"Me Oolfa will piss aal ower yer GTI" - that was Bob telling me that his rust bucket Alfa Romeo Giulleta would go faster than a Golf GTI that I could only dream of owning back then in 1977 but was talking about in the college bar. I did not mention the broken down Yamaha RD200 that I owned then. My first exposure to Geordie as a college freshman still resonates in the annals of my University memories alongwith Newcastle Brown beer and cheap sherry from Unwins probably produced in Cyprus.
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| Ready for early dawn departure |
I digress -
I decided to ride my newly updated for 2011 GS (more anon.) to Durham for the BMW Owners Club AGM as I had read that the lunchtime sandwiches would be free. There would be a dinner and guest speaker too.
I followed Lori's instructions to the letter to embed this route map into the blog (Lori does my map look big in this?):
Leaving home at 7pm on a cloudless but crisp morning I scooted around to the west of Salford and Manchester and started out across the Penines on the
highest motorway in England (at 1,221 feet (372 m)) - mist clinged in the valleys either side of me as transited Leeds barely an hour from leaving Knutsford to commence the great trek north.
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| The famous Stott Hall Farm flanked by the carriageways of the highest motorway in England |
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| Helpful signs guide me through Durham |
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| Many nice BMW motorcycles - I did not realise until later that a prize would be awarded for the best machine and I had parked my bike at the halls of residence far away from the scrutiny of the judges. |
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| Cathedral |
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| Not Charley Boorman, Cliff is marketing US made Jesse luggage - I take a fancy to the lockable mounting box on which a standard top box can sit. | | |
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| The camping family on manouvres |
The next day I teamed up with a charming camping couple from Wales for the scenic ride back across the stunningly scenic Yorkshire Dales. Naturally I meet them at the camp site down by the river and we ride in the company of approximately 29,900 other bikers and 29,901 Nissan Micras across the moors turning left at Blea Common Historical monument.
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| The Ribblehead railway viaduct at Blea Common - the only place where we stopped and hence the only photo opportunity |
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| Tomato ketchup and visor wash |
That MUST be a high carriageway. For a bit I thought the photo was taken from a plane!
ReplyDeleteTomato ketchup and visor wash, now there is a combination....
ReplyDeleteNissan Micra, I haven't heard that term in 10 years. Back in the day while living in British Columbia I owned one but they were never sold in the USA so people just look at you strange if you mention them down here.
Oh heck, they look at me strange anyway, that is part of the fun.
Hey, my part of the world! Whenever I pass Stott Hall Farm I am uplifted as I think of another small victory against the forces of doarkness. The farmer was under immense pressure to sell so that the motorway could go through his land, but he would not - and even made them build little tunnels under the carriageways for his sheep to pass from one field to another.
ReplyDeleteThat's a fabulous run through the Dales. I did a similar one last October when I went up to Newcastle for a wedding. God's retirement home.
Gorgeous photos Nikos and an excellent trip. Takes me back a bit, especially Newcastle Brown Ale as a student, even though I was a softie southerner.
ReplyDeleteYour point D on the map brings back memories. My last consultancy job before emigrating was for British Salt at Sandbach, just down the road.
Bst wishes from a very wet but warm NZ!
Nikos:
ReplyDeletewhere are the photos of the Alfa ? I used to own two Alfas; a Guilietta Spyder and a Veloce 2000 GTV. Now you know why I had no funds for a Beemer
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
I think I've been to that cafe....does it have a weather forecasting stone outside it?
ReplyDeleteDear Nikos:
ReplyDeleteYou have a rather unique way of presentimg things. I think the paint job on that GS is spectacular. Now it appears you are adding more "anon" to it. Does anon make it look better (impossible with a GS) or make it go faster?
I first leaned to put visor wash on my chips during a visit to the Cotswolds, or was it Squirm-On-Fingersby. Sometimes the container is marked "Malt Vinegar."
Do you get up much to Cockermouth? While it lacks the pottery and urbane attitude of Stoke-On-Trent, I find Cockermouth both energizing and suggestive. If you head that way, could you get me a tee shirt?
Something that reads, "When She Wants More Than A Kiss..."
The town has certainly grown.
Fondest regards,
Jack • reep • Toad
Twisted Roads
LOL - I'll remember that one.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the collective noun for such a group of BMWs? A Panzer-Abteilung?
ReplyDeleteI have had many a bacon sarny at that snacky-cara by the way....but, did you have a Penny Garth chip butty in Hawes? They're the best!
Irondad
ReplyDeleteApart from Kate Middleton it's the best that England has to offer!
thanks for commenting on my eclectic mix of tripe
N
Tobairitz
ReplyDeleteJudging by the splatter on my helmet and visor, those darn critters must have been gorging on ketchup....yuck...
N
Richard
ReplyDeleteI must do the run again under less stressful conditions - I was following and not taking in....
All the best from Surrey with real people, Cheshire, N
Geoff
ReplyDeleteMe too!
N
Bob
ReplyDeletemy camera is not fast enough to capture an Alfa between existence and rust
never mind
Best wishes to you in BC, N
Highwaylass
ReplyDeleteProbably but who needs weather forecasting in God's country?
XS N
Affer
ReplyDeleteI would say an "expense of BMWs" - does not translate so good into Krautish but yours is good too.
Hawes (I believe that I went through it) was heaving with the other 29,000 bikers.
N
Jack
ReplyDeleteI rarely go to Cockermouth these days but probably wisiting Vanken am Rhein this weekend during my forthcoming miss the Woyal marriage bollox trip to Germany.
thanks for input - I'll look out for a T shirt for you - what size?
N
Well about bloody time you wrote a ride report....but then I havernt been following long! Great pics. I like beer......mmmmm...beer......but not sure what newcastle ale is?
ReplyDelete