Motorcycle Action Group.

Heart of England rally and 'Brum Demo' run.

30th June - 1st 2nd July. 2000

    The previous two "HOE" rallies were something of a fiasco ( click HERE and HERE for details ) due to over zealous local authorities.   This time it looked as though things were going to be different.  For a start, there was a new site, the Droitwich rugby club, plus, the demo run was to end at Sandwell Council House in Oldbury.  Had things changed for the better ?  Read on ! 

    Friday saw me packed up and on the road by early evening.  Seeing as the site was only 25 miles or so, I was in no great rush.  I dropped off the M5 and followed the MAG signs straight to the rugby club.  So far, so good.  The site was flat, well sheltered and had the bloody hardest grass in existence.  After hammering the tent pegs in I decided that no matter what the weather threw at us, the problem of tents blowing away was the least of our worries.  I felt sorry for any of the rugby players who fell on this particular pitch.  It made a change to see a stall selling camping equipment, including some industrial strength tent pegs that resembled a nine inch nail with a plastic collar at the top.  Very useful for fields such as this.  This particular stall also did a very good deal on Kyham "one touch" tents.  Tamworth Camping, I think, was the name of the company.
    Having set up camp, and spent a while talking with 'faces' I hadn't seen for few years, I wandered over to the bar to check out the food and drink.  The beer was reasonably priced, if a little fizzy, but that's rugby club beer for you.  I fell victim to the kitchen and just *had* to buy chips, which at 80 pence were very good value.  Having downed my chips, and with my pint firmly grasped I headed outside and joined the other members of Black Country MAG, who are far better looking by night, apparently :-) 

    Saturday morning and time to prepare for the Demo run, which this year would be finishing at Sandwell Council House.  Now why would the "Brum" demo be heading for the darker regions of the Black Country I hear you ask ?
Well, I'll tell you.
Sandwell Council decided to actually include motorcycles in its transport plans.  The "Sandwell Strategy for Powered Two Wheelers" { go on, click it } tells you all about it.  Now if we can get other local authorities to behave in a similar manner to Sandwell, then the future of biking will be that little bit brighter.

         By midday, the bikes and trikes were beginning to gather outside the Rover works at Longbridge.  Once again I saw folks that I hadn't seen for over ten years.  This getting old business is no joke.  I wandered up and down the line of bikes looking at all the different types of machines.  Everything from tourers, sports bikes, chops, scooters, combos, trikes, old British to new Japanese was aligned there.  Certainly a change from the MAG demo runs of old.

    In true Brum Demo style, the rain started about halfway through the run, but at least it wasn't cold.   I gave my camera to Tony, the Black Country MAG rep. who just happened to be on the back of the trike, so blame him for the following piccies of the run itself.

    The demo run arrived at Oldbury around two o clock, where we gathered for a few short speeches by Phil Neale - MAG........Lord King - Head of Sandwell Council......and Alan Tilly-the guy from Sandwell Council who has put so much work into the "Motorcycle Strategy".  And as if by magic, here they are, spouting most eloquently.

Phil Neale - MAG                           Lord King - Sandwell                    Alan Tilly - Sandwell

    A minor gremlin struck the demo - Pat Riley, the chairman of the "Motorcycle Forum" was due to hand out key rings with telephone numbers and information about road repairs in Sandwell, but due to the bikes being directed to the "wrong" car park Pat missed us.
    I headed back to the rugby club and fed once more, before doing what comes naturally at rallies. 

Well  ?

    It certainly seems as though the Heart of England rally has found a much better site, without the hassle that has  plagued them with previous venues.  There were a few minor niggles -

• The bar didn't have an extension and shut at 11 p.m.  No problem as you could still get cans.
• The beer was *lively*, so it was taking anything up to a minute to pour a pint.  This led to queues forming at the bar.
• That ground was hard - but I suppose that's a darn sight better than being wet and boggy.

Having said that, the 'improvements' outweighed the niggles -

• No petty rules laid down by local authorities.
• Food was good value for money { well the stuff I had certainly was }.
• The site was flat, level and sheltered.
• The beer was very reasonably priced.
• There was a decent variety of trading stalls.
• There was a good rally atmosphere.
• It didn't rain all that much.
• The demo run was longer and well marshalled.

Cheers.

^..^

Lone Wolf.

Enough ! Get me back to

2000