A brief legover

So, last week, I managed a ride out on Ginny, for the first time in almost 2 months. My bro' had sent me a link to a website called www.tracesofwar.com, which shows war graves, etc around the country. I'd already decided I was going to drop a book about the Somme to him, via the back roads but on checking out the website, I found a graveyard, just alongside the A20, down which I would be travelling. So I planned to stop there on the way down.

Doing a bit of digging on the CWGC website and viewing the graves, I realised that many of the 80 or so headstones had the same date on them, 24th June 1944. When I dug a little deeper, I discovered that 52 men, belonging to 6th Guards Tank Brigade, REME (Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers), had been killed at Charing Heath, when a German V1 flying bomb, apparently knocked off course by an RAF Spitfire, slammed into their camp. There is a dedicated area containing a memorial to the 52 and graves of the 46 men who were sufficiently intact, to be able to identify and bury. How dreadful for the six families of those other men, presumably blown to kingdom come.

Further reference to the traces of war website map, led me to discover a WW1 tank, on open air display in the centre of Ashford. In all the years I've lived in Kent, 37 now, I had never heard of this. So, that went on my stopping list too.

Ginny started first prod of the button and as usual, purred, whilst she waited for me to get astride her and click her into first gear. A gentle ride through the country lanes and old villages, led me to the cemetery, which is just on the outskirts of Lenham. I rode about 50 metres along a tarmac 'driveway', through some commemorative gates and into the cemetery. There, I spent some time checking out the headstones and also removing a beer can, that some disrespectful scumbag had seen fit to leave on the grass. Over half of the dead, I think, were in their twenties, the youngest, just 20, all having had their lives wrenched away from them, by a quirk of fate, as they made preparations to join the allied assault, just 3 weeks after D-Day.

Commemorative plaques on the entrance to the cemetery

46 of the 52 lost souls. All 52 are named on the memorial

Back on Ginny, I made my way just a few miles more down the A20, to Ashford. The tank is under a canopy in St George's Square. Luckily, as I arrived, there was one parking space left on the narrow one-way street, right in front of the tank.

The story of the tank, a genuine Mark IV Female, is that it was presented to the town in recognition of its effort in raising funds towards the war effort. This tank never saw action, as it was a training tank, and was presented to the town in 1919. Apparently, the tank was driven into position in the square and has remained there ever since. 101 years and counting. It was spruced up a bit in 2017, in preparation for its 100th anniversary and I must say looks very nice.

WW1 Mark IV Female Tank

Sticking to the country roads, I made my way to my brother's gaff, where we enjoyed a socially distanced drink & chat. It was a nice warm & sunny day, so nice to get out on the bike again. The ride back was not so leisurely, as I just jumped onto the M20 for the ride home, letting Ginny stretch her legs, at a legal 70mph of course.

As the weather seems set to be nice for the next week or so, I'll try and get out to more historical sites. Who knows what there is out there to discover?

Till next time.

Stay safe.

Lockdown Blues

A quick update. A lot has happened since Catherine and I got back from the Caribbean, just as the Covid-19 shit was hitting the fan.

I was able to fire up Ginny, the first time since I got back from the Aragon GP last September and take a run over to see my grandson James, in Wales. I'd booked a hotel for 2 nights, as there is no room at the inn any more, that room now being a nursery. Distancing measures had sort of been introduced, so a stop at the services meant no seating by Burger King or elsewhere but that was about it. As usual, I underestimated the wind chill factor, so by the time of the stop, I was bloody freezing around my kidneys. I had to put my waterproof jacket on, to keep the wind out but as any biker knows, once that chill sets in, it's hard to warm up.

My hotel was at Llantrisant, about 8 miles from my daughter's house. I'd checked in, then rode over. That afternoon/evening, Boris announced closure of restaurants & pubs, so any thoughts of going out for food were scuppered. We had a Dominos pizza delivery instead. The new rules meant that when I got back to the hotel, the bar was closed, so hotel time would be confined to my room. Breakfast, was cooked to order, normally a buffet I think but on the second morning I had to give a time I wanted brekkie. I misunderstood, thinking they would bring it to my room, so when it didn't turn up and I eventually went to enquire, I found they'd made it for the time I'd asked but were keeping it warm. I'd only asked for bacon butties and these they'd wrapped in foil. Not best.

My ride home was completed in one non-stop stint. Learning from my earlier mistake, I had the waterproofs on from the outset, which kept me warmer. I really should think about getting a decent base layer, especially for those spring/autumn chilly days.

The day after I got back we went into full lockdown. Ginny cane out for a clean but then went back on trickle charge, where she has been for the past 7 weeks. With the news this week though, she might get a run out fairly soon. She could do with getting some miles under her belt, as she won't now be doing the planned 4500 miles of the European tour, not till 2021 now.

I've coped pretty well in lockdown. To be fair, it's not much different to how things were before, apart from the lack of movement and not being able to go to spitfire club twice a week. I've been getting out for a walk most days, completing the 80K Hurricane Challenge (along the lines of the Spitfire 10k last year, only at home) and managing to hit a target of over 160km / 100 miles for April. My goal for May is to achieve that target again and I'm well on my way (44%) to reaching it.

The next big adventure for me and Catherine, will probably be our coming together in a civil partnership. We'll have been together for 24 years, come the 31st of this month, so we decided it was about time we made it official. Things are obviously still up in the air at the moment, with Covid-19 but we have a date of 17th August to put pen to paper. Hopefully this terrible virus won't put a spanner in the works, though it is certainly stopping us planning too much, at the moment.

Don't think there is much else to add, except to say, I hope everyone stays safe and well.

Until next time.

Not at the moment though!