Motorcycle Explorer October 2014 Issue 2 | Page 74

Haggs Bank Bunkhouse
From Rubble to Ritz
Rubble!
H
aving been invited to a little motorcycle
explorer soiree up in Cumbria, well perhaps not
a soiree and more of a biker knees up really I
had the delight of getting there first. It is utter
fun when the route you take to the place
happens to be the A686. This road is well
known to bikers in the UK for the climbs, twists,
drops and of course the views but alas I had to
miss the last one out. I had the misfortune of
riding into a low cloud as you climb some
1904ft past the Hartside Top Cafe (the highest
cafe in England) and could just about see my
glove in front of my visor. I opted for riding
behind a Landrover as a buffer of 2 tonne of
metal for anything oncoming. I knew cars
would be good for something one day!
"Danny had taken this
run down shack of
rubble and transformed
it to a real jewel "
T
his did nothing to take away the fun and
thrills of the glorious bends, switchbacks and
dips that brought a big smile to my face and it
was good just to be out on the bike again. You
find that the more you write about bikes and
the community that perversely the less time
you have to do the thing that you love!
I
’d seen the pictures of the Haggs Bank
Bunkhouse and I’d met the owner a few times
before. Danny Taylor is well known in the
Horizons Unlimited UK sector as ‘Road Kill’
Danny, putting on many shows about how to
prepare and cook food from ‘scratch’ and the
that does not mean boil in the bag from the
supermarket – nope, you have to skin Danny’s
dinner first, very much a lost art that takes us
away from our connection with nature, food
and survival.