Events 2014
Watch this space!
6th April: "The Mary Rose Museum Portsmouth" with John & Jackie
Single Attraction Adult £17.00
Senior (60+) £16.00
(Ticket for one year to that attraction)
If you wish to visit all 6 attractions the adult ticket is £26.00
Depart 9am from the Orchard Cafe, West Grinstead, RH13 8LU (A272).
Tour of Leicestershire & Rutland hotel weekend. 25th – 27th April
Friday 25th: Arrive at Hotel: Premier Inn Market Harborough. Please contact Deb Morris for details of group run from Thurrock to Hotel.
Saturday 26th April. This 160 mile scenic ride through the “rural heart of England” will include:
Flowing roads
A chance to see the outside of the Triumph Motorcycle factory
Views of Rutland Water and 4 other smaller reservoirs.
Ride through the Charnwood National Forrest
Lunch at Stonehurst Farm with free access to the small motor museum
Views of the impressive Harringworth viaduct
Coffee & cake stop at a nice garden centre to break up the afternoon ride
A group meal on the Saturday Evening in the pub next to the hotel
Please make your own hotel booking and email me when you have to confirm your attendance. Some people are considering riding up to the hotel early on the Saturday morning to begin the group ride after some breakfast in the hotel. Please let me know if you plan do this. You can contact me at bodylinks@hotmail.co.uk .
Ride format. Participants will be emailed Garmin map source routes to load into your Garmin sat nav. Some people will follow my main group and some will prefer to ride in their own small groups. If my main group is fairly large we will use “drop off” system to help keep the pack together. Any more info please call me on 07828471867
Best wishes, Andrew Ayriss
Museum of Army Flying with Shaun
Museum of Army Flying.
Middle Wallop
Stockbridge
SO20 8DY
Leaving Godstone Duckpond 9.30am. Using A272 via Winchester and Stockbridge.
Admission £9. Snr £7.50.
Displaying over 35 historic fixed & rotary wing aircraft spanning over 100 years.
The café looks pretty good too.
www.armyflying.com
23 May: Weekend in Honfleur with Chris & Angela
A Weekend in Honfleur
Friday May 23rd to Monday 26th 2014
its the 2nd bank holiday in May
Depart Eurotunnel 09.06 book in about 08.15ish (that's AM)
Main roads down to le Treport and coast road to Honfleur.
Crossing the river Seine by ferry if I can find it.
3 nights stay in Campanile Honfleur or another hotel of your choice
Saturday discover Honfleur on foot or on Bike it's up to you.
Its about 25 minutes on foot from the Campanile
Sunday a visit to Monet's place
You can book on line to save queuing.
Monday depart Honfleur for Eurotunnel at 18.06 ( french time)
Possible stop in Dieppe or Le Touquet on the way back.
Prices Eurotunnel about £50.00 return
3 nights Campanile £187.00
Hotel Address: Campanile Honfleur
96 rue Saint Clair
14600 Honfleur
My booking was made through Bookings.com
Contact Chris on 01634 251 299
HAWKINGE WWII MUSEUM - RUN 8th JUNE
Hawkinge airfield was the nearest RAF station to enemy occupied France. It was only 10 minutes flying time away from the Luftwaffe fighter airfields in the Pas-de-Calais. The airfield and surrounding area were subjected to cross-channel shelling and the Folkstone area was known as “Hellfire Corner”. The museum is totally self-supporting and is run by eight enthusiasts and volunteers.
STOKE BRUERNE NARROW BOAT FESTIVAL – RUN 15TH JUNE
Stoke Bruerne is approx 10 miles north of Milton Keynes and is a small very pretty village set alongside the Grand Union Canal. The Canal Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and is housed in a historic corn mill situated in the heart of the village. Stoke Bruerne has all the features of a living canal village, Blissworth Tunnel, historic locks and bridges, a weighing machine, a winding hole and not forgetting two traditional canal pubs which were built in 1807 and 1822. Majority of the homes and buildings in village have been there for approximately 200 years. The village has changed very little since the heyday of Britain’s canals which was the early to mid 1800’s.
SOUTH EAST SECTION BBQ AT MATTY’S SATURDAY 21ST JUNE 2014
FORT NELSON, FAREHAM, HAMPSHIRE – RUN 13TH JULY
Fort Nelson is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and is home of the Royal Armouries National Artillery Collection. Admission is free. Fort Nelson is one of five defensive forts Palmerston had built on the summit of Portsdown Hill in the 1860’s overlooking the important naval base of Portsmouth.
The threat was not simply a direct naval assault it was feared that a French invasion force might land elsewhere, occupy Portsdown Hill and use their new long range guns to attack Portsmouth from inland. The French, however, did not invade as by the time the Palmerston Forts were completed France had been humiliated by the war with Prussia in 1870. Never used against invaders, the forts dominating the chalk ridge of Portsdown were soon called “Palmerston’s Follies”.
BLETCHLEY PARK – RUN 20TH JULY
Bletchley Park was probably Britain’s best kept secret. The secrecy surrounding all the activities carried on there during WWII was of vital importance to our national security and ultimate victory. Members of the Government Code & Cypher School together with members of M16 first arrived at Bletchley Park under the guise of “Captain Ridley’s Shooting Party” late August 1938 to see if it was a suitable location for intelligence activity! They returned September 1939. Bletchley Park heralded the birth of the information age by using machines to aid the code breaking process such as the Turing/Welchman Bombe and the world’s first electronic computer Colossus.
The Poles had broken the Enigma in 1932 when the encoding machine was undergoing trials and the cipher was changed once every few months. With the advent of war it changed at least once a day. The Poles informed the British in July 1939 when they needed help to break Enigma with the invasion of Poland imminent. The first operational break into Enigma came on 23rd January 1940.
On the 20th July Bletchley Park will be presenting “The Real Women of Bletchley Park”. Highlighting four women’s diverse roles within the Government Code & Cypher School during WWII and shows a rare insight into the inner workings of this top secret organisation.
Admission is adult £15.00 and concessions £13.00.
Birthday BBQ 27 July
STOW MARIES WW1 AERODROME, (ESSEX!) – RUN 10TH AUGUST
Stow Maries Aerodrome set in rural Essex is Europe’s only remaining unaltered Great War Aerodrome. It is a “work in progress” the aim is to bring the site back to its 1918 appearance. Admission is adult £4.00 and concessions £3.00. The need for an aerodrome at Stow Maries was in response to the German Zeppelin airship and Gotha fixed wing bomber attacks on the British mainland. The first aircraft arrived at the new aerodrome in September 1916 being the 37 Home Defence Squadron, Royal Flying Corps. The squadron was charged with the eastern aerial defence of London. The first operational flight took place on the night of 23rd/24th May 1917.
Accommodation in the early days consisted of wooden huts and tents. The buildings now present are later additions when the possibility still existed of the aerodrome being made permanent. The building was due to be completed by December 1918. As we know the war ended in November meaning that some of the buildings were never completed. In March 1919 37 Squadron moved to Biggin Hill in Kent and the site returned to agriculture. The only time an aircraft returned was in 1940 when a 242 Squadron Hurricane made an emergency landing due to damage sustained in combat.
POPHAM MOTORCYCLE MEGA MEET, POPHAM - RUN 17TH AUGUST
Motorcycle Mega Meet is an annual event that is held at Popham Airfield in Hampshire. The airfield lies southwest of Basingstoke, just off the A303 and boasts two grass runways. The airfield is open daily and welcomes all visitors. It is “biker friendly” and the cafeteria is an oasis for bikers in need of a beverage.
Popham Airfield is home to the Spitfire Flying Club. The club name is retained in memory of Charles Church who owned several Spitfires and whose family still owns the airfield today. The airfield is home to approximately 100 aircraft ranging from Micolights to Russian fighter trainers.
Harvest Supper 6th September
LUNCH IN MONTREUIL, FRANCE – RUN 14TH SEPTEMBER
Montreuil is a charming walled town with its beautiful old houses and churches, its imposing ramparts and cobbled streets. It has Roman origins when the sea ran up the Canche Estuary as far as Montreuil. The first ramparts were built in the 9th century by the Count of Ponthieu and in the 10th century Montreuil rose to importance as the main sea port of the Capetiens. Montreuil was famous for its cloth industry from the 11th to 13th centuries. The eight churches attracted pilgrims from far and wide due to the relics of saints they held. The royal castle was built in 1186, only two towers remain today. As the estuary silted up the port died. Sadly, Montreuil emerged from the Hundred Years War in ruins. The town succumbed to the plague in 1596.
Montreuil was the Headquarters of the British Army during the First World War. General Haig was quartered in the nearby Chateau de Beaurepaire. He commanded the British Expeditionary Force from 1915 to the end of the war. A statue commemorating his stay can be seen outside the theatre on the Place Charles de Gaulle. During the Second World War the statue was removed. It was never found and it is thought to have been melted down. It was rebuilt in the 1950’s using the sculptor’s original mould.
Club Photo Competition 17th September
Rother Valley Camping 18th - 22 Sept
COPDOCK CLASSIC MOTORCYCLE SHOW – RUN 5TH OCTOBER
This year is the 23rd Copdock Classic Motorcycle Show which is now considered by many as East Anglia’s premier motorcycle show. It is being held at Trinity Park, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, IP3 8UH (sign posted from the A14). Admission is £10.00.
The Copdock Classic Motorcycle Club started in early 1992 it is run by “enthusiasts for enthusiasts” and does not have any members other than the committee which stands at 16. The purpose of the Club is to stage this annual show and organise motorcycle “fun runs”. To actually run these events the committee rely heavily on volunteer helpers (family/friends/local residents) and other organisations. The system works well and the events have been very successful, they average 8,000 visitors to the show and the “fun runs” are very popular. The funds generated are distributed to local charities and other worthy causes.
THE TANK MUSEUM AT BOVINGTON CAMP & WEYMOUTH BEACH RACES WEEKEND 11TH – 13TH OCTOBER
The Tank Museum (previously Bovington Tank Museum) is a collection of armoured fighting vehicles at Bovington Camp in Dorset near the village of Wool and 12 miles from Poole. The Tank Museum is the museum of the Royal Tank Regiment and Royal Armoured Corps. The Tank was a British invention that changed warfare for ever when it was introduced in WWI - Bovington has been home to the Tank ever since.
There are five very interesting exhibitions that tell the story of armoured warfare from WW1 to present day. “Warhorse to Horsepower” (the rise of the Tank) – “The Tank Story” (from 1915 to present day) – “Battle Group Afghanistan” (Royal Armoured Corps experiences in Afghanistan) – “The Trench Experience” (France 1916 – the birth of the Tank) – “The Discovery Centre” (collection of 300 Tanks approx. 200 on display).
The Weymouth Lions Beach Motocross.
This national motorcross event attracts over 250 top male and female riders (last year was a record number of 281) from all over the country. Free to spectators who can enjoy the thrills and spills of the high quality and enthusiastic riders. The sands of Weymouth are dramatically transformed into a 1 mile course of bomb holes, dare-devil jumps and sharp chicanes.