As crispey said, Hampshire and Surrey are out because they are too expensive, lack the type of accommodation needed and the roads are just too congested, especially at weekends. I looked into Dorset last year, as this would be a spectacular location but again, very busy in the summer months. There are several bunkhouses in the county but none are suitable as they are either too small, too expensive, have double rooms (I'm not sure you lot are up for actually sharing beds) or are too remote. Anyone fancy the old RN transmitter station on Portland Bill? Handy fence to keep certain inmates contained!
I recall completely different conversations, along the lines of "Look Sprinter, they call me the Iceman and I will not defrost anything untill Zero hour is that fing clear" I guess its like Total Recall, well never know what exactly happened, now will we, or will we?
No one did anything they did nt want to, except Mrs Chiari1 who was pounced on and tied to the cooker for most of the day and Andypandy ( Thank you). Any way, if you want to organise a proposal, I know, Dougie and Mr Orange will help any way they can, so sketch it in and post it theres almost a year to bring it together. The raw ingredients are simple, Roads Bunkhouse, Hotels, Shops, Parking. then add Rooster or Mr Orange or Dougie. and stir up Dozers Dad with the chuck wagon.Done. I mentioned Portsoy, just to fulfil the remit, I do think its a bit of a stretch to expect alot of southern softies to arrive this far North North, though I may be wrong.
Loads of good places and roads in the highlands and above, but too far to ride there and back for most, and I agree with them. A 1000 mile roundtrip would not appeal to me either. GMU is for as many as possible, so a relatively central position would really be ideal.
Sprinter, throw your hat into the ring with your proposal of Portsoy. Who knows you may be surprised, peeps may travel up the scenic route stopping in their preferred accommodation enroute as a few did to Dougies Scottish trip.
Bunkhouse - Essential * 15+ beds * Safe area to park bikes (away from prying eyes) * Large self catering area to feed approx 30 people (inside or out) * Local hotels, B&B's, houses to rent.(walking distance ideally) * Nice roads * Close enough to you , so that you know the roads and able to test ride for stops and fuel, etc * Happy to take large group of bikers / guys (not all are) Appealing * Centrally located (not Cornwall or Inverness) * Not too much traffic (ie lakes) * Shop & off-licence within walking distance * Petrol Station in village/town * Ability to book whole place out for us Organisers don't need to lead rides, I know some people would not like that. But there are plenty of expierenced ride leaders to do that for you. Sat-navs make that bit easy nowadays. If the being in charge bit is also scary, pass it on. I'll happily help out in any way I can from afar, and on the weekend, as I am sure this years team will too. Or the managing of stuff on the forum. I will help out with that as I did this year, tidying up threads, deleting posts etc. Feeding the masses is already in hand from our dedicated Logistics & catering team. I will run Bellingham again this year, if needed to, but ideally we can find at least 3 or more (got 2 so far) venues and then maybe rotate around them in the future? In my opinion, finding the bunkhouse is the hard part, the rest is not that difficult. I have been looking around my locallity and I am struggling to find one. Good luck. @littleade @Rooster - anything you can add?
I think you have nailed the essentials Ron. It’s very important to inspect any accommodation before it’s proposed and also to ride/Drive the Ride out routes before they are published. My experience of finding a venue was that Bunkhouses seem to be located out of town and therefor finding one that is suitable for a group our size AND within walking distance of a decent yet affordable hotel narrows your choice considerably.
Feck me I need to get my eyes tested. I wondered why all the funny looks when I mentioned Bellendjam.
I'd second the Sail Loft Bunkhouse in Portsoy. Modern, spacious, very well equipped, secure, close enough to local hotels, b&b's, chippy, pubs, sea and Co-op. Sleeps 25 at £23/£24 per night in 6 & 4-bed bunkrooms, plus triple and twin bedrooms and one single. For a few of us it would mean and overnight stay on the way up and back. I'm up for that, especially doing the East Coast roads again. But I suspect some would be put off. It's worth asking though. I will try to find time to check out the accommodation Kings Lynn way over the next few weeks or so. But all things considered, right now I'd vote with Ade for Bellingham for 2019. It ticks all the boxes. Ron's already done the hard work. And global warming virtually guarantees a rain-free summer next year. 'By The Way' bunkhouse in Tyndrum where we started our Scotland trip would be ideal too except it seems they are strict on not letting non-residents in to the bunkhouse.
Yes Jez, that one. That's why I said us Southern softies would need an overnight on the way up. I did it from Bedford to Dunkeld (Jessie Mac's) near Perth in the pissing rain. Then over the East coast roads. I'd do it again, but suspect it'd put others off the idea.
That's 583 miles and 10 hours using motorways or 659 miles and 13 hours avoiding them so an overnight stop may be needed! By contrast, Bad Bertrich is only 456 miles and 8 hours!
Must admit, very tempting, but makes France look more tempting and with the cost of extra hotels not that more expensive!
Portsoy would change the GMU from a 3 or 4 day event to more like a 6 or 7 day event. This may well change people’s view on attending? One of the attractions for me is it is a short break which leaves me with options for an international trip as well in the same year. Wessa
Yeah even I think its a non runner, for a GMU For future reference, it could be included in a Scottish Tour
Here's one to prove that the BBC weather map skews most people's idea on the size of the UK and actually how big Scotland really is !!! Portsoy from here, is the same distance as it took to Llanidloes !!! Scotland is a lot bigger than you might think. Took me a 8 hr drive to get to the ferry for Orkney from near Wick. The same as it would take me to get to Exeter !!!
Sorry, but you get to keep your own scumbags and peado's all to yourself. We send the worst of them to Peterhead. If you've never been to Peterhead, don't !!!!
