Out and About 2015

Here are photos from different events and visits during 2015
sent in by our members.

The GWOC GB AGM took place at the Derbyshire Hotel. Unfortunately, the Weather Man's predictions of rain and winds seems to have kept many of our Goldwings at home and instead the car park was rather full of cars. Never disheartened, Stephen and Lynne took the chance and enjoyed a nice ride out to Derbyshire on the Saturday, and then attended the AGM on Sunday morning. The meeting included the usual interesting and spirited discussions on the way forward for the Club and finally resolved into a set of decisions that should help us in the coming years. Stephen and Lynne decided to set off back home at 16.00 and enjoyed a swift ride back in excellent weather conditions - so all of you that decided to stay home missed out on a grand day out.

Ron and Dee took advantage of the fine weather to visit the local biker stops at Willingham Woods, Wickenby Airfield and the Motortown Coffee Stop. They reported that the Mototown Cafe has now been re-opened under new management (Jennys Drink Stop). It's now open every day from 8am till 5pm and offers a full English breakfast for just £4.00 (a small one costs £3.00). Looks like a nice place for a rideout.

To celebrate their wedding anniversary this year,Stephen and Lynne decided on a trip to Liverpool to visit the home of the Beatles and the Mersey Beat. Setting out on 21st, they took the A17 to Newark and then on to Chesterfield. From there they crossed the Peak district to enjoy a great winding road and beautiful views, stopping for a picnic half way across. Then on to Stockport, through Manchester, Wigan and finally arriving at their hotel in Southport (149 miles). Southport is straight out of the Victorian era with superb architecture and the hotel was great. The next day, they caught the train to Liverpool to visit the 'Beatles Story' museum which gave the background on how the 'Fab Four' had grown up in Liverpool and how they had become one of the most iconic bands of our time. Liverpool is well worth a visit as it is clean and prosperous and a great place to walk around. They ended up in the Cavern Club (not the original Carven as that is now demolished) where they spent a few hours listening to live music and soaking in the Mersey Beat feeling. The next day they decided to jump on the M6 South to visit Jodrell Bank Observatory. Again, a great place to visit with some really interesting exhibits and a nice cafe. Then on to Macclesfield and across the first stretch of the Peak District to Buxton, calling in at the the Cat and Fiddle Inn just to get the photo. Then pressing on back to Chesterfield, Newark and home (158 miles).

adopted Club House. There was a good turnout for the region but best of all, practically all of us arrived on

our

Goldwings. Dick and Pat were in their car as Dick was just recovering from a stay in hospital (get well soon Dick). But also Sandy and Jayne were without their beloved trike after it had been wrecked on their trip to the Isle of Wight at Easter. Fortunately our dynamic duo appeared to have escaped any serious injuries themselves but their poor trike is now ready to join the big Goldwing light parade in the sky. The meeting proceeded as usual and Sandy also reviewed final arrangements for our Wing Ding, now less than two weeks away.

At the end of the meeting, a brief discussion agreed on a rideout to Southwell, near Newark for Sunday Dinner at the Hearty Goodfellow Inn. Six bikes set off back toward Lincoln and Larry peeled off to go home whilst 10 of us carried on down to Newark and Southwell for Dinner. Interestingly enough, Southwell is the origin of all Bramley Apples and there is a plaque there to prove it!

Well after a cracking Sunday Dinner (with pudding) we then dispersed our separate ways to enjoy the rest of a sunny Sunday.

Stephen recently bought a new trailer from Free Wheel in Norfolk. The trailer and its fittings are super but the colour scheme of 'all black' was a concern especially when towing at night. The biggest worry is that some car driver listening to his stereo whilst texting on his mobile phone (sorry for the caricature) may not see the trailer from the side and could easily pull out, taking out the trailer and the bike in one fell swoop. To fix this problem, Stephen fitted a 5 metre waterproof LED strip (with adhesive back) around the trailer from rear light to rear light. The LED controller fits neatly inside the trailer (using the spare fog lamp circuit for power) and the control sensor is routed through the back of the left-hand light fitting so that the LED sequencing can be controlled without needing to open the trailer lid (especially when it is full of camping equipment). The LEDs can be set for static colours (Red, Green or Blue), or for light parades you can have strobes and sequences to make life a little more interesting. Hopefully, no-one will miss this when driving at night.

At last we have some fine weather and so it was time to get the Goldwing out and give it some air. So here's a few pictures of Stephen's trip to Grantham to call in at his favourite Music Shop. Yes, he actually found a parking space in the middle of town. Then on to visit with his parents before a nice ride home. Yes its great to get out and enjoy the road. But the next day, Stephen and Lynne went to help out with a BBC film crew at the Blue Bell Inn where the 'Hairy Bikers' Dave and Si were visiting to made a new series. They had a great time with the Hairy guys who were real genuine warm and friendly characters - well they are bikers so it was only to be expected.

It is one of those unfortunate quirks of nature that decided to make Friday and Sunday such gorgeous fine days whilst the Saturday (the day of Hunstanton Light Parade) turned out to be a cold and very windy one. This meant that day visitors to Hunstanton on 21 March 2015 were severely discouraged from making the trip. Indeed, the winds across the A17 in Lincolnshire were bordering on being quite dangerous for bikers when mixed with heavy lorries and other holiday traffic. However, Lincs Wings was represented at the Light Parade weekend by Sandy & Jayne, Doug & Sue, Mark & Debbie and Martin & Christine. Despite the cold and wintry day on Saturday, they did get to enjoy a great ride-out calling at Sandringham and King's Lynn. Of course, they also enjoyed their weekend's accommodation and the hospitality of Norfolk Wings.

Well March has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment regarding the weather and the opportunities to get out for a ride. Between the winds, the bitter cold and the rain, the month has left little room for adventure. But on 21 March, we decided (Stephen and Lynne) to go out and join the rest of our club to participate in the Hunstanton Light Parade. The meeting place was at Sleaford but the weather, after a beautiful Friday (to enjoy the Solar Eclipse), turned out to be even more bitter and windy than before. When no-one else appeared, we decided instead to take just a local trip and made a quick sortie to the Blue Bell Inn at Tattershall Thorpe. Warmed by a coffee and nice hot fire and some friendly chat, we then made our way home. At least it got Churchill (our trusty GL1800) out of the garage and we did our own little Light Parade through Billinghay Village on our way back home.

Martin and Christine led the emergence from biker hibernation when they took a run out to Applebys Ice creams at Conisholme LN11 7LT. A beautiful Tuesday afternoon this week allowed them to enjoy a ride and an ice cream. Unfortunately it was closed so they didn't get the ice cream! Never-mind, Martin assures that they are open at weekends and from 1st April they are open every day for the season. Bikers are always welcome and the owner Bob used to have a Goldwing trike. So go along and say hello.

Picture by Christine

The Lincs Wings Region AGM was held on 1st March at the Langworth Memorial Hall, Langworth, LN3 5BB. The agenda covered all the normal subjects including, Representative's Report, Treasurer's Report, Election of officials and AOB. The members decided to adopt Langworth Memorial Hall as a regular venue for all future monthly meetings. Sandy was elected to continue as the Regional Representative for another year, and Sue will continue as Treasurer. Mark had stepped down as the Ride-Out Coordinator and it was decided to deal with ride-out planning at each of the monthly meetings. Ron and Denise had stepped down as

WingSpan Rep and the post

was taken up by Stephen in addition to his responsibilities as the Lincswings Webmaster. In recognition of their services to the Region, Sandy presented Mark and Ron & Denise with certificates of appreciation. Voting was then held to decide on the presentation of awards for Winger of the Year and 'Woops' of the Year. The Woops award went to Martin for his spirited but slightly misdirected ride-out lead to Cleethorpes last year. The Winger of the Year Award went to Stephen for his work on the Region's Web site. The year ahead for the Region is now set to be quite busy with the first Wing Ding of the year and another Skegness Light Parade to plan and execute.

Although the cold weather keeps our bikes tucked up snug and warm at home, Mark and Debbie went out for a trip to Leeds Royal Armouries Museum with Sue, Doug, David and Christine (Border Wings) on Saturday/Sunday 21/22 Feb. Here are a few photo's of the trip just to show what a time was had by all. Can't wait to get back out on the bikes though!.

A short update from Captain Martin, commander of the Bike-ship Enterprise on its continuing mission to travel the World and sample local delights. The Enterprise NCC1701-F, at the moment, has been moth-balled in Space-dock waiting for a new conflict between Earth and the Klingon Empire. The Enterprise will soon be sorted ready for any conflict, which normally coincides with the arrival of warm weather.