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New Road To Rivington
Blog Date - 03 January 2017
For those not local to the North West of England, Rivington Barn is and has been for many years a popular biker's meet up and hang out place near Bolton. This is all very well and good until the North West experiences one of those very rare things, a warm and pleasant Sunday afternoon. Not only does this bring motorcyclists out in great numbers it also brings a broad spectrum of car users wishing to walk the surrounding hills, eat ice cream and simply enjoy the outdoors for once. This creates traffic mayhem, particularly on the only narrow road that leads up to the Barn itself.
It get's quite busy at the Barn if the weather is nice.
There is parking to the side of this road and a handful of spaces near the Barn. This is grossly insufficient on the busy days which leads to vehicles being parked along the lane making it only wide enough for just one car to pass in places. This leads to gridlock and often times rude words being said as both car and motorcycle engines overheat, queues form and tempers fray.
I have myself spent 20 minutes trying to travel a mere 200 yards - on my 125. I have seen pristine GSXR 1000s being taken off road in an attempt to bypass the chaos. I have heard words spoken that made my delicate ears wince.
Since such times I have often chosen the only alternative route - a rocky, stony and rough track that also leads to the Barn. While my off road SLR650 and CLR125 managed this OK I wasn't too keen on taking the Fazer 600 up that way, but I did rather than becoming embroiled in someone else's fight. I often thought "wouldn't it make sense to tarmac this lane too?"
I went to the Barn yesterday, bank holiday Monday 2nd January. While it was bitterly cold the sun was out so everyone was trying to walk off their Christmas and New Year excesses. I went up the usual lane but noticed the "rocky road" was now covered in a layer of smooth tarmac! The Barn was closed and no bikers were to be seen so I departed down the new stretch of smooth black top.
This I think is good news. There is one thing left to be done to make the situation complete though. Here - let me show you a basic diagram first...
I did say BASIC...
At present the old road and the new road are 2-way, you can travel them in both directions. However as both lanes are quite narrow and will be made even narrower when cars are parked along them then jams will become inevitable. My hope, my suggestion is to make them one way. Use one road as an entrance, one as an exit. This way even if the road is only one car wide, as long as all the cars are going in the same direction there shouldn't be a problem. The only delays will be vehicles stopping to park rather than 2 cars facing each other with 20 cars behind each of them.
As you can see the brand new lane is already only wide enough for 1 car to pass.
Let us hope this is the plan and that it will be completed before we finally see that rarest of things, a warm, dry summer's day. Imagine that...just think...warm...dry...I remember warm and dry.
The newly tarmacked lane.
Reader's Comments
Latchy said :-
I remember a track I used to use that got me straight in, which ran from the cattle grid on the road with a gradient, to the bank right next to the barn, that was a great way in for myself and friends, I wonder why they closed it off to traffic.
03/01/2017 15:41:49 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
I know the track Latchy, and you're showing your age. It's been closed to vehicles for as long as I can remember. In summer some of the - erm - "tossers on crossers" will use the track for access rather than the legitimate lanes.
03/01/2017 18:31:57 UTC
road2 pete said :-
I see they chose not to use kerbs on the new Road. It will be cool to watch the tin tops trying to get out of axle deep ruts on a Sunday afternoon. Time to get a tractor Ren and make a few bob.....
09/01/2017 07:49:44 UTC
Tom McQ said :-
I remember using that access track all the time Latchy (in the 70's) LOL
09/01/2017 08:43:13 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
In the 70s Tom McQ? I was only a baby then...
Road2 Pete - you pop up with a bowser in the morning to ensure the roadside is incredibly muddy and I'll return in the afternoon with the towing tractor. We'll be millionaires this time next year.
09/01/2017 09:14:40 UTC
Steve h said :-
Hi, new to this site, in 2 weeks time it will be 40 years since I first buzzed my way to "rivvi barn" as it was known on my new Suzuki ap50 , back then I seem to recall there were 3 roads in though only one tarmacced .
Bit further to go these days from near hawes though!
Great site by the way, came across it as I'm restoring a cbf125 ( must be mad! ) and some great articles, very refreshing to see not how fast a bike can go before the ambulance or undertaker arrives! Just biking as it should be
Many thanks
09/01/2017 14:11:49 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Cheers Steve H. Restoring a CBF125?!?! Are you mad, they're hardly a vintage classic. who knows, maybe they will be one day. If you're restoring one when it's done you can swap with my CBF125 and you can start all over again.
You're a lucky chap living near Hawes, beautiful part of the country. You'll see we've camped there a couple of times if you read around the site. We use the Bainbridge Inngs campsite, I'm sure you know of it.
Neither Sharon or I are on a mission to be the fastest thing on two wheels, although Sharon does get a little "competitive" shall we say from time to time. We are at our happiest when we're riding along a quiet countryside lane plodding by at 20 or so mph and soaking in the surroundings.
I once saw a comment on a forum about this site. The poster said something along the lines of "Bikes And Travels, yeah I've seen that, it's a bit F#$*ing twee." Twee? Yeah I guess it isn't for the high velocity thrill seeking motorcyclists out there so I'm happy with "twee".
If you feel the need to tell me all about the CBF125 restoration I'm all ear...ren@bikesandtravels.com
09/01/2017 15:47:37 UTC
Steve h said :-
Hi Ren, thanks for your comments, yes lovely up here virtually in the shadow of the lovely Ribblehead Viaduct where no-one can hear you scream (especially when the spanner slips doing your tappets!) have often thought I should open up a campsite for bikes touring the Dales.
I fully agree I must be clinically insane to restore a cbf125 but after buying the poor wounded beast of a work colleague sight unseen ( what was I thinking!) who described it as having just a crack on the fairing after her son dropped it.
What she failed to mention is that it appears to have been dropped from 20,000 feet then left it in a swamp for a year, cheered me up no end when I saw it for the first time as the delivery van dropped it off! (See pic)
As a bonus though it appeared to have a full tank of fuel, sadly it turned out to be brimmed to the cap with good old fashioned rain water which for some reason it didn't like running on (how odd)
Therefore I had to choose either chuck the lot in a skip or try bring the poor thing back to life which for some inexplicable reason I enjoy almost as much as riding ( nurse will be along soon with my medication) and look forward to finding my next project when this is finished, just awaiting a couple of plastics now.
10/01/2017 07:51:08 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
OH what a delightful tale! There's bits of that bike on show that I've never seen on my own CBF125 although what I can see looks in better nick than my own.
If you're into taking other people's wrecks and turning them into fresh motorcycles once more then Stephen "Latchy" Latchford is ya man. Ian Soady too likes to tinker but he's much more focused on the vintage and classical machinery. As for myself I'm more into doing the opposite, taking a perfectly decent bike and ruining it by using it much too much.
You do realise you're going to have to make Sharon and I a brew sometime now Steve h?
10/01/2017 09:25:48 UTC
Steve h said :-
Your more than welcome for a brew anytime and I must admit the cbf looks better in the pic than it did in reality maybe this pic shows the problem a little better?
10/01/2017 14:25:45 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Oh yes Steve h, that looks much more like my bike now, that's better. I do particularly like the crusty rusty bit around the throttle body. This implies all those lovely electrical components like throttle position sensors and intake air pressure sensors should have been suitably left in deep water. It makes me wince in joy!
Do you have it running yet?
10/01/2017 20:02:24 UTC
Sharon said :-
Steve H,
How fabulous that a promise of a brew and maybe a look at your restored CBF will give us yet another reason to ride to the lovely Hawes. So thank you very much for the offer.
I am glad you like our site. As Ren said as with most things it is not for everyone but those who like it seem to share a similar ethos to our own, so I love that it is becoming a little hub of mindful bikers.
How old is the CBF by the way? I would love it if bikes could talk to us and tell us about their past lives. But maybe a life as a scuba diver may be a good guess in this case.
10/01/2017 23:21:34 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Hi Steve h. Could you drop me a line at ren@bikesandtravels.com. That way I've got your email address and we can come and bother you as and when the time is right.
Cheers
11/01/2017 15:43:27 UTC
Steve h said :-
Hi Ren yes it's running now , registered in 2010 and benefiting from only 5 careless previous owners, every single part required repairing or replacing apart from the clocks though it had been fitted with later items with tacho that didn't work, happily they now do!
See pic showing progress so far
12/01/2017 06:52:07 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Sorry Steve h, it looks to me like you've just replaced everything on the bike. Wouldn't it have been easier and cheaper to buy a new one?
Sheeeez that's some job there!
12/01/2017 10:26:34 UTC
Steve h said :-
Probably yes but the only parts i have replaced that are shown in the pic are the tank (second hand) seat, chrome heat shield and indicators, i do really enjoy the challenge, back in the day i was once a framebuilder at CCM and just cant get it out if my system lol
12/01/2017 14:51:24 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
Ooooh get you Steve h! I know where to go if I need any welding done. So you'll be familiar with the Bolton area then.
13/01/2017 17:47:14 UTC
Steve h said :-
Yeh Bolton born and bread though emigrated to Yorkshire around 20 years ago lol
14/01/2017 10:49:56 UTC
Latchy said :-
Impressed......... A lot, which method of rust removal did you use Steve?
It's a yes from me!
15/01/2017 13:15:40 UTC
Steve h said :-
Hi Latchy
Used a sandblaster gun bought off ebay for £20, would have been better if it hadn't been gale force winds as had to do outside, giid job i have a long air line, results were fairly goid tho.
15/01/2017 17:57:04 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
DIY sandblasting too Steve h. You really ought not to tell us, you may end up with a queue of bikers holding parts outside your door.
Latchy, load up we're off to Steve's place to make rusty bits shiny.
15/01/2017 18:44:57 UTC
Steve h said :-
Ok guys anytime, I'll get the kettle on and break out the hob-nobs..
17/01/2017 09:27:14 UTC
Ren - The Ed said :-
HOB-NOBS!!! Oh you've no chance now. I'm moving in with Steve h folks if anyone wants me.
17/01/2017 12:40:10 UTC
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