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A Good Start To Heading Saaaf
Ride Date 5 July 2025
By Ren Withnell
I, the king of rushing, am happy to accept a lazy start to the day. We've got around 130 - 140 miles to cover today and we don't want to be at the campsite by lunchtime do we. It feels peculiar to not be hassling Sharon while I start flapping as is my way. I know, I'll double double check the bikes and see what I can worry about there. Sharon's confused too I suspect because I'm not hassling her.
Aaaah the CB500X all loaded and ready to go. It is a thing of beauty...
It is dry and mild this morning. I pull the bikes out of Sharon's shed and check them over. I get mine loaded up. As Sharon starts to load her bike the skies are looking heavier. By 1100 we're about to don our riding gear as the first rain drops appear. Gosh darn it! Actually this is a good thing - it's annoying setting off and having to stop soon after to put your waterproofs on, we can put them on now.
An easy and familiar stretch of motorway leads us to Holmes Chapel, then I'm following sat-nav set to avoid motorways. The rain is intermittent and light making for a satisfying ride through Leek into Ashbourne. It's not long since we stayed in Ashbourne and I smile at my memories, it was a good break that.
I stop to consult sat-nav, to see if there's a cafe nearby. I don't want to park up and leave the bikes fully laden in Ashbourne, then I spot "The Chequered Flag" cafe just south of here. There's motorcycles pictured there, that'll be the place for us then. It's only 3 miles away, perfect.
This, well this feels like a race track? By golly it is! Darley Moor is a circuit, very much a local circuit as I'm not seeing stands or pay booths. There are quite a number of folks here, many of them camping, while at the cafe a handful of riders are drinking, eating and chatting. It transpires today's racing consists of scout groups racing pedal powered go-karts they have built themselves. I figure it'll be the scouts camping too.
"Cuppa tea sweetie?" Darley Moor is a lucky find.
We order a brew a-piece and some cheesy chips to share. As it's dry we sit outside, nattering to a couple of the bikers as lots of teenagers come and go. They're young and vibrant, pushing each other about and joking loudly, yet I find their behaviour perfectly fine and they're polite to us with a hello from the less self-conscious ones. It's good to see a positive side to our much maligned young.
A chunk of countryside comes and goes then I find sat-nav is leading us alongside the motorways around east Birmingham. We're in a melee of multiple lanes, endless roundabouts and bewildering signs. You'd think you'd get used to it after 35 years of riding, but you don't. Give me a winding countryside lane with simple junctions any day of the week... please. The rain comes, momentarily heavy, then passes. The sun pops out momentarily, then passes.
I've been to Long Itchington and camped at The Green Man before so I know what to expect. Contrasting to the nearby conurbations of Birmingham and Coventry Long Itchington is a haven of bucolic quaintness and rural calm. The Green Man is a pleasant country pub with a grassy bit out back where you can camp.
After booking in I find there's been some improvements since I was last here in 2023. Alongside the pub loos that are kept open all night for the campers there are now 2 wetrooms with a shower, loo and sink apiece. There's also one outside sink under a shelter for washing up. Yes OK if you're used to swish toilet blocks and flashy amenities you will be underwhelmed, but at this price point in this location the facilities are just fine and dandy thank you.
This new tent in theory is much the same as our previous one. They each have their own quirks though and I can see it's going to take a few more pitches to get my head around this one. The principals are the same, it's the subtle nuances that catch you out. Which pole is best to put in first, peg out first or poles first, that kind of thing. Anyhow we get the tent up and we get settled in.
There's still a few creases to iron out in our erection plan as you can see. Stop sniggering...
My reason for choosing this location is three-fold. 1 - it's about half way to dad's place. 2 - Long Itchington is lovely. 3 - there's a Co-op nearby for food and the like. We could do with going shopping at some point although we did have cheesy chips before so we're not starving. We decide we'll take a walk and get something on our way back. It's around 1800 when we pass the Co-op, we check the closing time (2100) so we've plenty of time.
We are being spoilt. The rain has completely cleared leaving us with light cloud cover, a warm evening and next to no breeze. It is most agreeable to wander slowly by the church, admire the old houses, look down the back streets, even the fairly new estate has character. The pubs are busy and there's traffic along the main road yet both Sharon and I agree - it's a lovely evening in a lovely village.
Long Itchington, a haven of lovely.
If you look closely there's a Sharon beside this little tree.
At the Co-op we grab a meal deal each and a few things for breakfast. The campsite is only 2 minutes away where we eat our grub. It's only 2000 so I suggest we go into The Green Man for a glass of pop. We find ourselves in a room in the corner of the pub chatting away - then for reasons unknown Sharon grabs a dart. Perhaps she means to seek revenge?
Neither of us are naturally sporty. We're both the ones that got picked last for football/netball, although Sharon can run I can barely raise a rapid walk. As such playing darts is a dangerous pastime. We have but one functional dart which we take turns with. I'm quickly learning the safest place to be when Sharon is throwing... is in front of the dart board. Admittedly I can at least get the dart in the dartboard, after 20 minutes Sharon is hitting the dartboard more often than not.
This soaks up an hour of hilarity and puts more holes in the plaster around the board - mixed with a growing degree of frustration from Sharon. Before one of us loses an eye we quit and head for the tent, laughing at our incompetence. I make a brew and we call it bedtime.
I'd say we've had a good start. We've had rain but nothing we've not experienced before. The distance was fine, far enough to feel like we're not camping in the back yard, not so far as to leave us weary. The Chequered Flag Cafe was a lucky find. Long Itchington in the evening's better weather and the fun of bad darts has rounded off a good day. The weather for tomorrow however, that's a different thing altogether.
Advertise here - contact ren@bikesandtravels.com
Dad's And A Detour Prologue
So come on Ren, what's the excuse this time? A few notes on the where's and why-fors of a lightweight tour south of The Ship Canal.
A Good Start To Heading Saaaf
It's an easy and chill ride today as The Dynamic Muppets make their way southbound. A lucky cafe find, a lovely village and fun in a pub? This can't be Bikes And Travels, surely?!
Reader's Comments
ROD¹ said :-
I have frequented Darley Moor on many occasions for club racing. I remember on one occasion the race programme was moved earlier than usual for an early finish so we could all get back home to see who shot JR (showing my age. Dallas).
06/09/2025 11:42:51 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Good heavens! There's a blast from the past ROD, Dallas. Back when there were only 3 channels Dallas was essential viewing, I recall mother in particular, father too sitting to watch each episode. I can hum you the theme tune too.
And who shot JR was even making the news, TV and paper. And after all this time I can't recall nor care who dunnit.
Yeah, Darley Moor is alright, glad I found it, it was purely luck.
06/09/2025 15:43:30 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Yes, I remember going to Darley Moor a few times to watch classic / club racing. And I think they hosetd a checkpoint which I visited for the RAC/ACU National Rally although as it was probably in the early hours my memories of that are sketchy to say the least.
06/09/2025 16:27:21 UTC
nab301 said :-
Dallas , Darley Moor and Darts , what's not to like!
Nigel
07/09/2025 11:44:04 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
I've had a look at the Darley Moor circuit on Google maps satellite view. It is quite obviously a one time airfield, presumably second world war, and is formed of a simple triangle. Admittedly a triangle is not the best layout for a racetrack but it appears the club has inserted some wiggles and curves to keep things interesting. Fair play to them and it's good to hear they've clearly been doing a good job for quite some time now.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/RAF+Darley+Moor+Airfield+GB-0369/@52.9785434,-...
08/09/2025 07:58:15 UTC
Glyn said :-
My Brother was doing the track day at Darley Moor on his 350 LC this very weekend. Apparently one of the most amazing sounds came from a chap racing his 750 kettle engined outfit. He was black flagged due to the noise and the engine almost immediately went bang on his return to the pits. I can imagine Ren grinning at the demise of a two stroke engine.
08/09/2025 19:49:57 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
The amazingness of the sound was the fact it was running at all? Albeit not for long apparently.
09/09/2025 07:45:07 UTC
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