January 2013 Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter INSIDE Features 11 - GWC 2012 Xmas Party 14 - Bridgwater Xmas Bash 17 - Xmas Ride 21 - Orchard Trust Regulars 2 - Director’s Cut 3 - Between the Covers 3 - Cangen Cymraeg 4 - Secretary’s Update & 2012 AGM Report 9 - Ladies of Harley 10 - From the Front 15 - Cockers Bits 15 - Charity Coordinator 16 - 10th Anniversary Events 18 - From the Dealer 19 - Pete & Duncan’s Pump Stop 20 - Member’s Adverts 23 - At a Glance H.O.G. ® Chapter 6655
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H.O.G Chapter 6655
January 2013 Official Newsletter of the Great Western Chapter INSIDE
I do hope you have all had a lovely time over Christmas. At the mo-ment it’s quite hard writ-ing this as Christmas is not upon us and I’m sure like everyone else I have worried way too much, have stressed-
out way too much and worked way too much. So, now it’s all over let’s look forward to 2013 and the start of our 10th year Anniversary events.
What’s happening this month? Well, we have our first Gurzels meeting on the 12th January at 1pm in Riders (back room). Of course, if you are new to the Chapter, then you may be asking what on earth is the Gurzels. Well, a couple of years ago the ladies of the Chapter decided to put on a performance for our rally. So, those interested attended a meeting again in the back room, the song was chosen, we re-arranged the words to suit our dance routine and we took it from there. Of course, it takes a lot of time and sometimes a lot of pa-tience but, as they say, “its alright on the night” which means doing the routine in front of those attending our rally. For the 1st year we used the Combine Harvester song and last year we used “In the Navy”. Both events were very successful and, by popular de-mand, we are going to perform again this year, so please come along, Then, after the meeting you can decide if it’s for you.
Now I do hope the LOH Show/Dine and Shop (23rd November 2013) 10th Year event week-end is something you are interested in doing. Of course it’s not too late as you have until the 30th of THIS MONTH to get your cheque to Anita or Lynne. We need the money to se-cure the shows and you also need to let me know your choice of shows in orders 1st to 4th from the list. As I’ve said, it’s going to be a good chance to get to know other ladies and we can have a good time too.
List of shows for reference are: - Billy Elliot / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory / Viva For-ever / Top Hat / Lion King / One man 2 Guvnors.
Can I say Thank You to those who have al-ready expressed their interest.
Of course 25th of January is our Anniversary Party at Riders, the Kick-Off Party starts at 7pm and there will be food, music and drinks and a chance to win some prizes in the quiz, plus Riders are running a free shuttle bus to
and from the Premier Inn in Hengrove, so this promis-es to be a good night.
This month also brings our team’s rideout. It’s a short ride through the Forest of Dean where we plan to stop for coffee within the Forest, with a lunch stop and fare-well at the Ferry Inn where we hold our natter night … we just have to hope for good weather conditions.
Well that’s it for this month, I do hope these events are of interest to you, plus if you have any thoughts on what you would like to do within the Chapter then con-tact me with your ideas.
Well, here’s wishing you all a “Happy New Year”. I hope Santa brought you all you wished for, and those Harleys are full of new chrome. I’m sure there will also be a parade of new apparel at club
night’s lol. Anyway, here we are again, the year stretching out in front of us, new dreams, new ambi-tions. Just so much anticipation of great events to come in 2013. Being our 10th Anniversary year the programme of activities promises to have something for everyone. I would urge you to ensure you join in and have some fun. That’s what it’s all about.
As normal, the ride teams will prepare and organise rides as part of the regular activities. My team has already outlined a number of routes for our ride dates. As usual the Chapter will be putting on a ride for our rally, so look out for details of that at a later date. It promises to be something different to the normal.
I still have an issue with laying on regular monthly Welsh rides but, as I write, the guys and gals are still working hard to minimise any impact. For example Ian Mead and Si Griffiths have stepped up and planned a ride for January. I hope you turn out to support the guys. As things continue to develop I will keep you all posted but at the moment it is an ex-tremely fluid situation.
Last month I did touch on a number of Road Cap-tains stepping down. I would just like to confirm that Paul (Flamesy) Bromhead was not one of those guys and is still an active Road Captain with the Chapter. He has committed to help out whenever he can.
……. and so to the forthcoming ride:
Sunday 13th January 2013 – Ian Mead & Si Grif-fiths
“ Visiting the Valleys”
This will be a short winter ride which could be sub-ject to change if the weather is not friendly. There is a plan ‘B’ for the day so there is no excuse not to get out and lay some rubber down.
The plan is to meet 10.00 a.m. at Pencoed Services M4/J35 and be fuelled up ready to depart for 10.30 a.m.
The ride will leave on the A473 to Pencoed and onto B4280 to Sarn. Then pick up the A4064 to Garw Val-ley and Pontycymmer. Then the A4061 Ogwr Valley, A4058 Rhondda Fawr onto A4233 Rhondda Fach Down to Porth Trebanog and the A4119 Talbot Green. The final destination point is TBC when the venue confirms.
This is a Level A ride.
Sunday 27th January 2013– Stu Scott & Team
“Frozen Nuts in the Forest”
This is a short ride in keeping with the time of year but it’s a great opportunity to blow out the cobwebs and get back in the saddle. Why not join us for a ride in the Forest of Dean and the surrounding area. It’s a good excuse to get out and compare notes from the festive period.
The plan is to meet for 10.00 a.m. at Severn View Services (Aust) M48. Be fuelled up ready to depart at 10.30 a.m. The ride will head over the old Severn Bridge towards Chepstow and the Wye Valley. Crossing over the River Wye at Biggs Weir Bridge, we will then take minor roads and head for Sling, Coleford and Parkend where there will be a comfort break. From here the ride will head towards Palmers Flat, Sling, Tutshall and onto the Old Ferry Inn at Beachley. The ride will end here but there is the op-portunity to go in for a bite to eat, a warming drink or even a beer.
This is a Level A ride of circa 40-45 miles.
For last minute updates please call the “Hotline” on 08444 994508 and please keep a check on the web-site for changes.
Please see below some guidance details of the rides:
Level A - Short and easy below 100 miles round trip.
Level B - Fine for average riders but may be a bit longer.
Level C - Can include some complex sections but mainly a longer duration.
Until the next time, have fun and ride hard.
Alan “Big Al” Stokes
Assistant Director & Head Road Captain
From The Front By Alan “Big Al” Stokes
A very belated Happy New Year to you all. I hope you
and yours enjoyed a relaxing and enjoyable Christ-
mas.
So Christmas and December have both been and
gone and we are now in 2013; where did 2012 go? I
know both Mark and I were going to do so much last
year, hey ho. Hopefully 2013 brings us some better
riding weather (I sent my letter to Father Christmas
for good weather in 2013 but he ignored me and sent
me a cooker instead) but let me give an overview of
the Chapter’s Xmas Party at St Mary’s, as I saw it, for
those who couldn’t attend.
It was a cold day but thankfully dry. Mark and I got to
the hotel about 5.30ish and on my way to put the
menu options on the tables I found some members
ensuring (for the greater good) that the bar was fully
functioning and all seemed very sedate and not a
sign of a fancy dress anywhere. Then back to the
room to get dressed in my fancy dress (very pleased
with my choice at this time). However walking across
Mark pointed out another lady in the same fancy
dress, that I thought was bad enough, only to find
another three more in the same outfit. So that made 5
Cruella de Vils!! (Is there a term for a grouping of Cru-
ella de Vils, a ‘gaggle’ perhaps??) So there had to be
a group photo.
So this year’s theme was “Heroes and Villains” and
what a fantastic turn out there was and a great deal of
effort made by all, well done guys! There was Peter
and Yvonne who made a very ‘arresting’ couple, the
Cangen Cymraeg Pirates, Medusa, Zorros, Robin
Hoods, Fu Man Chu, James Bonds and Bond Girls,
Bonnie and Clydes, Bat Woman such a variety but
mostly villains but then again baddies do have the
best outfits! To judge and present the prize for the
‘best fancy dress’ was the ‘Geography Teacher’ (aka
Andy Ball: was he a hero or villain??) The winners of
the title and a bottle were the Super Mario Brothers
(Sonja and Tony Beddow)- congratulations both!
As a Christmas party we expected Santa to make an
appearance but he must have got confused by the
fact that we were told to bring Secret Santa pressies
as he didn’t turn up! But fear not, Jenny (Roach) to
the rescue. Jenny handed out blue pressies and I
handed out pink ones. There were some raised eye-
brows once these pressies were opened so I think we
need to look at whether we continue with this idea at
the next Xmas party?? But thanks to all those who
went to the effort of buying and wrapping a present
and importantly remembering to bring it with them.
The actual meal seemed to meet with good reviews
by all, apart from the Xmas Pudding. I was warned
not to try and eat it but, being competitive, I shovelled
a large spoon in. Bad mistake. I don’t think I’ve ever
eaten anything that just defied being swallowed, it
was so glutinous and where was the fruit?? You
couldn’t even find one currant, I know there’s cut
backs but come on guys.
Dinner over and on to the dance floor. The ladies
strutted their stuff and showed off their dance moves.
Unfortunately for the Piratess Kay (Mead) her moves
turned into ‘break dancing’; not that this was her in-
tention, so we all wish you a speedy recovery Kay
and hope your wrist is now on the mend.
Andy Ball made one more award, The Toscar, to the
2012 California “Dominoes” Tour Group (I’m sure
that’s a Turkey Baster?) for the number of dropped
bikes and a group photo was taken for posterity.
12.00 midnight and the party comes to an end or
should I say officially came to an end as I’m sure
there was still some drinking going on. Oh no there
wasn’t ……oh yes there was….…
The morning after saw another communal meal and a
number of sore heads (mine included) but a cooked
breakfast helped and then we said our farewells.
I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and that you’ll cele-
brate Christmas 2013 with us. If you have any sug-
gestions or comments on how we can improve (if
that’s possible) on this year’s event then let me know
as soon as you can, but don’t wait till December.
“Mrs Cockers”
The GWC 2012 Xmas Party By Anita Cockwell
“Heroes and Villains”
Page 11
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The Bridgwater Xmas Bash By Mark Cockwell
This was the first time I‘d attended one of the famous
Bridgwater Chapter Xmas parties so was interested
to see what it was all about.
Unfortunately Anita, my better half, wasn’t very well
so I had to leave her on the sofa at home feeling sor-
ry for herself, “well there was an article to write and
nothing should get in the way of the story”. This did
mean I had to be on my best behaviour, otherwise
word would get back and I would be greeted with a
rolling pin on my return home.
The weather on the way to the Bridgwater Xmas
Bash, held this year at St Audries Bay Holiday Club
near Minehead, was pretty depressing. Looking at the
steep and muddy drive from the main road to the site
I was glad I’d pussed out and gone by car. In fact I
believe only one brave soul arrived by bike.
I finally arrived late afternoon, at which point I’d al-
ready missed the parts jumble sale from which Gra-
ham Roach had picked up a rather fetching steel
sporran that looked remarkably like an air filter to me,
but hey what do I know?
I met up with the rest of the Chapter in the bar for a
few drinks before dinner. The GWC turn out was light
with only 8 of us turning up, with a few no shows. For-
tunately our low numbers meant we could all fit onto a
single table which made for a convivial atmosphere.
As we sipped our aperitifs members from the Bridg-
water Chapter and Kernow Harley Riders started
turning up in various festive fancy dress with Santas,
elves and punks (???) in abundance.
St Audries was a good venue for this event with spa-
cious dining and a separate dance floor with bar. The
food was excellent and the staff were happy to bring
extra helpings for those of us with bigger appetites.
After dinner it was off to the dance floor for more
beer, dancing, a band and a raffle. The music was
provided by a three-piece band and Rob Paston who
unwisely decided that his fancy dress should be ec-
clesiastic with a twist, that is to say his arse was
hanging out. This led to a tussle on the dance floor
with an over excited female who wanted more.
Fortunately, the raffle gave Rob a chance to compose
himself and the Great Western members the chance
to win three of the prizes.
In all the evening was a great success.
The morning saw a number of bleary eyes at break-
fast and an improvement in the weather with sun-
shine for the journey home.
“Mr Cockers”
Page 14
Cockers Bits By Anita Cockwell
I’m hoping that you all
had the Christmas
and New Year that
you had hoped for
and Santa was good
to you and yours. If
not, forget it and look
forward to 2013 and all the GWC events on the
horizon.
January is a quiet month but even so we have two
rideouts planned and the first LOH Gurzels meet-
ing (organised by Jane), so a good way to dance
off all those mince pies ladies before summer
comes and the Riders 10th Anniversary evening.
As always there will be the club nights and natter
night, so not such a quiet month after all eh?
NB. Check out the At A Glance Calendar in the
RoadHOG regularly, as more 2013 events will be
added as and when dates are finalised.
I’m still getting to grips with the Activities role and
therefore hope to be able to give you more de-
tailed information of these and other activities that
will be arranged throughout the year via this mag-
azine and at Club nights.
Riders 10th Anniversary
You will have seen the flyer from Riders advertis-ing their own GWC 10th celebration party on the 25th January starting at 7.00pm so get on down to Riders even if it’s for an hour or so and get rid of those post Christmas blues. Food, drink and mu-sic will be provided, so get your glad rags on. Please don’t drink and ride/drive but get a room at the nearby Premier Inn, Hengrove, which is ap-proximately 2 miles away and remember Riders will be providing transport to and from the hotel.
To book go to http://www.premierinn.com and se-lect Bristol South, Hengrove Leisure Centre. If you book in advance (no refunds though) it costs £39 for a double room.
The December rideout is always a tricky one to plan.
Try to keep it as central as possible, half the English
side or the River Severn and half on the Welsh side.
If the weather has remained warm for the time of
year it seems too short. If the roads have had their
first salting, the turnout would be low.
So, a short ride with a B plan to extend and a later
than usual start time to allow the ice to melt seemed
to be the order of the day.
Well, we had the roads salted the week before and
ice was forecast great!
Now I have heated gloves and they are very good,
but, with all those wires and things, I only use them
as a last resort – stupidity is the only sane explana-
tion I know, I know.
I set off in normal gloves to gauge the cold and the
10 miles from home to Aust confirmed it was border-
ing on (read well within) heated glove territory.
I arrived to see 5 or 6 of our trusty, hardy Chapter
members already at Aust including Hard and Sharp
(always a good start).
By the time we had coffee’d we were up to the “12
bikes of Christmas” and I had decided to just check
the first leg of the journey out in normal gloves, just
to see……….
After a most professional briefing (well only a few
people there so who could deny it anyway) and a
quick photo shoot we set off for Thornbury.
The roads were wet and dirty and pretty slippy. I
have to confess my words in the briefing stating that
as I was leader I was entitled to slip off, but on no
account should anyone copy my actions, did come
back to haunt me with the back end stepping out a
couple of times – just checking the limits for the rest
of you - all heart me.
About half way between the start and McDonalds at
Quegley, my fingers started to complain about the
glove decision and then, following a lorry for about 5
miles, caused my Shades, well, to stop working real-
ly. They were covered in salt and the more I wiped
them the worse the visibility became.
In McDonalds I promised my fingers I would heat
them on the next stage of the journey and whilst
washing my shades and racoon looking face to re-
move the salt, gave them an excessively long, warm
soak.
After a coffee and listening for as long as I could to a
conversation about manicures, thankfully “Chick
Chat” but Mr Sharp was taking way too much inter-
est for my liking, so we resumed our ride, across
Gloucester and down the “Welsh” side of the river.
Reasoning that my fingers were warm from the wash
I chose the normal gloves, sorry fingers.
A beautiful run down the side of the river bathed in
weak winter sunshine to the “Welsh National Diving
Centre” just outside Chepstow.
I have driven by most weeks for years and never
been in, so now seemed the time. It is a quarry, I
think, with a newly built Café and pretty good views.
Most people ate and the feedback on the food
seemed fine. There were plenty of people diving and
Christmas Ride with Hard, Sharp ‘n’ Wide
Page 17
Christmas Ride with Hard, Sharp ‘n’ Wide (Continued)
initially I thought they must be insane but my fingers
assured me they are no madder than us!
With a large deck overlooking the water it would be
worth considering for a summer run.
The ride finished here so it would be mad to get
heated gloves out just for the ride home………….
Now, if ever I get stopped by the police for noise,
which has only happened a few times, honest, and
they ask me if I have any baffles, technically my re-
sponse that I do is perfectly true. Despite all you
doubters, I DO have baffles on my bike. They are in
my pannier right under the heated gloves and that
ladies and gents, despite my disapproving fingers
and ears is where they will probably stay!!
PS Fingers I’m sure you will have warmed up by the
time you have washed all that salt off the bike!!
Thanks to HARD ’n’ SHARP and all those that at-
tended.
The Wideboy
Hi All,
Duncan is currently on holiday and has left me to put
pen to paper....So, as I write this it's the week before
Christmas and the AGM has been and gone. Bazzer
is now at the controls and Andy Ball is taking a very
well earned rest (probably helped along with a drop
or two of JD!) after 3 years of sterling service. By
the time you get this, Christmas and New Year cele-
brations will a hazy memory and we'll all be looking
forward to the riding season and the promise of
warmer, sunnier days.
The Chapter is now 10 years old (it really has flown
by) and for this celebration year the Planning Group
and Committee have been working really hard to
make it special, with 10 events planned throughout
the year. The first is the kick-off party at the dealer-
ship on Friday 25th January. The key ingredients of
food, drink and music will be on the menu, along
with a Chapter-based quiz and of course some very
special Chapter-only “on the night” deals. We would
love to see you on the night - there will even be a
free shuttle to and from the Premier Inn (Hengrove)
for anyone wishing to stay over!
I'd like to thank you all for your support during 2012
and wish you a happy, sunny and safe 2013 - I'm
sure we must be due some good weather for the
10th Anniversary year!
Stay warm, safe and salt free!
Martin
From The Dealer By Martin Rich
Page 18
As I’m writing this, it’s still a week to go to Christ-
mas, despite the street decorations having been up
for weeks and Tesco chock full of seasonal nick-
nacks since Halloween. Ah well, the cream eggs will
soon be on display! By the time you are reading this,
in January, we’ll be miles and miles away in Califor-
nia, home-from-home in our Palm Springs Golf &
Country Club Condo (no, we are not golfers, but
there is a pool, restaurants, bar and the rental deal
was good). So, rather than freezing/getting wet/
looking at grey skies/ not riding and getting misera-
ble, we’ll be out riding in the warmth (70 degrees F
today) and sunshine on the desert highways, for a
whole month. As with our previous stays, we’ll be
blogging (http://pjroberts2010.wordpress.com/) with
pictures of our rides, plus pithy observations on the
American way of life. Hopefully, there’ll be no run-ins
with border patrols this year!
As Yvonne has mentioned in her Secretary’s report,
we will sadly miss the first big 10th Anniversary
event of 2013, the Chapter Birthday Party at Riders.
Martin is handling all the details and it is sure to be a
great way to kick off the year of fantastic and varied
activities. We will also miss the January meeting of
the GWC Committee on the 12th (for the first time
ever). I was thinking how cool it would be to do a
FaceTime link up, until I realised that it would be
2.30 a.m. in California when Bazzer called order for
his first meeting in the Director’s executive chair!
We’ll look forward to coming back to February’s
meeting, and the undoubtedly new dynamics with
Anita, Mark and Greg joining us old-hands!
Last month, we did a repeat of last year’s pre-
Christmas jaunt to visit all our relatives “up north”,
stopping off at the NEC to mean-
der around the Motorcycle Live
exhibition. If you’ve never been,
it is well worth doing, as all the
major bike manufacturers are
displaying their wares. Also, if
you want any riding gear, leather
-wear etc., or a new helmet
(several hundred all on display),
this is the place. Or, you can talk
to guys selling books of their lat-
est solo biking exploits, such as
a 500 mile-a-day ride from Alas-
ka to southern Chile. We stopped
by for a coffee (no cookies or
Danish pastries on offer this year) at the Harley-
Davidson stand, but were first asked if we were
H.O.G.® members! The usual girlies with their iPads
were in evidence, but like mist they wafted away as
soon as you said that you have a 2012 model Glide.
The bikes – especially the CVO Breakout, and their
custom exhibits, provided by Warrs and the like,
sure looked pretty, but then there isn’t much new in
the 2013 range.
As usual, sitting on the stock bikes for a photo op-
portunity was popular (including with Yvonne, taking
over a Wide Glide), but the gleaming Breakout just
sat there in the spotlights behind its protective rails.
And yes, the miniscule number of these bikes, that
will head towards Europe, are already all sold.
Doesn’t seem quite logical, does it? All a bit reminis-
cent of the great British sports car boom after the
war – like the lovely MG-T that was in hot demand
State-side, but in very short supply. Of course there
was a good excuse: WWII! What’s Harley Da-
vidson’s rationale for all the hype and almost zero
availability?
Peter & Duncan’s Pump Stop
Page 19
Peter & Duncan’s Pump Stop (Continued)
After Birmingham, we started a bit of a recci for the
“Go East” tour next September, heading to Market
Harborough (great little town) in the area that we
know least well. It wasn’t the greatest of ideas as we
hit thick freezing fog as soon as we crossed the M1.
A re-run is called for early next year, on the bike and
with sunshine (assuming 2013 brings some of that!).
That just leaves me to wish you all a very Happy and healthy 2013 and give way to Duncan and his first “Tip of the Month” for the New Year:
Now the festive season is over and I’m a few pounds heavier around the waist and a few pounds lighter in the wallet, it’s time to fit all those gadgets and chrome bits we got for Christmas.
You’re sat in the garage and looking at those shiny
bits of metal and pondering on how you are going to
make them fit. Even though your tool box consists of
just a mallet and a screwdriver, it still looks a good
idea to undo things, fiddle and slowly but surely get
yourself into a position where the bike no longer
starts, nothing fits back on and you’ve lost half the
screws!
At this point you wish you had never started the job
in the first place and it’s now going to cost you to
recover the bike and get it sorted. Sometimes it’s
best to say no at the start or make a phone call to
ask how easy it is to fit things or, in some cases,
how cheap it is - it may surprise you. Give Haydn a
call and he will give you plenty of helpful advice on
whether or not to attempt to fit things to avoid those
sometimes expensive mistakes.
On a separate note, we have a birthday coming up
so I expect to see you all to celebrate 10 years of
the Chapter on the 25th of January. Some of us
have even been part of the team for that long; see if
you can work out who has been here at Riders for
10 years. I myself am only 21, so haven’t been at
work long enough, but guess who else has?
A very Happy New Year to you all.
Safe riding.
Peter & Duncan@riders
For Sale
5” Face Analog Speedometer to
fit Dyna/Softail
8 months old. £150 o.n.o
Leather seat to fit Dyna/Softail
“New’” never been used and
still in box. £150 o.n.o
Telephone Jeff on 0117 986 7676
The Firebirds (Rock ‘n’ Roll Band)
www.thefirebirds.co.uk
Page 20
Hi Everyone,
Hope you all had a great Christmas! Well, Christ-
mas will all be packed away at Orchard Trust by the
time you read this RoadHOG. However, it started
here at the beginning of December with our Carol
Service, attended by over 100 service users,
friends, family members and staff. Having Lydbrook
band play made it all the more special and, as ex-
pected, everyone joined in with Jingle Bells, with an
assortment of percussion instruments too!
Our very first Santa’s Grotto was a great success.
Lots of local children went home very happy after
meeting Father Christmas and some of our service
users also visited and enjoyed the festivities. The
Lodge and training office were transformed and
looked magical. We had two elves on hand to help
children write their Christmas lists and take part in
other festive fun. Whilst children opened their gift
from Santa, families enjoyed refreshments and
browsed art and craft stalls with lovely handmade
items for last minute presents and we raised over
£300 during the weekend.
There have been several Christmas parties –
Hilltop had theirs first, at Drybrook Rugby Club, with
lovely food, a raffle and music supplied by a DJ. All
of their service users have been busy with trips out
to do their Christmas shopping and also helping
with decorating Hilltop for Christmas. They enjoyed
attending the carol service and also were made
very welcome at the Christingle at Ruardean Hill
Baptist Chapel.
Service users from Sevenoaks have joined in with
Christmas parties across Orchard Trust and some
individuals have been to parties with other organi-
sations that they have links with. The home is plan-
ning a party after Christmas for their service users
and their families.
Offa’s Dyke and the Orchards all enjoyed them-
selves at their Christmas party and have been wel-
coming some new service users who are moving
into the recently completed second part of the re-
build at Offa’s Dyke.
We had another tenant move into Morelands a cou-
ple of weeks ago, who is settling in well. Individuals
from Morelands and Kimberley Drive really enjoyed
an outing to Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury recently
to see the pantomime ‘Aladdin’. They have en-
joyed attending several Christmas parties and have
also been busy doing their Christmas shopping.
Both homes are decorated for Christmas and at
Kimberley Drive, they’ve been trying to stop their
cat, Pepper, playing with the decorations on the
tree!
Students at the Learning Centre have worked ex-
tremely hard this term, practising their performance
and spending several weeks making props and
costumes ready to perform an outdoor nativity for
Orchard Trust By Kathryn
Page 21
Orchard Trust (Continued) By Kathryn
us. The inn and stable were set up on the Learning
Centre patio and we even had one of the ponies
looking over the fence next to the stable! It was a
beautiful sunny morning and the cast looked amaz-
ing in their costumes. The audience thoroughly
enjoyed the performance and showed their appreci-
ation with a loud round of applause!
Students were invited to decorate a Christmas tree
for the Christmas Tree Festival at Lydbrook
Church. After making and decorating lots of stars
and writing personal messages onto gift tags, a
group went along to beautify the tree with the lovely
hand made items. Everyone had great fun hanging
the decorations onto the tree and naming the tree
‘Starry Starry Night’.
The new blue trampoline bed that you bought for
the Swim Gym is in regular use and has made an
enormous difference for the staff when they are
doing rebound activities with the service users, as it
is purpose built for that activity, and has much more
spring and ‘give’ in it. This makes it easier to cre-
ate movement that the service users really enjoy
and this is combined with physiotherapy exercises
to keep muscles supple and joints freely mov-
ing. The Co-operblanket that you bought is in regu-
lar use too and has been used for drama work by
students in the Learning Centre. It is also a great
tool for controlling the more energetic service users
who love to bounce high but don’t like to be held or
touched. The staff who were trained this autumn
(who found the training great fun!) are now regular-
ly involved in rebound sessions here at the
Trust. Our Orchard Trust Rebound Trainer said
”The trampoline gets used on a daily basis, by our
service users and other people with learning disa-
bilities in the wider community. We were able to
host a staff training course for people from outside
Orchard Trust, that now enables them to hire our
facility safely, so your wonderful contribution is be-
ing felt and appreciated by both us and others more
broadly across our area”.
Lastly, but most certainly not least, there was much
excitement here when ‘the builders’ (Andy Ball &
Co.) arrived to dig out and lay the path to the wild-
life area on the smallholding, fortunately, while we
had a spell of dry weather. The path is now laid
and fenced and is complete with a ‘lay-by’ as a
passing place, where we plan to add a simple rustic
bench so that it can also be a place for students
and other visitors to the smallholding to stop for a
rest and chat. The path passes by the animal pad-
docks, so wheelchair users can now get much clos-
er to the animals than they could before. We have
wanted to have a path here for quite some time
now – so we are very grateful that your generous
support from GWC has made this possible and
hope that Andy enjoyed getting a little glimpse into
the day to day activities on the Smallholding/in the
Learning Centre.
Everyone here sends their very best wishes to you
all for a very Happy New Year and GWC 10th Anni-
versary.
Thank you for your continued support for us here at
The Orchard Trust
Kathryn
The Orchard Trust
Page 22
At a Glance - 2013 GWC Activities Calendar Contact Anita Cockwell if you have any other event you would like to see listed.
Tel: 01761 471385 or mobile: 07702 073361 or e-mail: [email protected]
For further details on any event listed visit “What’s On” on the GWC website.
Committee Contacts Sponsoring Dealer:
Duncan White 0117
9588777
Director:
Barry Aggett 07970 271151
Asst Director/Treasurer:
Peter Roberts 07540 164157
Asst Director/ Head Road
Captain:
Alan Stokes 07766 237242
Secretary:
Yvonne Roberts 01225
751017
Webmaster:
Chris Harding 07801 562011
Activities Officer:
Anita Cockwell 01761
471385
Safety Officer:
Andy Kendall 07905 397474
Editor: Mark Cockwell
07900 496711
Photographer/Historian:
Tony Yendle 07787 551612
Ladies of Harley:
Jane Scott 07894 086626
Charity Co-ordinator:
Bill MacDonald 07989
987189
Cangen Cymraeg Rep:
Greg Payne 07976 410016
Rally Co-ordinator:
Tony James 07940 895921
Road Captains Barry Aggett, Paul
Bromhead, Nigel Garnett,
Paul Groom, Chris Harding,
Martin James, Ian Johnson,
Andy Kendall, Andy
Kendall, (RKK), Dave
Pocock, Stephanie Pocock.
Dave Roberts, Darren
Sharp, Jane & Stuart Scott,
Alan Stokes, Tony Yendle.
Road Marshals Mike Brake, Tony Cole,
Steve Crook, Simon
Griffiths, Ian Mead, Greg
Payne, Mike Sage.
RoadHOG is printed
by the Woodside Press
All details on GWC web site
www.greatwesternhog.co.uk
Date Chapter Events Organiser Details January
8th Club Night Barry Aggett To be Announced
9th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
12th LOH Jane Scott Gurzels Rehearsal Meet @ Riders
13th Ride Out Ian Mead/Si Griffiths Visiting the Valleys
22nd Natter Night Barry Aggett Ferry Inn, Beachley
25th 10th Anniversary Martin Rich GWC 10th Anniversary Party @ Riders
27th Ride Out Stu Scott Frozen Nuts in the Forest
February
12th Club Night Barry Aggett To be Announced
13th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
March
12th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
13th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
April
9th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
10th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
May
8th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
14th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
June
7/8/9th 10th Anniversary Chris Harding 12th Benelux Rally, Belgium
11th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
12th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
21/22/23rd 10th Anniversary Tony James Hogs in the Hayfields 6, Cleve RFC
July
9th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
10th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
11/12/13/14th 10th Anniversary Yvonne Roberts Rhayader Riding Weekend
August
13th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
14th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
September
5/6/7/8th 10th Anniversary Peter Roberts Go East Tour
10th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
11th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
October
8th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
9th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
26th 10th Anniversary Dave Norton Dinner Hilton Hotel Aztec West
TBC Hoggin’ the Bridge/Ride to the Wall
November
12th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
13th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed
23rd/24th 10th Anniversary Jane Scott LOH trip to London
December
10th Club Night Barry Aggett Cross Hands Hotel, Old Sodbury
11th Club Night Barry Aggett St Mary’s Hotel, Pencoed