Words by Pete , Photos by Simon & Pete
Crew : Pete, Simon, Paul, Troll , Smiffy , Butty
In the Rub a Dub Dub (OKH) : Dunc & Lee
Conditions : Blowy, cold and damp. Low cloud in the forest
Notes :
5:59pm I am at the Zag rendezvous. No f**ker about & a WhatsApp group chock full of excuses and lateness nonsense.
Heading for the Leathers seems like my best plan
Coalpit lane nearly takes me out . Nearly lost my front wheel on a rapid descent. Mud & gravel all over it .
The Troll, Paul & Simon encountered as I reach Langley .
Faffing with Paul’s rear calliper ( need photos from Simon) . The problem was a missing brake pads retaining bolt . 15 minutes of good intentions & bush engineering attempts & searching our bags for something to improvise holding the pads in . Apart from Phil, who had forgotten to bring his rucksack ?(in a gen Z style) .
We ended up trying out key rings and zip ties – Quite laughable in retrospect .
We retire to The Shrubberies and get to see the inside of part of the new garage . Replete with bathroom & shower & kitchen sink . It could make a fine Air BNB !
A small piece of garden wire to the rescue to hold those pads in .
We get going again about 7 pm . Encountering Smiffy & Butty on the winch up past the Leathers. Paul has a tipple in his rucksack, and a plan to sample it at the Narnia bench.
As we get to Witches’s cottage there is a minor debate about how we get to the bench , with the E-boys favouring a gratuitous ascent to charity and then dropping into Narnia from above. Its getting more cloudy, damp & cold so we end up climbing directly up the Narnia steps , with Troll & Me pushing up.
The whisky Mac is very very welcome , and makes for a relaxed descent . Paul gets a phone call – the delivery truck with his Oak skirting board has finally arrived in Langley , a little later than the 3pm-6pm window originally promised. Unfortunately the driver has overshot the shrubberies . So Paul makes a quick descent to find the lost delivery , with the rest of us following but heading for the Old Kings Head .
The OKH is warm and friendly , the service is very good. Inception (from Beartown 4.4%) is the beer of choice. I can personally recommend the Gammon . Our ranks are swelled with the arrival of Dunc & Lee .
There was a minor AOE for a select few .
For Butty & I , our journey home northwards got a little complicated …
“Just home in Upper Bollingtonia after a circuitous journey home involving a blocked off canal towpath. Three rings none the less . An excellent evening, despite a number of mishaps ?”