Dear Wakefield MAG member,
Welcome to the Wakefield MAG e-newsletter. If you can’t attend our Wednesday meetings regularly, it’s the next best thing to keep you up to date with what we are up to.
CONTENTS
1) 7th Wakefield MAG Biker Quiz Nite
2) Remembrance Sunday Report
3) 2011 Rally Dates
4) Christmas Pub Crawl
5) Wakefield AGM
6) Post Christmas Auction
7) West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan
8) Riders Are Voters Mass Lobby Preliminary Report
9) Branch Products
10) Christmas Meetings
11) Forthcoming Events (for December and beyond)
1) 7th Wakefield MAG Biker Quiz Nite
We held our 7th Wakefield MAG Biker Quiz Nite on Wednesday 24th November, in the Grey Horse. We had a great attendance this year with 14 teams taking part, totalling over 60 people. Great to welcome along teams from York MAG, Leeds MAG, Huddersfield MAG, Barnsley MAG, Sheffield & Rotherham MAG, Colne Valley MAG, local MCC's & others (thousand apologies if you haven't got a mention), in addition to several Wakefield MAG teams.
We followed last years popluar format, with 60 questions in total being asked, 30 pure bike / biking knowledge questions and 30 general knowledge (but with a bike related link, however tenuous).
First set of 5 were about Motorcycle Sport, then 5 TV/Film related, then 5 bike knowledge, 5 music, another 5 bike knowledge then 5 history related. Some of the bike knowledge questions really tested the grey matter, but if it's too easy, it's not worth winning is it ? Others were more obvious, but not sufficiently so, thus causing lots of self doubt and team debate.
A 15 minute fag / drink / food break was taken after the first 30 questions had been asked, with Lisa, our ever keen fund raiser selling tickets for our weekly raffle. A huge thanks to Dougie, our genial landlord of the Grey Horse who put a fantastic free spread on for us (but you had to be quick as it was gone in a flash).
Time then for the final set of 30 questions, starting with 5 bike knowledge, 5 geography, another 5 bike knowledge, 5 current affairs, 5 motorcycle sport and finally the last 5 on general sport.
With all the questions asked (and repeated several times), it was time to swap the papers with your neighbouring team ready for marking. Time then to go through the answers and mark the papers, and what a feisty crowd it was in the Grey Horse that night, with folks clamouring for that extra ½ point (amazing how beer prizes brings out the competitive nature in people isn't it ?!?!?!).
A first in the history of the Quiz .... we had a tie breaker on 37 points. Time to break out the tie breaker questions. The tie breaker was "In what year did the motorcycle first exceed 100MPH in Britain". Nearest the correct year would be the winner. Sheffield & Rotherham MAG came back with 1922, and Team Reapers (Wakefield MAG) guessed 1923 ..... the correct answer was 1921 (by Douglas Davidson on a Harley-Davidson) so Sheffield & Rotherham MAG were the winners of the 2010 Wakefield MAG Biker Quiz Nite. A case of Becks for their achievement and the coveted winners trophy.
2nd Place - Team Reaper (Wakefield MAG members Pingy, Mo, Sue, Kelly & Lorna). A case of Budweiser for their achievement
3rd Place - Team Meerkat (Wakefield MAG team #2 with Mr Meerkat himself (Steve Jones), Joanne, Chas & Daz), with 35 ½ points. A case of Stella for their achievement
Booby Prize (for the least correct answers) - Team Us (Pete & Carrie) with 19 1/2 points and the winner of our coveted booby prize, which does the rounds on all our competitive events - the fat bird on a scooter trophy !!!!! (well, once we get it back from last year's losers). To be fair, they only had two in their team, whilst most others had at least four, so it was a respectable enough score all told.
This year's quiz, raised £61 and the wine raffle raised a further £49. After deducting the cost of the prizes, we raised £92 for the MAG fighting fund. What a fantastic result.
Congratulations to Sheffield & Rotherham MAG, who in addition to winning 1st prize in the quiz, also won a bottle of wine in the raffle - a most lucrative trip up the M1 that night !!!!
It was a brilliant night and a good time was had by all. Educational and fun (why couldn't school have been like this ?!?!!?).
A huge thanks again to everyone who turned up and contributed to a most memorable quiz .... Hope to see you at our 8th quiz in a years time !!!!!!!!!!
For the second year running, we decided to attend the City of Wakefield Remembrance Sunday parade and wreath laying ceremony at the war memorial on Wood Street, to pay our respects.
Some met at Stork Lodge, whilst others met at the car park near Wood Street. Twelve Wakefield MAG members joined a large crowd which had gathered at the Wood Street War Memorial at 10:50. At 10:45, the parade, which had set off from the cathedral, marched up Rishworth Street, led by the 9th Parachute Squadron of the Royal Engineers, in their No.1 uniform and campaign medals, followed by our local TA regiment, army, air & sea cadets, police, fire service, a big group of veterans, scouts and numerous others.
The service started after the 11:00 town hall bells, with the two-minute silence and wreath laying, led by the Very Reverend Jonathan Greener, Dean of Wakefield. Macha Beckett (ex Army CateringCorps) laid our own Wakefield MAG wreath, which we had ordered from the Royal British Legion the previous week. The service was over by 11:30, and with the weather a bit poor, we all made our respective ways home.
A great thing to do (top idea from Chas last year), and we will be attending again in 2011 (so, keep Sunday 13th November 2011 clear in your diary !!!)
As some of you will need to book holiday or whatever it is you need to do to make time for the best bike only rallies in the UK, here are the dates of the main Yorkshire MAG events for 2011:
The Farmyard will be 25 years young in 2011 and we intend not to grow old gracefully, we intend to grow old DISGRACFULLY!!!
As in previous years, tickets will be on sale for these events at the branch meetings, from around March(ish).
Our Christmas Do this year will be one of our now legendary pub crawls, starting at 19:30 on Saturday 11h December. The route is being kept a closely guarded secret by Lisa Brooker, our Social Secretary, but will involve a number of pubs, lots of laughs and a good time guaranteed. Find out where we are meeting at the weekly meetings or by contacting Lisa (or me) directly.
Fancy Dress, Reindeer Antlers and Santa Hats are all strictly optional.
Really hope you can make it and i'll see you there.
Our 9th branch AGM will be held in the Grey Horse, on Wednesday 12th January, starting at 8:30pm. All members are invited to attend this special meeting, so please try to attend if you can. At this meeting there will be a review of the year, elections for the branch committee and the prize giving for our branch heroes. As this meeting is effectively a MAG political meeting, it carries with it a whopping 75 branch points for everyone who attends (a normal branch meeting only carries 5 points). As all the points are tallied at year end and go towards the branch heroes presentation, points really do mean prizes !!!! What better boost to your branch heroes tally for the new year !!!
The Annual Wakefield MAG mailshot will shortly be posted to all eligible Members, i.e. current or recently expired MAG members with a WF postcode, to formally place notice for the meeting. The meeting is also advertised in the events section on the MAG website, and the previous AGM minutes will be posted shortly on the branch website (under the AGM's menu item, spookily enough !!).
N.B. Motions for the AGM should be submitted the week before the AGM (Wednesday 5th 2011).
Our 7th Post Christmas Auction will be held on Wednesday 26th January 2011, at 20:00, at the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, and if previous years events are anything to go by, an event not to be missed. The idea is that you bring along all your unwanted Christmas presents, together with other stuff you no longer want, or have the room for, donate them to the branch, and we auction them off to the highest bidder.
The 2010 auction raised over £425, which, bearing in mind the bidding on a lot of items started at 50p, was a staggering and truly impressive result !!!! Additionally, the wine raffle raised over £42, so not a bad result considering the world was/is in a global recession !!! Of course, for 2011, we want to beat that !!!!
The auctions are always hugely entertaining and there are always some real quality items donated, and hence, some real bargains to be had.
Proceeds from the auction will be donated to the MAG Fighting Fund, with a proportion also being donated to a charitable cause(s). I hope to see you there (and don’t forget to bring your unwanted Christmas pressies !!!).
7) West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan
A Public Consultation is being held for the forthcoming West Yorkshire Local Transport Plan for 2011 to 2026. This plan will effect transport planning in West Yorkshire for the next 15 years so please go on line and have your say on the future of transport in West Yorkshire. If you think motorcycles should be included more fully in transport planning, tell the people that make the decisions.
Consultation website: www.wyltp.com/getinvolved/Consultation.htm
The consultation is open until 17 December 2010.
What is a Local Transport Plan?
A Local Transport Plan sets out a Strategy for improving the transport system. It covers the local road, bus, rail, walking and cycling networks and is designed to support the wider needs and ambitions of the area.
A new Plan is currently being developed (called 'MyJourney'), which will be put into action from April 2011. West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) need your views on the proposed Strategy for 2011-26 and input into how it will be delivered.
Take part in the questionnaire
Please read the summary consultation document (available on the consultation website) before taking part in the questionnaire. The questionnaire can be completed online, or, printed out and sent freepost to the WYPTE.
Please share details of this consultation with others who may be interested.
Printed copies of all of the above can be requested by calling 0113 348 1726, or by email at ltp@wypte.gov.uk
What happens next?
Following this consultation, a draft Implementation Plan for 2011-14 will be open for consultation in January-February 2011. Remember, it is easier to have motorcycle friendly strategies added before the draft plan is published, so act now.
8) Riders Are Voters Mass Lobby Preliminary Report
Almost 100 Riders registered to attend the Riders are Voters Mass Lobby of Parliament on 8th November. Meetings with individual MP's ran from 10am until 6pm, throughout the day.
The Parliamentary Motorcycle Group had booked a two hour slot in the Boothroyd Room at Portcullis House and there was much coming and going as MP's came to meet their constituents who had made appointments to meet with them.
Various MP's also dropped in and spoke to the meeting, including: Stephen Pound MP, Steven Baker MP, Sarah Newton MP and Anne Main MP (St Albans) who sponsored the event. Members of the House re-iterated the importance of us getting our message out to all politicians whether at a local or national level and applauded the work of Riders Are Voters.
Riders attended from as far away as Cornwall and Edinburgh and MAG would like to extend our sincere thanks to everybody who made the effort to come along and meet with their MP's.
We have a small number of Wakefield MAG branded products in stock for immediate supply, including beanie hats, baseball caps, patches, stickers, bandanas, some clothing items and bike flags/pennants, so if you want something, please let me know. With Christmas just around the corner, remember that Wakefield MAG products make mighty fine Christmas presents !!! Aunty Ethel will just love that Wakefield MAG bandana, and it will go down a storm at the Darby and Joan Club !!!
Meetings as normal for Christmas week (Wednesday 22nd December) and the week after (Wednesday 29th December). Come down to the Grey Horse for a change from repeats on TV and turkey sandwiches !!!!
11) Forthcoming Events (for December and beyond)
Saturday 11th December - Wakefield MAG Christmas Pub Crawl
As detailed above. Fancy Dress, Reindeer Antlers and Santa Hats strictly optional.
Wednesday 12th January 2011 - Wakefield MAG AGM
As detailed above.
Wednesday 26th January 2011 - Wakefield MAG 7th Post Christmas Auction
As detailed above.
February 2011 - Fred Hill Memorial Run
Details TBA
That's all for this month, have a great Christmas, hope Santa brings you lots of biking goodies, and I hope to see you all soon.
Ride Safe
Steve Travis
Chairman
Wakefield MAG
0772 078 4734
Wakefield MAG meet at the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, Wakefield at 8:30pm every Wednesday. New (and Old) faces are always welcome.