A goup enjoying the meal

Saturday 30th Jan was the Anniversary Bash for the GoldWings North West at the Feathers Hotel, Leyland, celebrating as the name suggests the 1st Anniversary of the formation of GoldWings North West.

It was a great event with about 80 people in attendance, all in the mood for a party and to make it worthwhile after all the efforts that Lesley Halley went to to arrange it.

Jan and I, with Dave and Elaine, Derek and Barbara, Allen ‘Chalky White and Wendy went along to represent GoldWings North Wales at the do.

More Wine please

On arrival at the hotel on the Sat afternoon, we made use of the leisure facilities which were well appreciated. There was a great pool, Jacuzzi, Steam Room and Sauna. There was also an exercise room which I believe was okay but I didn’t have the opportunity to try it out.

The venue of the evening dinner was excellent with a room dedicated to the GoldWings North West Party.  Many of us were wearing posh dress i.e. dinner jackets for the men and posh frocks for the ladies just to set the tone for the evening.

All up on the dance floor

I don’t think anyone can complain about any of the food which was superb. The all inclusive bar was good with free replenishment of your drinks throughout the evening. The only slight comment that could possibly be made was that the house rose wine was a bit industrial!

Throughout the evening we were entertained by the DJ who managed to get people up and dancing, and when they brought the props out, it is was quite a sight for sore eyes, watching the antics of a few air guitarists when they were handed inflatable guitars!

A most enjoyable evening was had by all.

Air guitarists in action

This is how Lesley Halley would have wanted it and to see Barry and his family there taking part only made the party more intense and enjoyable, though somewhat tinged with sadness.

The following morning I was able to see quite a few sensitive heads at breakfast. Again the hotel provided excellent food, which it would have been an insult not to make the most of.

This was followed by the 1st AGM of GNWest.

The high spot of the AGM was handing a cheque for £500 to the North West Air Ambulance Charity. This is an admirable figure for the club to collect during its first year. It also shows that the members of GNWest has a lot of support for the charity as they have decided to continue to support it for another year.

The new team sitting with the old 'uns behind

It was also the time for Bob Summers to hand over the Chairmanship to Ian Duxbery. I have to say that Bob has managed to steer the new club on a great path for it’s first 12 months and likewise it was a pleasure to see Ian taking over as Chairman, with Karen as treasurer and Steve taking on the role of secretary.

I wish them well for the next 12 months and know they will continue to steer the club in the right direction. ( I look forward to an invite to the 2nd Anniversary bash!)

Dave T

Our Logo

It is now 12 months since that inaugural meeting at The Chase when GoldWingers from the region were invited to attend to discuss the formation of a new club in North Wales.

It was obvious that there was a lot of feeling at the meeting about the way that the club scene within GWOCGB had gone, and particularly, at the way the members of GWOCGB has rejected suggestions for improvement within its regions to attract and involve more GoldWingers to the club.

This club was formed to give more choice to GoldWingers, rather than the camping weekends which all followed the same theme. Great if you like that style of weekend but for those who don’t camp then they didn’t derive as much from the club as they should have been able to, with other events being very restricted.

It was clear from the onset that this club was to be in addition to other clubs that a Winger may be in, and not instead of them, and that membership of this club was open to anyone with an interest in GoldWings.

The first few months were a bit on the quiet side as the riding season was finished except for those hardy souls who ride all year around. We have tried to keep a varied list of events for members to take part in, and due to the formation of Goldwings North West, another independent club, we have been successful in having a good calender.

Blackpool Light Parade

The formation of the Federation, an umbrella organisation created to assist independent clubs, has also created a lot of interest within GoldWing circles. The Federation role was to assist these independent clubs but not be in charge of them. The Federation was to assist with organising some events of it’s own. These events were to be open to any GoldWinger to attend and not just members of the Federation.

This fact has caused upset amongst members of certain GWOCGB regions who are opposed to anything that the Federation do. For god’s sake, why?

A good example of this is the attempts by GWOCGB committee and others within that club to sabotage the Blackpool Light Parade with a series of misinformation that was put out. Another example is meeting up with a set of GoldWingers from Lancs and Lakes Region at a recent event and one of them refused to greet me as a friend, despite having been a friend before the new club was formed. I have never done or said anything for him to act this way.

Expensive purchase at the Treffen

I attended two GWOCGB events during this year, the Treffen at Kelso and the Scarborough Light Parade. At both events I enjoyed the company of many old friends and with so many people coming up to me for more details on the Federation.

In June, Jan and I managed to take a European trip under the guidance of Stuart Ormerod, an experienced Foreign Tour Leader. This trip was to the Mosel Valley in Germany. It was so enjoyable that Jan and I are going back and are prepared to lead a smallish group ourselves. See elsewhere on this website for details.

We have been fortunate to increase our membership considerably since we started and there are new faces to GoldWinging joining our club, after having seen what is on offer from other local clubs. I must thank other local clubs for their attitude towards us as this has encouraged our membership to grow.

A view of the Rhine

The AGM, which was held 2 days ago, was a well attended affair and it was heartening  to see that we have a good base of members to work with during the next year. We have a new rides co-ordinator, Chris Phillips, who is keen to get on with the task of organising a full and interesting rides calendar for the next season.

We anticipate more clubs joining the Federation which will hopefully give more national events for our members to attend, if they wish. I hope that the Federation will also be putting on more foreign trips for members to join in.

I sincerely hope the next 12 months brings about a surge forward in the GoldWinging scene, nationally and locally, and that we are part of that growth.

Dave T