A VERY GOOD HOLIDAY 29th July 2005

They were the best holidays I’ve ever had. The Foot and Mouth epidemic brought them to an end. But for the ten years or more before then we went every year at Whitsun. They were so easy, convenient and cheap to go on. All we did was to turn up at Moorclose Sports Centre in Workington on a Friday evening with our bikes already packed in a bike bag or large plastic sack, put them on the side of the coach where the seats had been removed, put our camping equipment in the luggage compartments underneath the coach, say our goodbyes to our friends who had transported us to Moorclose, and set off to a campsite in France, arriving there late Saturday afternoon --- shopping for our provisions at a convenient supermarket as we got near.

Over the years we went to campsites from Brittany, Luxenburg and the Loire, to the Lot and the Tarn in the south of the Central Massif. The campsites were delightful, usually on the banks of a river (since the holidays had initially been started by members of the West Cumbria Canoe Club), and the cycling abounded in lovely quiet small country roads where all the villages had cafés to slake our thirst. In the mornings the fittest would make a dash to the nearest boulangerie for our fresh croissants, we would have a leisurely breakfast sitting in our chairs outside our tents, and then we’d wander amongst our friends deciding on where to go that day and who with. Each party would arrive back late afternoon telling their tales to other parties, have showers and decide how to spend the evenings, often in a nearby café recounting past cycling adventures and exploits.

The comradeship amongst us all very strong and most enjoyable, from the three delightful lasses from Penrith (I wonder where they are now !) to stalwarts that many of you will know, such as Jeff Royall, and Steve and Irene Lunt; ages ranged from toddlers to OAPs. The organisers were Marilyn Pickthall and Trevor Monk----but we all ‘mucked in’ in packing and unpacking the coach, bike rescue and repairs, leading rides, etc. We would set off back home on Saturday morning, dropping off members near their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning who would then come to a central point later that day to collect their bikes and camping equipment.

What delightful holidays !. The question is would you be interested in coming on one next year?. The cost was around £140 per person at that time, which covered the coach travel to and from the campsite and a mid-week excursion to a nearby city of interest, as well as the campsite fees. If you are, then would you please contact me,

We need a couple of dozen or so to make the holiday viable, so please give it serious thought for a holiday next year, but let me know ‘sooner-rather than-later’ about your intentions since, firstly, we have to decide if there’s enough interest for the idea to go ahead, and secondly, if there is, we have to begin the arrangements to decide the date, book the coach and choose where we are going. At the moment it could be the southern coast of Brittany during Whit Week. So don’t procrastinate in the expectation that you can always ‘jump-on-the-bandwagon’ as the time gets nearer. Without a sufficient number expressing a definite interest in the next few months, the idea will have to be dropped !. I look forward to hearing from you.

CLEM OXBY, 6 HOLT PARK GREEN, LEEDS LS16 7RE

clemoxby@hotmail.com 0113 267 5489