Les had always wanted to ride on his own around England and chatting with John over after a pint or two, the pair decided to do the journey together and the date of Monday, 19th September was set.
As it turned out, this was the day of the Queen’s funeral so the roads were extremely quiet when they embarked on the first leg of their journey. This took in a north east route for a visit to Les’ mates pub in Grantham where they stopped for a chat and a coffee before heading off to North Allerton, staying at The Golden Lion hotel for an overnight stop.
After a good night’s rest and hearty breakfast, the pair headed towards Berwick on Tweed, stopping en route at Holy Island, Lindisfarne. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to traverse the causeway due to the incoming tide. The day’s riding took in some breathtaking scenery with great twisty roads to enjoy. They finally stopped at a mediocre hotel called The Crown Hotel, just outside of Penrith to rest and refuel.
Much to their disgust, the hotel didn’t actually provide breakfast, so it was off to the nearest greasy spoon cafe. Then the pair headed south towards Cheshire, taking in the north east roads with a pleasant overnight stay at John’s son’s house in Winsford.
On Day Four, they head off for a fast day’s riding and after a long day in the saddle, they stopped at The Boat and Anchor pub by the canal near Bridgwater. The evening was spent in the company of interesting and jovial boatmen, chatting about all of life’s important subjects.
On Day Five, they found again that there no breakfast offerings, so the first job of the day was to find a cafe. After breakfast, their destination was Land’s End via the A30. The weather was good, the sun was shining and the views were spectacular.
After a few stops to take in the scenery and to take photos, they headed off to Newton Abbot, but were unsuccessful in finding suitable B&B and ended up at a very premier priced Premier Inn, although the rooms were good and the Beefeater was decent.
So, with their adventure now over, it was time to head back home to Kent using some ‘A’ roads along the South coast and the usual boring M25/M20 for the final leg of the journey.
On reflection, it seems that B&B accommodation isn’t quite as predictable as pre-Covid when you could expect to rock up at any establishment to find vacancies and a full B&B menu on offer at a reasonable price.
Les and John covered about 1,600 miles in six days on some brilliant roads with amazing scenery and greatly enjoyed themselves meeting friendly bikers and characterful locals.
