JOURNAL of the ANFIELD BICYCLE CLUB (Formed March 1879)
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JOURNAL OF THE ANFIELD BICYCLE CLUB (formed March 1879) www.anfieldbc.co.uk March 2013 No. 944 New Members’ Drive: John Thompson recruiting in Chile Anfield Circular 944 In the bleak mid-winter …. A blizzard overnight on 25th January brought parts of Cheshire to a standstill, with a blanket of snow covering the countryside as dawn broke. It brought back memories of the winter of 1981 (lower photo). The Shropshire Union Canal towpath through Christleton, now a cycle path, looked wonderful but was not the place for cycling. 2 Anfield Circular 944 ~ Runs List ~ www.anfieldbc.co.uk Saturday runs (lunch at 1215hrs) March 2 The Goshawk Mouldsworth 9 The Britannia Halkyn 16 The Red Lion Parkgate 23 The Miners Arms Maeshafn 30 Cross Foxes Overton Bridge April 6 Calveley Arms Handley 13 The Buck Bangor on Dee 19/21 Presidents Weekend Llanfyllin 27 Coddington Parish Rooms Committee Meeting 1130hrs May 4 The Pheasant Burwardsley 11 The Plassey Eyton 18 The Ice Cream Farm Tattenhall 25 Carden Arms Tilston 27 Anfield 100 HQ Shawbury June 1 The Red Lion Parkgate 8 The Britannia Halkyn 15 Coddington Parish Rooms Committee Meeting 1130hrs 22 The Sandstone Inn Brown Knowle 29 The Raven Llanarmon yn Ial CLOSING DATE FOR NEXT CIRCULAR: 27 May 2013 President: Bill Graham Hon Secretary: Peter Catherall, 49 Elm Grove, Buckley, Flintshire, CH7 2LU :0777 3587793; e-mail: [email protected] Captain: Geraint Catherall Editor: David Birchall, 2012 - 2013 Subscriptions now due 21 and over £15; Junior £7.50; Family member £1; CTC 3rd party insurance £15 – by Standing Order Hon Treasurer : Phil Mason ABC Handbook 2013 The Club handbook has been updated and circulated by email to all “on- line” members. If you haven’t received a copy this way – or would prefer a paper copy - please let Hon Sec Peter Catherall know. For members without an email address paper copies are enclosed with this issue of the Circular. 3 Anfield Circular 944 Committee matters CTC Associate Membership provides all the benefits of CTC membership for £16. This means that you are covered for third party claims whenever you are cycling, not just on clubruns. We strongly advise members to take advantage of the offer. Contact Hon Treasurer Phil Mason. Those Amazing Anfielders and their Cycling Machine in Peace and War Your Heritage has appointed a Grants Officer, Richard Fowler, to assess the project, which is to conserve and share the archive. If approved the project will start later in the Spring. Volunteers will be needed to help with scanning, captioning, design, and website development. Cheshire Archives and Local Studies (CALS) will host the work and also provide training in Chester. Contact David Birchall if you are willing to help. Club wear - if you have not yet reserved your new ABC kit please contact Tony Pickles while stocks last. Also from Tony, there are some older designs still available – very smart too – and at bargain prices. Composition of committee - Phil Mason has proposed reviewing rules 3 and 4, which govern the numbers of officers and committee members because these two rules no longer reflect the needs of the Club. Also, because rule 5 (auditors) is no longer followed, it too should be included in the review, and an alternate found. Amendments will be considered at the next AGM. President's Weekend with the SVCC 19 -21 April, Cain Valley Hotel, Llanfyllin The programme will be: Friday: a road ride to Bala. The route will go over the Milltir Cerrig and return via the Hirnant - to be led by Keith Orum. The SVCC will join us on Friday evening for bar meals. Saturday’s ride will be to the Vyrnwy Hotel for lunch. The ride can be as easy or as challenging as wished, depending on preferences, and machines. We are hoping that at least one penny- farthing will grace the event. Dinner at the hotel has been arranged for Saturday evening. Sunday’s ride will aim for the Vale of Meifod and Llanfair Caereinion (railway café) for an early lunch, returning to Llanfyllin by mid afternoon. Thirteen of our friends in the Scottish Veteran-Cycle Club have already booked. But so far only six Anfielders have confirmed attendance. If you would like to join us please let David Birchall know. 2013 100 Event Secretary Peter Catherall reports the first entry has already been received. Marshals are needed for the event. If you are willing to help please let Nigel Fellows know. This could be the last time … 2014 100 Event Secretary With Peter Catherall retiring after this year’s event, Keith Orum has again raised the question of finding an organiser for the 2014 100. Despite requests in the last two Circulars no one has stepped forward yet. A volunteer will be needed before the end of August. Now is the time for all good Anfielders to come to the aid of the event … Racing Results Chester RC Hilly 14 23rd February 2013 Graham Thompson 36:12; Jayson Rhys-Hughes 39:34; Geraint Catherall 43:01 4 Anfield Circular 944 Clubruns The Raven, Llanarmon - 1st December 2012 Attending: Bill Graham, Peter Catherall, Nigel Fellows, John Whelan, Tony Pickles, Dave Bettaney and David Birchall. Dave Bettaney was wheeling up the hill by the Raven when we arrived. And Nigel Fellows had just disembarked. Club-mascot Wilber was happy, because Nigel equals walkies. So off they trotted happily, while the rest of us explored whether or not the pub was open. It was, and we sat near a log-burning stove in the lounge. John mentioned that the Raven had been his first clubrun Raven revisited - John Whelan and Dave Bettaney (1961), and likewise so it had been for Messrs Bettaney (1959) and Birchall (1960). The Saturday afternoon clubrun was the norm then; and the Raven was an excellent venue. Just the right distance from the Wirral, when you reached it you felt that you were in Wild Wales. In those days there was no choice of menu: it was gammon and eggs with lashings of tea, or nothing. Later Joe Dodd discovered the bar and Burtonwood bitter, which the landlord was willing to dispense to travellers, younger and older, before the (mostly) downhill ride home. The Dysart Arms, Bunbury - 8th December 2012 In Knutsford, sunrise today was spectacular, the sky filling with colour behind wintry trees. But it was cold, -1°C in town, and another couple of degrees lower outside. This meant that after heavy overnight rain following a week of frost, the lanes would be slippy - and no cycling today. Tricky decision though - the forecast of a beautiful sunny day with the temperature climbing to 6° by lunch time was very tempting. 40 miles across the County and over the Welsh border, Tony and Chris Pickles were like minded. In Mold the temperature was stubbornly at freezing. So we met in Christleton and travelled together by car. John Whelan was already at the Dysart Arms, sitting by a roaring fire, when we arrived. He had ridden a useful and enjoyable 17 miles from Guilden Sutton, saving the chore of the urban stages through Ellesmere Port. Time to leave: it wasn't easy to wrench ourselves from the warmth of the fire. But outside the sun shone brightly on the venerable sandstone of St Boniface, and the temperature was a balmy 6.5°. As John pedalled through Bunbury ahead of us, Tony summed it up somewhat ruefully - what a lovely day for cycling. 5 Anfield Circular 944 The Buck, Bangor-on Dee - 15th December 2012 One thousand two hundred teapots hang from the beams in the Buck. They come in all shapes - here a telephone box, there a pillar box; country cottages, thatched and tiled; rabbits and mad March hares; cars, taxis, and buses; an elephant, panda ... there's even a crusader on horseback. The more you look the more you see. In fact if you can think of it, it is probably there somewhere. How are they dusted? “Hard work”, said the landlady. What are they worth? I guessed that some will be only pennies, but others several hundred pounds – on average £30 to £50 each? If so, that values the collection at £40000 - £60000. Do any go missing? What about insurance? I didn't find out, but had plenty of time to contemplate because I was the only Anfielder present. It had been a ride of twenty-three hard miles into a head wind, from Kelsall, through sunshine and showers. The Cheshire lanes are in an even worse state than last year. After a week of biting frost followed by heavy overnight rain, the water had nowhere to go. The lanes were not only muddy and strewn with debris, but potholed from the frost, and flooded in places. A pheasant shoot at Willington, and the hunt at Shocklach were seasonal reminders that we are well into December. The Buck is a friendly local. It is one of the few pubs these days where you can find mild on draft - well kept too. And the food is excellent, and good value. The place is also well integrated with village life. A carol concert had taken place there the previous evening, and other festivities were planned. And so I whiled away an hour and half amongst the teapots. The time passed pleasantly, but I missed the company of fellow members. Bangor on Dee The Plough, Christleton - 22nd December 2012 It has been very difficult cycling this autumn. More often than not, dry weather has brought frost and ice, making it too risky to ride. And heavy rain has put paid to cycling on milder days.