Mick's Motoring September Stroll

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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Excellent pictures Mick.

Hope you dont have one of a C5 Speedometer clocking 100 over the Teesdale/Weardale border on the moors road :-D
rattling over a cattle grid. :-D

The School is Monkseaton High School Mick. Yes gone are the flat leaky roofed boxes of the 60's and 70's :-D

Regards Neil
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by mickthemaverick »

:rofl2:

I don't think the speedo got above 40 on that section! Too nice to rush so we savoured it! :-D
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by CitroJim »

Excellent Mick :D I'm thoroughly enjoying your exploits :D

It was worth returning the the FCF just for this thread!
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by mickthemaverick »

I'm chuffed that you feel like that Jim, thanks, and if this sort of thing will keep you on the FCF I'm only too happy to do it for all our benefit. :-D :-D :-D
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll Day 3 Part 1

Post by mickthemaverick »

I woke up in Hotel 52 at Whitley Bay with the sound of the gulls searching for some breakfast and realised I was quite peckish myself! Quickly showered and dressed and headed down to meet Bob in the car park to pack the car so we could get away straight after breakfast. Into the dining room and breakfast was less than 5 minutes in coming:
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Unfortunately this one was not as good as the previous day and I felt the sausages tasted rather weird, so I left one and a half of them as my tum was already suffering from, I believe, the tinned chopped tomatoes which I love but I shouldn't eat. I have an allergy to chlorophyll and tomatoes do contain some but I hoped the processing would have removed it!! Wrong it seems. Anyhow the rest was delicious and Bob wolfed it down including the sausages acknowledging that they were a "bit odd".

And so we headed off across Newcastle with Bob at the wheel and me on the maps, with a view to an early coffee stop somewhere nice!!
Having passed this lovely gateway we found just such a place right next to a beautiful bridge and duly pulled in:
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Up on the bridge we could see a long weir and a great view beyond down the Tyne valley:
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I wanted to get a shot of the bridge itself and spotted an ideal place down on the bank to shoot from:
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Unfortunately that bank was contained within the adjacent hotel's gardens and closed to the public during the "current Covid affection" :) according to the sign on the gate. I did get a picture for our signs thread but I seem to have mislaid it somewhere in editing so you'll have to take my word for it :-D
Having failed miserably I walked back towards the bridge and got a shot of Bob through the trees, he is there but you need to zoom in just right of centre if I remember correctly:
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So the best shot I could do of the actual bridge was leaning over one end and it's rubbish:
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Having downed our coffee and used the loo we set off to find Neil's suggested viewing point for a walk along Hadrian's Wall. The road alongside is a great straight run and pretty empty so we sat back and looked out for Steel Rigg:
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We had to turn off the road and up a smaller lane to get to the car park and when we arrived Bob went to get a ticket while I swapped maps from our library ready for the next stage. Once he had returned and related an amusing anecdote about the girl in front of him in the queue, and her inability to get the machine to work, we set off to explore the Wall. As soon as we got close I realised that the territory was too rugged and steep to risk my ankle, with only light driving shoes on, so I elected to stay on safe ground and record Bob's climb using my zoom lens and ladyluck:
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After all that exercise :oops: it was time for another great drive along the arrow straight route:
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We unexpectedly came across a signpost directing us to the Centre of Britain; being avid Jules Verne fans we couldn't resist so we slotted left down to Haltwhistle past a local church and into the village. Having ascertained the location of the exact centre we parked and strolled down to stand in the middle of Britain, there is sufficient resolution for you to zoom in and read the engravings:
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On the way back to the car we spotted this gem in an antique shop window, which I am sure Steve will be able to tell us more about :-D :
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Having got back on the road we headed for the lake district and the AA box on the way. I will pick up the story there in Part 2!! :-D
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Did you remember Chollerford from the Pennine Cycleway?
mickthemaverick wrote: 23 May 2020, 16:52 I'll get back to that in a minute more pressing matters having arrived at The Riverside Cafe:

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and We've both ordered this little top-u-up:

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and of absolutely fascinating French Car Forum interest....just look at what was for sale at the little garage next to the Riverside Tearooms when the google camera's called......

None other than a Silver Citroen Xantia Estate for £1,385.....

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.0297109 ... 6?hl=en-US

Regards Neil
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by mickthemaverick »

In a word No!! :-D
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by myglaren »

Not a clue on the projector unfortunately, never had anything to do with them.
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by CitroJim »

Oh wow :D Loving the latest instalment Mick! Never been that far north in my life :shock: Seeing all your photos makes me want to :)
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by mickthemaverick »

Having looked at the link you posted about Chollerford Neil I have managed to get a snap of the gate which was locked with the amusing sign on it by using an old laptop to access the g****e link and then transferring it to here via USB stick!! So the gate was the further away of these two but the rest of the layout was similar except there appears to be a coach company storing its vehicles behind the garage now and the fence and tables you saw were just rough ground when G****e passed by:
pilfered from g****e
pilfered from g****e
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by mickthemaverick »

CitroJim wrote: 21 Sep 2020, 18:28 Oh wow :D Loving the latest instalment Mick! Never been that far north in my life :shock: Seeing all your photos makes me want to :)
You must get up there Jim, it is so totally different in so many ways to our part of the country and needs to be experienced!! I have loved it up there ever since my work project in the 1980s. Maybe next spring we could enrol a few other cycling members to take part in a Tour de La Nort, I'd be happy to drive a support vehicle to carry the clobber!! :-D
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by admiral51 »

mickthemaverick wrote: 21 Sep 2020, 21:22
CitroJim wrote: 21 Sep 2020, 18:28 Oh wow :D Loving the latest instalment Mick! Never been that far north in my life :shock: Seeing all your photos makes me want to :)
You must get up there Jim, it is so totally different in so many ways to our part of the country and needs to be experienced!! I have loved it up there ever since my work project in the 1980s. Maybe next spring we could enrol a few other cycling members to take part in a Tour de La Nort, I'd be happy to drive a support vehicle to carry the clobber!! :-D
Whilst being born and bred in wonderful and scenic Poole Dorset close to the Jurrasic Coast i can honestly say the most picturesque part of our United Kingdom to me is the village of Lochgoilhead.
Most of us will have heard of the Rest and Be Thankful on traffic reports on the radio and yes when you get there it is a welcome, but what lies hidden about 2 miles down the glen is a gem.
I have some photos somewhere from a holiday 10 years or so ago google images really do not do it justice :)

Sorry to derail your thread Mick but it just touched a nerve and brought back many happy memories

Colin
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by mickthemaverick »

admiral51 wrote: 21 Sep 2020, 21:46
Sorry to derail your thread Mick but it just touched a nerve and brought back many happy memories

Colin
Not derailing it at all Colin, the more the merrier, I have to say my absolute favourite places so far are Oban and Loch Ness but I haven't been to Lochgoilhead so I'll make a point of it on my next trip North!! :-D
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll Day 3 Part 2

Post by mickthemaverick »

After our walk to the Centre of Britain
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we swapped drivers and I took the wheel down to Carlisle, where Bob had the unenviable task of capturing Carlisle Castle, without obstructions, from the passenger seat with a huge truck tailgating us and preventing a stop. He had a few shots but got there in the end :-D :
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So out of Carlisle, another place where road alterations since the map was printed in 1982 made life tricky, and off to find the AA box.

As we left the city we spotted this remarkable chimney, which a certain Fred Dibnah must have missed, and then drove through some lovely countryside:
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Own work - Dixons Chimney, scene of a sad suicide in 2019
Own work - Dixons Chimney, scene of a sad suicide in 2019
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Until we came across this classic European gem which may delight members with a penchant for Swedish cars! :-D :
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We continued towards our quest admiring the beauty of the northern lake district:
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I had marked a circle on the map where I expected to find the AA box and it turned out to be right in the center, so I was able to park a bit before it for the initial shots and then, due to other cars, I had to go past it and park at the head of the layby to get the "French car with AA box" shot for the AA Box Challenge thread:
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Just down the road from the box we came across a tribute to one of our great groups which we had not been expecting:
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Highly appropriate for our September Stroll I thought!

On to join the queue for the Windermere Ferry where Bob took the opportunity to get us an ice cream while we waited. I recorded the boats moored in the lake while we rested, until our turn to board the ferry which only takes 8 cars at a time:
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After leaving the ferry the road down the east side of Windermere is fairly plain compared with the ones we had travelled earlier so the camera stayed in the glovebox. I had plotted a route using the M6 to get us down to Lytham in time for a stroll around the town before dinner and it was just as well that I did. Arriving in Lytham we had our first major issue on the whole Stroll. Our hotel on Booking.com was described as the Innkeepers Collection, Church Road, Lytham.
No problem we thought, we'll just drive up and down Church Road until we see it!! We didn't know there are two Church Roads in Lytham, what a dumb idea that is!! And we didn't know our hotel was actually called The County Hotel, Booking.com strikes!!!! Eventually, about 45 minutes after reaching Lytham we found the hotel on a corner just across the road from the beautiful memorial gardens:
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The hotel's parking was limited and full but we found a space across the road outside the bank. The notice said "These parking spaces are for the use of Lloyds Bank customers only." Well I am one and it didn't say anything about hours so I parked in the corner protecting the car from passers by and other potential nuisances and we went to check in. We were very impressed with the rooms having huge beds, double showers and I would estimate 36" TVs.:
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Having settled in, we went for a stroll in search of dinner and found the enchantment that Lytham has to offer:
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After a good look round and checking of various menus we selected The Queens Hotel which boasted a seafront terrace and a decently priced menu. I sat down and made my choice and Bob went inside (one only under Covid) to order. He rang me to ask what beer I wanted and I said "You know what I like, whatever you choose". A few minutes later he returned with two pints and placed one in front of me "What's that then?" he asked. I went through my beer tasting ritual and pronounced it to be either Theakston's Old Peculiar or Marston's Pedigree and saw his eyebrows raise, I plumped for the Theakston's and was rewarded with a well done from the waiter who had just arrived with our cutlery. He now exhibited great respect for these two southern vagabonds who had had the temerity to visit his pub and not order the hotpot!! A feather in the cap for our misspent youth!! Having got that out the way we settled down to take in the sights around us as dusk was drawing in:
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Once we had consumed our dinners, desserts and more Old Peculiar, we felt ready to turn in and set off to return to the hotel. As we rounded the first corner I was delighted to see the Sodium lights, following recent FCF discussions on the subject, and took the opportunity immediately:
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Then, leaving the Sodium lit street we passed the gardens which had greeted our arrival and I was impressed with the night time lighting, which hasn't really come out here:
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With that image lingering in my mind it was time for bed to prepare for day 4!! :-D
Last edited by mickthemaverick on 22 Sep 2020, 16:01, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mick's Motoring September Stroll

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Looks like Old Peculiar branding has been jazzed up in recent years.
https://www.harrogate-news.co.uk/2016/0 ... -peculier/

Masham-based T&R Theakston Ltd is refreshing the look of its Old Peculier bottle label sets, as it aims to increase its appeal to a younger audience and increase its on-shelf visibility in an increasingly crowded market place.

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Even this looks a bit new, and not quite how I remember it.
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REgards Neil
Only One AA Box left
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