Well done to Ripley organisers
 

I was very impressed with the organisation of the Ripley meeting, well done to Iain Harper, Sam Manicom, the team leaders and the many other volunteers.

The weather was a challenge. Thursday was sunny, hot (25C) and incredibly humid so a little bit of rain to cool things down seemed a good idea, but nature didn't understand the request for 'little' and dumped several million gallons of water on Ripley. Thursday night and most of Friday was wet with a lake developing in the upper camping field.

http://www.morocco-knowledgebase.net/tim/RipleyLake.jpg

I think I might have won the record for the longest-ever presentation at Horizons with my Morocco double session on Friday night extending to 2 hours, 25 minutes. Apologies to all those who were crossing their legs by the end!

Quite a lot of sun on Saturday dried things up a bit and the trade stands did far more business. Lots of interesting stands, though not having brought my driving licence with me I wasn't able to take advantage of the test rides. HU could have done a roaring trade on HUBB t-shirts but for some reason there were hardly any of the higher-quality versions available.

The food served by Lumb Farm was brilliant quality and reasonably priced, and the staff friendly, so a nice atmosphere.

I needed to get back to London by Sunday lunchtime, I took the opportunity to strike camp during Saturday whilst it was dry and packed the bike up. I was giving a double session on GPS/Mapsource on Saturday night from 10pm to midnight, and after it finished I set off for London and arrived home just before 3am this morning, soaked through and rather cold.

I really enjoyed the event, despite the weather. Some really interesting sessions and demonstrations. The TRF organised ride outs. Many new faces amongst the regular attendees, a lot of younger people as well. Brilliant way to pick up travel and bike tips, great to touch base with so many people I've met in the past.

Tim

I agree
 

It was my first time at a HU meeting and I thoroughly enjoyed it and saw some excellent talks.
Click here to see the pictures I took.
http://paulburton.co.uk/wp-content/u...7/DSCN1152.jpg

I have to fully support Tim's comments. A superb event that was really well organised. A big vote of thanks should go to Sam and Iain and all the helpers.

I found the atmosphere amongst the attendees to be very postive too.

A couple of pics:

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...12ripley01.jpg
Tyre selection for an R1!

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...12ripley02.jpg
Dorothy

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...12ripley03.jpg
A new light weight overlander with 15 odd kg of heavy metal behind the back axle :confused1:

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...12ripley04.jpg
What happened next?

http://i412.photobucket.com/albums/p...12ripley05.jpg
Evening entertainment

See you next year.

Chris

I also agree with Tim, the weather did not dampen spirts and the weekend was organised well, i have to say Tim i thoughly enjoyed your talk on Saturday, its inspired me to do my Morocco trip next year. Yes there was a small puddle, but everybody ignorned the British summer weather, Like my mate Paul relaxing next to his tent.

Trev

+1 big thanks to the organisers & all staff & volunteers, well done. Brilliant weekend (bar the weather on Friday, which was outside their control).
The lake was really funny but then my tent wasn't in danger (despite some people with radios being concerned - the donkeys & adventure spec were gonna cop it before me!)
What I have to say, and I never thought I would, is well done to lumb farm.
I know numbers were down with the weather but staffed up for a change, no bar queues, food organised to deal with the numbers, well done. Still bitch about price of food (beer was cheaper than my local so can't say owt about that) but...
Lumb Farm Well Done!

For all the whining before on the forum about the prices,
cost£ v value
It wasn't cheap but....
Ripley = value
ps really funny watching all the fat German bikes falling over trying to exit the top camping field haha
If that was you, don't worry, it's nowt personal

I think a well done to every one on what ever bike getting out of the top field.

Brilliant weekend as usual its the company not the weather that matters.

I do think Lumb farm after taking an extra ten pounds each person could have put down a bit more hay and made life not so nerve wrecking for those that felt all eyes watching them while they tried to get off the field on road tyres.

Hi Guys n Gals,

it's the first 'Ripley' that I've missed for 5 years.

I was ready to ride down from work on the Friday but my mate Doc texted me to say I'd be mad to come down in the weather, with a lake forming on the camp site, his tent was leaking in, Bruce's tent had flooded and they couldn't use the Cobb cooker! I therefore decided to scrub it.

A real shame, as it's one of the social highlights of the year for me!

There's always next year.

One of the positive effects on the small turnout was that people could get to see any of the talks and there no queues at the bar!

Regards

Reggie

This was my first time to Ripley and what a great experience it was. It was great to meet face's old and new. All in all Liz and I not only found the weekend entertaining but also informative.

I would like to thank all the organizers and volunteers who put on the weekend and although the weather was a down pour one minute and sunshine the next we really enjoyed a great weekend.

More Thanks.
 

I've visited Ripley twice before and was from the first impressed as all have already said. This time my eagerness got the better of me and I set off on Sunday morning to camp out in the Derbyshire hills enjoying a sunny July afternoon. As it happened my leathers got soaked through and came up spotlessly clean. I'd already e-mailed Angela at Lumb Farm and she'd agreed I could arrive on Monday, well in time for volunteer work in setting it all up. I rolled in sodden and she cheerily said of course I could camp. So. The staff at Lumb Farm are exceptional. Effective, hard working, friendly and happy. Angela is an awsome manager and yet genuinely kind and fun.

I seem to do things all backwards as I got there with a broken speedo cable, smashed rear indicator and the number plate fallen off. Back home on Sunday night and I find the parts waiting and had found the number plate in the grass by the farm entrance. Leathers all muddy again as well but it was great and even gave me some first experience on crap tyres for mud. Actually easy!!!! Lindsay.

Well done all at Ripley
 

Hi
Never done this before but have to say that Ripley was great.
you really do meet the nicest people at a HUBB meeting.
For all out there who did not go, you mist a great weekend Lots of food and drink and Mud, just wonderful..
beer
thanks to all who gave up there time to look after us all.
hope to see people out on the road soon.

Who was that musician
 

Can anyone let me know who the Saturday evening artist was please. I had such a good time listening to his music that i forgot to buy some cd's.:oops2: If anybody has his contact details ...........

Stevie Simpson
 

The excellent entertainment around the bonfire was courtesy of Stevie Simpson. Glad you enjoyed it. Here's a link....

Thanks
 

Many thanks to Tim for starting this really positive thread. It's great to receive so much glowing feedback.

On behalf of Sam, Grant, Susan and myself, I'd like to thank everyone who was there for creating another memorable and enjoyable event with a relaxed atmosphere and lots of laughter. Special thanks are due to all the presenters, authors and vendors, and especially to the fantastic team of volunteers who made it all happen.

From Cathy, Bernard and Biscuit.
 

We'd like to add our thanks to everybody as well. The kindness and consideration showed for our visit was lovely and the interest at our presentations was a real relief!

A special thanks to everybody who leapt out of the way as we made our way around the site with Biscuit. She had a great time as well. It will take some time for the fur to grow back on her head as she was fussed so much by everybody.

A great weekend and a lot of good memories. Thank you everybody concerned. Best wishes to you all.

Cathy, Bernard and Biscuit the Guide Dog.

So glad it went as well as it did. I was thinking of you all as I camped at a wedding (no consideration some people...) in Dorset. Yes it was :stormy::rain: there too!

My one and only miss of HU Ripley since I first went in 2001...

I hope to bring the good weather back with me next year :palm:

CoGS

My First Meet
 

I just want to share my gratitude as well ! I have picked up so much information during this meeting & met some new friends & wonderful people.

Taking a leaf out of Linzi's book, I will set off a lot earlier next year as I was like a dog off his lead and didn't get time to settle in before being subjected to info overload.

I wish each and everyone a safe trip to wherever they go and wherever they are.

Thank you HU !

Love & best wishes
Glen aka Zeb3dee

PS Didn't catch any fish in the lake but hey ho !

Yep, I also want to say a big thank you to all the organisers; Sam, Iain and everyone else involved.

It rained. We all got wet. But what a great weekend.

You guys should be very proud.

Just wanted to echo the enormous thanks to Iain and Sam and their teams of volunteers for doing a stellar job yet again, and especially with the absence of Grant & Susan this year - thanks guys!

From the Roadkill perspective I'd like to thank Mon and Lek for adding the Thai demonstration which was well received and I really don't know how you managed it in that rain! Big thanks also to Cindy whose work goes unseen by most, but whose kitchen smelled of spruce and honey in the name of the Roadkill as well as the errands and loading and unloading of the wood and countless other 'behind the scenes' help she provides each year.

Thanks also to all those who watched the demo despite the downpour - it's a shame we couldn't cook in the fire this year, but we'll be doing it all again at the Adventure Travel Film Festival, so if you missed it at Ripley come and see us there.

I seem to have misplaced a few hours sleep, so I'm off to look for those now :)

thanks
 

Just to say thanks to everyone who stuck it out for the cook out, to mon and lek who made the food taste great and for the great time around the fire. Sorry we couldnt do as much as planned due to the "little" shower at the weekend but hope you all enjoyed it anyway. A big thank you to all those who helped pack up especially Bram. A big thank you to Fil for all his help and keeping me sane.

If there are any complaints it was Fil!

Cindy says thanks to Fil for his praise

Thanks Guys, for a great first meet...
 

I just wanted to add my thanks to all involved. This was my first meet, it will not be the last!

Admittedly, next time I probably won't set off from Arbroath at half five in the morning and drive straight there on the thursday. I will have got another bike by then so I'll ride there instead!

Unfortunately I had to leave on Friday afternoon so I only got a taster but it was enough to confirm that I must do a long ride as soon as possible and I must return next year.

I found all the staff were great, the hotel staff were great, the speakers were brilliant (gutted at missing Austin Vince and Ted Simon though) and I learnt a great deal.

"Decide what you want, Act on it, See what happens, Adjust....." I remembered!

I would also like to praise the event in its entirety.

I have learned so much and made some great mates and met some of the best people. This was my first HU meeting and I cant wait to sign up for next years. I was buzzing by the time I got home, I have a little trip planned and just cant wait to get out there.

Thanks again to everyone who was involved with organising such an awesome event, see you there next year.

Conan x

Thumbs Up for Ripley
 

It sounds like you all had a fantastic time and I'm gutted I'm overseas and was unable to attend. Good to see rain didn't dampen spirits too much. Aren't we all supposed to be adventure travellers anyway...so what's a bit of rain to us?!
Hoping and planning to be in the UK for next year's Ripley.:scooter::palm:

Absolutely! I couldn't have put it better! Sorry for being slow jumping in here - didn't get back home until really late last night...

The thing for me that I enjoyed so much was the atmosphere that everyone created. It was everyone. Angela and the waiting staff, everyone who worked to make the event run and of course - you! Fantastic!

I really enjoyed meeting up with old friends and making new ones. Can't not mention the rain. Some people had really rugged rides to get to Lumb Farm - good effort methinks.

Funny how when something goes wrong it turns into something good so often. Anyway, thanks for coming, big time thumbs up for all the comments aimed at everyone who made the Meet happen. See you next year? Hope so :mchappy:

And a (MoR) Motorcycle Outreach thumbs up too. What an amazing amount to have raised. You all dug really deep. Phenomenal! The over £2,000 worth of prizes on the table gave us all a great selection to choose from eh. Thank you very much to everyone who contributed a prize/prizes, sold the tickets, bought the tickets and had a laugh when Pink Helen drew them.

I can't miss out comment about a certain Ed March's superb effort to raise funds - but you had to be there to realise the full value of that.

And finally, yeah I know, I write a lot doh but thank you also to those who arrived with a car and so happily stumped up the car park donation to MoR. Wonderful. OK, I'm going now - thanks everyone!:thumbup1:

....err has everyone gone home?


I'm still in my tent waiting for the rain to stop......

Oh, Bugger!

'thought it'd gone quiet'

Far too many names to mention so just a big thankyou to everyone , i was in two minds about going this year but it turned out to be my best ever.

Thanks everyone again

Hello Everyone!

Like a few others on here I am also new to the HUBB. I've never really been a fan of forums, but I just wanted to thank EVERYONE involved in making the Ripley HU meeting such an enjoyable event once again.

This was my third trip to Lumb Farm and despite the weather I enjoyed it just as much. It really is my highlight of the year and I always come away with lots of inspiration, new knowledge, new friends and a big smile on my face!

The only downside to this year for me and I'm sure for everyone else, was that Grant & Susan couldn't be there. We all really missed you both! But it was so nice to see you on the Web Cam Link on Saturday Night. I really do hope we can see you back in person at Lumb Farm next year.

A..men to that.

I couldn't make Ripley myself as it was too close to the Ireland meeting (working on more separation next year :-)) Was concerned for the organising team as the weather forecast was for a slightly damp weekend :-( Shouldn't have worried. Sam, Iain and the rest of the team had put together a fantastic line-up and all the folks who attended provided the final sprinkling of magic which makes each Horizons Unlimited meeting so uniquely special. What an amazing privilege to be part of such a supportive community of overlanders. Congratulations to all the organising and volunteer team for another great gathering...but I know that their response will be that you all made it happen...they just provided the framework.

Grant and Susan have inspired many with their quiet and genuinely idealistic philosophy and I, like many others, look forward to their inspirational company in 2013.

And to the many who have just experienced their first Horizons Unlimited meeting....you have just found and become involved with the most supportive community of genuine travellers and friends you will ever meet. Be assured that they will willingly provide you with all the inspiration and information you need to follow those dreams. Explore the Horizons Unlimited website and you will find that there are similarly like minded people all over the world. You have only opened the door!!

And do consider paying the voluntary annual subscription of £10 to support the the invaluable resource which is the Horizons Unlimited website.

Early Arrival.
 

Hi, for anyone who wants to go early to the Ripley meeting please contact Angela first with a request to do so. She can be contacted via Lumb Farm's website. The roads around there are great for touring or exploring. I saw how local regulars such as the squash fanatics and snooker players were greeted by first names and made to feel that this is their private country club. Personally I appreciated the latin dancers more though.

Lastly, I have really had a hard think about bike size and type after Ed March's and Nathan Millard's experiences on C90 and similar post bike. Even if someone has £20,000 to spend, the little Hondas make more sense off road and out of the EU. I saw how the C90 is master of slippery conditions, one handed and stable, uphill with grip. How, I still can't understand but I witnessed it. I asked Ed what tyres he'd used to ride up a ski slope. Nobblies in that size? He replied that if nobblies are needed then the bike's too heavy. Thought provoking. Lindsay.

Typical Ed - like it and, yes, it is true.

Glad to hear everyone had a great time. Alas I couldn't make it (for financial reasons, not the weather; never the weather!) and am gutted at missing Ted Simon and many of the other amazing speakers, not to mention all the friends I made last year.

Must make sure I'm on the ball and book early for next year's meet.

Keep the pics coming; it's like being there...except its not :)

Thanks to everyone too...
 

A bit of a late thanks to you all for all the organising, doing talks, volunteering and being there in our fantastic summer weather.... :Beach:

I haven't been for a few years but loved it and will definitely be back again. The only things missing were boat rides and ducks on the lake!!

Also does anyone know how I can get in touch with Rosanna??
There was talk of going to Morocco next year :cool4:

Thanks again.

Big thanks to everyone involved in organizing the Ripley Meeting. I almost bottled out of going but so glad I didn't! Hello to everyone I met - hopefully I'll meet you all again either at the next Meet or out there somewhere.
Bye for now, Sharon

My first meet and it was great
 

Thanks to everyone. Sorry this post is a bit late, but i have been that busy looking at maps and trying to accrue some brownie points to make it happen.

Brilliant weekend, Big Thank You
 

I’d just like to add a massive Thank You to Iain and Sam. I've been to some very soggy events this year and your organization of it all was very efficient. I had an amazing weekend. My first HU meeting, brilliant atmosphere and I met some incredible inspiring and genuine people. No egos, no patronizing no nay sayers – just an interested and interesting bunch of people who braved the weather and were rewarded with being around like people. Oh and thanks to Caryl Jones I have the best photo of me since I met Jimmy Page. Thanks to everyone involved in staging the event and all who attended. Graham

Another vote of thanks here, especially to Sam and Birgit for helping us move house when our tent was threatened by lake Ripley..! Despite the rain and mud I think we enjoyed this year more than any of the previous meets we've been to. All I can say is if you've never volunteered before, do so. The more you put in, the more you get out. Simple.:thumbup1:

Good to see Bram again, defo up for the slow bike race next year. Beej, thanks for getting my photo on facebook, no, really thank you...:blushing:

Special thanks also to Colin and Dee, a promising second career in valet parking awaits..! Look after yourselves.

My first HUTM
 

And what a first it was! I've never camped in such bad weather. In fact it's probably 30 years since I camped at all. But I was pleased to discover that my new Exped tent could handle everything that was thrown at it.
I had a fabulous time and made many new friends, especially through volunteering. The presentations were all great and nearly four hours solid of laughter and merriment, thanks to Shaark Lucasson and Ed March, simply couldn't be beaten. Equally good were the more technical presentations by Wendy Peters (medics) and Tim Cullen (GPS). In fact everything I watched was brilliant and useful. Learning how to gut and fillet fish, and how to skin a squirrel are skills I know will come in handy when I go traveling myself - probably!
Many thanks to Sam, Birgit, Iain and all the others for organising the event. They did a marvelous job in my opinion. The facilities at Lumb Farm were very good and I really enjoyed the food. Price was OK for a pub but the portions were HUGE, so good value.
I'll be back next year, no doubt about that. I just need to know the date!
Geoff

HUBB Meeting
 

I was unaware of this until some friends told me so managed to come down on the Saturday for a couple of hours. Much to see and some nice people from Holland that had been down to Malaysia overland on Honda's.

Hoped would be a range of adventure bikes to view/test but Suzuki were the sole ones there. I was told Ural might be there with a 2x2 version?

When is the next camping event?

Woodsman, check out the UK meetings thread...

HU Travellers Meetings - UK - The HUBB

Great meet!
 

A huge thanks to everyone for a fab time at HU Ripley 2012. This was my first main HU event but it definitely wont be my last!

Crusty - I'm afraid that you can't blame me for that photo... I just pointed it out to you! You looked very chilled out though!

Secret admirer..?:blushing:

“Star Struck, Who me? Never”
 

Later even still but after a fantastic weekend I just wanted to sit and let the whole meeting wash over me, bit like the rain. Can I add my thanks to the list for both Grant, Susan, Ian, Birgit and Sam who just made my weekend. Being ex-Army I never volunteer for anything but Sam got me hook line and sinker and for that I thank you.


Being in the company of such amazing people just lifts mere mortals like me into a new and exciting world and for that I'd like to thank all the presenters you were magnificent.

Ray you made "Recycling Duties" a pleasure especially when there topped of with a bier.
Will I volunteer again................. :yes:

Hope you don't mind but here's my take on an inspirational weekend.

“Star Struck, Who me? Never”

All the best
Ray

Seem's like I missed a good un.

Back next year all being well

A taste of Ripley 2012
 

Great video by Greg Ciesla of the Ripley meeting!

Here's the video Greg produced, with music by Austin Vince:

HU Meeting Ripley UK 2012 - YouTube
We love it, and think it captures the atmosphere brilliantly! bier
Since we couldn't be there, we are very grateful to Greg for doing this for us. :D
Cheers,
Grant & Susan