So what was the best Control Stop?

[andyc]

Got to add my thanks to Pimperne, the cakes were very good and the excellent coffee was probably the best of the lot. Must agree though the welcome really gives you a lift after poodling around the countryside.
JOG gets my vote for second. Pity LE staff can't get some training from JOG people they are so much more professional

Andy

[GreenV8Machine]

Blyth was awesome  :)

[GreenV8Machine]

Blyth was awesome  :)

[mowerman]

All good for many different reasons....................except LE  :-/ However the best one has to be Pimperne. those cakes...............................drooooooooooooooooool and the enthusiastic reception was good too  :) The staff at JOG were great, friendly, good service and willing to help, impromptu stop somewhere in Northumberland (?) bacon butties and coffee at the side of the road, some guys and gals from the local club up there, brilliant and thumbs up to them  ;D Morrisons for pies and banter, Conon Bridge was good too, Sennen Cove warranted more time really as did Dartmoor if the sun was shining they would be fantastic. I know I`ve forgotten some but overall they were welcome and the volunteers did a sterling job too. Well done Lads and Lassies  :) :) :) :) :)

[GT6boy]

"Oh Man I love The Cake- CAAAKE!" Pimperne was a very inspiring stop. I haven't felt that taken aback by peoples warmth and humanity for ages :).
Edinburgh was only marginally tainted by the service of a small number of the full time staff serving- the facilities themselves were very good- loads of space and nice chairs to relax in. Badgers Holt was a lovely location- though I felt sorry for the lady serving on her own in the little shop :B. JOG was great, the staff were really into the spirit of the event. LE, we got in early and had our breakfast. But in comparison to to the warmth of JoG, a much bigger enterprise paled in comparison. Lancaster-  ;D I think my thoughts have already been stated! Also nice to meet and chat with Goody: what a groovy american! Oswestry and Gordano(GorDAYno, not GorDAno, trust me!) only suffered from being in the middle of the night so they had there work cut out.
Stirling and Conon Bridge were great facilities and good service.
LE would presumably be difficult to find a viable alyternative, given the time of arrival and sudden deluge of people and noisey cars :-/.  

[Nick Jackson (2)]

Quote:

Anyone know of a decent stop between Blyth and Edinburgh Airport and one between Ed Airport and JOG, let me know!

We stopped at Scotch Corner and Perth Services in any case.  Wasn't very awake to notice surroundings too much but it seemed fine to me.


Stops:

Pimperne is tops, because my local mates come out and welcome me!   Can't eat the cakes because I'm gluten/wheat free type.  
JOG and Conon Bridge did me a special variation on the normal food offering so 11/10 to them both.
Badger's Holt - picturesque and blasting up the hill was good but coffee was vile (IMHO)
Blyth - I always love the atmosphere at the first stop
Didcot - didn't see the point of visiting a quiet corner of any industrial estate (sorry to disappoint)

All in all - can we do it again next weekend please!

[Alex]

Calm down Nick only 100 weeks till the next one...come on get them cars prepped!!
Nice to meet Mrs Nick Jackson.

[Nick Jackson (2)]

It would be nice to meet Mrs. Jackson as well. Always working or catching up on all things Triumph on this forum!    ;)

100 weeks is tooooo long - hence my eagerness to organise something else.  

[mark spit]

I'd go for Pimperne for the reception and the cakes and tea.

The toilet at LE at the cafe entrance was horrendous, really surprising for a tourist site.
Badgers Holt very picturesque, Sennen Cove too.

I have a possible site for a Didcot style passage control on the A68 just off the A1 near Darlington.

The imprompto stop in Northumberland was a load of my mates from the TSSC NE area.
Yours
Mark

[MarkDeTriomphe]

Richard_B wrote:

Can we skip Lands End next time and go somewhere else for breakfast?

Have to go along with everyone else - Pimperne was best by far - the welcome, the cakes, the fact that we finally got to see more than a handful of other Triumphs but most of all the chance to meet the wife,kids and dog for 5 minutes!!

Next was Badgers Holt - so nice to have a scenic stop like this.

As for Richard's suggestion - what about changing the Cornwall stop to The Lizard so that the route takes in the most Southerly as well as the most Northerly points on the mainland?  Not sure about breakfast but I seem to recall that there is an hotel there.  And while we are at it - what about going for all 4 cardinal points?  It would make Wales a bit more exciting!

[cook1e]

I think that for traditions sake that the route should take in Lands end, however that doesn't mean that the breakfast stop has to be there, after all this year we had two stops in Cornwall very close togther, we could have just a passage control at Lands End and a breakfast stop control shortly afterwards or before somewhere around Penzance. I do agree that t Lands end as a breakfast stop should be changed unless they come up with some sort of gauruntee that they will ensure that they don't run out of breakfasts next time and send their staff on a customer care course :-)

Regarding the best control stop, I have to agree that pimperene was best, yes the cakes were great but the welcome from tghe loacl members and the fact that they turned out in their Triumphs really makes this a stop to remember. I personally didn't rate the Badgers holt stop that highl;y, they hardly had any food left in the hut when we arrived and we were not by any means very late into the stop so unless they got in some more provisions I take it that a good half of those on the run must have gone hungry at this stop.

[Slimboyfat]

Nick_B. wrote:

Stop bashing Lands End



Cheers
Nick

It's hard not to after having got to the end of the breakfast queue only to be offered one piece of bacon, and a piece of toast by a youth opportunities girl (do they still have them?) with a face like a slapped arse. Add that to the argument going on in the kitchen between the chef (?), and the manager (?) after the chef (?) had decided he was out of his contracted hours and he was going home. If it hadn't have been so comical it would have been farcical, but I doubt the poor lady behind me who had queued patiently for 10 mins saw the funny side after she was told there was nothing left ( and no apology). Later when we walked around the back of the restaurant the catering staff were on a fag break having a laugh and joke about the shambles. One might wonder what our foreign tourist friends might make of this as an example of British (English) service, I wouldn't bother coming back again.

[Slimboyfat]

cook1e wrote:

. I do agree that t Lands end as a breakfast stop should be changed unless they come up with some sort of gauruntee that they will ensure that they don't run out of breakfasts next time and send their staff on a customer care course :-)

.

Isn't a geographical problem? Thinking about it the potential workers pool available in the Lands End area must be tiny, and as a result the Lands End Hotel probably gets the dregs that you might more normally have cleaning portaloo's at a festival. It's not like the Lands End Job Centre is fit to burst with  Michelin star chef's, and catering staff trained by Gordon Ramsey. Hang on though if that argument rang true why were things so good at the other end of the Isles (JOG)?

[ferny]

Slimboyfat wrote:

It's hard not to after having got to the end of the breakfast queue only to be offered one piece of bacon, and a piece of toast by a youth opportunities girl (do they still have them?) with a face like a slapped arse. Add that to the argument going on in the kitchen between the chef (?), and the manager (?) after the chef (?) had decided he was out of his contracted hours and he was going home. If it hadn't have been so comical it would have been farcical, but I doubt the poor lady behind me who had queued patiently for 10 mins saw the funny side after she was told there was nothing left ( and no apology). Later when we walked around the back of the restaurant the catering staff were on a fag break having a laugh and joke about the shambles. One might wonder what our foreign tourist friends might make of this as an example of British (English) service, I wouldn't bother coming back again.

At least you got a cup of tea out of them. ;D

[Nick B.]

Slimboyfat wrote:

One might wonder what our foreign tourist friends might make of this as an example of British (English) service, I wouldn't bother coming back again.

Well, us forreigners thouht it was marvellous - just like that documentary, what was the name, hmmm, yes Fawlty Towers. :)


Cheers
Nick

[Slimboyfat]

ferny wrote:

At least you got a cup of tea out of them. ;D

I'm sure one of the serving operatives had gobbed in it first though,

[Richard B]

Nick_B. wrote:

Well, us forreigners thouht it was marvellous - just like that documentary, what was the name, hmmm, yes Fawlty Towers. :)

All we needed was someone thrashing a 1300 with a tree branch!  :'(

[ferny]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=igxDVI4Jva4

I know I've posted it before, but I like it. :P

Not Rick. :)

[Slimboyfat]

Nick_B. wrote:

Well, us forreigners thouht it was marvellous - just like that documentary, what was the name, hmmm, yes Fawlty Towers. :)


Cheers
Nick

Wasn't that set in Cornwall as well?

[cook1e]

Slimboyfat wrote:

Wasn't that set in Cornwall as well?

Not quite, it was set in Torquay which is Devon, but this is well on the way to Cornwall!!

[Ben Hutchings]

My vote: Pimperne - Nice welcome, I felt mothered. Also its at a point in the event where I just wanted to get back to the Plough, see the missis and have a pint, so the cake was very welcome.

Other thoughts:

Lands End - I guess we were there at an ok time, although I don't think we were particularly early. Breakfast was fine, bathrooms by the front gate were fine. Weather sucked but that's nothing to do with staff/location.

Sennen - A very good idea, definitely validated the choice of charity for me. However I guess there's no point going there in 2010?

Badgers Halt - I totally missed the scenery, I guess I should have opened my eyes and walked along the river a bit. It was better than last times Dartmoor stop.

Worst stop I reckon was Edinburgh but then what can you do at that time in the morning.

[Mrs Rarebits]

Nick_B. wrote:

Stop bashing Lands End

Plenty of food when I was there. OK bathroom too. I managed to wash up and brush my teeth with no probs. What was wrong with the facilities? They were down at the mainentrance. right here:
Cheers
Nick

Sorry, Nick it's rather difficult to be positive about LE. Especially as they decided to close the Ladies at the main entrance for cleaning (sign said 15 minutes) JUST after we got there and it was still closed when we left about an hour later. Ok, there weren't as many Ladies on the run, but we only had one toilet - the disabled one! There didn't seem to be any way of getting cold water there - brushing your teeth in hot water is strange.

And the service was with a grimace, not a smile.....

[heraldcoupe]

Hutch wrote:

Lands End - I guess we were there at an ok time, although I don't think we were particularly early. Breakfast was fine, bathrooms by the front gate were fine.

The Ladies' toilets were apparently "closed for 10 minutes" for over half an hour while we were there........
Cheers,
Bill.

[Nick B.]

heraldcoupe wrote:

The Ladies' toilets were apparently "closed for 10 minutes" for over half an hour while we were there........
Cheers,
Bill.

Ahem Bill. Is there something you want to share with us?? What business did you have in the ladies room?? :P :P

Cheers
Nick

[Goody]

Having done this run with a Lady,  and as I said before it is verry important to have CLEAN working bathroom's at each stop.  We men sometimes forget just how important that is.  I feel bad cause I told Bill and Karen that Land's End had complete washroom's and they could look forward to that stop.  Again maby it was just a bad year?   As for being from outside the UK, service is getting bad everywhere!