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Roy Bourne Run to the Shuttleworth Collection
The Shuttleworth collection of old and very early aircraft is
housed at Old Warden near Biggleswade in Bedfordshire. This was our
destination on Sunday, May 17th when some of the VOC Coventry section met at Jack's Hill Cafe on the
A5 near Towcester. The weather wasn't too kind to us with rain falling as
two Vincent twins, one Comet, a Ducati and a BMW set off from the cafe.
Alan Britain was there on his "B" twin to wave us off before going
into the cafe for a no doubt welcome hot drink. I was leading having asked my GPS to take
us on a hopefully varied and interesting route. As the rain grew heavier I decided to just
stick to the A5 until conditions hopefully got better. Eventually I
stopped as not only could I no longer see the GPS screen due to water and
condensation but while trying to clear things I had managed to turn off the
audible instructions! Blind and deaf is not a good combination.
Dave
had a bit of a route written down on a piece of paper that hadn't yet dissolved
so he led us off the A5 to Woburn and as conditions improved we reached the
charming thatched cottage village of Old Warden. The local Norton Owners
section had arranged a meeting at the airfield. A couple of Norton machines had
arrived so we parked next to them before heading for the restaurant for food and
drink. Refreshed and replenished we left the restaurant noting that three
old planes had been brought out onto the grass to enjoy the sun that had now
arrived. A tour of the hangers revealed some very interesting aircraft and
there was also a small collection of old motor cycles and cars. Sunday
wasn't designated as a "flying day" but as I came out of the hangers
the three previously mentioned aircraft took off and disappeared into the
distance.
We sat at the picnic tables chatting for a while and John T showed us his
written route. Amazing how far ink writing will run when it gets
wet! We had a vote on whether to have more tea or head for home.
Home won the vote with Dave leading the way and managing to avoid most larger
towns.
It was not the best of days for riding but when I got home I felt satisfied that
I had had a good day on the bike in the good company of an active section with
some active members. Eddy
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