Peeps no stopping me now. Got into this spinning about now can't get enough. Today it was H Café starting point again then on to Chris's Café-Motel in Stokenchurch you know I had a meal there and boy was it good it was even better than that. One of the best meals I have eaten for a while and friendly staff then on to hell fire caves. Ride Safe Joe.
Most excellent photos, Joe! Looks like a swell spin. Love that bike of yours, too. What is Hellfire Caves??
Rock on Joe, ride like the wind, stop and refuel the body and brain, hydrate. tomorrow repeat with the street triple I think you just bought. Seize the day as the weather is changing for the worst soon.
Nice countryside around Stokenchurch. Remember going to a camp school for 3 months in 1955! Was called Horsely Green Camp School...before your time, but, some old timers should remover it. It was an old army camp comprised wooden huts in the form of a ‘spider’. Nearby, High Wycombe? Was a church or something that was called the Ball Tower because it had a huge (To me at 12) golden ball on top. Happy days. As has been said, get out while you can in decent weather. Cheers,Ken.
Sandi T. Not as epic as your journey but I am getting ready for the Scottish trip. Hellfire caves here is a write up on them. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) A tunnel in the Hellfire Caves The caves run into the hillside above West Wycombe village and directly beneath St Lawrence's Church and Mausoleum (which were also constructed by Sir Francis Dashwood around the same time the caves were excavated). West Wycombe Park, ancestral seat of the Dashwood family and also a National Trust property, lies directly across the valley. The caves' entrance resembled the façade of a mock gothic church.[2] This area can be viewed directly from West Wycombe House. The unusual design of the caves was much inspired by Sir Francis Dashwood's visits to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria and other areas of the Ottoman Empire during his Grand Tour. The caves extend 0.25 miles (400 m) underground, with the individual caves or "chambers" connected by a series of long, narrow tunnels and passageways. A route through the underground chambers proceeds, from the Entrance Hall, to the Steward's Chamber and Whitehead's Cave, through Lord Sandwich's Circle (named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich), Franklin's Cave (named after Benjamin Franklin, a friend of Dashwood who visited West Wycombe), the Banqueting Hall (allegedly the largest man-made chalk cavern in the world), the Triangle, to the Miner's Cave; and finally, across a subterranean river named the Styx, lies the final cave, the Inner Temple, where the meetings of the Hellfire Club were held, and which is said to lie 300 feet (90 m) directly beneath the church on top of West Wycombe hill. In Greek mythology, the River Styx separated the mortal world from Hades, and the subterranean position of the Inner Temple directly beneath St Lawrence's Church was supposed to signify Heaven and Hell. The theory that the caves resulted from flint mining is also questionable because the Chiltern Hills flint bed overlies the chalk escarpment and does not have to be mined, except by means of small open flint dells, of which there are many in the area.[original research?] History
Old Phart Phred Yes that is on the agenda. The triple is with my boy at present he is ironing out a couple of little twitches it has. He thinks someone has fitted the 1050 throttle to it which gives it a quicker response but if not set up right can cause twitchiness in the throttle low revs and he discovered an oil leak which he has new gaskets to rectify. So it will be right. I fancy a trip soon to Box Hill and Brighton so that could well be the one. Regards Joe
Genuinely happy for you mate.... You and your new bike seem to be getting on great... What your doing is exactly what it's all about.. Nice one...
Nice set of photos Joe, looks like you had yourself a ride mixed with a good meal plus a bit of sightseeing, perfect!
H's look's quiet. Drop me a PM next time your going,we could meet up P.S. I haven't got a Triumph any more
Thanks, Joe! Hellfire Caves sounds like a very interesting place. If you pay the admission fee and go in, do they take you into the tunnels? I'm not sure I'd be up for that much interesting-ness because I have a tendency to get a bit claustrophobic.
Duckadildundee Yes that's is correct. I just love it out there meandering with no particular place to go just follow the front wheel to where it leads you. Its all an adventure. Regards Joe
RoadRider. Yes it was quite but then it was a Friday. But had a chat with some of the peeps there and interesting people all of them. Just had one elderly chap like my self. He could understand why I had a jacket with both Harley and Triumph on it. He was adamant you had to be one or the other. I even tried to explain to him I used to ride Harley then came back to Triumph but he wasn't having it in a polite way. Had to make the excuse I was desperate for the toilet to get away. But sure thing would love to meet up and say hello. Regards Joe.
Sandi T I don't believe it you not doing a challenge. Remember you are a hero on here. Yes but there is plenty of space inside and its well lit up. Quite honestly it's nothing special. I didn't go in this time as I have been there a few times in the past and found it pretty boring. I was more interested in the café they serve a pot of Tea well I think it was tea but it tasted and looked like dirty water. I even tried to strangle the teabag but it didn't improve any. Regards Joe
Joe, I've run into a few folks who couldn't fathom me having both a Harley and a Triumph like the chap you met. Such black and white dichotomous thinking seems to close those people off to possibilities whether it's about motorcycles or anything really. One of my life mottos as I've gotten older has become "Never say never", a motto that has opened doors in both my thinking and my actions. So who knows? Maybe someday I'll own a BMW motorcycle. Hmmm, nah.......
Hahaha! Well, I didn't say I wouldn't go into the caves. But I might not be very eager to do it. I've been down in an old copper mine in Bisbee, Arizona. The mine shaft and area we saw was a bit boring--as you said about the Hellfire Caves. But the stories our guide told us and the opportunity just to see what the miners faced each day as they went to work down there were very interesting. I've also been in some partial overhead environments as a scuba diver. There are some interesting underground waterways on the Yucatan Peninsula near Cancun that you can dive. And they are beautiful! Google that if you have some spare time and you will be amazed. But true cave diving is not for me. I may say "never" to that particular form of diving. You'd think the tea would be terrific at a tourist venue. Maybe they figure the tourists who aren't from around there won't know the difference?
Sandi T. Well we are equal again. You would not get me going under the water for love or money. The old boy at the H café I don't even believe he had a bike just wanted to be there for some one to talk to. You get them some times. Like I said I just needed to make my escape from him and the toilet worked fine. As for the tea next time I will take a couple of tea bags with me. I will look up your sites but that's all I will do. If we were meant to go under the water we would have gills. And Harley every time I see a wide glide I have to fight the urge. We have a couple of big dealers close to where I live and I sometimes ride past and thing will I just have a look but never do as I know how weak I am. But maybe its just me but I feel Harley is loosing its way recently. And if you ever make it to the caves don't worry I will hold your hand. You warn Hubby it's just for comfort. Wish I had the art of writing closer to yours as your trip was like a best seller and I followed it all the way. Ride Safe Joe.
Hey, Joe. Yeah, re. the "not going under the water for love or money". My life motto as I've gotten older is "never say never". You never know--at some point you may be a scuba diver! Re. the gills and underwater idea, I count my lucky stars and am grateful regularly that we have the technology to make it possible for me to scuba dive and I also consider it a privilege to be underwater with creatures living in their natural environment. Yes, some of those folk we fun across on rides really just want to talk and don't quite know how to get the conversation going. So they say something "controversial" about our beloved motorcycles. Good idea to take tea bags with you! I think that you are on to something with Harley losing its way. I just talked with the GM of our local Harley dealership and he was saying that the most recent dealer meeting was quite underwhelming. No verve or enthusiasm--even for the "Livewire" electric bike. What's that all about? Thanks for the offer to hold my hand in the caves. Mr. Sandi would totally understand. Thanks for your kind comment about my Sturgis trip "blog". You are a peach!
