All ages and abilities are welcome.

Contact: Joy Weavers on 01634 222275 or 07967 493351 or e-mail joy@pilateswithjoy.co.uk

First of all could we please say a massive thank you to all the people who sponsored us at the High Halstow shop, both me and Claire have raised over £750 and the total raised by all the riders was £23,000!

So Day 1,

Was spent driving from Kent to Norfolk in our 1967 Vw camper to stay at a rider’s house his name was Andy, we had met for 10 minutes and chatted through VZI about his moped project.

We arrived in pouring rain at about half 10 with a bottle of wine and the hope of relaxing! No chance Andy and a few others were still modifying the trailer to fit all of the bikes on, so we got stuck in and finished at about 1am!

Day 2,

Woke up, with flat air bed, to an alarm at 6am, time to hit the road and collect other riders in the mini bus and get bikes loaded onto the trailer.

We stayed that night at another forum member’s house just out side of Glasgow.

Day 3

Another night with a flat air bed and up again at 6am for shower then back on road to John O’Groats, (via a camping shop for new air bed) we arrived at JOG that evening and me and Claire were reunited with our mopeds we had a quick ride around the site before we got the tent up and attended the organisational meeting at bar.

Day 3 ,

Up at 6am after a cold night in thermals, luckily most of the snow had melted but there was enough about on the hills and fields and all the locals had said if we were 3 days earlier we would have been snowed in! After photos at the JOG sign we set of in packs of 10, the first days riding totaled about 150 miles and took us to a campsite in Borlum , near Loch Ness. Spent that evening helping some other riders repair a clutch issue so had a late night.

Day 4 ,

Up early after a long night , served crossoints with jam and lots of coffee by the support crew and fuelled up ready for the 2nd days riding wich would take us through some of the best scenery in Scottland , – Glen Coe.

Then finishing up back down at the second house we stayed in on way up , we had a sit down meal in the village hall and a most welcome warm shower, but not before more bike repairs to other’s mopeds.

Day 5 ,

Long days riding today total miles = 170 finishing up in lake district;

Fairly uneventful day just pushing on through some more urban ares feeling a bit tired and wet after 3 days riding in the rain and knowing we had some serious miles to put in plus we kept getting lost as well, but it all made sense when we hit the lakes and took on Kirkstone Pass which climbs in to the clouds and had all the bikes in first gear and down to 6 mph for a long time! We made it to Ambleside after dropping down a 1;20 incline in the dark and rain! The bike went in the tent at the campsite and we got some food and some sleep feeling we had over come the most challenging day.

We were woken up at 2am with the tent in our face , it was blowing a gale and the pegs had come out plus we had put it up badly as too tired ! a bit of rallying around from a few others in the same sitaution had it sorted , but didn’t get much sleep that night

Day 6 ,

Very tired at this stage and spent a fair bit of time getting lost and confused riding through some city centers – and nearly rode on to a motorway at one stage we avoided by bumping bikes down the grass verge and riding down the cycle paths and back up to the correct junction !The campsite that night was just outside Worksop at a rugby club we had very nice sit down carvery and double servings of chocolate cake after, plus beer which was much needed.

After food I spent some time in the big army tents supplied so we could work on our bikes , Claire’s Simson had a sticky throttle cable, another rider was replacing his clutch, and I changed my oil and casually did a service whilst being smug that my old bike was giving me no cause for concern.
Had a fairly early night as we planned to be away early to get to Nottingham hospital early for a press shoot and be shown the foundations of teenage cancer ward that we were raising the money for, plus have a chat with Brad’s mum who started the charity.

Day 7 ,

Quick ride through Nottingham to meet at the pub opposite hospital so we could all ride in together;

(article of us in local paper
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/Colwi … story.html )

We rode in to the hospital as one large group and parked up.The charity had organised a few people to come down and say thank you and talk about the benefits of the teenage cancer ward to patients, including one of the hospitals cancer patients and I must admit it got a bit emotional when Brad’s mum told us we had raised £23,000 between us (target was £10,000).

It was also the lift we needed after a few rough days with little sleep and frayed tempers.We left focused and determined. That night we ended up at the Tunnel House near Cirencester, after riding down the Fosse way.

Had another sit down meal in pub few beers and my first shower since John’s house!

Day 8 ,

We ended up leaving at about 10am as one of our group was having trouble with his bike, sadly we didn’t have time to get it right and had to leave so that was him out. Both me and Claire were looking forward to today as we planned to pass through Bath town centre and stop for a few snaps, very interesting town I would love to come back and explore properly but we had to push on.
Next stop was Glastonbury we made a detour as a few of the group had never visited and it seemed a shame to ride past and the sun had come out, so we wheeled the bikes in to town centre for a few photos.

It was getting a bit late so we decided to push on to Dartmoor and our camping stop the fox and hounds pub which had camping out back.

Had a few beers and went to bed feeling a bit sad knowing it was last days riding tomorrow.

Day 9,

So last day riding, another rider in the group had issues with his rear brake locking up so he stripped and sorted that as it had nearly caused him to crash just before the campsite!
I know Cornwall well as my mum lives in Wadebridge, the offical route was A303, I planned in some scenic detours and a road with a ‘welcome to Cornwall’ sign this way our group could see some of Dartmoor and have a photo at the sign.

The last few miles crept up on us and before we knew it we where 10 miles from Lands End, as we rode in we had a big welcome from a large crowd and spent along time taking photos and talking to the other groups and cheering them as they arrived.

That weekend was spent at a local show ground that the Charity had hired for us so we could relax and unwind and let it all sink in before heading off back home.

Please come along and support both the quiz team and the efforts of the Village Hall committee. If you haven’t had an opportunity to view what has been done so far in the hall, now is your chance. If you do not normally attend quiz nights but would like to join in on the quizathon please give me a ring on 244203 or speak to Lesley Munday or John Pink.

Margaret Church

A wave of unanimous protest, indignation and anger spread across the peninsula into the surrounding towns of Medway, Gravesend, Sheerness and beyond. Such was the feeling here that detractors could almost have been considered traitors! One local building society had investors withdrawing their life savings because its Managing Director was in favour of an airport.

Today we are all ten years older and seemingly ten years wiser. Between December 2004, when Alistair Darling (the then Secretary of State for Transport) ruled out the Cliffe option and the intervention of Boris Johnson in 2008 with his proposals for an Estuary Airport, opinions have developed on all levels.

Some who were on the periphery of the debate in 2003 are now talking knowledgeably of climate change and the effect of aviation on the UK’s carbon targets. Others are experiencing the frustration of blight and uncertainty, fearing for the future; a few just want to get out. Many have joined the RSPB as volunteers on its reserves.

George Osborne’s talk of jobs and the economy has compounded the issue. There has been a fleeting perception that an airport built in the Thames Estuary will bring the panacea of immediate prosperity. That is, until the realisation of the full implications of how far into the future the project would be, and what everyday life would be like here over the next 30 years while new roads, railways, houses, factories and head quarters are built. In fact comparable to what it was like living close to Heathrow while it was developed.

Most people now, thankfully, understand how precious the Thames Estuary is and the importance of the international biodiversity protection afforded to it by the European Union.
Prior to the release of the review into the Habitats and Wild Birds directives, Government ministers never publicly acknowledged their role or their importance for the Thames Estuary. When Caroline Spelman (Sec of State for the Environment) spelt out in the introduction of her review that Government was keen to make the directives simpler for developers to understand, we breathed a sigh of relief. Now we can argue in the knowledge that MPs are aware of these precious places and that the directives are not gold plated nor stand in the way of progress, as the Chancellor indicated.

Despite the review, an Estuary option is still under consideration and will undoubtedly be in the upcoming consultation. We have hit the ground running this time round and have a far wider spectrum of organised support, with powerful, passionate and articulate opposition. Populations and Councils all around the Estuary are becoming more aware of the implications of an airport on their doorstep. And they are saying NO!

George Crozer is founder member of the Friends of the North Kent Marshes, http://www.northkentmarshes.org.uk/ and Parish Councillor of High Halstow, at the centre of the Hoo Peninsula, one of many villages under threat from airport proposals on the Isle of Grain
The Greater Thames Marshes area has now become a Defra Nature Improvement Area.
http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/?p=1327

Article first published in Airport Bulletin For March 2012

If the airport is built here the price of my house will fall through the floor ! ….. Generations of our family have lived and worked here for years, our great grandparents are buried in the local Church. Moving away will mean breaking the family apart, changing doctors, losing friends, my children will have to move school I will have to find a new job! …. I don’t know If I can cope?? All of this and everyone is shouting save the birds, save the birds, what about the people don’t we matter?? Please click here to read more March 2012