North London

294 posts

 

The Queen’s Head   60 Paternoster Hill, Waltham Abbey EN9 3LA.
email Steve Jones @ North London HOC     Go to the Branch Facebook page

North London Sunday 28th December
Dave Plumb led a ride to the Hungry Stag at Woolpit near Bury St Edmunds.  Just 5 riders enabled a brisk pace with no need to mark junctions.  Dave’s well thought out route used mainly A and B roads passing through or nearby places with interesting names; Frog End, Duddenhoe End, Fowlmere and Sible Hedingham but not necessarily in that order. 

After coffee at Days Bakery we headed south through Barley,  Barkway and Braughing on the B1368. The road which twists and turns wonderfully through the Hertfordshire countryside has come to the attention of the Country Council resulting in lower speed limits being imposed on much of its length.  New speed cameras have also been installed. Great company and riding 👌 David Taylor 

North London Hello and Merry Christmas.  Wednesday 24th December

On a nicely dry but cold day it was decided that a brisk ride (Dave P, Ben, Chris T, Yiannis, Martin, Lee and myself) would be a good idea to freshen ourselves up before the over eating, drinking and socialising starts. Good old Dave Plumb had put forward a Ride and I was pleased to see seven of us turn up at McDonalds for the occasion. Dave took us on a lovely route taking in Sawbridgeworth, Much Hadham, Puckeridge, Royston and Gamlingay before arriving at the fine Ambience cafe in St Neots for some lunch. From there we cut East to Days Bakery in Newton for a nice afternoon tea. Some ate cake as well! From there it was Southbound for home, through Barley and Barkway, before splitting off for home as needed. A lovely day, if a little fresh.  

Regards Steve

Sunday 21st December. North London Trio in the Corner
With a weather forecast predicting rain later on three of us took a lovely run to one of our favourite haunts which is the Corner cafe at Sible Hedingham. It is not a long way there and we also took a fairly direct route back. Great roads but damp, no rain. The route was almost the same as last Wednesday’s but without doing the extra to Sudbury. I lost my satnav somewhere on the route, but not knowing where it had come off decided not to go back and search for it. Hey Ho! The bad news for our Branch is that we are being split into two riding groups, for reasons that are too complex to go into here. It does not bode well for the future though…. But have you ever seen such happy riders!  😊
 
Regards Steve A
Wednesday 17th December. North London form a Duo
 
 On a fairly cold but dry day only one other person, Chris P, joined me on a Ride. On the positive side we had quality rather than quantity 😊. The roads were damp but on modern sports touring tyres, together with our top skill levels, we were able to maintain a fairly brisk but safe pace. The route was pretty darn good as well. We went via Ongar, Dunmow, Finchingfield, Sible Hedingham to lunch at Sudbury. The return was Gt Yeldham, Finchingfield, Thaxted and a final stop at Mayfields farm shop on the edge of Harlow. We use these roads a lot and they’re great! (Says Tony).
Lunch was taken at the fine TTT Motorcycles in Sudbury where the food is good and there is a lot of classic bikes to take a look at. We recommend it, even though it is too big a space to heat up in winter. We met Stuart there, which was nice. A fine day out.
 
Regards, Steve
                                                 
North London visit West Mersea. Wednesday 10th December.
Hello Everyone…
On one of the warmest and most dry December days I have ever ridden on I led six other chaps on a fine ride to West Mersea Island for some lunch. We tried a new café which was the Art Cafe and I think most of us liked it. I certainly did. To get there we used the A414 and then along the very fine coast road from Malden. Next we went around Abberton reservoir before heading through Tiptree, Coggeshall and Dunmow before a final stop at the very pleasant Village Tea Shop at Hatfield Heath. It was home from there. An extremely pleasant day with great company and roads. This Saturday coming we are having our Christmas meal at the Galley Hall Pub. We are getting very excited about it!
 
Regards Steve
 
Graham G only…
Was me with Dave P, Chris P, Simon, John C, Robin, Richard.
                                           
 

Sunday 30th November: North London Amble to Ambiance 

Dave Plumb led Chris P, Chris T, Andrew, Steve A, Adrian, Yiannis and Martin on a great ride this fine Sunday to the popular Ambiance cafe on the Riverside at St Neots. It was quite cold but dry with generally good road surfaces and a nice pace was maintained. Eight of us started but were fairly soon split up by hiccups in the following pack, despite which seven of us had lunch together. The route there took in Sawbridgeworth, Much Hadham, Puckridge, Barkway, Royston and Gamblingay. (Pronounced Gambollinggaily). Afterwards we headed south to Mill End tea rooms near Baldock, six of us stopping for tea and cake courtesy of Andrew. It was a lovely day out. Regards Steve.

North London visit the Waterpark. Wednesday 29th October 2025

Despite a rather unpromising weather forecast a team of five met up at Birchanger Services, off the M11, for a ride. Dave Plumb was kind enough to lead again and we had great riding roads all day. Lunch was taken at the fine Waterfront Diner at the Suffolk Water Park where we overlooked a nice lake complete with a plethora of ducks, geese and other winged thingies. We got there via Thaxted, Braintree, Sudbury, Hadleigh and then to Bramford. Dave had a puncture on the way which was impressively fixed in about ten minutes! Our route back was Needham Market, Monks Eleigh, Cavendish, Clare and Finchingfield. No stop was taken coming home. We got there with just the odd spot of rain, but enough to make the roads damp. After lunch the rain was light but persistent. We still enjoyed it! Just me missing in the picture as I took it. Great company… Regards, Steve A