The ‘Alternative’ Scarborough Touring Week
This month we range across 70 years of memories, but we thought you might also like something that is bang up to date. So here’s Derek Manders with his report of an alternative to one of his favourite events…
Those of you who have read my article The VMCC Touring Week in January’s edition of OBM would have gathered that I am a big fan of this event, having been on the last five of them.
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, the 2020 event was cancelled, and then the 2021 event also went by the wayside. Was I disappointed? Too damn right I was! Especially as, in late 2019, I had bought a camper van/small motorhome and was really looking forward to having comfortable accommodation for the week.
However, in early May I received a message from my usual Scarborough riding partner, Angelo Conti, that fellow Scarborough regular, Rob Jones, was getting a small group together and having a mini version based at the same camp site, and would I be interested? The phrase “does a bear sh*t in the woods” sprang to mind! That was the easiest decision I’ve made in a very long time. Well, since I decided to retire at 63 just over six years ago anyway – that was my best ever decision!
So, I now found myself on the first of July, sitting in my camper van at the Arosa caravan and camping site at Seamer just south of Scarborough, awaiting the arrival of the rest of the gang, all coming from Wales with the exception of Geoff Kitchen, an old school mate from the early 60s, who had followed me up from Lincoln towing his caravan and was now on the way back home to pick his bike up on the trailer. I did the same in 2019, but now, having the camper van, I don’t have to make two 85-mile journeys.
There would be seven of us: myself and Geoff from Lincoln, Angelo,
Rob, Norman Robinson, Gareth
Thomas and Anthony Begley, all from Wales. Bikewise, Geoff and I were on Velocettes. Geoff ’s is a 1963 Viper and mine a green Mac from 1955, I had also brought my 1948 Mac in trail trim fitted with a 1952 engine. Angelo had his 1972 Triumph Trophy with mix ‘n’ match engine and a 1947 AJS 16M in trials trim with a ’51 engine. Rob was on his 1976 CB400/4 Honda instead of one of his usual Velos and Gareth and Anthony were riding a 1980 Honda RS250 and 1996 250cc Honda Night Hawk respectively.
For the first rideout on Friday we decided to follow one of the old VMCC route sheets and head for Goathland. No trip to North Yorkshire is complete without visiting Goathland, better known as Aidensfield, home to that great TV series Heartbeat. I opted to use my ’48 Mac as it hadn’t been used (except for a quick test before loading it on the trailer the previous day) since I had put it away for last winter. Angelo took his AJS and Norman had a C15; the others didn’t have to decide which bike to take as they only had the one with them.
The route took us from the site via Forge Valley, Harwood Dale, up and down some testing hills incorporating some extremely tight bends, which suited the bikes fine. One hilly part of the route had the added obstacle of a tractor and trailer loaded with large bales crawling up it. Yes, we did get stuck behind it!
The first ice cream of the week
Then we had a superb view of the town of Whitby and surrounding area from the hill overlooking the bay before heading down more winding roads, through the village of Ugglebarnby and on to the A619. We headed down into Grosmont, crossing the North Yorks Moors railway track by Grosmont station, and up through Egton Bridge and across the edge of the moors to Goathland for a lunch stop, having covered 35 miles. After lunch we aimed for Pickering following the route sheet for a great ride over the moors of about 13 miles. In Pickering we then took the A170 to Thornton le Dale, home to Mathewson’s motor auctioneers, made famous by the TV series Bangers and Cash. The village is also home to a cracking ice cream shop and, of course, we took the opportunity to try one!
Ice cream eaten, it was back following the route back to base. Unfortunately, we had to cut the last bit short as none of us fancied the look of the dark rain clouds on the horizon so we rejoined the A170 and took the direct route back, happily staying dry. Total miles covered 71. I have to say that, after not being out on the bikes much last year, it was great to get out again in what I think is perfect classic bike riding country.
Saturday, our second day, was a bit of a let down. The weather forecasts were not very encouraging at all, predicting heavy rain, thunder and lightning, flash flooding and other things that make riding motorbikes very unpleasant. Between us we must have looked at five different forecasts, all varying and all changing each time we looked. We spent the morning being indecisive. Just before lunch Angelo and Norman opted to have a ride to Mathewson’s on their Triumphs, with the rest of us deciding to stay put.
After lunch the outlook from site was quite encouraging so Geoff and I decided on a ride to Pickering via the Yorkshire Wolds on roads that I remembered from previous visits to the area. Green Mac for me, Viper for Geoff. The ride was very enjoyable and we stopped off in Thornton le Dale on the way through. However, just as we were about to sample another ice cream from the same shop that we’d called at yesterday, it started to spit about with rain. We ate the ice cream quickly, cancelled the Pickering visit and headed back to base, being chased by rain all the way. Fortunately, we avoided the worst, managing to get back and cover the bikes up before it became too bad. Total miles covered, 44.
The weather forecast for day three wasn’t looking too good again with rain later in the afternoon, so we decided to set off at 10am prompt with the thinking that, when the rain hit us, we would be on the way back. Well, we needn’t have worried as we only had a short shower and that didn’t arrive until we were back at base. The destination was Flamborough Head lighthouse for lunch and back via
Filey. I took the green Mac, Angelo and Norman their Triumphs, Geoff his Viper while Rob, Gareth and Anthony were all on Hondas. We headed for Morrisons to fill up before heading for the eastern side of the Yorkshire Wolds, through Cayton, Folkton, Hunmanby, Burton Fleming, Burton Agnes and Gransmoor, enjoying the scenery on the way before skirting Bridlington and on to Flamborough and the lighthouse.
More ice cream…
After lunch we spotted some seals bobbing about in the bay below the cliffs before we headed for Filey, taking a non-direct route away from main roads, through Bempton, Buckton, Grindale and then cross-country where we dropped down to the sea front at Filey, parking up by the lifeboat station for ice cream and a look at the sea. Ice cream eaten, photos taken, we headed up out of Filey, taking the major roads back to our home for the rest of the week, having seen not a drop of rain all day. Perfect motorcycling weather in ideal old bike riding locations. Sixty-eight miles covered.
On arriving back at base we noticed a few more vehicles towing bike trailers containing old bikes had arrived – more people with the same idea as us, obviously missing their Scarborough touring week fix. At this point Geoff had a phone call from home informing him that there was a water leak in his downstairs toilet! As it was only 85 miles back home he decided to pop home to investigate, hopefully returning in the morning for the Monday ride.
Looking at the weather forecast for Monday we decided that, as it was very much in our favour, we ought to do the main ride of the week, which was the ascent of Rosedale Chimney Bank, followed by lunch at the Feversham Arms at Church Houses in Farndale. There’s always a warm friendly welcome there whatever mode of transport you arrive in or on, and whatever time of year you visit. As for the food, well, it’s always first rate! I’ve been visiting two or three times a year since 2015 (except for last year thanks to Covid!) and have yet to be disappointed. Being a 100-miler day, it was the green Mac for me, Triumphs for Angelo and Norman with Rob, Gareth and Anthony on their Hondas.
Rosedale Chimney Bank has a maximum gradient of 1 in 3, with some testing bends thrown in for good measure. It shares the title of the steepest road in England with the Hardknott Pass in the Lake District, although, having ridden on plenty of the off the beaten track roads of the North Yorkshire Moors, I feel that there are many more that will give the Chimney a run for its money. There are certainly some that are equally as challenging to ride. We headed directly to Pickering and then picked up a familiar route which took us into the town centre, past the Beck
Isle Museum (well worth a visit) and towards Cropton, where we took a right for Lastingham and a left turn for Egton Bridge. Along this road, after crossing the cattle grid looking over the valley to the left, Rosedale Chimney Bank could clearly be seen snaking its way up the other side of the valley, while in the village it was time for a cuppa at the usual little cafe before the ascent of the Chimney.
Suitably refreshed, it was onward and upward; first gear all the way on my green Mac, no sweat. The others all made it without any difficulty. joining me in the parking area where we admired the stunning views surrounding us and posed for a photograph. Geoff hadn’t made it back in time for the start of the run but he was meeting us for lunch and he didn’t want to miss the highlight of the week.
We continued on across the edge of moors to Hutton le Hole, before heading for our lunch stop, the
Feversham Arms, meeting up with Geoff and most of us opting for the ploughman’s lunch– very enjoyable it was, too! After lunch we climbed out of the north end of the dale and turned left along Blakey Ridge for a short while before dropping down into the valley towards Ainthorpe and Castleton, through Castleton to Westerdale then Commondale and back down to Castleton and on to Grosmont, stopping off at the old packhorse bridge for photos. After a tea stop at Grosmont station on the NYM Steam Railway it was on to Littlebeck, a challenging decent and climb out which seems equally as steep as Rosedale Chimney Bank, but much more closed in and twisty. We joined the A171 for about seven miles then turned right for Harwood Dale and headed for Silpho, Hackness and down the Forge Valley to East Ayton and back to Seamer. Just short of 100 miles of very enjoyable motorcycling.
On arrival back at site we found that we’d been joined by more classic bikes, I reckon around 30 of them. It’s proof that you don’t have to have a megaexpensive adventure bike stacked out with state-of-the-art gadgets and gizmos to have a smashing motorcycle adventure touring holiday. We have mini adventures every day on whatever bikes we have in the shed.
On Tuesday we decided on a short ride as the weather didn’t look too promising, Rob, Gareth and Anthony were having a day in York so there was only the four of us riding. We followed the Forge Valley and then on to Trouts Dale which was a lovely ride of about eight miles, although we had three stops to shelter under trees to avoid the rain showers. At Thornton le Dale we popped into Mathewson’s for a look and photo opportunity before taking the Dalby Forest Drive, some eight miles of tarmac roads through Forestry Commission woodland and which is very popular in the holiday season. We stopped off at the visitor centre for a drink and an overpriced bland panini and while in there the heavens opened up – lucky for us we weren’t riding in it.
We then followed the forest trail to the end and on to Langdale End, Suffield and Scalby and back to Seamer. Another good ride despite it only being just under 50 miles and damp with a disappointing panini.
There were just four of us the following day, with Geoff riding my Mac as his Viper spat its dummy out, refusing to start, so I was on the green Mac. We left at 10am for 98.5 miles of riding in the Yorkshire Wolds. The weather forecast said light rain showers which turned out to be right; we had just one light shower lasting a couple of minutes.
We headed for Flixton, Hunmanby, Forden, Wold Newton, Thwing,
Burton Fleming, Rudston, Kilham, Lowthorpe, Kelk, Foston, Kilnwick, Bracken, ending up at Seaways Cafe in Fridaythorpe for lunch, where we met up with my cousin-in-law Andy Holt from York who joined us for lunch and the afternoon run on his rare and very tidy Honda CB500T.
No ice cream!
There followed a short detour into the pretty little village of Thixendale for an ice cream from the little shop run by a lovely old lady from the back of her cottage who had always welcomed us with a smile. Unfortunately, there was no longer a shop there, so no ice cream. But more importantly I wonder if the proprietor is okay. When I was here previously, she had lost her husband and was undecided whether or not to carry on.
A U-turn took us back towards
Malton and then through Burythorpe, Langton, Settrington, Duggleby, West Lutton, Winteringham, West Heslerton, Sherburn before picking up a very narrow lane over farm land for three and a half miles, before arriving at Forden and Flixton and then the
A64 for Seamer. It was yet another enjoyable day and it’s very difficult to put into words how much pleasure there is to be had riding these lovely roads in North Yorkshire on old bikes. If you’ve not done it yet, I urge you to do so.
On Thursday we opted for a route which took us on a ride of about 50 miles through the Vale of Pickering to Helmsley for lunch. We passed very close to Eden Camp, through
Great Habton, past the turn-off to Slingsby and found a lovely tea shop in Hovingham about half way there. From there it was mostly along country roads again before dropping into Helmsley – motorcycle parking in the main car park in the town centre is now £1.70 to park a motorcycle for an hour! It is free for the first 20 minutes though, so just long enough to buy a cuppa but not long enough to drink it…
After a rest and bite to eat we began the second and best leg of the ride. Leaving town, we took a left for the village of Carlton, continuing on this road for some 16 miles. On this part of the ride across the moors, playing ‘dodge the sheep’, we enjoyed superb views of Bransdale before dropping into Cockayne with Bransdale now to our right, equally as beautiful from this side. Due to a closed road, we decided to continue straight on through Low Mill and head for Church Houses and the Feversham Arms for refreshment. But it was closed! So it was on to Hutton le Hole and the Crown for a rest and drink, although I was very disappointed to find our regular ice cream shop was closed.
It’s okay, we find ice cream! Suitably refreshed we retraced our steps for a few yards before passing through Pickering and again to Thornton le Dale, where we stopped for yet another ice cream, and another look at Mathewson’s before returning to base camp, a total of 106 miles.
Friday is, of course, traditional fish and chips day, so where better to go than Whitby? It was also our last day and we wanted to end on a high. We were without Anthony who was sorting out things in his motorhome while Geoff had decided to call it a day, having had trouble with both his bike and his waterworks. That’s the waterworks in his caravan I should add. On top of his previously mentioned trouble, it had not been a good week for Geoff ’s plumbing!
In Whitby we parked up on harbour side – where motorcycles park free – and dined at the Quayside restaurant, where we had what we all agreed was an excellent lunch. The next leg of the ride took us up towards the Abbey, turning for Hawsker, Stainsacre, Sneatonthorpe, Fylingthorpe and on to Ravenscar, the town that never was. It was once planned as a resort to rival the likes of Scarborough but the scheme fell through. Luckily there was the Ravenscar Tea Rooms where we partook of afternoon tea.
Then, for the last time, it was back to the camping site, but what a cracking ride to finish off a cracking week. It was a great week in good company, riding old bikes on some absolutely superb old bike roads in God’s own county and covering just over 600 miles. Roll on next year and we’ll do it all over again. Hopefully the VMCC will be running an official event again, but if not, we will certainly return to do our own thing again.