Month: November 2025

Coffee Morning, The Pig Shed, Dewflock Farm 19th November 2025

There are some mornings I wonder about my sanity. It is 4°C and I am riding my Velocette to the Wednesday Morning Coffee Meeting at The Pig Shed, Dewflock Farm, DT2 8NP (https://dewflockfarm.co.uk/). Perhaps my t-shirt declaring, “I am starting to think I will never be old enough to know better”, has more truth in it than I dared to believe.

Whatever, there was a warm greeting from Verity (“Flat white?”) and a roaring woodfire to warm my interior and exterior; coupled with the intellectual stimulation of lots of other bike enthusiasts. I can think of no better way to spend a wintry, cold, November morning.

Come and experience a warm welcome from one and all. 10 – 12am every Wednesday.

Mike Davies

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November 16th Run to Crafty Barn & Lakeside Kitchen

A bright, clear, morning. A sign of a change in the weather? Yep – by the end of the day I wasfeeling cold, especially my poor nose!
Arrived early at the Three Compasses; in fact too early! We made a lonely sight.
19 riders had their signatures and money extracted from them by Steve Edgington, the rideleader.
At about 10:30 we set out. The drop off system was used for our 18 mile route to our first stop,The Dorset Crafty Barn. Nobody managed to get lost. An interesting route exploring back lanesvia Chesilbourne, Ansty, Hilton, and the pictures Milton Abbas.
The thatched cottages we passed were built by Joseph Damer, Earl of Dorchester in 1780s. Damer decided to remove the existing houses in the town because they spoilt his view from his manor house. He waited till leases ran out and in the 1780s he demolished the existing cottages and replaced them with new ones further away. He also moved the almshouses. The new settlement was renamed Milton Abbas. Each cottage housed four families.
At just after midday Steve led us on the second part of our journey to The Lakeside Kitchen at Todber via Winterbourne Whitechurch, Winterbourne Strickland, and Manston. The view from Tunworth Down over Shillingstone and towards Salisbury is stunning. I had difficulty keeping my eyes on the road as North Dorset was laid out before me.
The forename Winterbourne of many villages around Dorset refers to a seasonal spring which dries up during the summer.
The return to the Three Compasses took just under an hour (33 miles) on glorious biking roads – a good mix of fast roads, and town riding.
In total 68.3 miles were travelled on the route.
Many thanks to Steve Edgington for organising the route at short notice. Mike Davies

https://www.relive.com/view/vKv23QQgD4O

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November 15th Breakfast Meet

Saturday morning was misty and frankly cold. Mark & I set off for Charminster through varying density of fog, the worse as we went over the Dorset ridgeway. the descent into Martinstown saw the fog thinning. Arrival at the Three Compasses was timely. We were a little early but had a pleasant chat as other bikers trickled into the car park. It wasn’t long before Tina opened the door
to allow us to warm ourselves inside. Conversation over steaming mugs of coffee was animated; the idiosyncrasies of the various marques we ride were discussed. Then the conversation turned to Dusty’s admonition of all of us at the Thursday night meeting some seven weeks before; “An engineer measures length with a rule NOT a ruler!”
The mist cleared while we were eating a hearty breakfast; we would not know it as the windows had steamed up – to much hot air expelled by each of us!.

Mike Davies

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