Motorcycles welcome at Well House Manor
Archive - Originally posted on "The Horse's Mouth" - 2008-09-19 11:03:29 - Graham EllisI used to ride a motor cycle. I suppose I may have my mid-life crisis at some point and ride another one. And I've got that in common with many of our course delegates; occasionally (sometimes it seems not so occasionally!) one of them will arrive for a course on his bike and in full leathers.
There's an element who are concerned about "bikers" - and indeed some of the riders who drive up and down outside our place are "applying for the organ donor program" as John - who you see in the picture - commented. But they're not really just one of a label - "bikers" - they're people on bikes. You get a clue from little things - the ponytail sticking out, the colour of an ankle that's not covered with a sock, the gesture to other traffic to move in. I'm reminded of how I found that I got something of a clue about the ladies, in their full length, full face covered black robes in Saudi Arabia when I was there two years ago - the manner of walking, and the shoes, gave such a pointer. But I digress ... "You really enjoy customer service" said Lisa to me yesterday, as we ate at Sweetwater, Virginia, USA and I joked with the wait staff who had offered Lisa coffee and me tea after a meal. "Why tea?" I asked an "oh come on - British Accent" replied the person and we chuckled. I had a coffee and we concluded the meal with yet another smile after a lovely evening. I digress again ....
We took an hour yesterday to travel from Lisa's sister's house ... the 8 miles to Tyson's Corner down the Leesburg Pike. Stop lights here seem to keep you stopped for an age - the 1 minute cycle from the UK seems extended to five, and heavy traffic and road construction multiplied the delay. And it seemed that the road works people hadn't reprogrammed the stop lights, so that the works which allowed a single line through the lights caused the mother of all tailbacks. All around the world, traffic is getting worse, and where it was a pleasure to drive a car in the past, it's now becoming something of a chore much of the time, and a chore that I prefer to replace with an alternative form of transport.
On Wednesday morning, we travelled to Heathrow Airport by coach - for sure, it took us longer, but it was much more relaxed. We got a chance to talk, to see what was going on, to meet if briefly, a number of other people. And we ended up at the airport fresh, and in good time for the anticipated scrum at checkin, queues at security, scramble for a bite to eat before the long walk to the plane, and a cramped 8 hours in conditions that would be considered cruel to sheep, followed by a grilling from an official who's job it is to let only those who meet George Bush's rules into his country. But actually it wasn't like that at all - yes, this was perhaps the easiest journey ever. Perhaps it's because it was later in the day that there was no checkin scrum. No queue at security either, and they now have it down to a fine art to get people through quickly. Terminal 3 now has a better choice of eateries (without queues too) and a Yo Shushi gave us the chance to select a light set of mini-dishes that set us up well for the flight, with no service-delay and left us good time to get reading materials and electronic gizmos (another day's story) for the flight. A shorter walk to a new gate, and a very comfortable flight - aided (it mush be admitted) by an upgrade to Premium Economy based on frequent flyer points gained after travelling in 'the back' for many years. And on USA arrival? A short immigration line, an officer with a smile, a shuttle to the hire car base sitting at the kerbside, and a hire car that was just 3 spaces from that base when we had done the paperwork, and not at the far end of the lot.
Where am I rambling? I'm rambling in the land where travel is changing. I'm saying that we encourage people who are visiting us to come by motor bike, by train, by bus, by coach, by car, by plane. We've had a delegate who was encouraged to see that our "where are we" details include a note of where you can best moor your narrowboat if you're on a course, and we're just a hundred yards off one of the main cycle routes that criss-cross the country. Yes, we do have facilities for your bike under cover. Good large showers to wash off the perspiration of cycling. Rooms with overnight accommodation if you travel a day early, and more relaxed. And we're happy to give you lifts to and from Melksham station, or to arrange a taxi for slightly more distant public transport connections. And - having said all that - we've also got plenty of free parking for our delegates and guests for whom the car remains the best and most practical way of reaching us.