East Midlands Scotland Extravaganza

East Midlands Tour of Scotland Easter 2024

It was October 2023 when it was first announced that Graham Brown would be organising a tour of Scotland the following Easter. He gave details of four Premier Inn hotels that needed booking. Loch Lomond, Oban, Inverness and Edinburgh Park. Immediately I along with many others were connecting to the Premier Inn’s website so as not to miss out. Numbers quickly rose steadily to over forty. It wasn’t just Graham’s own East Midlands branch either, all of West London, Oxford, 3 Shires and  Durham & North East were represented. Durham had an impressive four members on the road trip. Other HOC members came from Cheshire, Gloucestershire and Norwich,
Crosby Katsholo and John Flynn (West London) came up on Wednesday, but the main party was gathering nice and early on Thursday at Castle Donnington Services. Their route up the A1, then across on the A66 perfect for meeting the Durham contingent at Scotch Corner. Crosby joined the club recently and it was his first event…same for Mel and Graham Shute (Gloucestershire) who both recently joined the HOC at the NEC.
Thankfully the worst of the weather was in the south and moving up the country at a slower pace than us. You just want everything to go smoothly and it did, right up to the point that Ian Wood (Durham) riding a CB500X had a bit of a mishap on the M74.  The group behind him noticed that his throw over panniers had caught fire! Seemingly they were just too close to the bike’s exhaust. Calamity was averted as the team quickly instructed Ian to pull over onto the hard shoulder. The fire was put out but Ian did lose some items, including a pair of shoes. A tail car driven by Lee Haynes was able to transport the nearside pannier and the group carried on. Ian was given the moniker “Blazing Saddles”. This was the first of a number of film titles that could describe this tour. “North by North West” was certainly our route to Oban. Then there would be “Whisky Galore” as distillery visits were arranged and purchases of the gold nectar made, and we finished with “Singing in the Rain” in Edinburgh. But more of that later.

The following day we assembled early to get on the road. It was a bit of a damp start, but any rain quickly passed as we made our way up past Loch Lomond and parked up briefly at Luss. It was Luss that was the setting for a Scottish daytime soap opera “High Road”.  It ran for over 20 years on UK daytime TV. But we needed to make progress and we were soon back on the road….our next stop was the beautiful Inverary. For me this is where the tour really got started. The A83 hugs Loch Fyne for around thirty miles, initially for just a short distance on its eastern shore but it soon swings round at the top of the Loch and clings to its western shoreline. The sight of Inverary was something I’ll never forget. It’s a small town with a harbour and impressive castle that looks down over its streets. But it was the sight of the many white painted houses on Inverary’s seafront, reflecting in the clear waters of the Loch that we saw whilst riding that last half mile that will stay with me forever. It wasn’t possible for me to stop for a photograph as the road was tight and there was no chance of pulling to one side, but thankfully Tina Haynes a passenger in a car captured it beautifully and was able to later share it with us on Facebook.
Our route continued to Oban riding a less direct scenic route, which eventually led us, albeit briefly, off the mainland. In fact we could argue that we crossed The Atlantic on the Clachan Bridge to reach the Isle of Seil. Because the Clachan Sound connects at both ends to the Atlantic Ocean, and might therefore be considered part of that ocean, the bridge has therefore become to be known as the “Bridge over the Atlantic”. It was a great place to relax and pose for a photograph. It was now just a short ride into beautiful Oban.
The Oban Premier Inn is ideally situated for a very short walk into this picturesque town. The town has a large harbour, where ferries head for one of the many islands that lie just off the coast. The skyline inshore is dominated by McCaig’s Tower. John McCaig’s aim was to construct a lasting memorial to his family. He was an admirer of Roman and Greek architecture, and had planned for an elaborate structure, based on the Colosseum in Rome.Work ceased on McCaig’s death in 1902, leaving it rather unfinished. Therefore it is also known as McCaig’s folly. Today there are gardens on the inside with outstanding views out to the islands. On this particular evening a heavy shower, whilst the late evening sun was still strong led to a most wonderful rainbow. At one point it appeared to rise from inside the structure…Becky Sulzer expertly captured the moment on her camera. Another very impressive structure in Oban is Wetherspoon’s and the majority of us went there before heading for a curry. 
Saturday’s run was to take us out of Oban and head east out to Tyndrum and the Green Welly Service area. There was a little light rain for us to contend with there…but the biggest downpour was waiting in the wings. Leaving here it was north towards Glen Coe and Fort William. But before reaching Glen Coe we pulled over at the Loch Tulla viewpoint. The sun was out and we were all encouraged to do a huge group photo.  Back on the road the skies darkened and we had at least 3 hours of rain. Glen Coe was still impressive but for lunch at Fort William we made for a rather less impressive Morrison’s Supermarket cafe.  At least it was dry inside.
At Spean Bridge the inclement weather had now cleared for the day, allowing another chance for photos at the Commando memorial, including another go at a group photo. Leaving here it was up to Inverness along the line of the Caledonian canal and Loch Ness – yes I looked but saw nothing. Again the Premier Inn was ideally placed. Most of us enjoyed a wonderful meal at The Mustard Seed restaurant.
Sunday proved to be the best day for riding as it was sunny and dry all day. We headed south down the A9 through Aviemoor (nothing much to see here) but a turn left and we were heading up to over 2,050 feet and the Cairngorms base station. There was quite a lot of activity up here, nursery ski slopes for beginners, and lifts to take you to deeper snow further up. We thoroughly enjoyed a coffee in a wonderful cafe.
Our ride down the east side of the Cairngorms I described as the best motorcycling route I’d ever undertaken. Glenshee. It was amazing. The roads were quick, technical and every different kind of corner you could imagine. Most had clear views allowing you to “attack” the bend. Everyone was smiling from ear to ear as we got out at a log cabin cafe. We later had the opportunity for a visit to Balmoral or fish and chips in Braemar, We unanimously chose the latter. I’m told the haggis at the chippy was very nice but most of our attention was focussed on a yellow VFR800Fi which pulled in whilst we were there. To cut a long story short it was a bike that had been uppermost in our biking conversations to the point that we’d looked at one for sale on Autotrader. This one was definitely not for sale but its owner Graham Boyne, having met our Graham, was soon signing up to HOC membership.
Arrival at Edinburgh Park Premier Inn, may in some ways  have signalled the end of the tour. But this hotel is a great place to access the city on a tram. Graham had scheduled two nights here allowing us to visit the city. Which we did in large numbers. Graham took on the role of guide, pointing out with his umbrella nothing more interesting than unusual car parking signs with his huge umbrella. Up at the castle he successfully managed to point to The Castle. At this point Marc and Tracey decided we needed cheering up. I mentioned at the start that our trip could be described using four classic films which included “Singing in the Rain”.  They danced and sang their way around the Castle Esplanade, spinning their umbrellas and splashing in the puddles in true Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds style. Once the show was over we all decided a tour bus would be the better option…here Graham came into his own, using negotiation skills Henry Kissinger would have been proud of, he managed to get us on board at the child rate of £10 each.
Huge thanks to the following for making it such a brilliant trip. Apologies if I’ve missed anybody out/got a name wrong. If so please let me know and I’ll amend.
Graham Brown, Julie Galliers, Crosby Katsholo, Roger Hutchinson,Becky Sulzer,Ian Woods, Marc Griffiths, Tracey Griffiths,Gareth Lacey, Ashley Lacey, Bob Whitmore,Julie Whitmore, Sam, John, Kevin Ludlam, Jon Parr, Geoff Springthorpe, Dawn Harrison,Simon Middleton.Graham Shute, Mel Shute,
David Hunter, Tina Haynes, Lee Haynes, Mark Vernon, Terry Sweet, Dennis Elliott, Rob Halsall, Mick Clayton, Debs, Chris,Tony Spinks, Penny Spinks, Steve, Mark Jackson, Catherine Jackson, David Andrews, Alan Davie,and John Flynn
What a brilliant tour….but don’t take my word for it:-
Marc Griffiths, “What an absolute blast the last 5 days have been”Jon Parr, “Big thanks for making this happen, emotional!”Simon Middleton, “Thanks to everyone for making my first motorcycling tour such a fantastic experience”.