MIMI'S CHARITY RIDE (Manby)

Sunday 30th May 2021

#BikeWeekUK #7DaysOfCycling #wbbr2021

#charity # Mimi’s Mission.

Lot’s going on and much to celebrate on this Bank Holiday Sunday.

It would be a ride as part of Cycling UK’s ‘Bike Week', their ‘Worlds Biggest Bike Ride’, ‘7 Days of Cycling‘ and an opportunity to contribute to ‘Mimi’s Mission Family Charity Bike Ride’, organised by Jason Bartup.

Apologies had been sent by Chris Owen, Mike Gray, John Rickett and Rob Cook whilst Reg Bagshaw had signed up with the organisers for a start at Manby. Joining Ride Leader Tim Newbery at the Meridian Leisure Centre in Louth were John Ambler and Alan Hockham. The weather had turned chilly and cloudy for the start of the ride, just 9 degrees Celsius as we set off, but the weather Guru’s had promised sunny skies and temperatures into the teens for the afternoon.

Leaving on schedule at 09.30 am, the riders would follow a course through Little Cawthorpe and onto Muckton where a right turn at a cross roads would take us along the attractive, undulating Burwell Road and Dark Lane. This ‘Lincolnshire Wolds Way’ passes the former kitchen gardens of Burwell Park Hall. The original Manor was held by Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland but the Hall was built later in 1760 for Matthew Lister, only to be demolished in 1958. The area is now a hidden gem in the Lincolnshire countryside.

With the sun beaming down and temperatures steadily climbing, it was a very pleasant journey to Belleau and a route onwards to Claythrope Water Mill where we were scheduled to take refreshments. There was one other cyclist sitting at a bench on arrival which were soon to realise was a member who had cycled with us before. It must have been about 2 years since we had last met up. Hopefully it won’t be such a long time before we meet again with Lloyd.

Coffee and cake went down well but after nearly an hour’s chat it was time to move on and pay our monies to Jason at Manby. Our route north proved uneventful passing through Woodthorpe, Gayton Top and the Carlton’s and the fine warm weather encouraged numerous species of birds to provide us with their tuneful songs as we pedaled onto Mimi’s Mission, situated in the former RAF Manby guardroom. We arrived at around 12 noon to be warmly greeted by Jason. We would also meet up with Reg. Along with cups of tea and coffee, Haley Hodson and her team of volunteers also provided us with magnificent bacon baps with John awarding his highest marks. Praise indeed and our thanks to all.

Before we departed, Jason was able to announce that the money raised for Mimi’s Mission Charity (incorporating the Youth and Community Centre) came to a total of £521 (about £90 coming from Rob Whitworth’s generous donation of cycling attire). With a cheque donated from the ‘Tanker Drivers’ Union, Grimsby Branch for £150, the grand total raised was £671. A great effort!

For Cycling UK Louth members another 10 miles to go as we wound our way through the narrow, at times single track lanes, crossing over Greyfleet Drain via Pickhill Bridge and onto North Cockerington following Red Leas Lane and Tossey Lane. Arriving back in Louth at around 2 pm we had covered 32 miles. The weather continued to be on our side as the skies remained clear blue and the thermometer registered a very respectful 16 degrees Celsius. Many thanks to all.