THE VINTAGE MOTORCYCLE CLUB

  SOUTH LINCS. & PETERBOROUGH SECTION

 


    NEWSLETTER – 17th April 2024

    V.M.C.C. SOUTH LINCS & PETERBOROUGH SECTION

    Tonight, we are holding our spring Bring and Buy event with auctioneer, Malcolm Lambe.  Please make sure you pay for any items ‘won’ and take away unsold items.  If you have a reserve price, please make Malc aware of it.

    You may not know that QR codes are 30 years old and, being VMCC eligible, I am including two in this newsletter.  The first with the recent events section takes you to our web site event reports page.  The second is with the upcoming events section and takes you to the, you guessed it, events page of our web site.

    Recent Events                         See our web site reports by using this QR code.

    ·         Wednesday 20th March: Guest Speaker Terry Jones

    Terry gave a talk about the Great Escape and its history that was both informative and entertaining.  This was illustrated with contemporary pictures, diagrams and area maps.  Although some elements of the subsequent film were pure Hollywood, much of it was correct.  Most of all it captured the camaraderie and teamwork between men with wide ranging skills in mining and carpentry as well as scrounging, blackmail and forgery.  These efforts were supported by useful pieces of kit such as maps and compasses from MI9, a department set up specifically to aid Allied prisoners of war.

    With the talk over, Terry put his bike gear on and headed to Cranwell with friends ready to depart for Stalag Luft IIIB in the morning.  Their plan was to leave from Tunnel Harry at daybreak on Sunday 24th and ride the 560 miles to the Hook of Holland to raise funds for the RAF Association.   We helped with this by collecting a much appreciated £188.  Terry’s group of riders were successful in their venture and easily exceeded their £5,000 target.

 

    ·         Sunday 24th March: Daffodil Run with Eddie and Cathy Barker

    The day was cool and breezy but dry with some sunshine.  A rarity for the year so far.  We met at the Stibbington Diner before a dozen or so of us set off for Eddie and Cathy’s place in Bulwick for lunch.  So, while Terry Jones was on his epic ride back from Poland in foul weather, we enjoyed a gentle 30-miles of meandering around scenic parts of Northamptonshire. 

 

    The route, not something a crow would choose, was typical of Cathy and Eddie.  It took us down through Fotheringhay and on a round-about route to Oundle before turning northwest out to Bulwick.  Daffodils were well in evidence despite the early start to the season but were nearly outnumbered by potholes.

    Once parked on Eddie’s tricky gravel drive, we went inside for some welcome hot drinks followed by a choice of tasty homemade soups with bread. Cheese and biscuits and a selection of cake and tasty baked deserts followed and went down very well.

 

    ·         Wednesday 10th April – Midweek Run.  Nine bikes and riders gathered by the Tesco recycling bins in Bourne before setting off on Peter and Barry’s route to the White Lion in Colsterworth.  This took us northeast towards Pinchbeck before turning north for Gosberton.  From there we turned west, then north for Billingborough and a road closure that sent us out to the A52 and A15 south to pick up the route again and head west from Folkingham.

    The group diverged at the point where the route turned north to circle around and back via Boothby Pagnell while some of us carried on west through Ingoldsby.  This group split again when I stopped to re-attach my exhaust pipe, aided by Ken, thus restoring peace to the countryside. 

    Somehow, we all arrived at the White Lion within a few minutes of each other and went on to enjoy a good lunch.  Meanwhile the rain clouds gathered and treated us to some good, steady rain as we left for home to the amusement of pub goers lined up at the window watching our pantomime of donning waterproofs and kick-starting wet bikes.  Many thanks to Peter and Barry for organising an entertaining ride with plenty of incident and interest.

    Upcoming Events  

    Check the SL&P web site for the current events list or contact the run organiser before going out. 

    For notifications of up-coming events, give Gary your email address (gary.sleeman1@gmail.com) or ask to be added to the Facebook group.

    ·         Sunday 28th April – April Showers Run to The Crown, Sproxton by Martin Peacock.  Meet at the Precincts bike park in Market Deeping 10:30 for an 11:00 start.

    ·         Sunday 28th April – Founder’s Relay Rally

    ·         Wednesday 8th May – Midweek Run with Peter Gilbert and Barry Cox.  Meet at the Precincts bike park in Market Deeping 10:30 for an 11:00 start.  The route is out towards Thorney, then Whittlesey and heading west for lunch in Bury.

    ·         Wednesday 15th May – Club Night and ride in

    ·         Sunday 19th May – Out West Run with Phil Andrews

    Advance Notice

    Pete Murray’s August Amble is on Monday, 19th of August starting and finishing in Little Bytham with lunch at the Wymondham Windmill.  This is limited to 20 bikes of less than 250cc and more than 50 years old (pre-1975) and needs to be booked well ahead of time. 

    Details and entry forms from Pete Murray,  pete@pm-images.co.uk, 01780 410078

    Run Organisers needed

    Many thanks to those who came forward to organise some of our runs, we now just have the Wednesday 11th September, Midweek Run slot to fill and are always ready to help anyone who is willing to give it a go.

    May you all enjoy a pint and bag a bargain.

    Martin
     

 


    NEWSLETTER – 20th March 2024

      V.M.C.C. SOUTH LINCS & PETERBOROUGH SECTION

    Tonight Terry Jones will be telling the story of Stalag Luft IIIB and the Great Escape whose 80th anniversary is on the 24th of March.  Terry and a group of friends will be riding out to the site of Slalag Luft III and aiming to return from there to the Hook of Holland in a single day to raise funds for the RAF Association.  We will be collecting for this worthy cause this evening but you can also donate on line.  The web address for this is too long to put here but one of us (Terry, Gary or me) can email the link to you.

    Recent Events – See the section web site reports.

    ·         Review of 2023 and Awards Evening

    Gary gave a good review of the year with pictures from our many club runs, many featuring sunshine and gleaming bikes.  This was followed by presentation of awards to members for distinguishing themselves in various ways:

    o   Best run attendance on a VMCC eligible bike: Barry Cox.

    o   Misadventure Trophy: Phil Andrews for his Autumn Leaves run soaking.

    o   Rose Bowl: Bob Macdonald for his contributions to the section over the years (see picture, right).

    o   Robin Boalch Trophy: Tom Ede for his resilience in recovering from a broken crankshaft and other mechanical gremlins to get his Ariel back on the road.

 

      Wednesday 13th March – Midweek Run with Gary and Kay.   Weather far better than most we’ve had of late made for a good start to our riding season.  Fifteen bikes gathered with over half from the ‘40’s to ‘60’s providing a delightful sound track as we set off for Fernley’s Dairy Barn for Lunch.

    Gary’s route was, if nothing else, inventive and took us along many back roads working northwest to South Witham and up to Woolsthorpe.  From there we turned west before heading south west to Buckminster.  From there, we followed the delightfully twisty B676 Melton Road before turning south on the single-track road through Stapleford and down to the Dairy Barn.

    The roads were mainly dry but the smaller lanes had wet and muddy sections that ensured our bikes lost their shed fresh, pristine look.  Nonetheless, there were plenty of smiles as we parked and wandered into Fernley’s function room that they kindly set aside for our use.

    Once seated with our orders placed, food and drink were served in fairly short order and to the right people.  Everyone enjoyed their meal and some lively conversation.  Some of us found the ice cream counter if not irresistible, extremely tempting.

    We left in small groups following Gary’s return route for at least some of the way before turning off for home.  It was an excellent day out.  Gary, Kay and the staff at Fernley’s have set a high bar for the rest of us organising this year.

     Upcoming Events

    Check the SL&P web site for the current events list or contact the run organiser before going out.  For notifications of up-coming events, give Gary your email address (gary.sleeman1@gmail.com) or ask to be added to the Facebook group.

    ·         Sunday 24th March – Daffodil Run with Eddie and Cathy Barker.  Meet at the Stibbington Diner 10:30 am for a 30-mile run to Bulwick for one of Cathy’s excellent lunches.

    ·         Wednesday 10th April – Midweek Run with Peter Gilbert and Barry Cox.  Meet at Bourne Tesco near the recycle bins 10:30 am for an 11:00 am start.  Ride about 43 miles out toward Spalding curving north across the A1 to Colsterworth for lunch at The White Lion.

    ·         Wednesday 17th April – Run to Wadenhoe for lunch with the Anglian Section.  Meet Gary at the Bike Park, The Precincts, Market Deeping, 10:30 am, departing at 11:00.

    ·         Wednesday 17th April – Club Night and Bring and Buy, 7:30 pm at the Goat in Frognall with our auctioneer, Malcolm Lambe.

    Run Organisers needed

    Many thanks to those who came forward to organise some of our runs, we now just have one slot to fill:

    ·         Sunday 28th July Summer Saunter

    We are happy to help anyone prepared to ‘give it a go’ with routes and generally helpful advice although you’re on your own with the weather.

            Looking forward to an enjoyable evening.

            Martin.
             

 


    NEWSLETTER – 21st February 2024

      V.M.C.C. SOUTH LINCS & PETERBOROUGH SECTION

    Welcome to our February club night, presentation of awards and Gary’s look back at 2023.  Our first ride of the season is the midweek run coming up on March 13th but at least we have January’s quiz night and last week’s Breakfast Meeting to report here.

    Recent Events – See the full reports on the section web site.

    ·         Wednesday 17th January – Quiz Night by Martin Peacock and Terry jones.  This was switched with the Review of 2023 and Awards evening because of Kay coming down with Covid 19.  The quiz went well although the turnout was low, perhaps because of the seasonably cold weather.  There were four rounds of questions plus a sound round at the end.  This was a tricky matter of identifying motorcycle engine sounds in terms of their being two or four stroke, number of cylinders and make of bike.

     

    The lead changed as the rounds progressed but ended with Carol and John Catnach taking the prize with 33½ points, just ahead of Sarah and Paul Plester.

    ·         Wednesday 14th February – Breakfast meeting at Applegreen Services, Spalding. 

    I must start with my apologies to those who turned up on the 7th having been misinformed by last month’s newsletter.  Today we had a decent turnout of ten people enjoying varied conversations with a choice of food and drink on hand.  Five of us arrived on old bikes including John Catnach on his unusual Royal Enfield sloper.  It was a decent day for a ride with mild weather and occasional sunshine even if the roads were filthy. 

    These meetings will be harder to schedule with our regular mid-week runs starting in March and we would like to hear what you think about carrying on with them.

     Upcoming Events

    Check the SL&P web site for the current events list or contact the run organiser before going out.  For notifications of up-coming events, give Gary your email address (gary.sleeman1@gmail.com) or ask to be added to the Facebook group.

    ·         Wednesday 13th March – Midweek Run with Gary Sleeman.  Meet at the Precincts bike park, Market Deeping 10:30.  Run to the Dairy Barn near Whissendine for lunch.

    Wednesday 20th March – Club Night with guest speaker Terry Jones, 7.30 pm in The Goat at Frognall, Deeping St James. 

    Terry will be talking about Stalag Luft IIIB and the Great Escape whose 80th anniversary is on the 24th of March.  He and 7 others are riding out to the former POW Camp and plan to do the 550 miles from Tunnel Harry to the Hook of Holland in one day.  The aim is to raise money for the RAF Association.  We will organise a collection for this evening or you can go on-line to:

    Great Escape Motorcyclists is fundraising for The RAF Association (RAFA) (justgiving.com)

    ·        

    ·         Sunday 24th March – Daffodil Run with Eddie and Cathy Barker.  Meet at the Stibbington Diner 10:30 am for a 30-mile run to Bulwick for one of Cathy’s excellent lunches.

    ·         Wednesday 10th April – Midweek Run with Peter Gilbert and Barry Cox.  Meet 10:30 am for an 11:00 am start.

    ·         Wednesday 17th April – Run to Wadenhoe for lunch with the Anglian Section.  Meet Gary at 10:30 am, departing at 11:00.  Start location to be confirmed.

    ·         Wednesday 17th April – Club Night and Bring and Buy, 7:30 pm at the Goat in Frognall.  Malcolm Lamb is happy to continue as the auctioneer but if any other member would like to try their hand at this, please let Gary know.

    Run Organisers needed

    Many thanks to those who came forward to organise some of our runs, we now just have one slot to fill:

    ·         Sunday 28th July Summer Saunter

    We are happy to help anyone prepared to ‘give it a go’ with routes and generally helpful advice although you’re on your own with the weather.

        Wishing you all well for the riding season and may your motorcycles always start first kick.

        Martin