2023

4th May - Lunch meet at the Kings House Café, Pembridge:

Good food and great company, what more could you ask for.

17th May - Monthly meeting at the Stables

Great ride to the Stables today and what a turn out:

3rd June - Brecon Visitor Centre

What a fantastic day at Bannau  Brycheiniog  Mountain Centre,  we had 12 people turn up, with 2 new members.  The weather was perfect for a bike ride 

14th June - Peneopes Cafe, Abergavenny

18th to 21st June - Slimbridge Camping with the South West Section

9th July - Monthly Meeting at Devauden - Section BBQ

25th to 28th August - National Rally:

Around 180 members from all over the country attended this years National Rally held at the Fire College, Moreton. This event celebrated 100 years of BMW Motorcycles which include numerous test ride bikes supplied by BMW Motorrad UK

13th to 17th September - Sorebutts Rally:

Sorebutts time again at Mill Park campsite Berrynarbor, North Devon. 4 units arrived on Tuesday to help setting up for this special Western Section 60th celebration 4 night event. We managed to get the marquee and gazebo erected before dark and all retired for a meal at The Sawmills before collapsing into bed. Members started arriving fairly early on Wednesday morning, and by midday there was a steady stream of arrivals. The marquee was a popular first port of call, with tea, coffee, cakes and biscuits on offer. My wife Jen was busy as usual, despite her arm being in plaster from a broken wrist.

On Thursday afternoon a boules competition organised by Sue Ross took place, with most of those present enthusiastically tossing their boules along the makeshift court. Lee Bastin came a very valiant second to my wife Jen who beat the entire opposition one handed for a brilliant victory and taking home the boules trophy.

By Thursday evening the field was almost full of campers, as well as those members who had opted for glampods, belltents or hotel accommodation. I estimate we had about 74 people in total.

Friday afternoon saw a few stragglers arrive just in time for the fish and chip supper. Sandy Young along with her merry band of ticket folders was doing a grand job of extorting money out of everyone for raffle tickets. I don’t think anyone got away without buying tickets.

There were 2 quizzes available for those who wished to participate, a mystery object picture quiz and a short local area knowledge quiz. The mystery object quiz attracted a lot of attention with people standing in front of the board puzzling over what the objects were. It was fun standing behind them unnoticed listening to the thought processes. Anita Holland kindly gave Jen and Jean Bradbeer a lift down to Combe Martin to collect 56 portions of fish or pie and chips, a good payday for The Black and White chippie in Combe Martin who always supplies a hearty hot supper for us. While waiting for the meal, we had a quick round of heads or tails. This entails everyone standing up and putting their hands on their heads, or their tails. A coin is flipped and those who guess correct remain standing while the others all sit down. This is repeated until just one person remains standing. The chips arrived and everyone sat down to enjoy their supper. After all the food had been eagerly consumed we had a few free games of bingo, the lucky winners receiving a bottle of wine or other prizes. We were all, at this point, still amazed that the rain was holding off for us.

On Saturday morning Jen and her team of helpers went foraging for supplies for tonight’s BBQ, bringing back a boot full of burgers, sausages, buns and salad items while Colin Ross spent most of his day slicing and cooking onions.

Many of those present opted to go out for a ride on their bikes, while some went walking, or caught a bus into Combe Martin or Ilfracombe. That afternoon, the BBQs were set up by Colin and Denis and people started gathering for the feast. Unfortunately, the clouds were gathering as well. Whilst waiting to be fed we had another game of heads and tails. The tables inside the gazebo were groaning under the weight of salads, crisps, nuts and other delights to accompany the burgers and sausages, all expertly prepared by Jen and her team of willing helpers. Once the meat, (and veggie options) were starting to come off the BBQs, a steady line formed and people sat down to another hearty meal. The food stretched to seconds and even thirds in some cases. Denis Bradbeer and Colin Ross did a superb job with the BBQ, cooking everything to perfection as always. As if we hadn’t eaten enough, after the BBQ there was cheesecake on offer which also went down very well. After the meal, I awarded prizes for the quizzes, both of which were won by Dafydd and Lucy Jones. I had taken a note of everyone’s registration number when they booked in, and 2 registration numbers were pulled out of a hat. Both lucky winners received a prize of a Sorebutts Rally 2023 mug. We even put a fiver in each mug to pay for some tea to fill it up. 2 lucky winner’s names were also pulled out of a hat to win back the cost of their fish and chip supper. Then came the main event, a mega raffle. Prizes included a bell tent for 3 nights at next year’s rally donated by the campsite, cash prizes, wines and spirits and so many other prizes donated by attendees that I can’t possibly list them all. The rain almost held off until after the raffle, drizzling a little, forcing people inside the marquee.

That night the heavens absolutely opened, we feared the worst, thinking we would be packing down on Sunday morning in the wet.

Sunday morning arrived and, thank the heavens; it was dry to pack away. Most of the campers opted for an early departure before the rain made another appearance. Thanks to those who stayed on to get the marquee and gazebos down, we managed to get everything packed away just before the rain started, RESULT!

A huge thank you to all those who helped make the rally a big success, without your help it just couldn’t happen. Jen and I are looking forward to next year already.

As a footnote, The Western Section is gaining a reputation for being ‘the cake Section’. A grand total of 15 large cakes were consumed throughout the weekend. With Jen’s one handed help I made 10 before the rally, thanks to all those others who brought one.

9th November - Silver Fox Café

November heralded another very successful meeting at The Silver Fox, Newnham. Although the day was extremely dismal and wet, we had a bumper turnout for the meeting. 26 members turned up. One member we don't see very often brought a guest with him, and I spent some time trying to sign him up. I think he enjoyed the meeting. As it was Roger's birthday we bought him a cake and presented it to him complete with candle to blow out whilst the whole cafe sang Happy Birthday to him. An object lesson in how to embarrass someone. I don't think members were keen to go back out into the rain as most were still drinking tea and coffee by 3pm. A lot of the conversation revolved around the upcoming Hotel weekend, everyone looking forward to it. Well done to all who attended the meeting on such a day

16th to 19th November - Park Hotel Barnstable:

This is our 4th year at the excellent hotel and once again this event has proved to be a winner for the fourth time being put together by Denis Bradbeer our Events Secretary and Steve Ashford the manager at The Park Hotel, Barnstable.  This hotel is sited a few minutes walk from the centre of this beautiful, old market town and really knows how to please us !
Sixty eight attended with five on two wheels.  Despite Bob Hunter & Martin Cowan racking up some serious miles, the furthest travelled was Ken Bridgett from Durham, who also managed to stop off on his return to see the Bike Show at the NEC.  Well done and enjoy the talcum powder to ease the sore bits !
Billed as a Gala, it was nice to see several Gents and their partners putting on the style with Dinner Suits & Posh Frocks, and let's hope it continues next year.
Dressed to Kill and Licenced to Thrill !!
Our D.J's for Friday & Saturday night caught our mood and made sure that the music inspired a full dance floor for most of the time.  This was helped by Jean leading the line dancing and Debbie with the Macarena (helped by a young waiter ! ).   New this year, Denis announced the activities on a Swanee Whistle
instead of bellowing down a mic, a great improvement ! 
Sandy tracked everyone down in her very own way to ensure we all bought some raffle tickets. It was nice to know that her efforts resulted in a total of £330 going towards The Welsh Air Ambulance. 
To burn off the calories gained from the excellent menu, Dave & Anita lead a walk down a disused railway line to Fremington Museum & Cafe. Reports of a shark feeding in the River Taw have not been confirmed !
Just how good this event is can be judged by the fact that over forty members have booked for next year already, so, join us next year and take the time to do some Christmas shopping in a proper town with cobbled streets and smiling people instead of a Shopping Mall.