Ride to Staveley via Beetham, Sunday 16th September 2018
/Given the driving rain at the start of the day, it was little wonder that only Matt and Neil appeared at Beaumont for the Secretary’s ride to Staveley via Beetham Garden Centre. It was decided in the circumstances to truncate the ride at Beetham and return home (where most sensible people had stayed)
This plan was blown off course by Ian and Norman turning up at Beetham (making plain their expectation to ride to Staveley) and a marked improvement in the weather (promising blue skies and balmy breezes).
Thus it was that the ‘group of 4’ headed north to Staveley via Sedgewick, The Helm (pausing to take in the stupendous panorama across Kendal to Lakeland), the precipitous descent of Meal Bank (now nicely resurfaced), and Burneside. At Wilf’s Café, lunch was taken outdoors with caps donned to avoid sunstroke.
Wheels turned in the direction of home, over the hill to Crook, along undulating lanes through the woodland to Underbarrow and Brigsteer, and through the National Trust parkland to Levens Village. From Levens, the miles passed quickly, over Heversham Moss, through Dallam Park to Silverdale, where Ian and Norman were tempted to take a mid-afternoon tea stop.
Neil and Len headed home for their afternoon teas, reflecting contentedly on fast-ish 60 miles, completed in the near-perfect conditions of an Indian Summer.
Len
Photos by Ian Wood
