Vales of York and Pickering by tandem
August 2005

  We only planned the tour a couple of days before we actually went, we'd had the idea when we bought the new tandem a couple of weeks earlier but waited to see what the weather was doing before actually planning the trip. Consequently, it was a bit difficult to actually get any campsites booked, they were mostly full due it being the August Bank Holiday weekend, a great time for a last camping trip of the year. We set off on the Friday lunchtime, having spent the morning loading the new tandem and trailer and trying to work out how to balance all of that stuff we seemed to be indispensable. We'd managed to book a space at the Ashfield Caravan Site in Kirby Misperton. It's a nice site, good facilities and an extremeley useful pub by the entrance which made it easy to decide where to eat dinner that night. They served Adnams beer as well, which was a bonus. It was quiz night in the bar, the most fun I've had at a pub quiz for years, people where taking it all way to seriously.

  A Saturday morning stop at the Hovingham stores for extra food, we just had to have more biscuits. The St Bernard dog seemed pretty happy to just watch the world go by, and didn't seem to need any biscuits at all.

  Saturday lunch was a stop at The Durham Ox, at the top of a steep hill in Crayke. Hot and sunny weather and a planted terrace, perfect for sipping the odd glass of Brains SA or St Austell Ales. Afterwards, we had a gentle run across to Boroughbridge, stopping occasionally to take in the scenery and the local wildlife. In Boroughbridge, we paid a visit to the Spar supermarket and found a fabulous deli with some brilliant nibbles, perfect to keep us going until the evening meal. The Tiffin was particularly good.

  Onwards to the campsite at Roecliffe, just West of Boroughbridge and located behind the Crown Hotel. We went in to the bar to ask about booking in to the campsite. It was full of west riding rugby league fans watching some cup final on the television, we didn't tell them we were from East Yorkshire as Hull had just beaten their local team...The campsite was a bit basic, not the sort of place for people who get scared by things found in dark, damp corners. Great views though, and the rugby fans were friendly. They had the only portable bouncy castle I've ever seen on a campsite, which kept the kids on the site very happy for a while. The pub was crowded with people eating but we found a table and had a good meal before retiring to the bar to sample the Timothy Taylors and Hambleton beers.

Sunday was an easy ride across the Vale of York heading to Acaster Malbis on a nice sunny day. We stopped off at the pubs in both Tockwith (Boot and Shoe, Samuel Smiths beer) and Long Martson (The Sun Inn, Samuel Smiths) before reaching Moor End Farm where we camped for the night. A lovely flat site, quiet, small and with limited but very good condition facilities. The sunny evening was perfect for a walk around Acaster Malbis village and along the banks of the River Ouse, heading back past the The Ship Inn, venue for dinner later that evening and some more of the wonderful Timothy Taylors beer.

An early start the next morning saw us home before lunch after a very pleasant short tour, or long pub crawl as we think of it. The new tandem behaved well apart from a loose steering head bearing which was easily fixed when we returned home. Now we're looking forward to the next tour.

  Read the full write up as published in the Tandem Club Journal on the "Scribbles" page.

York Rally 2005	York Rally 2006

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