Five Wakefield MAG members met up at Stork Lodge Tea Rooms on Sunday 4th October, to take part in the Yorkshire Regional 'Mystery Tour' Rideout. After breakfasts and coffees, we set off at 10:00, via the Sainsbury's petrol station on Ings Road, then onto Doncaster Road, bearing left towards Normanton and Castleford, then out of Cas on Lock Lane / Barnsdale Road, past Mary Panel wood, and taking a right at the roundabout onto the A63, then off at the B1222 towards Newthorpe and Squires Cafe.
At Squires we bumped into Mark & Ross from Huddersfield MAG in the car park (not literally !!!), who had also just arrived. Inside Squires, we found Wayne, the Yorkshire Region Vice Rep, who was in charge of the days proceedings, together with members of Scarborough MAG and East Yorkshire MAG.
The plan was to head towards Harrogate, then be issued with our mystery destination envelopes. We all set off from Squires around 11:20, and headed towards Tadcaster, where we had a stop off and were handed our instructions early (on the basis that Wayne's chain was a bit slack and he wanted to adjust it, and not keep us all waiting for him).
We quickly discovered that Huddersfield MAG were no longer with us ....... they could be honorary Wakefield MAG members after getting lost so quickly !!!!
Our mystery destination envelope was opened and we were going to Beverley, home of East Yorkshire MAG. Our mystery landmark was a church with twin towers. Not knowing exactly which church in Beverley had two towers (spires), there would be nothing else for it ..... ride around in circles until we found it !!!
But first to Harrogate, where we were all to set off from (as everyone then had pretty much the same distance to cover). We followed a familiar route towards Harrogate (as most of it was the same as the annual Fred Hill Memorial run from squires). We paused for a photo at the Harrogate boundary.
We then double-backed and picked up the A59 towards York. In York, we picked up the A64 for a short distance, then took the A1079 towards Hull & Beverley. The A1079 is a most pleasant country road, and after 30 miles or so, we took the A1035 into Beverley, past the racecourse and into the one way system in Beverley. We passed a large church and stare at it as we did, it still only had the one spire, so it wasn't the one. The minster was in the distance but from the angle we were approaching it, it only looked like it had one tower. We followed the ring road round (and round) and finally got close to the Minster, and lo and behold, it had two spires. Result .... and we were still to get lost !!!!
A group photo in front of the Minster to prove we had got there.
Then it was time to think of food. We tried the Sun Inn (where we had been early in the year for East Yorkshire MAG's charity bash), but they had stopped serving food at 2:00 (and it was now 2:30). Time to invoke plan B ..... try the pub in South Cave, where several of our contingent had stopped off a fortnight before, returning home from the Spat out of Hull rally.
We arrived at the pub and a) they remembered us and b) they were still serving food ..... hurrah !!!! Three steak and ale pies, one chicken breast and one lamb shank, duly ordered. Not as cheap as we could have lunched for in Beverley, but there again, as they had stopped serving, that was a bit of an academic point. A most pleasant Sunday lunch was had by all (ignoring the rather dodgy soundtrack playing in the background !!).
A quick stop for petrol, then we returned via the boring, but faster M62 route home, arriving back in Wakefield at 17:00(ish).
A cracking rideout and with good weather to boot (in stark contrast to the day before with gale force winds). Well done to Wayne for organising it all. Fifteen branch points earned for all attendees (at it was a Region and not just a branch event).