New Venue for Club Meetings

In an effort to attract a greater number of members to Thursday night club meetings, a new venue has been arranged. We will now be meeting at The Town Inn, South Molton.This is located half way along the main street. We will of course still hold the meetings on the third Thursday of the month.

The new venue offers a comfortable meeting room and more secure parking for your bikes.

The first meeting is on January 21st for a natter night.

PS Sorry Santa's not on a vintage bike!

I wish all of you a Very Merry Christmas and a good year's riding in 2010.

I hope to see you at the New Years Day run which starts at The Angel, Witheridge at 11am. Please come along for a coffee even if you don't wish to ride.

Devon Section Annual Dinner

The Dinner was held again this year at The Fingle Glen Golf Club. Forty-five people attended, and most enjoyed the excellent meal. It was just a little unfortunate that the last table had to have beef as the kitchens had run out of turkey.

We are most grateful to Ray's grandaughter Donna for presenting the awards which were awarded as follows:

"Chairmans Shield" for services to the section: Maurice Ley, for his work on the committee and as past Chairman.

"Ron Ley Cup" for best effort on the Scrumpy Run.: John Brunyee. Still riding at 92 years old.

"Thelbridge Trophy" for best girder fork bike on the Autumn Run: Mick Glossop, with his lovely 1926 Royal Enfield.

"Reed Motor's Tankard" for best tele-fork bike on the Autumn Run: Steve Griffin, with his excellent BSA B31, (which always wins everything).

"Woodman Shield " for knowledge of the Highway Code: Tony Petherick

"Francis Cann Cup" for best effort attending runs: Merve Pearce, for the long distances he has to travel to the start of each run.

"Les Soper Tankard" for most points on a non-British bike: Iain Bryant.

"Jean's Trophy" for most points on a pre-war bike: Ray Rowcliffe

"VMCC Post War Cup" for most points on a post-war bike: Merve Pearce.

Guy Fawkes Run Report

After a night of heavy rain and gale force winds the omens for our run did not look promising. But the rain belt passed on and the wind eased to leave a blustery but dry, overcast morning.

Eleven hardy members signed on at The Corn Dolly coffee shop in South Molton. The route this year was to visit the three villages of George Nympton, Kings Nympton and Bishops Nympton, finishing at lunchtime at the Red Lion in Chulmleigh. Nympton is an Anglo-Saxon name that comes from NYM, which is thought to be the old name for the River Mole, and TON which is a small settlement. George, King and Bishop where the respective Lords of the Manor.

The route was very much off the beaten track and took the riders up and over some quite high hills, which afforded some fine views over the surrounding countryside.

I am pleased to report that there were no mishaps despite there being lots of leaves and plenty of mud on the roads.

I am sorry there is only one photo but Merve and I forgot to bring our cameras. Gordon took the only photo of someones grotty Tryumf !

The next run will be the New Year's day run which this year falls on the 1st of January. It starts at The Angel in Witheridge, 10.30 for 11.00am. If it's too cold for you, then come for a coffee and chat and see the bikes off.

I hope to see you all at the annual club dinner (see a couple of posts below for details).

Guy Fawkes Run

Our next run is the Guy Fawkes Run which starts at The Corn Dolly in South Molton on November 1st, arriving at 10.30 for an 11.00am start.

Please note that the run is on the first Sunday in the month and not the second as is our usual date.

We hope for a good turn out and better weather than we had last year. This is the last run of the year so make the most of it!

Autumn Run

I was unable to take part in the Autumn run this year and neither was Gordon. I can only report what I have been told of the run. It seems that everyone had a good day despite the fact that one rider deserted his post before the tail end marshals arrived. The run finished at Exmouth where large portions of icecream were consumed.

Our thanks goes to Brian for organizing and leading the run and to Den and Shirley for providing the pre-run breakfast.

Congratulations to Tony Petherick for winning the Highway Code quiz.

Steve Griffen won the Best Tele-fork bike with his 1949 BSA B31, and Mick Glossop took the award for Best Girder Fork bike with his lovely 1938 Royal Enfield Model K.

The Annual Dinner.

The Annual Dinner will be held again this year at the Fingle Glen Golf Club on November 28th. It's 7.00 for a 7.30 start to the meal. The cost this year is £16. Fingle Glen have kindly given us a discount of £1 each and the Club are also subsidising the meal by £1 per person.

There will be the usual presentation of the trophies afterwards.

Book now by contacting Ray Rowcliffe on 01884 253116.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Autumn Run

This Sunday, October 11th, we have the Autumn Run. Breakfast will kindly be provided at the start by Den and Sandra at their house in Jockey Hill, Crediton. We need to arrive by 10.30am for the 11.00am start.

This is always an interesting run, organised each year by Brian. During the lunch stop we will be holding the Highway Quiz competition for the Woodman Family Shield. As Gordon is unable to attend this year, the Shield will definately be going to somebody new, after 40 years!

Lets hope for some sunny Autumn weather and a good turnout.

Bovington Run

On a fine but chilly late September morning eleven members of the Devon section set off for Bovington where the world famous Tank Museum is located. Travelling by way of Honiton a stop was made at Bridport for coffee where some members from the Dorset section joined the run.

Led by the Dorset boys we continued on a very pleasant route using roads that were new to most of us.

After lunch in the museum cafe the party split up with some staying to see the tanks whilst the rest went on to visit the grave of Lawrence of Arabia at Moreton cemetery in Dorset, and then to the location of his fatal accident. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._Lawrence .

I myself stayed and spent an interesting two hours viewing the many exhibits on display in the museum.

The day was enjoyed by all who went, with no breakdowns, although Roger from Cornwall had some trouble when his magneto came loose.

Extra Run for Calendar

The committee has added an extra run to the calendar for this year.

The Bovington Tank Museum will be the destination on Sunday September 27th. The start will be at The Little Chef, Sampford Peverell, at Junction 27 of the M5 motorway, 9 for 9.30am start. This promises to be an interesting and enjoyable day out. Check out the website - http://www.tankmuseum.org/ .

The 3 Tors Run.

On what turned out to be a hot, sunny day twelve riders signed in for the 9 am start at Okehampton Station. As the Buffet did not open until 9 am the start was delayed for 30 mins so we could have our usual pre-start coffee. This also allowed the three riders from Cornwall to meet up with us. They had been delayed by a broken clutch cable on Roger's BSA at Lifton. After a brief chat the Devon lads set off for Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor, whilst the three from Cornwall made their way to High Willhays on Dartmoor.

A brief stop was made at Brown Willy car park for refreshments and photos before resuming the ride.

From Bodmin Moor to Dunkery Beacon on Exmoor is about 70 miles, so most riders stopped for lunch somewhere on this stretch. John Boyde and I stopped at Landacre Bridge near Exeford for a picnic and by chance met my daughter and her family there.

On this occasion the only Tors that was climbed was Dunkery as climbing all three is a task for much younger folk than us!

Everyone on the run who expressed an opinion said they had had a good day and that they were pleased to see the run reintroduced to the Club calendar.

As this is a very long run only a suggested route was issued, with riders free to make their own choices. This worked very well and the field broke onto three separate groups, each going their own way for parts of the ride and meeting up at each of the Tors.




I received word later from the Cornish contingent that they arrived home at 7.45pm after a ride of 215 miles.

Our thanks goes to Gordon for suggesting such an excellent route.

Girder fork run 30th August 2009

Pictures show Bill in the lead, Tony flashing off his Vin, the Harley and me coming to grips with a single!, as well as a line up at the start.

A very good show of 14 riders lined up in light drizzle at the start of the 2009 girder fork run at Witheridge on Sunday 30th August, unfortunately, Den's little James was on show only having decided to throw a bit of clutch trouble just before the start. 13 bikes then left to follow Bill with Ray and Brian bringing up the rear. The mornings route took us to Nomansland before heading off the main road towards Witheridge moor. A good variation of roads took us to South Molton and then on to Filleigh and finally to Chittlehampton for our lunch stop. We were made very welcome at the pub and the usual excellent meal was served though the helpings of chips proved more that some could manage, so others had to help out!. A few bikes had developed problems in the morning and at the lunch stop, Rays Ariel that I was riding was having a fling out the oil day and his NG Ariel lost its front brake screw and developed a slow puncture in the rear tyre. John Crispins Rudge lost oil somewhere on route and Tony had clutch troubles. There were one or two other reasons such that only 5 bikes restarted from Chittlehampton, I don't think I can remember such a large bail out half way round before. The afternoon run was uneventful and the 5 riders finished successfully at Winkleigh. It was interesting to note the initial line up for the day had such a range of engines from Dens little James right up to Rods 1000cc Vin, nice to know we can still field 14 girders in the section, it was also nice to see a Harley of 750cc on the run, the rider tells me that it was originally a military bike, following him was like watching an organist in full flow as it had a foot clutch and hand gear change!. Thanks must go to Bill and Brian for the route which had a bit of everything, it was just unfortunate that so many bikes had problems this year , though nothing major, even Bills trusty Norton played up at Winkleigh and required a plug from Brian to get started again. My thanks to Ray for letting me ride his Ariel even though I spent all day looking for that extra cylinder and waiting for an 'expert' to start it!.

August Evening Meet

With fine evenings being a rarity in Devon this summer we felt we were in luck on Monday as the sun had shone for most of the day. Our luck held until we reached the meeting venue at 'The Mitre', in Witheridge. The Mitre turned out to be a very pleasant country pub where we were made most welcome by the landlord. Most of us had timed the ride right and were in the bar by the time a very heavy shower came along. Nineteen riders turned out and had a most enjoyable evening. A dry ride home made for a very pleasant evening's motorcycling.

More Ron Ley Run Photos

These photos of the Ron Ley Run were taken by our Cornwall correspondent Merv. Thanks Merv.

Forthcoming Events

The Club night on August 20th is "Ride your bike night". After the very poor response on the last one lets hope we can do better this month.

On Monday August 24th at 7.30 we have an evening meet at Witheridge. The Angel will be closed so we will meet in the other pub on the square which I believe is called The Mitre. There is only one other pub so you can't go wrong.

The next Club run after the Girder Fork Run is on Sept. 13th. This is the Three Tors Run, resurrected after many years off the calendar. We will be starting at Okehampton Railway Station at the earlier time of 9.00am. This is a very long run, visiting the three highest Tors on Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor. There will be no drop-off system. Instead riders will be issued a route-map and invited to make their own way in groups or individually, as they prefer. There will be no designated lunch stop so bring a packed lunch or use one of the many pubs along the route.

Girder Fork Run

Sorry folks I got it wrong. The date of the run is August 30th not the 23th as I posted on the Blog earlier.

Ron Ley Run

Riders from the four counties arrived at Atlantic Village for the start of this run, twenty-five members all told, with one or two regulars unable to attend.

Early cloud soon cleared as we made our way along the A39 for the turn off to Shop and the coast road down to Bude. This was where Graham's Norton developed a fault, so he headed back home. On the way he lost power completely and had to stop. As luck would have it a farmer saw his plight and took him back to home in his trailer.

Sticking to the coast roads we passed along Widemouth Bay then took the Crackington Haven road for a brief stop on the cliff-top overlooking the bay. The road then becomes quite interesting as it leads down into the hamlet of Millook via a 1 in 3, and out the other side and then up a 1 in 4. We then moved on to Crackington Haven where lots of visitors were enjoying some rare sunshine. Another 1 in 4 took us from here up onto the coastal road and eventually down to Boscastle for the lunch stop at the Napoleon Inn. The Inn serves very good meals at reasonable prices.

After lunch we headed back inland for a very relaxed ride by way of Slauterbridge and Egloskerry to the end of the run at Launceston Steam Railway. www.launcestonsr.co.uk . This place is well worth a visit. As well as the cafe and shop in the old station there is a one and a half mile train ride which is soon to be extened for a further two miles. There is also a free museum containing stationary engines, railway memorabilia and some vintage motocycles.

I hope everyone had a good day, I know I certainly enjoyed my ride.