Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Rides and Touring => Topic started by: Kim on 11 March, 2020, 07:41:36 pm
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http://twiteystipis.co.uk/
This one was pretty successful last year (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=112773.msg2425303#msg2425303), and there seems to be enthusiasm for a re-run. I'm unilaterally picking the weekend of the 11-13th on the basis that it's:
-Early September, when it shouldn't be too cold.
-After the schools go back, so the campsite should be reasonably enthusiastic about having us.
-Not clashing with the ALC meet or FNRttC the previous weekend.
-Not clashing with the ALC meet, FNRttC, or BHPC races the following weekend.
-Not clashing with any local audaxes.
The site has a rather good meadow-mown-into-pitches arrangement, with each pitch having room for two or three small tents (there are also glamping options). Motor vehicles are not permitted onto the meadow, with a fleet of wheelbarrows provided for carting equipment across the site. Facilities are basic but decent (notable lack of lighting in the loos, but charging sockets available in the shop). FIRE is permitted, with good quality logs available in the little shop (last year those of use who had booked online were given vouchers that could be exchanged for logs and other basics).
Location is an easy ride from Stratford-upon-Avon (which has bike-friendly local trains to Stourbridge via Middle Earth, and Leamington Spa), or a bit further from Coventry, which is on the West Coast Mainline, and Warwick which is on the Chiltern line.
The airfield opposite has an audax-approved cafe. Though the site was in peril, so may turn into a cardboard housing estate at some point?
Sainsbury's, Co-op and two pubs in Wellesbourne itself, a bike ride away.
A few busy roads, but generally a nice part of the country for a bike ride.
Who's interested?
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Pencilled in.
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Yep.
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A quick google shows that the airfield & cafe are both still in business :thumbsup:
Is this a revival of the Zombie Apocalypse camping weekend ? https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2180.msg32269#msg32269
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Ooh... this looks doable for me. And it’s my birthday that weekend :-). Family plans/commitments are all rather volatile at the moment, but colour me interested.
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A possible as both Dawn and I are shifted off that weekend :)
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You can add my name as a provisional but because of Pauline's health situation I will have to fully confirmed nearer the date. I enjoyed last years get-together and for me it is a nice ride.
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Lovely to see such a well thought through proposal. Thank you!
Pencilled in!
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Pencilled in.
Local knowledge: don’t use Warwick station with a bike. Lots of steps and no lift.
The direct road from Leamington Spa is a bit of a git by my way of thinking. It’s about 3 miles of quite nice off-road between Warwick and Leamington, and there is a laney route available from Warwick to the campsite.
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Pencilled in.
Local knowledge: don’t use Warwick station with a bike. Lots of steps and no lift.
The direct road from Leamington Spa is a bit of a git by my way of thinking. It’s about 3 miles of quite nice off-road between Warwick and Leamington, and there is a laney route available from Warwick to the campsite.
Warwick Station is OK if you're heading south, but not north.
If you do alight there, there's a pleasant Sustrans route to Wellesbourne via Hampton Lucy and Charlecote. Route 41. Although the first couple of miles isn't that pleasant until you get over the M40. A little further, past Wellesbourne, is Loxley. There is a tiny church there that looks part-Norman to me and is one I've been meaning to visit.
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You can get Chiltern to Leamington too.
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Count me out. :( A friend (once otp) announced yesterday he's getting married that Satuday. :) :D
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Same here, my niece gets married on the Saturday.
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I'll pencil it in, but it is the Knutsford Great Race that Sunday. ;)
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Twiteys campsite is opening up from this weekend. Is the September meet still a possibility?
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I think that question comes down to the balance between COVID-19 cases, government competence, and our willingness to go camping somewhere where the facilities fall a bit short of C&CC club site hygiene standards.
I'm expecting things to go distinctly pear-shaped in the next few weeks, either in the form of more lockdown restrictions or - more frighteningly - the absence thereof.
On the gripping hand, it doesn't seem worth writing this off just yet... :-\
(I'm facing a similar dilemma with the proposed BHPC race at Darley Moor at the end of August, which poses much the same issues - plenty of physical space, but very basic toilets with no hot water.)
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I shall take a watching interest but I have no expectation that travelling will be safe by then.
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Doubtful but I'll judge nearer the time. I'm probably more likely to go to somewhere like this than eg the previously planned Peak District occasion, simply because this is definitely within a distance I can ride to without taking too much time off work (well, "work"). Really don't feel like taking a train and don't think I will in September.
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Still interested. I will keep watching this thread and we will see what happens :)
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Just stumbled across this... and yes, it sounds enticing! I used to live very near Wellesbourne in Loxley so it would be good to revisit the area. It's a manageable ride from Reading so I'll put it in my calendar :thumbsup:
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" Trevor the cockerel has two new friends for company (two hens)." :thumbsup:
COVID 19 Customer Information – 27.06.20 Our Statement on COVID 19 in relation to opening, details what changes we have made and measures we are implementing regarding coronavirus, please read this it’s important.
All our glamping accommodation – Yurt, Shepherd’s Hut and Tipis is only available for hire Friday and Saturday (2 night stay). This allows us to let the accommodation stand for 72 hours before we go in and get them ready for the next guests. All our staff wear PPE whilst attending to the glamping accommodation to prevent any cross contamination. COVID 19 Customer Information – 27.06.2
We have also produced a risk assessment: Risk Assessment COVID 19
As of 09/07/2020 We regret we have now suspended day visitors to site unless pre-booked before this date. We have reduced the number of pitches by a third to reduce the number of people on site and we are getting unusually high demand for day visitors which has lead us to take this step.
I'm planning to book 2 weeks off work for September & contemplating riding here & back. Still have to see how things go.
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I am still interested but I would come without apollo this time. So I will continue to watch this thread :)
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Is there any likelihood of this going ahead under current conditions ?
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I'm not keen...
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I'm keen but wary.
On the assumption this doesn't go ahead – or even if it does – this might be a good idea for an Easter or post-Easter meet. I think most things will be clearer once we're through the winter.
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I've been checking out a few campsites I've used before in Cheshire & Shropshire. The smaller ones are closed or only accepting self contained campers, in vans. Larger ones are open, but I don't really fancy them.
Wern Isaf in Llangollen is open, but that's probably too far _on_ the beaten track. I've hardly been out of the flat this year :(
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I'm keen but wary.
On the assumption this doesn't go ahead – or even if it does – this might be a good idea for an Easter or post-Easter meet. I think most things will be clearer once we're through the winter.
That'll be after Brexshit though. The camping field will have been ploughed up for turnips to feed a starving populace, and Kevin/Trevor will have gone into the pot..
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I think it is highly unlikely that I will be there. I haven't been anywhere for ages.
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We should organise a virtual camping weekend. I can light a fire on my balcony, sit in my wobbly Helinox chair & talk bollocks to you all via Zoom or something.
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From a couple of local people in Wellesbourne (I live nearby at Stratford-upon-Avon) I've heard that Michael Twite's claims on "compliance" on the website may fall short of reality . . . . that said there are some signs at the end of the lane, near the airfield cafe, pointing to the site and saying "open"
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We should organise a virtual camping weekend. I can light a fire on my balcony, sit in my wobbly Helinox chair & talk bollocks to you all via Zoom or something.
I think Wowbagger's beaten you to it. He's so virtual, he's dematerialised and ceased to occupy physical space. ;D
I think it is highly unlikely that I will be there. I haven't been anywhere for ages.
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Thinking about it in virus terms, I'd have thought that sitting in a field must be lower risk than walking down a busy street and a lot safer than shopping in a busy, air-conditioned supermarket. Showers and toilets might be considered higher risk but again, you're unlikely to be closer than several metres to anyone – I never saw anyone there when I was at Twitey's last year – and the risk from contacting surfaces is, again, lower than in a supermarket (fewer people, easier to keep the surfaces clean, nothing frozen, nothing to be consumed). That just leaves train, if you take one to get there.
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Am I to conclude then that this is definitely not going ahead?
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We should organise a virtual camping weekend. I can light a fire on my balcony, sit in my wobbly Helinox chair & talk bollocks to you all via Zoom or something.
Well, we will be camping at a friend's "field" that weekend. 4g availability is very patchy but we could ruin your evening by zoombombing you. :)
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Is there sufficient light at the end of any tunnels that we can contemplate resurrecting this thread for 2021, do you think? I'd really like to put a tent on the back of a bike and bugger off somewhere.
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Likewise, I'm missing camping & missing friends. However just before Christmas I was doing some of that very dangerous "walking around art galleries" & somehow borked my left knee. It's not got much better & after carrying some shopping home at the weekend I'm still limping. Riding a bike hasn't been happening. I've a feeling its going to involve some form of knife work to fix, but am avoiding medical types until I've been stabbed at least once. :( Losing some weight would be a sensible idea as well.
We also have to realise that the younger members of our logical YACF family are probably not going to be offered a vaccine until later in the year (if at all) and may not want to take the risks involved with travelling. :(
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I'm not planning anything for 2021 other than the covid-secure BHPC stuff I'm committed to organising on the basis of being one of the two people who knows how the timing system works.
It's highly likely that by the time we're both fully vaccinated and I'm willing to take that level of risk, the hospital will decide[1] that it's time to hack up barakta's pelvis, leaving her in need of full-time care for a few months. Which spanners any long-term planning.
[1] She's on the orthopaedic waiting list somewhere below the people who are at imminent risk of DETH and things more serious than not being able to walk.
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I have had two phone calls in the last week from cycle-camping friends, one was Graham who some of you met at Twitey's, both are looking forward to doing some camping this year. They like me were disappointed that York Rally was cancelled and that Mildenhall looks like it is finished as a weekend rally.
For me I have now got a clean bill of health regarding my PMR and could now manage with one of my smaller tents. It would save carrying around that heavy tent I had to use when I couldn't get up and down from the floor very easily.
Keep me in mind if you plan anything.
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I'd really like to put a tent on the back of a bike and bugger off somewhere.
Yes.
Is there sufficient light at the end of any tunnels that we can contemplate resurrecting this thread for 2021, do you think?
No.