Our section covers the area of Shrewsbury, the Welsh Marches and east towards Staffordshire. We meet on the last Thursday of the month at 8.00 pm at the Corbet Arms, Church Road, Uffington, Shrewsbury, SY4 4SN.
Our new section leader is John Burgess who took on the position when long-serving leader David Flye stepped down. For information on our future plans please contact John on 01270 211126 or e-mail burgessrepairservices@gmail.com.
Smoke on the Water 2019 by David Eyre.
The day started with some confusion: matching the number of names to the number of bikes proved challenging, but eventually a measure of order was imposed, and we set off with Ken leading. Any reference to herding cats would be unkind.
The first stop was Moreton Corbet Castle, known to the Buzz’Ardsfor its overly dry and nitrogen deficient hedgerow, and also for views of folly and ruins that can be appreciated while minor mechanical issues are resolved. This is rapidly becoming a spectator sport, where repairs have to be completed in less time than it takes to eat a sandwich.
The second leg to Whixall Marina was largely without drama, the exception being the Raleigh / Norman chimera, which spent a short time sulking. Running order appeared to be restored by removing various covers and panels and carrying them separately – it seems likely that the problematic pressed steel parts will be replaced with more appropriate plywood for the next run.
We all finally made it to the Marina, which is not yet a designated ULEZ but does have rules requiring users to not foul the water – we interpreted this as ‘Don’t fall in’ with overtones of ‘Please park downwind of the café’. Lunch was enjoyable, sitting at tables marked “Reserved for MotorPeds”. This compound noun was new to everyone, and became an alternative subject for discussion to cholesterol and calories. The eventual conclusion was that we can live with evolving language if the bacon butties and cake are good enough.
The return run proved straightforward : dry weather, no-one got (very)lost and no-one admitted to any mechanical issues. Bits falling off the Bown (moped) don’t count as they were not missed until after the run, and anyway were picked up later in the day.
Older news from the Buzz’ards
The Buzz’ards “Wing & A Prayer” Run to Sleap Airfield is one of our annual events; this report by David Eyre was published in the August 2015 issue of Buzzing.
A predictable group of riders were signed on and waved off by Section Leader David Flye together with Bob Parry, with cheery predictions of good weather in spite of the forecast and the somewhat cool experience of previous years. At 4.2 miles we found a clear need for a new route sheet symbol, because the current ones are not representative of our exploratory forays down all available roads. Eventually the steering committee (Ken) decided that the route sheet was right and our collective memory was wrong, and we made good progress to the preferred (and previously nitrogen deficient) hedgerow at Moreton Corbet Castle (NT) where four NACC members were given odd looks by people in short trousers.
The second leg was without incident other than John discovering that his machine was fitted with the Francis-Barnett Self-Closing Petrol Tap, an early safety device that prevents muscle cramp and fatigue by encouraging the rider to stop for a short break periodically.
The approach to Sleap Aerodrome was marked the sudden loud exhaust sounds – the immediate assumption of a broken silencer was proved wrong when a yellow Piper Cub passed overhead (between us?) doing things that can only be described as ‘not in the user manual’. When we arrived, the car park was full: Shropshire Aero Club were hosting a 2 day aerobatic competition with a good number of spectators. Fortunately there was a barbecue for SAC members so the café in the control tower was under less pressure than we feared, and was able to feed us. The usual Salad vs. Chips debate was abandoned in favour of speculation regarding the meaning of aircraft registrations: MUKY we understood in spite of the spelling, but surely OGGY is some sort of pasty? Eventually our thoughts turned to other things, and a visit to the WARG museum was deferred in favour of eating cake (thanks Ian) to the point where the café ran out of carrot cake.