GTR Owners Meet, Swallow Falls, Wales 2011

[Neil]

Also home now - via hoylake and more rain. Cant see pembsgtr in the line dancing...

Excellent weekend even with the rain - i'm going to miss the company, the gammon hock, and the honey beer. My bike Jacket was definitely a lot tighter coming back.

Good to see everyone and look forward to next time (somewhere sunny and dry). Hope everyone else got home ok.

Neil

[pembsgtr]

My penny wish in Swalllow Falls came true we had sunshine all the way home  :D

[Lonewolf]

I arrived home just after 4pm safe and well. Glad everyone enjoyed themselves, its a shame about the weather we all had to grin and bare but at least there was a minor reprieve today for some.   ;D
Next year we need to go to St Tropez  8)

I'm just sorting through some of the photos and then I'll stick them on here.

[E2ONY]

me and lin arrived home at 5.30 with only 3 heavy showers  :)  really enjoyed last night thanks , lin enjoyed the fact that she was'nt the only woman ( thanks girls ) all great company & hopefully see you all again just the one regret , should have had the sticky toffee pudding

Thanks again

[Kevin]

We've just got back home after visiting friends in the Midlands and family in Buckingham. We were intending heading on to Norfolk but ATEOTD I just couldn't be bothered so we came home instead.


It was good to meet you all.


Kevin

[2kwacks]

seen the pics, looks like it was a great meet? shame about the weather, really wished I could have made it but needed to finish a job that was on a dead line which was not completed till yesterday evening? I even bought a one man tent and a sleeping bag a few months ago for this meet, am sure I will get chance to use it again. may be france next time hey?

[Neil]

I got up this morning and had withdrawal symptoms from bikes, beer and gammon (and sticky toffee pudding - sorry Tony) and having done two meetings in succession in the rain, I wondered if people would be up for a meet in Europe next year?

If we went somewhere like the black forest it is not too far and yet central for the south of france, Switzerland, Italy, eastern Europe etc. Those of us wanting a longer holiday could go further afield either before or after.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, neil

[2kwacks]

I got up this morning and had withdrawal symptoms from bikes, beer and gammon (and sticky toffee pudding - sorry Tony) and having done two meetings in succession in the rain, I wondered if people would be up for a meet in Europe next year?

If we went somewhere like the black forest it is not too far and yet central for the south of france, Switzerland, Italy, eastern Europe etc. Those of us wanting a longer holiday could go further afield either before or after.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, neil

now that sounds like a excellent suggestion! me and a few mates are going in july to france,italy e.t.c may even get 2 trips in 8) unless it falls at the same time?

[E2ONY]

I got up this morning and had withdrawal symptoms from bikes, beer and gammon (and sticky toffee pudding - sorry Tony) and having done two meetings in succession in the rain, I wondered if people would be up for a meet in Europe next year?

If we went somewhere like the black forest it is not too far and yet central for the south of france, Switzerland, Italy, eastern Europe etc. Those of us wanting a longer holiday could go further afield either before or after.

Any thoughts?



Thanks, neil

sounds great neil , makes sense to head south, only criteria for me would be, i have to go during the school holidays

[routemaster]

I know one very nice place in Central France that is geared up for bikers and has some cracking roads and I know of another place in the Harz mountains in Germany that is also geared up for bikers.

Steve

[pembsgtr]

Black Forest, Dolomites Austria, not fussed about France its more expensive than Germany too......... :o

[2kwacks]

I know its early days yet! but if this is going to happen, can some dates be suggested. then we can get an idea what dates, duration, route that would suit the majority, either it be hotels, camping, or go on "spec" with b&bs. last year we done the french,swiz alps and italy. we stayed first night in reims, then used grenoble as a base for the alps, and had one night in turin italy "midweek" and spent the last night in st quentin approx 3 hour ride from the eurotunnel, 3,200 miles in 7 days. including hotels,food,petrol,tolls,eurotunnel and half a dozen beers each night the total cost was approx £1,200 its not cheap, but dam well worth every penny!

[Neil]

Well I was thinking something as follows:-

Dates - late July, august ie in school holidays for those who need it.

Length of trip - meeting itself to be somewhere where we can get to and back over a long weekend, ie Friday to Monday, or thursday to Sunday. Some may extend their trip, but the shortest time required would be four days. This would keep costs down for those who have other commitments.

Destination - ideally somewhere with likely chance of sun and where we can have a BBQ and beer ideally buying from local shops to keep costs down. This probably means a biker b and b where we can agree with them a BBQ/ party at night and maybe a discount rate.

Any other ideas?

Thanks Neil

[Lonewolf]

 Yeah, NB is right I got lost almost at the end of our journey and headed off completely in the wrong direction. I wouldn't mind but I'd only been a few weeks before to check the place out. Firstly I'd like to thank everyone who braved the appalling weather and in some cases travelled hundreds of miles to get to Swallow Falls. Here's a brief write up of the weekend from my perspective. I set off at about 9am to go over to Huddersfield to meet up with NB just by the M62. Filled the bike up on route to save any unnecessary stops later.




The journey on route was horrendous, clear skies, black skies, relative warmth, total downpour. It was so bad near the end of our journey that I could barely see through the visor. After the brief and unintentional detour we rolled into Betws-Y-Coed and out the other side where we found the Swallow Falls Hotel. Trevor & Jackie were already on site and I think they were in the final throes of finishing putting their tent up.



While NB supervised and joked about my incompetence, I fumbled about with the tent pitching it next to Trevor & Jackie, periodically asking them if I was doing it right. Ten minutes after I started a young couple arrived and started to erect their tent which was about four times as large as mine and somehow they finished before I did!



The staff at the hotel suggested that we park our bikes by some chalets above the main car park but the ground was all gravelled and sloping and although I tried to park the GTR there I felt it would be better down in the main car park where it was all tarmac. Below are the chalets. Plenty of choice of accommodation at Swallow Falls, there is obviously the hotel, a youth hostel, the chalets and then the camping.



Everyone settled down for their evening meals in The Tavern where we were told that we could arrange the tables to suit ourselves....so that's exactly what we did. It was like a scene from a medieval film with the table laid out in a straight line surrounded by ravenous diners.





No complaints on the food front as far as I was concerned, I probably could have forced a pudding down but I thought I would show some restraint, unlike some....they know who they are. Norman Bates stayed till quite late, about 9pm and then unfortunately had to make a move and head off home. I was surprised when he sent me a text saying he was at home just after 11pm. After the meal everyone migrated to the bar, although I think someone headed off for a power nap but I can't remember who it was.The hotel has two bars, one by the Tavern and another on the ground floor by the entrance to the car park. The latter is the one we all headed for. It was reasonably busy by this time but we still managed to locate some seating.
 
Trevor, heading for the bar.


The two Lyn's. Lin told us a very interesting story about how Tony got a nasty scar on his arm from a hedge.





At the end of the night when everyone made their way to their tents it suddenly dawned on me as I was carefully picking my way through the array of tents in pitch darkness and drizzle guided by a 5w light from my mobile phone that I was struggling to find my tent. Having almost tried to enter the wrong tent I remembered that we had been given laminated cards with a pitch number on which was tied to the tent. Trust me when I say that that and only that probably saved me from getting arrested and thrown off the site. I did have a torch with me....but I'd left it in the tent!
I won't go into detail about the night I spent in the tent, suffice to say that you learn a lot about yourself when you go camping.  The rain fell, the temperatures dropped, the ground was hard, oh and did I mention the rain? It was still raining when I woke up at 7am the following morning, albeit not with as much vigour as it had been.

I thought I'd go for a walk and stretch my legs before the site came alive. I had a walk down to the main car park to check on the bike, it was fine. Everything exactly as I had left it. Beyond the car park and behind the trees was a blanket of rising mist which I thought was too good a photo opportunity to miss.



Walking back up to our camping area a few bikers had decided to leave their bikes by their tents. House rules stated they were supposed to be in the car park but in all honesty I couldn't see what harm they were doing. They weren't in anyone's way so what the big deal.



The sun was trying its utmost to shine through but kept getting pushed aside by dark clouds, Lord Rusty promised me he had booked us all great weather but as he told me later it seems he booked it for London instead and not Wales.



Now the previous evening we had made an arrangement...or so I thought to meet up for breckie at about 08:15 but in the end this didn't quite work out as planned. Some folk obviously aren't early risers. Eventually though a few familiar faces arrived and after we had eaten I decided to take the opportunity while it was dry to dismantle the tent. I soon got distracted though when it was suggested that we go and visit the Swallow Falls which are right opposite the hotel. I thought I might as well go and see what I had heard gushing all night long keeping me awake.







Not bad but it was a fair climb back up from one of the observation platforms on the very steep steps. We all headed back to the Hotel where we decided to have a group photo of the GTR's. Best place for them was directly in front of the Hotel. They certainly turned a few heads and I have to admit they looked good all lined up like that.





A few random shots of the GTR's.

















After the group photos, people said their goodbye's and started to head off to do a bit of sightseeing on their routes home. I managed to get the tent down and packed away and then left Swallow Falls considering heading towards Bala which is a favourite destination of mine but in the end I decided to park up in Betws-Y-Coed itself and explore some of the sights. I managed to get parked up in the Church car park where as the ticket machine was out of order I had a free parking for as long as I wanted. A lovely Church set back from the main road in a quiet location.



Having crossed the road I headed down to a park and in the general direction of the railway. I was accosted by some chap with a PA system who tried to sell me some tickets for a duck race and as much as I would have loved to get involved in community life I knew damn well I would never fit on a duck.



Betws-Y-Coed seems a very dog friendly place, even in the hotel and restaurant there were dogs just as there were in almost every direction you looked in the town centre.


In one of the main car parks opposite the railway were a number of motorcycles of which these two stood out for me. I don't know anything about Moto Guzzi's as they go but this looked a tidy machine.  I'm not sure about the colour scheme on the Suzuki though, but each to their own.






There are some quaint shops in the centre admittedly catering for the tourist trade but nevertheless they were worth a closer look. I found one shop selling tools, scythes etc which were clearly marked as Very Sharp. What does one customer do, runs her finger near the blade to check....the sales woman almost had a fit.





I had a look around the town's railway station just to see if it was like many others in tourist locations, it was.
















Lots of outdoor type shops & other water attractions.






All in all a very enjoyable weekend and it was great to meet some of the folk on this forum.  A huge shame that more couldn't make it but work and other family committments sometimes get in the way. Is there going to be another? Well it seems that plans are already afoot. We definately need the reassurence that there will be sunshine next year. So pick wisely!

[Rusty]

Well done Mr Wolf, that is, as usual, an excellent write up, especially for those of us who were unable to attend ! Sorry I sent the weather to the wrong place ...Duhhh  ;D
It looks a great place and the bikes out the front of the Hotel just finish it off nicely  ;D ;D
Shame you couldn't have packed the dogs into your top box .... they would have loved it !