Rideouts 2021

Sunday 2nd May Rideout no.1

Due to the current Covid reguations and our numbers, we organised two rideouts, both meeting at The Railway Tavern in Poringland at slightly different times. Following a brilliant hot breakfast we departed, while ride two were still eating, for North Walsham, from there it was cross-country to Rougham, and Sheringham where we had a short stop to stretch our legs, and in my case, my back! Soon we were back on the road to Weybourne, through the countryside to Holt, Guist, Dereham, Watton, Shropham, on to the A11. Once on the main Norwich to London road it was a short hop to the Route 11 cafe, stopping for refreshments. Here we enjoyed a social chat until we decided that it was time to make our own way home.

Sunday 2nd May Rideout no.2 by Phil Barker.

First ride out for what seems like forever and it was great to meet up with friends who we haven’t seen for a long while.
An excellent breakfast at The Railway Tavern, Poringland (social distancing observed) and we were off for a gentle ride from Norwich to Sheringham, where we stopped for a chat before embarking on a trek around the twisting country lanes of North Norfolk before arriving at Route 11 for tea and cake.
We all agreed that to be back on our bikes and see our friends was long overdue.

Refuelling at The Railway Tavern.

I would like to thank The Railway Tavern staff who served us so well, the branch members who supported our breakfast and rideouts, arrived promptly, and observed all the Covid regulations and to Phil Barker who helped me out by leading ride no.2.

Rideout no.1 ready for the off.
Rideout no.2 ready for the off.
Short stop in Sheringham.

Sunday 6th June – Branch Rideout to County School Station.

Sunny skies greeted our branch members as we met at The Railway Tavern, Framingham Earl, today’s meeting point and somewhere for optional breakfast (well it would be rude not to), it was good to welcome Michael again, all the way from Cambridge.
Our eighty-five mile route took us from here to Bungay, Diss, Thetford, Mundford, Watton, Dereham and North Elmham, the roads were a mixture of straights, sweeping bends, and twisties through the forests and countryside of Norfolk. Following a quick stop in Watton for a couple to refuel, we were off again through Dereham to North Elmham where a short distance further on, County School Station is situated. County School railway station was built by the Great Eastern Railway in 1886 to serve the private school from which it took its name, and following the completion of the East Norfolk Railway’s branch line from Wroxham and Aylsham in 1882. In 1903 the Norfolk County School became the Watts Naval School, although the station name remained unchanged. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by Ellie who volunteers at the station, she met us to unlock a gate giving us a pre-arranged, reserved parking area just for our bikes. We soon found our way to the platform to be served drinks and some delicious cakes by Ellie and her team, although the station is not working at the moment, there is plenty to see both inside and out plus a couple of walks which some of us will do when we return individually at a later date. A thoroughly enjoyable ride and day made by our members especially David who kindly took Michael to get some fuel and met us en route and Tony who assisted David in Diss when his bike suffered a puncture.
We couldn’t have done it without Tracey and her team at The Railway Tavern, County School Station team including, Ellie, Terry, and Susie, and our branch members for their discipline and assistance during the ride, thank you all for playing your part.

Refuelling at The Railway Tavern
Ready to go, photo courtesy Penny Spinks
Refreshments at County School Station after our eighty-five mile rideout.

Sunday 18th July – Rideout to Orford led by Roger and Freda.

BLAZING SADDLES TO ORFORD
Lesson 1  Know exactly where you are going
Lesson 2  Don’t rely on your Satnav – they don’t always know where they are going either
Seven bikes and ten people left Tesco’s car park in 28 degree temperatures, to journey through the Norfolk and Suffolk country side. Pretty villages , one visited twice !, cool forests and golden cornfields. Unfortunately Rob’s beautiful VF 1000R objected to the heat and slow riding and he had to leave to return home using a faster route to get the air flowing through again. The rest arrived at Orford Ness, and having discarded motorcycle gear for something a lot cooler (one person who shall remain nameless being helped out of his leather jeans by a female volunteer), we made our way to the tearooms overlooking the river. After an excellent snack and a good natter, it was back to the car park where, at Tony’s insistence, we had the obligatory ice cream. Then it was back into our motorcycle gear for the journey home.
A very hot ride, but good company and fun.

Report From Roger and images from Mark T.

Taking a rest on our Orford Rideout
Relaxing at Orford
Orford general view

Sunday 15th August – Regular Rideout to Snape led by David.

Myself (David CB1300 Super Four), Roger and Freda (VSTROM), Phil and Sarah (Black Goldwing ) all met before 0930am at Highway’s Nursery. We set off with a dog leg over the A146 and made our way towards Teles Patisserie for our much anticipated breakfast. I was stopping occasionally to adjust a malfunctioning iPad which had the route. I noticed we had picked up a straggler and was wondering who that might be. When we arrived at the Café, Roger Moore (A new member on a Red Blade) introduced himself. Freda said we now have 2 Roger’s introducing her husband. We went around to the café to get a table then Anna from the café said to move our bikes into the courtyard, which was currently occupied by a large Harley Davidson with it’s chrome all a gleaming. So we went back to where our bikes were and without helmets moved our bikes, even that short a ride helmetless was a nice feeling, we were on a farm after all. The breakfast was excellent, and afterwards I felt a bit like a champion (as opposed to an onion which has a similar spelling in French). For those also wanting a Portuguese style breakfast note that the campsite shares the single toilet with the café and a queue can develop. At about 1115am we set off on the back roads to Loddon where we picked up the A146 and headed through Beccles, and Henham towards Snape Maltings. The end of the story is, that we made it despite my Satnav screen turning off just before the turning to Snape. We got to the venue. And I had a posh tin of water, whilst others experienced Coffee and Pop. We got on our bikes and headed back to Norfolk. I did not follow Roger as I said I would but said my goodbyes to Phil as we were turning our separate ways in Beccles, saying “See you next time”

Meeting at Teles Patisserie

Sunday 5th September – Breakfast and Optional Rideout to RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre.

Phil and Sarah joined Andy and Denise, David, Tony J and Jane and myself for breakfast in “The Queen of Iceni” Riverside, Norwich, following which, Jane made her way home and we started our ride via Riverside Road, Salhouse Road, NDR, towards Fakenham and Sculthorpe, Phil and Sarah peeled off during this route towards Scarborough. The rest of us had a good journey, finally parking in front of the RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre where we met Colin on his immaculate 1962 CB77. Ian, my contact and the driving force behind the Centre came out to greet, take a couple of photos and welcome us in. He gave us a brief insight into the large, former U.S. Air Force base (housing up to 10,000 service personnel during it’s post-war years), then left us as we quietly walked around their impressive display of exhibits. Although the Centre is very popular and quite busy, Ian was on hand to answer questions about the airbase’s history, I remember going to an Open Day there in the fifties but I was very, very young at the time!! A few of us had the obligatory coffee/tea and a slice of cake, just to boost the funds a little whilst having a good catch-up in he main hall. Later, when we had all seen enough of the interesting displays, we parted and slowly made our own various way home.
I would like to thank Ian for all the assistance during the lockdowns to finally get us to the Heritage Centre and for being a great host. As quite a few of the branch regulars were off doing other things there is talk of organising another rideout later which I will do if I get enough interest and if any nearby branches are looking for somewhere interesting to ride to, this is a very good place to visit.

http://www.rafsculthorpeheritagecentre.org/

Branch members outside the Centre
RB-66 model and wreckage

Sunday October 3rd – Regular Rideout, led by Phil and Sarah to Bury St. Edmunds

Although we had a last-minute change of venue, eight of us met at The Queen of Iceni in Riverside, Norwich for breakfast and the usual social banter. Following which we followed Phil and Sarah out of Norwich, where David departed home due to pressure of work. We continued into the countryside on roads both large, straight, twisty, and small, bypassing Dereham and into Swaffham. Here we turned towards Mundford and Brandon ending up at the Barton Mills roundabout where we continued on with another cross-country route towards the A14 and Bury St. Edmunds. In Bury we parked together just outside the Abbey gates then walked across the road into the beautifully kept gardens and around the substantial remains of the Abbey. After our stroll around the grounds in the hot sunshine we collected back at the bikes where Phil and Sarah had cakes on hand for everyone, a very nice touch. Then it was time to depart on our chosen routes home, hopefully passing an open petrol station on the way. A big thank you to Phil and Sarah for planning and leading our group and to Andy and Denise for playing their part too.

Bury St. Edmunds Abbey gardens – for those who wish to know our exact location, Phil is kindly pointing it out.