Strawberry cake at Willington

Whilst in Derbyshire collecting my new bicycle, we went to the Cherry Tree Farm Carvery Restaurant in Willington. There you can eat a plate of roast dinner for £4.75. or a 'standard' plate for £6.45. The standard plate was ample for my requirements and the food 

was excellent.

But what I really wanted was a wedge of the strawberry and cream cake.

But I resisted.

Dobbin retires at 49,286 miles.

Dobbin at Mercian Cycles, Derby in Sept 2015

My faithful bicycle, handbuilt for me by Mercian in 1995, has now been retired at 49,286 recorded miles.

49,286 recorded miles travelled.

Those miles have taken it and me into France, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.



It has traversed the Pyrenees three times and crossed France from top to bottom and from bottom to top. It has spent years commuting daily between Dover and Folkestone in ice, snow, fog, gale and tempest; at all times of night and day.

But more than that, Dobbin is famous in its own right. It has been my faithful companion on many of the rides which have featured in my stories and it has appeared on the cover of three of my books:

The broken baguette for The Trouble with France.

The falling oranges for The Trouble with Spain.

And famous Author cycling in his pyjamas for Hunting the Golden Lion.

Steam rolling in Tenterden.

It is good to see that Tenterden take seriously the maintenance of their 

streets and employ the latest equipment. 

At least it is not diesel powered.

Immigration Service cyclists find a bike in two halves.

Seen in the pub car park where we had lunch – a child's ancient bicycle. On the right is the rear wheel and the saddle and on the left is the front wheel and handlebars. The peg under the saddle slots into the socket on the front fork. The bicycle is propelled by the pedals on the front wheel.

Looked in the pub, couldn't find the owner.