[RockIt]

This has the makings of an epic meet!

Matt will post details after his day out checking route and venues but add your name as an expression of definite interest. Please state whether you are in for the full weekend or Saturday drive only.

Gav (RockIt) & Ali. Full weekend!

[RagingKileak]

I'm in (obviously) and I had a great trip out today scouting some roads, taking pics and sampling the food and drink en route!

I'll post more later but the roads this time are going to be some of the best we've seen at a meet I reckon.

Matt

[MEGA]

Yay. It's the 22nd.

I'm in. Not sure how yet but I'll get there one way or 'tother (In my best Yorkshire immitation accent).

[pjs]

In. Prob Sat & Sun

[- Paul -]

In - full weekend most probs

[seanblee]

Dave, are you heading up on Friday? Think I'll see if I can get that afternoon off - if so, I'm in...

[RagingKileak]

So ladies and gents I guess this is the thread we've all been waiting for!!

You've voted for the date and whilst I know there will be some people that have to miss out, we've gone with the majority and I am certainly hoping for a well attended event which we all enjoy.

Gav and I have already discussed a plan and I spent yesterday checking out a few pubs, roads and villages around Richmond, which is where the meet will take place.

The very brief overview
I never quite know how to lay these threads out, so before I go into detail I thought I might as well give you an overview of the plan.

Basically, Gav, Ali, Jen, me and anyone else who cares to join us will be heading up to Richmond on Friday the 22nd June. We'll be staying in the chosen hotel and having informal drinks/dinner depending on what everyone present wants to do.

We then propose that anyone joining us on the Saturday meets at a convenient location near Richmond (TBC as the town centre is smallish so wouldn't be suitable) around about 10:00 for an 11:00 start.

After a little bit of a drive, we will be heading to a pub for lunch, followed by yet more driving. We'll visit a number of the towns and villages and there will be plenty of chances for pictures, ice creams and all the usual Northern Meet fun.

After a few hours to chill at the hotel, we will reconvene for an evening meal in Richmond. Quite likely, we'll be heading for a curry that evening and we've spotted a place which is well reviewed. After that, it's likely to be drinks in Richmond and beyond back at the hotel!

Sunday, as always is all about having a relaxed breakfast and allowing people to head off in their own time. Gav and I will likely host another short drive, probably heading in a useful direction for most of the remaining people (likely to be south) and will likely encourage a spot of lunch or a drink or two before we all finally depart.

Accomodation
The likely hotel of choice will be the 'Scotch Corner' Holiday Inn AKA the Holiday Inn Darlington as seen here

It's a cheap and cheerful hotel clocking in at around £50-60 per night, before any bulk discount. The main reason we have chosen this hotel is because (quite simply) it is the closest hotel which is large enough to accomodate us whilst still being close to Richmond.

Depending upon numbers, I'd be more than happy to look into what rates we can get with local boutique B&B's etc within the town itself, but they basically have 2-5 rooms each so we will need to act quickly and decisively if that's the preference.

The Drive
The main saturday drive is going to be a really interesting one this time I think. I spent all day yesterday experiencing some of the roads around Richmond and I was pleasently surprised by how wide, well surfaced and exciting these roads are. The scenery is truly amazing and some of the towns and villages are extremely picturesque.

We'll be visiting Reeth, Hawes, Muker, Thwaite and plenty of others - including a drive over the legendary Buttertubs Pass - a road which Clarkson describes as 'Englands only truly spectacular road.'

I'll post a more detailed itinerary later, but for now there are some pictures below from yesterday which should whet your appetite.

FOOD!!
As I said earlier, the plans for saturday night are not 100% concrete, so I won't post anything about that just yet.

Saturday lunchtime however has been decided and we will be heading to the Black Bull in Reeth. Their website can be seen here.

I tried the pub yesterday and I can say that it is all of these things - big, old, grubby, warm, welcoming and properly Yorkshire!! The food is fantastic and they basically serve anything and everything in a giant yorkshire pudding, which is great. There was plenty of parking nearby and it was handled on an 'honesty box' type arrangement where you chuck a quid into a lockbox, so its basically 50p or whatever you can spare.

I'll be taking orders near to the time, although we might not have the actual menu until a little closer to the time. The website above has a sample of the current one (which is up to date.)

Summary and Pictures
So that's it really. It's going to be a great weekend with lots of great driving, food and slightly dodgy (but cheap) accomodation which simply means you should drink enough to 'ensure' you sleep well haha!!!

As I said was up there yesterday with Jen and some friends, so here are a few pics of our day out including some of the Buttertubs Pass, the Black Bull and the villages of Reeth, Thwaite and Muker.

Copyright Lady_G for the photos!!






























Can't wait to see you all there.

Thanks for reading.

Matt

[ant1985]

sounds good,

well me and emma with be there for the sat,
im also trying to get tom to come with his 335i loon.

[- Paul -]

Really looking forward to it - thanks for doing the planning and stuff - not easy.

[Dave3]

Never seen anyone on here so this sounds like the ideal thing, is it a family trip, ie would the jnr be welcome or should i call the babysitter

[rogerxp]

Defo count me in. I'll be there all of Saturday. Whether I stop for the meal in the evening will depend on what time you organise it for - if it's too late I might bail as I've got a 2 hour journey home from Richmond. Really looking forward to popping my meet-cherry.

[RagingKileak]

Originally Posted by Dave3

Never seen anyone on here so this sounds like the ideal thing, is it a family trip, ie would the jnr be welcome or should i call the babysitter

Hi mate,

I don't think anyone will object to having a young un' present during the Saturday mate, although you will need to account for that with your driving style.... We rarely go crazy at Northern Meets and we stick together, but it will be fairly spirited.

Also obviously there will be drinking and debauchery in the evening too!

So really, it's whatever you feel comfortable with mate.

Paul, Paul, Rog etc - looking forward to seeing you there.

Matt

[rogerxp]

Meant to say your motor looks spot on Matty. I wonder what state it'll be in at the meet - how many things can you bolt on in the next 10 weeks

[RagingKileak]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

Meant to say your motor looks spot on Matty. I wonder what state it'll be in at the meet - how many things can you bolt on in the next 10 weeks

You'd be surprised mate.

Actually, there are 2 mods already carried out which can be seen (one easy one tough to spot) in the pics above. See if you can guess lol!

I've also got some more in the garage already, and some on the way from another forum member!

So yeah... Work has begun in earnest - thanks for the comments mate.

Matt

[MEGA]

Black kidneys is the easy one Not sure what the tough one is.


Sean I'll be going up Friday for sure.

[RagingKileak]

Originally Posted by MEGA

Black kidneys is the easy one Not sure what the tough one is.


Sean I'll be going up Friday for sure.

Correct and as I forgot to mention it earlier Sean, Dave it will be good to see you and you can be assured Gav and I will do what we can to make the trip worthwhile!

Matt

[rogerxp]

I'll leave it until you update your dedicated thread mate otherwise this one will go in the wrong direction (does look low though and are those tips propruding more than stock is my illeducated guess).

edit - now you've started me... ...obviously the grills now Dave has pointed them out. If my other guesses are wrong I'm going to throw in carbon difuser at the back - real long-shot.

[seanblee]

Alas, Ruth can't make this, but I've booked a half day off work on Friday so I'm in for the whole weekend

[sheps]

Is my wedding anniv that weekend and I have chilli peppers tickets at Knebworth, so I won't be making this one I'm afraid. I'm sure you'll all have an excellent time - look forward to seeing some pictures of the fabulous roads you Northern monkeys get to enjoy on a regular basis

[RockIt]

Good to see some interest in this. If anyone is undecided feel free to fire any questions at Matt and I and we'll convince you as to why it's worth attending!

[RagingKileak]

So, to get a quick list of confirmed numbers and people, please copy the below with your planned attendance:

Gav (RockIt) & Ali - Full weekend
Matt (RagingKileak) & Jen (LadyG) - Full weekend
Ant (Ant1985) & Emma - Saturday Drive only
Dave (Mega) +1 - Full weekend
Sean (SeanBlee) - Full weekend
Roger (RogerXP) - Saturday Drive only (possibly meal too)
PJS (Paul) - Saturday and Sunday (probably)
Dave3 (Dave) +X - As yet undecided on which bits

Thanks
Matt

[- Paul -]

Originally Posted by RagingKileak

So, to get a quick list of confirmed numbers and people, please copy the below with your planned attendance:

Gav (RockIt) & Ali - Full weekend
Matt (RagingKileak) & Jen (LadyG) - Full weekend
Ant (Ant1985) & Emma - Saturday Drive only
Dave (Mega) +1 - Full weekend
Sean (SeanBlee) - Full weekend
Roger (RogerXP) - Saturday Drive only (possibly meal too)
PJS (Paul) - Saturday and Sunday (probably)
Dave3 (Dave) +X - As yet undecided on which bits

Thanks
Matt

- Paul - Sat and Sunday (maybe Friday)