A fine warm morning and 6 riders left Broughton to meet Peter at Slyne with Hest. There we met Peter and Colin and after a short break the 8 riders set off.
After a mile or two we had to detour to avoid the closed roads due to the new Morecambe link road but soon ended up on a lovely quiet and scenic road out of Halton towards Arkholme and on to Kirkby Lonsdale.
At KL we pulled into the central car park for a rest break and chatted to the usual curious ex bikers!
A very quaint and old town it is too with its central rest area and what looks like a row of weavers cottages alongside the square with attic rooms for the looms.
15 minutes later off we go towards Kendal but the group almost got broken into pieces as we negotiated people, crossings, buses and steep hills in the busy town. At last we all collected together and headed out via Old Town to Middleshaw ,Oxenholme and Kendal. Out of Kendal we took the Underbarrow road that took us over the hills where we caught beautiful views of Lake Windermere glistening below us and down to Newby Bridge.
A short trip along the A road to Barrow and then left into the countryside again to Cartmel where they were setting up for horse racing with marquees and barriers to feed and control the racegoers. Peter took us down a little lane alongside a river by the church for a perfect parking spot and most decamped into the bustling town for a beer and sandwiches. Well the beer was OK but at £7:50 the sandwiches were avoided! As we reorganised to depart a family of ducks and little ducklings came down the river and made for an idyllic river scene ducking and diving in the crystal clear water.
From Cartmel we drove round the back of the golf course and on to Grange Over Sands where we joined the A590 road again and headed back towards Levens. At Levens we travelled down the A6 to Milnthorpe where we turned left to take the scenic route though Holme, Burton in Kendal and the Kellets back to Peter’s house in Morecambe. Just as we arrived at the A6 Colin started having clutch trouble and rather than risk losing it altogether in Morecambe he decided to go straight back home, which he managed without further problems. The remaining 7 carried on to Peter’s house and enjoyed a lovely afternoon Barbeque in the marquee on the lawn with his family and Grandchildren.
Peter and Jane had put a lot of effort into this BBQ with home made burgers and onion relish followed by strawberry fool deserts with rhubarb.
At about 5pm with the sky turning a little darker we set off home via Caton and Quernmore. Richard left at Quernmore for a quick visit to his son ‘s place but didn’t stop as the sky was threatening and by the time Bay Horse was reached, waterproofs were needed. A wet ride home from there but it didn’t matter as I am sure we all had a lovely day.
Many thanks to Peter for the organisation and to his family members for the great BBQ.