleasant day out, good company, 17 miles of mostly flat terrain, nearly all the route was free from internal combustion engines – just a pity about the rain at the start.
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