Event
Report
The
2008 Lakeland Weekender
Report
by Dave Simpson
We
all met up at Leyburn on the Saturday afternoon with very mixed weather,
which resulted in those roadster types having roofs erected. The route
compiled by Bry at terrific expense took us up Wenslydale to Hawes and then
on over the tops to Sedburgh and Shap. Crossing over the moor we encountered
heavy rainstorms, which eventually disappeared and produced brighter
weather, thankfully. As we had all set off together surprisingly we stayed
pretty much together which helped when an unplanned thirst developed among
the leader and everyone was able to pull in to the same hostelry for
refreshment. Well done Steve.
Feeling refreshed and
able to continue it was back into the cars and onward via narrow roads until
we
arrived intact at the Brackenridge country Inn 2 miles
from
Pooley
Bridge
. This was a very nice inn with stunning views over
Lake
Ullswater
, unfortunately the service from the kitchen wasn’t up to the same
standard as the scenery.
After settling into rooms and a visit to the bar dinner
was ordered and then it all went pie shaped. Unfortunately it seemed the
kitchen couldn’t match our expectations of a passable meal, which resulted
in a peaceful protest being made to management. The service to the tables
was of a dubious nature
as well. Here we will draw a veil over the remainder of the evening meal and
return to the bar where considerable quantities of ale & wine was
consumed until closing was called at what we considered an unreasonably
early hour and it seemed that beer was in short supply by this time, so it
was probably just as well.
Most
of the troops departed to the outside seating area to have last drinks and
falls of soot as the night was now quite fine and some of the ladies
produced a mini picnic from somewhere.
Morning
dawned fine and promised an improvement on the previous days weather,
however it seemed that the outlook in the kitchen hadn’t improved to much
as it took a very long time to serve breakfast in some cases over an hour
from taking the orders. It would appear to me that this establishment had
some staffing problems. Negotiations were made over the bill and reductions
accepted which took longer than expected so it was quite late when we left,
I suspect with a sigh of relief from the hard pressed manageress.
A
trip into Pooley Bridge to board the steamer for a trip down the lake drew a
blank as regards parking nine cars in the same car park, parking one car can
be a problem in the lakes sometimes, so a decision was made to drive along
the lake to the next steamer landing spot which was along narrow roads where
again parking was restricted owing to lack of space, however enough space
was found by the side of the lake on waste ground or so we thought.
Happily
departing on the boat with not a care in the world we spent a pleasant hour
or so before boarding the return boat. However halfway along the lake the
very nice man that was driving the boat asked over the public address system
if there was any M G owners on board as some idiots had parked a load of
cars on the only turn round spot for coaches on that side of the lake and
also the only access point to the water for boat minded people. At this
stage I fastened my jacket so the club logo on my polo shirt was concealed
and sent Bry to own up as he is bigger than me and a better talker.
On
return to the cars it was a case of keep your head down, into the car and
rev up quickly while avoiding hostile glares from the crew on the two large
tour coaches which were stuck in the lane also the guys that had been diving
in the lake and were trying to get their boat out if the water, squeeze past
the coaches and clear off quickly. I think it would be fair to say they were
not best pleased. We made a lunch stop near Penrith and home. All in all a
good weekend full of laughs as usual and some incident just to keep it
interesting, I don’t think we will be visiting the aforementioned hotel
again however, but it didn’t really spoil the event too much and I think
everyone enjoyed it, which is the prime purpose, thanks to the route
organiser and Steve who did the accommodation.
|