Category Archives: Cornwall

What We Do For Love

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This blog is supposed to be about the my travels on my Harley Davidson motorcycles and to be honest, of late they haven’t featured very much.
Our move from one end of the UK to the other, Cornwall to Caithness has had a lot to do with that….not to mention that my beloved Softail, Harls, remained behind when we moved, waiting for me to collect her at a suitable date in the future.

Well that date has arrived!

I’m currently in Lancashire just over 300 miles from Cornwall and 450 still to go back to Caithness….and yes Harls is with me!

It’s Harls! Looking a bit road stained in the Lancashire rain.

We hit the road yesterday and wow, was it good to be sitting in her saddle again!
It had been a while since I last rode her, September last year to be honest, since then she has safely resided in my friend Peter’s workshop in Cornwall.
I’m pleased to say that after a thorough safety check, a wiff of air in the tyres and reconnecting the battery…she started first time, bursting back into life and happily burbling that familiar Harley “Potato, Potato” song from her exhaust.

I just fell in love with her all over again!

Yesterday we took a steady trundle up through the Welsh Marches to an ovenight stop in North Shropshire with two wonderful and special hosts, plus on the way meeting up with a very, very, special person who I hadn’t seen in years. That was quite some hug!!
It was quite an emotional day that left me feeling very happy and grateful for my many blessings.
Today we rode to Skipton, in the Yorkshire Dales, to drop in on to say hello and share a coffee with a mate. Tonight we are at the foot of Pendle Hill in Lancashire, made famous/infamous by the trial and execution of The Pendle Witches in 1612.

Yesterday and this morning we enjoyed glorious riding weather; this afternoon, not so great, with vicious winds and lashing rain. Let’s be honest, it was just the “Weather Clerk” checking out just how much I enjoy riding Harls…

How did it go?
Well, I will admit to being a bit “Ride Rusty” yesterday when we got going, not dangerously so, but I was having to think about what I was doing, but after a couple of hours I got into the groove and things became more instinctive and considerably more enjoyable.

It occurred to me that this is the first long distance ride that I have ever done in the UK and as such I really should embrace the same principle I apply to my long distance Continental trips.
In other words, as my late lamented mate Floyd used to say,
“To know a country, you must eat a country!”

Well OK Floyd; last night was Shropshire beef steak, beautifully cooked blue, just how I like it, accompanied by wonderful conversation and a toast to those we have lost

Tonight, it’s the local speciality of Pendle Pie a wonderfully calorie laden creation of beef in an ale gravy, topped with mash potatoes and cheese, served with seasonal vegetables. Accompanied with a pint, or two, of the local IPA.
“Only” 1055kcal, it’s how they keep the rain out in these parts!

It seems to be working!

Tomorrow we will get to Scotland, but with still a bunch of miles to follow on Saturday.
I could have had Harls shipped up, but I feel its only right to give her the dignity of arriving in her new home on her own two wheels.
I love that bike and for the people and things I love, I will do anything.

“Spread out the oil, the gasoline
I walk smooth, ride a mean, mean machine
Start it up”

Catch you soon,
Dookes

Moving Home – Dookes HQ Relocated – Here Comes The Solstice!

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I’ve been quiet for a long time, off air and our of contact!
Life has been hectic for the past few months as Mrs Dookes and I have been in the process of moving home.

In the usual Dookes way this hasn’t been a minor undertaking. In our world it always seems that if something is going to happen it’s going to be pretty major and totally worth doing! This also hasn’t been a simple matter of popping just a few miles down the road or into the next county; oh no, we have moved from one end of the United Kingdom to the other!

Previously we were in Cornwall, in the far South West. Now we are in Caithness, thats about as far to the North East as we can go without dropping into the sea! Not only have we travelled 750 miles North, we have also changed countries and are now in Scotland.

Additionally, we are very, very, happy with our decision!

It is beautiful here , the people are great and I am looking forward to blogging furiously about the place once I get out and explore more on two wheels, but for now I give you a couple of taster pictures

Not a bad view from the back door of Dookes H.Q.!

Thursday is the Winter Solstice and I’m very happy in a Druid-like way. I said before, it’s probably my favourite day of the year.

In our Northern Hemisphere it is the shortest day, when the Sun barely shows itself above the horizon and then for the briefest possible time! Here in Caithness the daylight hours are particularly short. Sunrise on the Solstice will be at 09:02 and Sunset is at 15:20.

Caithness Sunrises are very special!

I have said previously how the relevance of this turning point has become stronger for me as I have grown older; I understand the ancient people who venerated the turning seasons and the Celestial Calendar, I celebrate their wisdom and align myself to their beliefs.

It appears that since the dawn of time our forbears have found reason to celebrate a festival of light in the depths of the darkest day of the year. So why not have a party to celebrate the ending of one celestial year and the beginning of a new one?

Sounds good to me, but then I am a Welsh Wizard/Dewin Cymreig!

Stennes Sones Orkney

Have a great Solstice everyone.
Catch you soon,
Dookes

“Now is the Solstice of the year.
Winter is the glad song that you hear.”

That Hurt!

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Hello blogonaughts!

Back in April, I posted about fitting the new “Daymaker” LED headlamp to Harls and I also reported a minor injury to my right shoulder….
Well here we are four months later and I can now update that “minor” injury report to something altogether more tedious! Since the initial incident my shoulder and right arm has basically just got a whole lot worse, despite Sports Therapists, Physiotherapy and Doctors attention! You don’t all need to know my medical history, but I did smash up that shoulder about thirty years ago and a degree of my latest issues turned out to be related to that, joy! Anyway, yesterday saw Dookes in hospital for a reasonably simple procedure to, hopefully, rectify the problem and get life back to normal. I certainly had the best night’s sleep last night that i have enjoyed for months!

Today I feel like I have been kicked by a mule! The stabbing, sickening pain is however gone and i’m thankful for that; now all I have to do is get on with my recovery exercises and behave myself for a couple of weeks….Dookes is bouncing back!

Now, with all this shoulder and medical stuff going on, not to mention, grinding ,wearing, pain, I’ve needed something to raise the old Dookes spirits and what could be better than ordering some motorcycle parts…!

Not shiny farkles this time though, ooo no, Dookes is talking “performance parts.”
I’ve decided to fit a Stage Two tuning kit to Hettie, my FLHC Heritage Classic.

Hettie

Whats a Stage Two tune?

Simply put, Harley’s Stage Two kit contains a performance camshaft and adjustable pushrods.

These parts are intended to increase the duration of the valve opening and lift in the valve train. In other words, the new cam pushes the valves open further and keeps them open longer, which allows more fuel and air into the cylinders and equally clears the exhaust out more efficiently. Theres also a small tweek needed to the ECU mapping too.

I’ve chosen a kit which will increase engine torque and enhance performance in the low and mid-RPM range by up to 15%. This should translate into a crisp throttle response and faster acceleration at lower speeds, which comes in handy to pass slower vehicles without shifting down.

It should also sound really cool too!

I can’t wait for it to be fitted in a couple of weeks by my friends at Plymouth Harley Davidson. By then I should be fit enough to ride again too!

Catch you soon,

Dookes

Gremlins!!

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I first published this post way back in 2015!

Following a comment this week from my blogging friend Michael Graeme, I thought that I would revisit and update it, as things in the Gremiln world have moved on a bit since 2015!

Don’t forget to visit Michael’s site, https://michaelgraeme.wordpress.com/ he writes some lovely tales that are well worth following!

Now with Gremlins I’m not referring the  fictional characters in the Hollywood films of the same name. These little fellows are real and play havoc with all kinds of electrical and mechanical equipment.

It is believed that these little creatures first came to notice during the First World War between 1914 and 1918. Perhaps the activities of the war released them from an underground lair? Certainly they were documented by the Royal Air Force in the 1920’s, when the Gremlin delectation for mischief with aeroplanes and engines was further recorded.

During World War II aircrew of the RAF blamed Gremlins for inexplicable occurrences during their flights and missions. Members of the United States Army Air Force also began to experience the exasperating effects of these Imp like little devils. There was even a view that Gremlins had enemy sympathies, but investigations subsequently revealed that enemy aircraft had similar and equally inexplicable mechanical problems; they were just as prevalent in the Luftwaffe and Imperial Japanese Airforce!

It appeared that Gremlins were equal opportunity beings that took no side in the battle; rather they acted in self-interest wreaking their mischief on whoever came into their range.

Since the end of the Second World War the opportunity for Gremlin mischief has literally exploded. The world is now a much more mechanical and electrical place, giving even the most inept trainee Gremlin the chance to practice their dark skills. Since the demise of powerful piston engine aircraft, there is however, one machine that Gremlins love above all others. . . Motorcycles!

Gremlins are now known to be evil road spirits. They jump onto passing motorcycles because they love to ride, feel the wind in their ears and the vibrations of the engine, they are often the cause of many problems endured by bikers. There is however, hope. Many years ago an old biker discovered that Gremlins hate the sound of a small ringing bell. There are many versions of the story of how this happened, but it appears that the evil road spirits can’t bear the ringing and that they get trapped in the hollow body of the bell. Then their hypersensitive hearing and the constant ringing in a confined space drives them insane and they lose their grip and eventually fall off.

Over time it has become apparent that these bells have even more power if they have been received as a gift; sure they work fine if you buy one yourself, but for maximum protection you really need to receive one from a friend or loved one as a gift. That way the magic is doubled, because out there somewhere, you have a friend looking out for you.

So next time you walk past a motorcycle, take a look and see if you can spot a small bell, either on the handlebars or maybe on the swing arm. Whenever you see a biker with a bell you will know that they have been blessed with the most important thing in life, love and friendship. The spirit of camaraderie and brotherhood between bikers is what the ride bell encompasses.

P1030523

So you can imagine I was pretty happy when Mrs Dookes presented me with this little beauty to hang on Hettie.

P1030524

…..and then another one for Harls!

As you can see, I took the picture of Hettie’s bell when it was new and before I fixed it to her.
Harls bell shows it has done quite a few miles!

A word of caution though…if you steal a bell from a biker, you steal all the gremlins and the evil that comes with them. So don’t do it, the consequences could be dire!

“You got me ringing hells bells.”

Catch you soon.

Dookes

Farkles and Sparkles: Comfort and Safety

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Earlier this year I went through a slightly worrying phase: I began to question whether I should keep both of my Harley Davidson motorcycles…after all, I can only ride one at a time!

This disturbing musing then threw up another dilemma. If I was to say goodbye to one of my bikes, which one should go?

“Sensible Head” says keep the newest, Heritage Classic Hettie: she has much lower mileage, is more powerful, has modern suspension, better luggage and is generally a bit more comfortable.

“Romantic Head” says keep Centenary Softail Harls; been places, done things and got great memories of the many, many, many miles we have rolled together.

I was still pondering my self imposed conundrum when I visited the local Dealership for Hettie’s service a few weeks back. It was whilst i was waiting that I wandered around the showroom and saw the price of bikes for sale. Not just brand new bikes, but also the price of pre-owned bikes.

I wasn’t just surprised…I was totally dumbstruck by how much Harley Davidson motorcycles were selling for. A new version of Hettie for example would set me back a cool £24,500! (Thats 24,500 UK Pounds) Add into that mix the various tweeks and additions that I’ve done to her and an extra £3000 could easily disappear too…!!! A massive £27,500 in total!!!!

Time for a serious and sensible chat with the Dealer Principle about bike values. Even dear old Harls, who now is, a bit like me, viewed as a “Classic” is now appreciating in value!

Do I need to sell either bike? – No.
Do I want to sell either bike? – No.

What the hell have I been thinking about???

So I did what any sensible Harley rider should do and ordered a set of heated grips and a new LED “Daymaker” headlamp for Harls! The grips for a bit of added comfort and the nice bright headlamp for a bit of added safety.

The Dealership fitted the grips a week or so back, as previously reported, I got around to fitting the headlamp yesterday.

All was good until, after a nice test ride, I decided to give the headlamp mounting bolt an extra bit of torque and the distinctly heard something tear in my right shoulder! I dropped the wrench like I had been hit by an electric cattle prod and am now sitting writing this with my arm in a sling and stoked up on pain-killers and anti-inflammatories!!!

Oh the joys of getting older!!!

Catch you soon,
Dookes

Winter Solstice Greetings

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Hello dear readers, yes I know “Where have you been Dookes?”

Life is busy, hectic, interesting and really quite good….I’m not complaining at all!
I am struggling though, to find time to do any writing, let alone keep this blog updated. So please forgive me.

Today is the Winter Solstice and as a result I’m very happy in a Druid-like way. Lacking time to get very creative and write a new post I’m going to break one of my own rules and rework something that I wrote previously, but hey it’s my blog and my rules!!!

Have a great Solstice everyone.

“Now is the Solstice of the year.
Winter is the glad song that you hear.”

It doesn’t take much to make me happy, which might seem a bit strange for a chap who owns two big Harley Davidson motorbikes, but it’s true. Today, for example, is one of those things that no-one can own, hold, buy or claim; take note Mr Musk! It’s the Winter Solstice and I’m a very happy Dookes as a result!

It’s probably fair to say that this has become my favourite day of the whole year!

In our Northern Hemisphere it is the shortest day, when the Sun barely shows itself above the horizon and then for the briefest possible time! Sunset today is just before 16:00hrs!

Stennes Stones Orkney

The Solstice marks the turn of the seasons when the days begin to grow longer and the warmth of Summer begins its long return journey.

It’s also the real beginning of Winter.

I written before how the relevance of this turning point has become stronger for me as I have grown older; I understand the ancient people who venerated the turning seasons and the Celestial Calendar, I celebrate their wisdom and align myself to their beliefs.

It appears that since the dawn of time our forbears have found reason to celebrate a festival of light in the depths of the darkest day of the year. So why not have a party to celebrate the ending of one celestial year and the beginning of a new one?

Sounds good to me, but then I am a Welsh Wizard/Dewin Cymreig!

Let’s not forget that many other cultures and religions around the world also celebrate festivals at this time of the year and have the rebirth of light firmly as their focus.

Dunnet Head

The Christian Church has celebrated the birthday of Jesus Christ, Christmas, on December 25th since the 4th Century when Pope Julius I chose the date in an effort to replace the Roman Feast of Saturnalia. People have compared the rebirth of the sun to the birth of the son of God.

It’s also interesting to reflect that the origins of many “traditional” Western Christmas decorations such as the Yule Log, Tree and Wreath can trace back to pre-Christian times.

Familiar decorations of green, red and white cast back to the Wiccan traditions and the Druids. The old Pagan Mid-Winter Festival of Yule also included feasting and gift giving, doesn’t it all sound very familiar?!?!

When I was younger we always did the usual Christmas decoration stuff, including a highly non-authentic artificial tree! My late father did little to dress the tree, but had his own take on the whole decoration thing that he insisted on doing himself; every year he would garland the house with boughs of green holly and evergreen, it was only then that I truly used to feel that things were being done properly. I suspect that my Celtic blood has a lot to do with this and I still carry on that tradition today in Dookes H.Q.. I adore the house smelling of pine and other evergreens! Yesterday, on the eve of the Solstice I was out in the glorious Cornish countryside gathering the greenery to decorate our home. It’s done now and I feel very happy and at ease with it.

Many Pagan religions had a tradition where it was customary to place holly leaves and branches in and around dwellings during winter. It was believed that the good spirits who inhabited forests could come into their homes and use the holly as shelter against the cold; whilst at the same time malevolent forces and spells would be repelled.

Mrs Dookes also enters into the spirit of the season with her splendid handmade evergreen wreaths. This reflects another pagan tradition, the wreath’s circle has no beginning or end and the evergreen represents life in the depths of winter. The circle of life.

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, The Solstice, Dongzhi, Yalda, Saturnalia, Malkh, any other festival that I may have missed, or just looking forward to having a restful holiday, have a truly wonderful time and maybe spare a thought, or penny, for those less fortunate.

Thanks for joining me this year, we haven’t ridden much, but i have a feeling that 2023 is going to be some ride and i look forward to sharing that with you all!
I hope you will saddle up with me for more adventure and opinion than this year!

“Praise be to the distant sister sun,
joyful as the silver planets run.
Ring out, ring solstice bells.”

Catch you soon.

Dookes

With grateful thanks to Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull for sharing the Solstice over many decades!

The Real Spooks Of Halloween

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I’m not a great fan of Halloween.


When I was younger it was never a big deal, but the global spread of Americanisation and commercial pressure seems to have propelled it high in popular consciousness.
Even where we live, deep in the heart of rural Cornwall, it’s now not unusual to see “Trick or Treaters” roaming the country lanes on the evening of 31st October…!

If you keep your eyes open though, there are many more scary, weirdly beautiful and indeed deadly lifeforms to be found around the woodlands of the British Isles.

I’m talking fungi!

These fascinating lifeforms burst from cover as the days grow shorter, wetter and before the first frost occur. I love their variety and colours, from pale ghostly white through to vibrant orange, red, blues and browns.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria), definitely poisonous!

Walking through the woodlands, I love to see how fungi magically appear from the leaf litter on the forest floor; theres a silent eeriness about them….yet at the same time a beguiling beauty.

2022 seems to have been a spectacular year for fungi.
This Autumn around Dookes H.Q. we have enjoyed harvesting a wonderful bounty of tasty field mushrooms, Agaricus campestris.

The important thing when foraging wild mushrooms is to get your recognition right. There are over 1400 different varieties of fungi found in the British Isles, some are edible, but many more are not and some are deadly if eaten…you have been warned!

Yep, definitely field mushrooms!

.

Ready for cooking.

Then, almost a quickly as they appear, their fleeting visit is over and they degrade into a wet slimy and often smelly mush…!

Farewell spooky friends, until next year!

Catch you soon,
Dookes

PLEASE do not eat any wild fungi unless your are 110% sure what it is.
Check with a real expert or better still don’t risk it, a mistake could be fatal.

Through Others Eyes (Showing AGMA around)

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OK, Dookes is bad…no posts for ages, again!
No excuses, other than life stuff constantly getting in the way…

Over the years, blogging has given me many great experiences and the opportunity to make many “on-line” friends. Some I communicate with on a regular basis, though few as much as the legendary AGMA, that’s “Ageing Gracefully My Ass” in case you were wondering!

It was an absolute delight earlier this year to hear from AGMA and learn that she and husband “Hubs” had decided to come visit Cornwall as part of one of her famous round Europe dashes! Would Dookes be available to show them around his part of Cornwall?
You bet I would!

Regular blogonaughts will know that Dookes lives in the far South West of the United Kingdom in the fair Duchy of Cornwall; a rocky, windswept, at times sunny, but ruggedly always beautiful place to live!

Sometimes though, just to keep things in perspective, you need to look at it through other’s eyes and realise just how lucky you are to live here!

Amongst places that AGMA wanted to visit was Tintagel Castle the world famous legendary birth place of King Arthur; yes him of Round Table fame!

Mrs Dookes and I have a bit of history with Tintagel so it was a pleasure to show AGMA and Hubs around the place and tell them of it’s history and legends.

The medieval ruins of Tintagel Castle

To stand on Tintagel’s island mount and look out at the wild Atlantic Ocean with AGMA made me so very grateful to live here and call this land home.

I’m pleased AGMA and Hubs enjoyed their holiday in Cornwall, we were delighted to meet them, show them around and welcome them, albeit briefly, into our lives.
We hope to see them again before too much longer!

Oh yes, before I forget. AGMA was insistent that she met my beloved Harls…no problem, you weren’t going to leave without saying “Hi” to her!

Catch you soon,

Dookes

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus, Happy St David’s Day

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Y Ddraig Goch, The Red Dragon

Bore da pawb. Heddiw yw Dydd Gŵyl Dewi, y Diwrnod Cenedlaethol Cymru.
Dymuniadau gorau i chi i gyd!

Good morning everyone. Today is Saint David’s Day, the National Day of Wales.
Best wishes to you all, from a rather dreary Cornwall!

All is not gloomy however, despite the dreadful events unfolding in Ukraine, daffodils, the national flower of Wales, are in bloom and with a freshly picked bunch on the table next to me, its like the sun has come into the house as well.

The world is a sombre place just at the moment, so it’s nice to have something to cheer me up!

OK, brief history lesson then:
Dewi Sant/St David was born towards the end of the 5th Century in the region of West Wales known as Ceredigion. Whilst alive he built a reputation for his preaching, teaching and simple living amongst the Celtic people. He founded a monastery at Glyn Rhosin, which became an important early Christian centre. Dewi died on 1st March 589 and was buried in what is now known as St David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire where his shrine became a popular place of pilgrimage.

For centuries 1st March has been a national festival in Wales with parades, concerts, poetry readings and of course traditional food all being enjoyed. Around the country not only will you see the flag of Wales, Y Ddraig Goch (the Red Dragon) being flown, but also the flag of St David, a simple yellow cross on a black field.P1030045

Today is also the time when Welsh exiles around the world remember ‘The Land of My Fathers’ and try to ease the sense of “Hiraeth” that yearning homesickness tinged with grief, nostalgia, wistfulness and pride in our identity that we often feel.

I imagine that many Ukrainians are feeling something very similar today too…

In these increasingly dangerous times, as if the world hasn’t gone through enough in the last few years, have a lovely day and in the words of St David:

“Gwnewch y pethau bychain mean bywyd.” “Do ye the little things in life.”
(And maybe offer up a little prayer for peace too!)

Hwyl fawr!
Dookes

Gwlad, Gwlad, pleidiol wyf i’m Gwlad.

High Places

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Regular visitors to this site, my Blogonaughts, will know that every now and then Dookes gets an urge to stand on top of a mountain or a hill, safe in the knowledge that the only thing above is the vast expanse of the heavens.

I’m not sure exactly when this feeling, call it a habit if you like, began. What I can report though is that when the feeling creeps up on me it can be all consuming and totally irresistible.

Which is what happened earlier this week.

We were just preparing our evening meal at Dookes H.Q. when I received a message from nephew Darrell, “Would you like to go up on the Moors tomorrow with the dogs?”

Diddy in her element.

Now apart from it being really nice that my nephew and I enjoy time in each other’s company, it didn’t take a second to say, “Yes, yes, yes and let’s go to the highest point….!”

I’ve written before about Bodmin Moor, it’s one of Cornwall’s designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The two highest peaks in Cornwall Rough Tor and Brown Willy, 420 metres (1,377 ft) above sea level, dominate the landscape to the North. The landscape here is testimony to thousands of years of human occupation, with the remains of Bronze Age hut circles, Neolithic enclosures and mysterious stone circles.

Brown Willy

The Moor is a remote, bleak, grass and heather covered upland with an underlying geology of hard granite. It’s hard country, not as high as my beloved Welsh Mountains or the Alps, but you don’t want to be caught out here in bad weather or with the wrong gear, the Moors can be brutally unforgiving.

Showery Tor

I love the place
I love the way the wind sweeps in unchecked from the Atlantic.
I love the hard ancient rocks that stand witness to the passing seasons of man.
I love the smells of peat and heather.
I love its babbling water and clear open skies.
I love its stark brutal beauty.

I love how I feel my spirits lifted after a day in it’s sanctuary

The Wild Atlantic

Catch you soon,
Dookes

PS Thanks Darrell for a great idea!