The All Terrain Event – did you miss it?

Well, that’s it. Over! And a darned shame too. Birgit and I are just back from an event at Haggs Bank up in Northern England close to the Lake District. For those of you who don’t know or haven’t been there, Danny Taylor (who many of you will know from Horizons Unlimited) bought a listed but tumbledown derelict miners building near Alston (Nenthead) and has lovingly brought it back to life as a bunkhouse.

He then set about levelling the hill behind to make camping terraces. What a mega task that must have been too!

The Haggs Bank Bunkhouse is set in absolutely magic scenery and right on the Coast to Coast trail. As this was our first time there I saw that yet again, photos just don’t do a place justice. But I’m beginning to wax lyrical (justifiably mind!). But why were we there?

Danny and Adventure Spec team had set up a weekend aimed at anyone wanting to learn the more rugged side of motorcycling! They had set up a series of things to get involved with that would help people who wanted to learn about riding trails, river crossings, orienteering, using a GPS in this wild landscape and so on. A series of trainers not only ran the riding courses but also taught one of the most useful motorcycling first aid courses I’ve been on to date.

Does this sound a bit daunting? Actually the whole weekend was extremely light hearted and everyone from complete novices to the very experienced found plenty to get stuck into. The location really helps with that! Wow! What sort of bikes were people on? All had the ability to deal with trails and ran from 225’s right through to the bigger KTMs and BMWs.

It didn’t help that after a very sunny day to arrive, the weather decided to gift us with some amazingly strong winds. Not Patagonia strength but enough that at one stage, throttle wide open, I couldn’t get my bike to go faster than 35mph! None of that mattered much when, home again, great food had been laid on, live sit-round-the-fire type music, presentation and films, and all in a great atmosphere.

I really hope Danny runs this again next year! If we are in the country, we will be there for sure. Add it to you ‘to do’ list. And in the mean time you could head up to the Horizons Unlimited event that’s being held there this September. You’ll see why we have been so blown away by the place (Sorry, couldn’t resist that!)