HATTERS MIRROR CHECK

Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th September 2017

Lake District Weekend

With the end of the 2017 ride-out calendar coming ever closer the second Hatters’ weekend away of the year is upon us and this time a scenic tour of the English Lake District had been organised by Head Road Captain Ross Fearn. The route had been carefully planned to take in as much of the fantastic Lake District scenery as possible and had been pre-ridden earlier in the year by Ross assisted by fellow Hatter Paul Bradley. At that time the weather had been near perfect so all was set for another cracking trip away for the club. Now we’re all aware that the Lake District’s location on the northwest coast of , coupled with its mountainous geography, makes it the wettest part of England. Another weather fact is that the Lake District is generally very windy with the fell tops having around 100 days of gales per year. Just how wet and how windy it can be was something we would experience first-hand over the course of the weekend. A new start location was rolled out for this ride-out, namely the recently opened Barley Farm Inn on Stadium Way, Eccles close to Barton Aerodrome. This venue had the temptation of buffet style breakfast being available from 8 am on Saturdays with bottomless tea/coffee and toast all for a very reasonable price. There were quite a few takers who turned up early to sample the fayre. The Inn also provided shelter from the heavy rain which was already giving us a taste of what was to come over the next two days. Despite the early morning rain and a poor weather forecast 22 bikes including 5 pillion riders assembled for the trip and, following a rain interrupted pre-ride briefing, we were all on the road for the planned 10 am start time. After a few hectic miles on the M60 / M66 we dropped onto less busy A roads making a first stop at McDonald’s at the Ribble Valley Enterprise Park near Clitheroe. Then it was onwards via Gisburn and Long Preston towards Kirby Lonsdale and the Hideaway Coffee House for a lunch stop. Another Hatters’ member Glen was waiting at the café to join the group bringing the total headcount up to 28 people. Comfortable surroundings here to enjoy a bite to eat and a drink with even a spell of sunshine.

Moving on, we leapfrogged the M6 heading towards and then took the A6 up to Shap and to Eamont Bridge where we took a left turn to head for Pooley Bridge. You may remember that the historic stone bridge here dating from 1764, and that Pooley Bridge takes its name from, was swept away during Storm Desmond in December 2015. A temporary replacement bridge was opened in March 2016 and this is the one we crossed before arriving at the first of the lakes, Ullswater. Following the edge of the lake we passed through Glenridding where again Storm Desmond caused HATTERS MIRROR CHECK extensive and devastating flooding to the village and work is still ongoing to repair the damage. Following the lake edge we headed up the rugged Kirkstone Pass where we took a short break at the Kirkstone Pass Inn. Sunshine greeted us again here and we were able to enjoy the views and a drink outside the before moving on.

At The Kirkstone Pass Inn

The final leg of the day had us dropping down to Lake Windermere then a sharp right turn taking us to Troutbeck Head where we had another fuel stop before heading northwest towards . From Ambleside we passed three more lakes on our way towards Keswick, these being Rydal Water, Grasmere and Thirlmere. Joining the A66 we bypassed the town of Keswick to pass Bassenthwaite Lake on the way to our overnight accommodation in . Interestingly, Bassenthwaite Lake is the only lake in the Lake District to use ‘Lake’ in its name. All the others are meres, tarns and waters with mere being the least common and water being the most common. We arrived at the hotel in fine weather. A fellow guest commented that they had not had a drop of rain all day in Cockermouth which was amazing considering the weather we had experienced on the way up. Anyway, putting all that behind us we switched quickly and seamlessly into hotel mode and it wasn’t long before we were meeting up in the bar to enjoy a well-earned drink or two before dinner. The meal was a great success and it wasn’t long before the usual banter was being exchanged across the tables. We even had a song or two from John from Hull before he made a short speech thanking everyone for taking part in the weekend trip and also thanking all those who had contributed to the planning and organising of the event. There was even a birthday mention for two members who had become 69ers on and around this day culminating in an enthusiastic rendering of ‘Happy Birthday’ by the Hatters choir! The evening was concluded for some watching Match of the Day in the bar to catch up on the day’s football activities.

HATTERS MIRROR CHECK

There were high hopes for Sunday being a better day weather-wise but it was still looking a bit on the ‘iffy’ side as we met up for breakfast. Briefing was at 9:50am for a 10.00am departure and at this point the sun did make a short appearance. The first leg of today’s run, and probably the highlight of the trip, was going to be a run over the Honister Pass. This is located on the B5289 road linking Seatoller, in the valley of Borrowdale to Gatesgarth at the southern end of Buttermere. The pass reaches an altitude of 1167 feet (356m), making it one of the highest in the region, and also one of the steepest, with gradients of up to 1 in 4 (25%). Oh, and by the way, according to the internet, Honister Pass holds the UK 24-hour rainfall record; in the 24 hours to 6pm on the 5th December 2015, 341.4 mm of rain fell there. Perhaps someone should have warned us! Blissfully unaware of these statistics we set off through Cockermouth and out into the countryside. It was just light rain at first but this gradually worsened until it was absolutely pouring down. Visibility through rain spotted wind shields and helmet visors was difficult to say the least. We passed by the first two lakes of the day, these being Crummock Water and Buttermere as we headed on towards the pass. As we reached the summit the rain was at its worst and, remember the gales mentioned earlier? Well the gusts of wind were blowing us about all over the place as we made our ascent trying to keep to the centre of the quite narrow and steep roads. But, thanks to a lot of first gear climbing and torquey HD V twin engines we all made it up over the top safely and after a careful descent on the other side we passed by Derwent Water on our way towards Keswick.

HATTERS MIRROR CHECK

An unscheduled stop just before reaching Keswick town centre gave the opportunity to regroup before continuing the ride on part of yesterday’s route past Thirlmere and on to our first scheduled stop of the day at the Travellers Rest Inn near Grasmere. The hostelry was expecting us and made us all welcome, despite our very wet appearance, with a selection of tea coffee and hot chocolate drinks. The central heating radiators and open fire places quickly became makeshift drying facilities for various pieces of rain soaked riding gear.

The Drying Room!

Outside, the rain was still lashing down so it was here that the decision was reluctantly taken to cut short the rest of the day’s planned route and to head straight for the quickest way home. Coniston, Grange over Sands and Arnside would just have to wait for another day when they can be enjoyed under better conditions. A last fuel stop on the A591 just south of Kendal was the farewell point for the weekend with everyone opting for their best way home from here. The usual thanks need to go to Ross for planning and leading this brilliant ride around one of the most beautiful areas in the UK. A big thankyou also to Jan Arrowsmith, our Ladies of Harley Representative, who worked her usual magic on the hotel bookings and thanks to the road crew who helped to make this a safe trip for everyone. Planning is well in hand for next year’s Northumberland trip in May and it looks like we’ll be heading into Wales for the September weekend so, if you’re interested, keep an eye out for more information as it comes through.

MG 30/09/17