I set off from Porlock on the Sunday morning in pouring rain, but thankfully, although it remained dull and a little damp at times, the weather improved within 20 minutes or so. I pulled in at Stogumber station on the preserved West Somerset Railway, I was rather hoping the people there might be able to supply tea and cake. I was not to be disappointed as Stogumber station is the place to visit for Lydia's home made cakes. The cakes were I thought a little average but what I had was tasty enough along with a cuppa, the prices were cheap too and the staff very welcoming. A few minutes after I arrived this train pulled in, the engine is Western class diesel hydraulic. I had never seen one of these working before. It's a fine looking thing but a little quiet in operation and therefore not very exciting.
Stogumber station has a nice garden to sit in and while I ate my cake this little creature wandered about on my crash helmet. I don't recall seeing such an insect before, I have no idea what it is.
Eventually this train pulled in coming from the opposite direction the one previously photographed. This one is really special as the engine is the Tornado, only about 2 years old, and a replica of an old class of locomotive, the A1. All were scrapped in the 1960s so a bunch of enthusiasts decided to build a replica from scratch. Full details if you are interested here

http://www.a1steam.com/

I was also in the station master's good books as I was able to lend him a screwdriver to fix a notice on to a door in the building.

I spent a pleasant evening at a friend's house in Bristol and then rode home the next day, getting a couple of clues on the way. I was chased by a violent storm all the way, nearly getting very wet near Buxton. it was a memorable ride trying to get home without a soaking. However the storm decided to bear left and went to Manchester instead, allowing me to get home dry. Half an hour after I arrived home the heavens opened and a storm raged all night so I was lucky.

The MZ did really well, a fair bit of gearbox oil leaked out but it seems to be from the oil seal behind the final drive sprocket which is easily repaired. Not bad for a 40 year old bike, it covered over 1100 miles in 7 days.

September Holiday 4

The next day, being Saturday, was the main day of the MZ national rally. This lovely MZ outfit turned up, the sidecar was occupied by a fine old gentleman called Geoff from nearby Minehead, who must have been in his 80s. Geoff owns this bike and many others, but due to his advanced years, and quite bad arthritis, cannot ride any more. Undaunted he gets in the sidecar and gets a younger mate and club member to ferry him about on nice days. It was good to meet him face to face, we had only ever spoken on the phone before.
Robin had to depart on the Saturday due to work commitments, but another mate, Gresh from just up the road from where I live had travelled down to the rally and after the AGM meeting had taken place we went for a ride through to North Devon, Lynton and the Valley of Rocks to be more precise. Here we found a cricket match in progress, which made Gresh very excited as he loves cricket. I would normally not be even slightly interested, but this must surely be the most spectacularly sited cricket pitch in the UK so I was happy to watch the spectacle for a few overs.
These little chaps were running wild in the area too.
Half a mile on we pulled up again to admire the spectacular scenery the Valley of Rocks offers.
A kind passing pedestrian offered to take a photo of both of us.

Further on we got a toll road which hugged the coast amid stunningly beautiful scenery. It was well worth the pound toll charge. This was just one of the views (apologies for not getting the horizon level) and I was highly amused by the sign some wag had put in this field.

We travelled on to a splendid pub I had visited earlier in the summer in the car called the Hunters Inn where we had an excellent meal before heading back to Porlock. I had delicious fish and chips but why is it that southerners leave the skin on the fish, heathens the lot of them!