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Mark Swindells Club Magazine & Website Editor

AUTUMN SHADES 2008

On the last day of October (All Souls Day / Halloween) one of those weather girls forecast a lousy weekend with persistent rain coming in from the south-east to cover half the country. The south-east was exactly where I was going but at eight o'clock on the Saturday morning things did not look too bad - indeed it looked quite bright to the west. So I set off avoiding main roads as usual with my Cruiser 80 chugging along nicely on half throttle. Through Coddenham and on to Lavenham both looking good in the morning light and the autumn colours seemed even richer than normal as I buzzed through the countryside. Trying to skirt around Sudbury I got confused and ended up in the middle of that small town but it was a bonus to see it and to find the Shell station for a bit of a top up. Still confused I took the wrong turn and there I was back in town again. Anyway half an hour later I was back on course heading for Dunmow and on through the Rodings to Chipping Ongar and Brentwood. The forecast rain was beginning to catch me but it was still only light. At Tilbury I caught the ferry (the Duchess M takes one or two motorcycles as well as foot passengers) and was surprised to find twenty three witches and one wizard on board - they were bound for a night out in Gravesend but umbrellas would have been more appropriate than broomsticks because by now it was "chucking it down" The last few miles to Rochester were difficult because of the heavy rain, the fading light and my backroads route. But I arrived safe and sound and not very wet at John Butler's house

A Barnett on the Ho!

No, not Plymouth Ho, but the AJS and Matchless Owners Club's annual Charity Night Reliability Run 'The Westward Ho!' This was the fifteenth time the event has been run by the Newbury Section, but its origins go back to 1929 when it was run by the then Newbury and District Motor and Motorcycle Club. WW2 put a stop to it and it was not resurrected until the son of one of the originators discovered an old copy of the 1937 route among his father's papers.
The current format is that all machines taking part have to have been manufactured before 1984 and can be of any marque. Riders set off in pairs at one minute intervals, starting at midnight, from a local hostelry and make their way by a very devious route to arrive eventually, at Lynmouth in Devon about 7.30 in the morning. Riders receive the route ten days before the event, so they can plan ahead to work out their average speed and timing. There are twelve checkpoints on the route, the positions of which are not disclosed to the rider. It really is a test of man and machine!
This year, to my delight, Ken Goodwin from Old Basing entered on his 1952 Model 58 Falcon, which he had purchased at the Popham Megameet in 2008.