HON SEC’S JOTTINGS       MARCH 2005                                by John Bedford

 

New Members are very welcome. This year I am trying to monitor how new members learnt about the Section. Any information existing members can pass to Beryl or myself about new riders would be very useful. How about trying to persuade that friend of yours to come along? Personal recommendations are usually the best.

I hope that we will be able to supply all the Doctor’s surgeries in the North Birmingham Primary Care Trust area, and local libraries, with leaflets about the Section ready for the spring.

Congratulations to Roy Bishop who was the top rider from the Birmingham DA in the DATC (District Associations’ Tourist Competition). He achieved 85 points (the winner obtained 109 points) and was in 74th position overall.

The DATC is based on the results from over 400 events, many being Audaxes, organized throughout the year. Any CTC member can enter, and the programme appears in the CTC magazine, or visit www.ctc-competition.org.uk

August Bank Holiday. Manchester DA is holding a weekend event at Coalport Youth Hostel which is open to other CTC members. Full details on  www.cyclingmanchester.org.uk

Campaigning. Currently I am acting as Right to Ride rep. in contact with the Highways Agency and their agents. I have recently attended a meeting about the proposed bridge over the A38 at Weeford. Despite some earth works being done, this bridge has not been fully designed yet. It will be about 11 feet wide to accommodate horses as well as cyclists. Expected completion date is November.

I have also written about the closure of the central reservations on the A38 near Swinfen Hall, the crossing of the A5 at Streetway Road, and requested that something be done about the Bassetts Pole island.

The proposals for the upgrading of the West Coast Main Line have now been unveiled and are likely to affect our cycle routes between Armitage and Tamworth until 2008!! Do we have a volunteer out there who could keep an eye on this matter and keep members and the rides leaders informed. Don’t all rush, but please give it some serious thought. Out of nearly 100 members there must be somebody who is interested.

Not interested in railways? Then I could probably do with some help on the roads side. Currently Harry Child is our contact with Birmingham City, Sustrans and British Waterways. Simon Davies looks at off-road issues, and now that Alan is no longer with us, I seem to do the rest.

 

White Horse Weekend, Chippenham. There is still time to get a booking in for this pleasant weekend on 8th-10th April. Details available from Beryl or myself.

Dates for your Diary

Sunday 17th April                 NORTHERN SECTION AUDAX,

                                                   100km, 160km & 213km. Start Shenstone.

Details, Geoff Findon, 47 Castle Close, Cradley Heath. B64 6RN   Tel: 0121 601 8973

Sunday 24th April               DA INTER-SECTION RIDE, hosted by the 

                                            Southern  Section.

Sunday 8th May                        SOUTHERN WHEELERS AUDAX. 100km, 

                                           160km, 200km  Details, Alan Mason, 102 Kingfisher 

                                           Way,  Bournville, B30 1TG

Saturday 21st May                           HEART OF ENGLAND RALLY, MERIDEN           

Sunday 22nd May                

 

ODE TO A REAR MUD FLAP                                              Anon

 

Thoughts written on returning from a ride through wet and muddy lanes, with apologies to John Keats and Ode to Autumn.

 

            Thing of beauty and unsung usefulness,

                        Close friend of the maturing rider;

            Conspiring with him how to dodge and miss

                        The splats that from the wheel in front do err.

            Just fix with nuts to every rear guard,

                        To warm all club mates to the cockles of their hearts,

            And swell with pleasure the minds of those behind

                        With thankfulness; and ever so much more

            From those who have to wash and work so hard,

                        To have all muddy stains forever barred,

            ‘Cos rear mud flaps all must have fitted, of some kind!   

 

WEEK-DAY CAR ASSISTED RIDES                   by Tom Moore

April-June

Week-day car assisted rides return to the runs list in April. The rides scheduled so far are as follows:

 

Wed April 27th. A Ride starting near to Leamington, led by Chris Jones.

Thurs May 5th. A repeat of last year’s Ascension Day ride visiting the Manifold Valley and the Tissington Trail to see the Well Dressing at Tissington. I will be leading this, my favourite ride.

Thurs May 12th. A ride starting from Braunston Water Park near Burton and led by Brian Langdell.

Wed June 8th. Alan Dodwell will be repeating last year’s summer special from Market Bosworth, with the option of an early evening dinner at The Gatehouse Tearoom. A much acclaimed event last year.

Thurs June 23rd . A nice ride from Brewood, visiting attractive villages and Halfpenny Green Vineyard, led by myself.

 

More specific information for the rides will be available from the leader about 2 weeks before each ride. Alan Dodwell will be circulating information sometime earlier because of the need to pre-book the meal. If you haven’t got your own transport it is often possible to share with someone else.

 

**********

FOR SALE. 1970’s Touring Bikes. All 700c.

1)      1)      Holdsworth 22”. Drop bars. 5 speed.

2)      2)      Mercian 21”. Straight bars. 10 speed

3)      3)      Gameson 21”. Drop bars. 10 speed

All £100 each ONO.  Norah de Mouilpied.

Tel: 477 0858 (South side of Birmingham)

FOR SALE.  19 ½”  Holdsworth Mistral

17” & 19” Orbit Caraway touring bikes. MTB wheels. Hardly used.

Any reasonable offer considered. Kath Lee,  0121 378 0504

FOR SALE. A variety of 22” framed bikes available at Kenilworth.

Contact Liz Robinson, Kenilworth. Tel: 01926 858383

 

ANNUAL TRAVEL INSURANCE                      by John Bedford

FOR OVER-65s                                                                             

 

In the last NN I listed some possible insurance companies for the Over-65s. Having just had to renew our insurance I used this list, taken from a well-known Sunday paper, as a starting point. I found that:-

1)      1)      American Express – surprisingly won’t even cover for visits to America!! Currently a priority with us.

2)      2)      Eagle Star – no longer do travel insurance.

3)      3)      Citibond turned out to be the insurance company that the CTC use for their policy. This turned out to be a possibility, except when I declared that Beryl had high blood pressure and had been diagnosed as asthmatic (despite keeping both under control with drugs) they slapped on an extra £50. She was asked if she could walk 200 yards without getting out of breath! They weren’t interested that she could cycle 6500   miles in a year.

Incidently, don’t waste time looking at the CTC Insurance website. It went out of date last November and hasn’t yet been updated!

4)      4)      Flexicover – despite having been with this company for 

      many years they now limit cycling (and other activities such  

      as rambling) to 20% of the time. Wouldn’t get many miles 

      in on that basis!

5)      5)      Sainsbury’s Bank website wasn’t up and running.

 

In desperation I rang a cycling friend of mine on the south side of Birmingham. He suggested I contact Lansdowne Woodward Ltd. (Tel: 01202 291 1161 or see www.lansdowne-woodward.co.uk ) at Bournemouth. One of the Directors is a cyclist. We discussed the type of touring, health aspects etc. Next day they forwarded two quotes for different levels of cover. The best cover cost slightly less than the CTC and there was no loading for Beryl’s health problems, so we signed up. I have been through the policy and cannot see any problems with it, but then I’m not a lawyer!

 

NOSTALGIA                                                        by Brian Langdell

Northern News Aug-Sept 1950

 

Rambling and cycling were so popular that you could have a long wait at lunch time (buying meals was still the norm). The Northern arrived at the café at Belbroughton and found ‘The café proprietress was in a state of confusion, having a party of 18 ramblers booked for lunch in addition to our little party of 10, then the arrival on spec of another 20 or so ramblers and yet another cycling club floored her!’

 

From Belbroughton they visited Harvington Hall for a conducted tour. The Hall is famous for the ingenious hiding places for priests during the Henry V111 period. They were told that by spreading a particular type of rush on the floor the searching bloodhounds were confused by the scent released when the rushes were walked on.

 

In addition to cafes there appeared to be an abundance of Milk Bars, those mentioned include Castle Bromwich, Lichfield, Uttoxeter, Tamworth and Coleshill.

 

Members were asked to carry club membership application forms in their wallets and handbags! This seemed to be effective since there were so many new members joining the Northern that the Editor felt the need to write in detail the procedures to be adopted at the forthcoming AGM.

 

An article titled ‘A Corny Guide to New Members Visiting the Clubroom’ advised them to beware of Margaret Cannon. ‘You see, being a female of the species she is always after your money and the book she is carrying is the club register, and with an angelic smile says ”Threepence, please” and that is what you pay each time you come to the clubroom!’ (Ably continued by Beryl now!)

Adverts in these NN were:-

Cyclo Gear     (Aston)                    Knights                  (Kingstanding)

Wilsons            (Aston)             Garfield            (Erdington)

Powell              (Aston)

Knights announced they would be opening a new shop in Perry Barr. Wilsons were advertising Frejus frames, as ridden by Ferdi Kubler to win the 1950 Tour de France. Howard Powell was emphasizing his after-sales service.

 

An Alternative Section run was listed as the ’Temple of Venus’ in the Donnington area. They also found a ‘Cleopatre’s Needle’ and an ‘Arch de Triomphe’, all follies on an estate taken over by the army. To reach these architectural features they had to ‘risk being charged with espionage or something equally sinister, but ended up with the option of 5 minutes to make themselves scarce!

 

**************

A LIKELY TALE

One day a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie. “Tie me up,” she purred, “and you can do anything you want.” So he tied her up and went for a ride on his Mercian.

 

SHENSTONE AUDAX 17th APRIL

Please get your entries in as soon as possible.

Geoff would like a few more volunteers to assist on the day.

Contact 0121 601 8973

           

 

THE SUNDAY MEET                                            by John Griffin

I wrote the following while thinking of the wonderful times cycling gave me in my ‘teens’. Yet on reflection the sentiments apply just as well today as they did then. Key references:     

 The Cross -Aston Cross, Birmingham. The Bridge - Salford Bridge.      The Slade  -  Slade Road.  The Club - M.C.C.A  (1951)

 

Off I ride through old Aston’s streets,

Over the cobbles to the Sunday meet,

Sandwiches, cape all stored so neat,

In Carradice on a bike so fleet,

Past the Cross and over the Bridge,

Then up the Slade to Stockland Green,

Where meets the Club, expectant there.

 

The captain will set the pace this day,

Climbing up and coasting down,

Roads that stretch and turn and bend,

Wending through the country fair,

Passing coppice, field and heathland,

Then sometimes churches steeples tall,

Until our destination found.

 

Lunch is set and drinks are served,

Exciting stories of “have you heard?”

Happy faces friends are we,

Enjoying a day in fine company.

Alas it’s time to up and go,

Our movements now, a little slow,

Reluctant to be homeward bound.

 

A voice inside says “one last look”,

Then wheels they turn, we’re on our way,

While deep in hearts and minds remain,

Memories sweet of this Sunday.

Climbing up and coasting down,

Roads that stretch and turn and bend,

It’s Stockland Green our journey’s end!

 

 

COPING WITH DOGS.                                       by John Bedford

 

The following was written for The Connecting Link in response to an article about problems with dogs. I thought it worthwhile to reproduce to indicate our position.

 

This is a subject that has been aired in the Northern News a number of times over the years.

 

Beryl has actually been bitten three times whilst cycling in various parts of the country and on a club ride. I now take a hard line and report all such incidents to the local Police with as much detail as possible. It may be necessary to do a bit of detective work and see which house the dog returns to, then confront the owner, asking for their name and address and informing them the incident will be reported.

 

Some years ago our Section was chased by a dog at Little Packington. Once again I confronted the owner, pointing out the potential danger of even being chased by a dog. I said I that if I heard of any further incidents then I would report them to the Police.

 

Many years ago I was bitten whilst walking on a country footpath, pushing my bike. The dog was being taken for a walk, but the owner refused to give me his details, so I promptly got out my camera and took his photograph. I called into the local cop shop and reported the incident. The dog’s owner must have had a twinge of conscience (or panic?) and phoned-in whilst I was with the Police. Turned out it was the local Doctor and he was summoned to come and apologise and treat my wound!

 

Any local incidents I hear about are posted in the NN and members are encouraged to report any further incidents to the Police and to me.

 

 

GETTING STARTED                                  by John Montgomery

 

John Bedford’s early cycling days kicked my brain in. My start to cycling was being pushed on a ladies loop frame bike in fits and starts from the Odeon, Kingstanding, to Banners Gate of Sutton Park. The dusty lane alongside the park was where I was released to experience the sensation of going on my own for the first time. I have never forgotten that first sensation! That dusty track/road is now Monmouth Drive! I was 10 years old.

 

At 11 I was also given a bicycle for being clever at school, and from the school a book prize ‘Teach Yourself Cycling’. A school friend who also had a bicycle arranged to call for me one Sunday morning to ride to Coventry and back. Because it was Sunday I had put on my best clothes! We duly did the ride, followed later with one to Stratford and one to Evesham.

 

When I was 15 my mother bought me a Hercules Sports Bicycle with a 3 speed hub gear, for which I paid half. I achieved the 100 mile a couple of times on my racing bike, and then with another friend joined the Clarion Cycling Club. Every week we tackled the club runs which were 80 to 120 miles on Sundays. We duly took a few packets, arriving home on rubber legs, but we loved it and painfully progressed. The chat on the runs was of the Weston Super Mare Reliability Trial which everyone seemed to be doing, and so we entered as well. The standards were 200 miles in 15 hours for a medal or 18 hours for a certificate. We entered the latter. We had no idea of preparation and so decided to rest on the Sunday prior to the Weston weekend, i.e. no tiring club run.

 

We left in club groups every 5 minutes from Rubery. At Gloucester we were so cold that we were off and walking up at least one hill. We duly got dropped and arrived at Weston, grabbed a cup of tea and turned round as our club was ready to return. We had copied the other riders and pre-booked a breakfast. About 5 miles before the Patchway stop I started to zig-zag and feel faint. After the meal I changed into shorts, and we rode at our own pace. We finally finished in 17 ¼ hours. The month was February and we were both just 16 years old.

 

 

 

CAPE WRATH WITH EDDIE ASBURY       by Maurice Purser

 

If you have a large scale map of the extreme north-west Scotland  - the bit that includes Cape Wrath, then open it up – what we have to talk about will be so much more meaningful; otherwise we’ll leave it to that inner eye to bring it all to life.

 

The writer was not with Eddie, one of our local tourists, when he completed a solitary tour last season – he was, as he puts it, ‘on me tod’. But he’s naturally a quiet chap, and it took more than one session to persuade him to pour it all out. But here goes…..

 

Durness was his starting point – he’d parked the family banger, lifted the bike down to ground level, and was off. He had in mind to tackle some very demanding ‘Rough Stuff’ to the west – so notorious that when he told the ferry man crossing on Kyle of Durness of his intentions, the man asked him to make sure his whereabouts were known – ‘Just’ as he put it ‘in case’.

 

The winding road, or rather path, from here to the Cape is in itself sufficiently hard going – many a chevron, many a watercourse to cross, twists and turns as it tries to stick to one contour line. But this was ‘nowt at all’ to Eddie. Night had almost fallen when he stretched himself down in the wee bothy right under Cape Wrath lighthouse – wooden ledges for bunks and no more. It was a perfectly clear night and so the fog horn was silent.

 

Oddly enough, the weather, in spite of the bad reputation of the area, was as balmy as if it was the Riviera. Next morning without the slightest hesitation he plunged right away into that Rough Stuff which was his goal, heading directly south, and as you will see from that map there is not any road in that direction – no path, not even a track across the wild terrain – he had no more than his inbred sense of direction and Ordnance Survey to help. He skirted around isolated lochs, plunged down into steep-sided valleys, and staggered up in some places to over 500 feet, the bike man-handled almost as much as it was ridden – and he was carrying full camping gear too.

 

We won’t bother you with too many place names, just say that after nearly 20 miles of some of the hardest country the Highlands have to offer, the lad and his bike regained a rideable track not far from Blairmore, and without turning a hair quietly rode away – off to the north east, and so back to Durness.

 

Eddie’s bike was not some heavy, unwieldy, cumbersome Mountain Bike, which so many riders seem to prefer, but just a simple lightweight, handmade by a local bespoke cycle wallah.

 

 

MOTOR NEURONE DISEASE                               by Sylvia Sharples

 

During the past few weeks of wintry weather I found myself looking at last summer’s photos to remind myself that better weather lies ahead.

 

It was when I came across a photo taken at Kingsbury Water Park on 10th July during the ride to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease that I realized I ought to let those involved know the results of our efforts.

 

That day was especially memorable for me because my Uncle Ted (now aged 90) rode the 23 mile route on my shopper bike. It was one of three cycle rides that we had together during his stay in the UK. Being a CTC Life Member he was very much at home in the saddle and thoroughly enjoyed the company of fellow cyclists. Cycling in New Zealand where he now lives is most enjoyable but there is not the network of country lanes that we have in the UK.

 

After the cycle ride it was back to Chez Sharples for teas and cakes in the garden where a donation bucket was passed around. As well as the bike ride, in the Spring I sold my excess plants and in the Autumn sold homemade jam to swell the funds. Dave donated the proceeds from the sale of a recumbent bike and Brian Hailing gave some late donations from his fund raising for the same association. In all, a total of £535 was raised, so a big thank-you to all who gave so generously.

 

 

 

PASSIONATE ABOUT CYCLING                  by John Bedford

 

In the last NN I wrote about starting cycling, and by the age of 14 going off on my first hostelling trips.

 

Still only 14, I was now anxious to go further afield, and decided to visit my grandma in Southampton. My diary contains planning notes about what to see in various towns, and even town maps copied by hand from library books. All hostels were prebooked.

 

And so on August 15th I set off through Leicester and Northampton to Astwell Castle YH again, a route I described as fairly hilly. In Northampton I called into the Parish Church to see Henry Moore’s ‘Madonna and Child’. Later at Towcester I visited their Parish Church. I can’t imagine many of today’s 14 year olds voluntarily visiting churches and castles! Astwell Castle was a small three storey hostel with the kitchen & common room on the ground floor, the girl’s dorm on the first floor and the men’s on the second. There was rumoured to be a ghost so we made rumblings in the men’s dorm to frighten the girls below! Incidently, in those days the mattresses in many hostels were straw filled. My duty next morning was to clean the toilets!

 

 I called into Blenheim Palace and had a look round. I described it as ‘a lovely place’. Then on to Oxford, and as the mileage was low at 45 I had plenty of time to look round the Colleges.

 

Despite the rain next morning I spent more time looking round before setting off to Abingdon, Newbury and over Salisbury Plain to Winchester YH. Water for washing was hauled from the millstream using a bucket and rope. In the evening we had community singing at the hostel!

 

It was only a short ride to my grandma’s in Southampton. I stayed three nights with her; the highlight was being taken to see the ‘Queen Elizabeth’ at Southampton Docks.

 

Leaving Southampton I used the Woolston Ferry on the way to Beaulieu Abbey, then along the coast to Bournemouth, where I spent a couple of hours looking round. Then onto Cranborne YH.

 

More exploring was done as I visited Old Sarum, Stonehenge, Amesbury, Woodhenge, Pewsey and the White Horse. Then through Savenake Forest to Marlborough YH. I spent the following night at Stow YH and then went on and joined my family for a walking holiday at the Holiday Fellowship house at Bourton-on-the-Water.

 

For the final leg of my tour I spent two nights at Stratford YH which gave me the opportunity to visit all the normal tourist attractions. I’ve still got the entrance tickets for Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Hall’s Croft (sixpence each). I had even noted in my diary that on Monday 3rd September it was 12 years since the start of the war in 1940.

 

Various expenditures were noted in the log, such as a cup of tea 2 old pence, stamp 4d, chips 3d. Astwell Castle bed cost 9d, and I paid 4 shillings and six pence at most other hostels for bed, supper, breakfast and lunch pack.

 

The records that I kept in my log were often quite detailed. For instance in 1952 I bought a fixed wheel. The rim was 8/-, hub 7/7, spokes 4/0, making up 5/6, fixed cog 2/6, tube and tape 6/6, Dunlop racing tyre 17/11, a grand total of £2/12/0 in old money.

 

In July I did my one and only Junior Time Trial of 15 miles, with a speed of 22.5 mph. I’ve no recollection why I didn’t continue with time trialling, but I do recollect sometime having quite a nasty accident on fixed when my pedal touched the road as I took a sharp bend near my home. Not wearing track mitts a large slice of skin was taken off the palm of my hand.

 

Besides having the old ’click’ mileometer for overall mileage, I listed all the longer rides that I did. So between 1950 and the end of 1952 I did a total of 7090 miles, with the longer rides being 4370. More hostels were visited, cycling right over to Lowestoft on one tour. The first day of this particular tour I did 130 miles from Loughborough to Norwich YH. I then went on to have a couple of nights at Sheringham YH where I remember being taken out by an older member and becoming an under-age drinker of cider. From Sheringham I did an 80 mile loop, ending up at Dunwich. Unfortunately the hostel had closed so I slept rough in a derelict army building; concrete floor, no windows, no food!

 

In April 1952 I joined the Loughborough Wayfarers, a cycling club that went off hostelling every weekend. My first ride with them was to Hartington YH, a distance of 57 miles. I can remember that just past Ashbourne I was really knackered and struggled to reach the hostel. Nevertheless, a fortnight later I was out with them again, going south to King’s Cliffe YH, near Stamford. Then for a while I was out with them every weekend – but then exams loomed and the weekends came to an abrupt halt. At some stage the club folded due to the two chaps running the club being convicted of fiddling the books! I was left do my own thing again.

 

1953 started well as I cycled to Whissendine YH on 3rd January, and again in February. By April I had arranged for a friend to join me hostelling. We ended up at Cleeve Hill, Welsh Bicknor and Bristol hostels. I don’t think we booked because on our return to Cleeve Hill the hostel was full. We were just settling down for the night in the local bus shelter when the local postmaster offered us a bed. He had once been hostel warden and charged us the same as the hostel, and even allowed us to use his kitchen to cook our own food.

 

The summer tour took me to the edge of Essex and into London, staying at Highgate YH. This gave me the opportunity to visit St Paul’s and the other main tourist attractions. Then it was down to Goudhurst and Canterbury YHs. My duty at Canterbury was to do some gardening, but as I was a hay fever sufferer I had a really bad time. Then the noise of the sea gulls at Dover YH kept me awake! Then it was back along the coast and the South and North Downs.

Once again I met up with my family for a walking holiday at Gomshall on the North Downs before returning via Windsor to see the Castle. And so the local riding and touring continued to give just over 3000 miles for the year.

(to be continued)