Pre Ulster Meet trip - England

[Admin Jaap]

Sunday evening 18th of May I'll be arriving in Harwich. So Monday morning I start my tour through England to end up at Ken Bridge Hotel on Thursday evening.

What I'm looking for are nice roads, points of interest, nice B&B's along the way. I was hoping that the English forum dwellers could help me a bit.

 

Here's my global itinerary (of course open for changes!) based on a Michelin map:

 

---------------------------------

 

Monday

Harwich - Bury St. Edmonds - Thetford Park Forest - King's Lynn - Coastal road The Wash - Boston (Sth. Lincolnshire)

 

Tuesday

Boston - Skegness - Louth - Grimsby - Kingston Upon Hill

 

Wednesday

Kingston Upon Hill - York - Ripon - Yorkshire Dales - Kendal - Lake District - Keswick

 

Thursday

Keswick - Cockermouth - Maryport - coastal road - Carlisle - Dumfries - Ken Bridge hotel

 

---------------------------------

 

I'm trying to avoid the M-ways as much as possible. Thanks for any help!

 

Jaap

[Guzzirider]

Hi Jaap

 

In Boston if you are very hungry you could eat at PJs Pie Pub PJs Pie Pub. The guy who runs it is an ex RAF pilot who makes a wicked pie.

 

When you are near Louth you could stop at the famous Cadwell Park circuit- there may well be a track day there to watch.

 

Kingston upon Hull is not the most prettiest of cities- maybe worth avoiding unless you have a special reason to go there. There are nicer more rural places not far away if you would prefer that as an overnight stay.

 

In the Dales, you could head for Hawes for lunch at the cafe there, then onto Ribblehead, and maybe via Dent to Kendal.

 

See you at Ken Bridge- and give us a shout if you want to stay in Huddersfield one night.

 

Regards

 

Guy

[Admin Jaap]

Hi Guy,

 

Thanks for the feedback! And for the hospitality offered. Don't know if I'll be taking you up on your offer, i'll see how it goes.

Forgot to mention, that I'll be avoiding cities too. The cities/villages in the itinerary are just to give you guys a global direction.

 

Btw, does anybody know a nice bike or WWII airplane museum that's not too far from this route?

 

Thanks again!

[belfastguzzi]

Speaking personally, I'd like to see around the Wash so I would spend a few days around there. Then I would go to the Lake District and spend the rest of the week around the seashore, lakes, forests and mountains: stretching from Morecambe Bay, Grange over Sands, on up north around Coniston, Windermere, Keswick and so on.

 

I haven't used the Youth Hostel Association, but others of the family have. That could be an option for some of your accommodation.

 

See here

http://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodation/t...rict/index.aspx

 

 

If you run out of stuff to do/see and want to come over here early....

let me know.

I still say that you should see Donegal.

[belfastguzzi]

Looking at your timetable again, I'd suggest giving both Tuesday and Wednesday to the Lake District area, instead of flying through it.

[Guzzirider]

I have never been there but I believe there is a museum for old planes at Elvington near York.

 

Edit- here is the website Yorkshire Air Museum

[belfastguzzi]

Just a reminder that we will be based in an area where there were a number of WWll RAF airfields. Unfortunately there is not much to see.

http://moto.belfastguzzi.com/otherplacesof...tnearportaferry

 

I had also wondered about a visit to the nearby Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.

I discounted it because there isn't really enough time and because it's the holiday weekend, it will be packed with people.

Some, particularly those who will be here longer, might want to consider it. I must go myself, some day!

 

There is interesting stuff on local inventor,Rex McCandless, who has been talked about here before.

Motorbike telescopic fork, Norton featherbed frame, Jensen fourwheel drive, the autogiro etc

 

Museum >>

Motorcycles

With the development of the safety bicycle and the internal combustion engine in the 1890s it was probably inevitable that the two should be put together. The first motorcycles appeared in the 1890s. The exhibition follows the development of Ulster’s love affair with the motorcycle, with some emphasis on the successful careers of motorcycle sportsmen. Special sections look at ‘biker art’ - the decoration of biker leathers and helmets, and of the bikers themselves.

 

Road Transport

A recreated cobbled street provides an authentic setting for a fine collection of trams that once trundled along the streets of Belfast. Early horse-drawn trams were replaced in the early years of the 20th century by electric trams, which provided public transport throughout the city until the 1960s. Commercial vehicles and fire engines, very early motor cars are featured. A special section details the Giant’s Causeway Tram, the world’s first hydro-electric powered tramway.

 

The Motor Car

If the 19th century was the age of horse transport, the 20th century was the age of the motor car. Styles changed, engineering developed and comfort levels for driver and passengers improved - from the old T Ford to the sleek elegance of the Belfast-built De Lorean, from the comic antics of Laurel and Hardy to "Back to the Future".

 

The Flight Experience

In December 1903, two Ohio brothers finally realised one of man’s oldest dreams. At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright made the first powered flight. Although that first flight covered less distance than the wingspan of a jumbo jet it began a transport revolution which is still continuing today.

 

Six years later, Harry Ferguson, more famous for his invention of the integrated tractor hydraulic system, made the first flight in Ireland in a plane he built himself.

 

The exhibition features a full-scale replica of Harry Ferguson’s 1909 aircraft and the Shorts SC1, the Belfast-built first vertical-take and landing aircraft [VTOL] in the world. Sections look at the history of flight from the ancient Greek legend of Icarus to bizarre medieval attempts, from the Montgolfier brothers’ successful balloon flights and the works of such pioneers as Sir George Cayley and Otto Lilienthal.

 

Interactive CD-ROM technology guides the visitor through the history of flight. Interactive s illustrate the scientific principles of flight and aircraft control.

 

In 1908, three brothers Eustace, Horace and Oswald Short established a company to build aircraft, and the following year secured the UK manufacturing rights and an order to build six Wright Flyer aircraft. Since 1936 the Short Brothers company has been based in Belfast and that 1909 order justifies their claim to be the world’s oldest aircraft manufacturing company. Now part of ardier Aerospace, the company generously collaborated with the Museum in mounting this exhibition.

[pasotibbs]

Hi Jaap

 

When you are near Louth you could stop at the famous Cadwell Park circuit- there may well be a track day there to watch.

 

Kingston upon Hull is not the most prettiest of cities- maybe worth avoiding unless you have a special reason to go there. There are nicer more rural places not far away if you would prefer that as an overnight stay.

 

In the Dales, you could head for Hawes for lunch at the cafe there, then onto Ribblehead, and maybe via Dent to Kendal.

 

See you at Ken Bridge- and give us a shout if you want to stay in Huddersfield one night.

 

Regards

 

Guy

+1 for Cadwell, the Cafe in Hawes and avoiding Hull !!

Plenty to see in York so I'd stay overnight there instead.

[commando tod]

Hi Guy,

 

Thanks for the feedback! And for the hospitality offered. Don't know if I'll be taking you up on your offer, i'll see how it goes.

Forgot to mention, that I'll be avoiding cities too. The cities/villages in the itinerary are just to give you guys a global direction.

 

Btw, does anybody know a nice bike or WWII airplane museum that's not too far from this route?

 

Thanks again!

Hi Jaap. If you could get yourself over for sunday morning 17 may, you could visit duxford air show- http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/server/show/nav.178. Even so, you could still visit the air museum any day. Not too far from Thetford, just off junction 10 of the M11 motorway. And as for roads, it`s a great pity you`re not going to Wales.

[Orson]

In the Dales, you could head for Hawes for lunch at the cafe there, then onto Ribblehead, and maybe via Dent to Kendal.

Here's the Buttertub Pass north of Hawes

 

 

Here's the goat trail leading to Dent

 

 

Dent main street. The Sun Inn in Dent has it's own microbrewery...or at least it did when I was there in 2004

 

 

and the singletrack road up to the Hardknott Pass

 

[John in Leeds]

Sunday evening 18th of May I'll be arriving in Harwich. So Monday morning I start my tour through England to end up at Ken Bridge Hotel on Thursday evening.

What I'm looking for are nice roads, points of interest, nice B&B's along the way. I was hoping that the English forum dwellers could help me a bit.

 

Here's my global itinerary (of course open for changes!) based on a Michelin map:

 

---------------------------------

 

 

Wednesday

Kingston Upon Hill - York - Ripon - Yorkshire Dales - Kendal - Lake District - Keswick

Jaap

 

Jaap,

 

Should you wish, I would be delighted to be a guide on the York to the Lake district section - local knowledge can be useful. I would also like Guy be pleased to offer you a room but my place is in North Leeds. Sadly no garage space overnight (stuffed with my toys) but I have a cover and a fairly secure yard.

 

John

[Admin Jaap]

mmmm... This trip is getting better and better! Thanks for all the input! Still open for suggestions of course.

 

Orson, thanks for the pics!

John, if you would like to join me, that'd be great!

 

And from what I read, this won't be my last trip to the British isles!

And BFG, I also predict a few days in (N) Ireland in the future.

[John in Leeds]

mmmm... This trip is getting better and better! Thanks for all the input! Still open for suggestions of course.

 

Orson, thanks for the pics!

John, if you would like to join me, that'd be great!

 

And from what I read, this won't be my last trip to the British isles!

And BFG, I also predict a few days in (N) Ireland in the future.

 

Don't know how you will fit it all in. Could meet you at Elvington at the Air Museum and ride with you from then on. There are lots of alternatives for roads, countryside, food and places of interest and no big towns. Just state you preferences or leave it to me, no problem.

[Admin Jaap]

My revised itinerary:

 

Monday

Harwich - Bury St. Edmonds - Thetford Park Forest - King's Lynn - coastal road (the Wash) - Boston - Louth (Cadwell Park)

 

Tuesday

Louth - Market Rasen - Gainsborough - Scunthorpe - Goole - Selby - Leeds (stay at John in Leeds)

 

Wednesday tour with John in Leeds

Leeds - Yorkshire Dales - Lake District - Keswick

 

Thursday

Keswick - Cockermouth - Maryport - coastal road - Carlisle - Dumfries - Ken Bridge hotel

[Guzzirider]

Hi Jaap

 

This is where I stay if I am doing a track day at Cadwell- just a pub in a sleepy village with good food and beer:

 

Black Horse

 

There is a track day at Cadwell on the Monday- and an evening session too if you fancy watching the nutters go airborne over the famous Mountain.

 

Guy