The Suffolk Section of the EACC

The Mince Pie Run: December/January

This is our biggest event of the year.  It’s also the oldest, dating back to the 1980s and the original EACC.  The run follows the format introduced by Dave Evans in December 1998: we meet at the Orwell Yacht Club, Wherstead Road, Ipswich, IP2 8LR for tea, coffee and mince pies.  At 11:00 we leave on a run to The Shipwreck Bar at Shotley.  The run is organised by Martin Gates.

The Radar Run and Mopedjumble: April

This one starts at Bromeswell Village Hall and follows a superb circuit around Bawdsey peninsula with lots of historical interest.  It passes:

• ‘Butley Clumps’: groups consisting of four Beech trees with a Scots Pine in the middle; these were planted by the monks of Butley Priory but most are now cut down to stumps. Butley Priory Gatehouse.
• ‘Shingle Street’: here the road ends at Martello ‘A–A’ Tower and the foundations of The Lifeboat Inn, which was blown up by Barnes Wallis.  Martello ‘Z’ tower is in the distance to the South.
• Ramsholt: here the road ends at the River Deben, Ramsholt Dock and Quay and we stop at the Ramsholt Arms pub.
• Alderton Hall
• Bawdsey beach: with Martello ‘W’ Tower to the South.  To the North, are Martello ‘Y’, and ‘Z’ Towers and beyond, ‘A–A‘ Tower back at Shingle Street.
• Bawdsey Manor, River Deben and ferry quay: Bawdsey Manor was where the first Radar systems were developed.  Martello ‘U’ Tower is across the river at Felixstowe Ferry Hamlet; Martello ‘T’ Tower is beyond, along the coast.

We have free pitches for jumble stands at Bromewell Village Hall.  The jumble opens from 9:30am and the run sets off at 11am.  The Radar Run has an alternative, shorter route suitable for cyclemotors.

The East Anglian Run: May

The first East Anglian run in 1982 was the very first event staged by the EACC.  The last East Anglian Run was in 2022: its 40th Anniversary.

Peninsularis Run and Mopedjumble: July

A busy and atmospheric day that is one of the major events on the cyclemotoring calendar; it used to start from Bucklesham Village Hall but in recent years has moved to Suffolk Aviation Heritage Museum and features full reception facilities and refreshments on arrival.  The route is a superb course through the quiet countryside of the Felixstowe peninsula, including a super riders’ section between Nacton and Levington, a classic drag down a ‘passing place’ road to Trimley, lanes through to Falkenham, Kirton, the greenhouse village of Newbourne, then more lanes on to Waldringfield Maybush, an idyllic spot for lunch and ale in the sunshine.  The jumble opens 9:30am, the run sets off at 11:00am, the jumble re-opens at 2:00pm when the run returns.

Coprolite Run & Mopedjumble: September

Like the Penisularis Run, this used to start at Bucklesham, but now runs from Suffolk Aviation Heritage Museum to Felixstowe Ferry Boat Inn.  There are full reception facilities and free refreshments on arrival.  It takes a fully marked and classic local course to Felixstowe Ferry, and is a twin to the Radar Run—Riders who completed the Bawdsey Point section of the Radar Run might be interested in the contrast of the opposite view back across the Deben estuary.  A fabulous riders’ course on both legs, especially as the route bursts out onto the Golf Links road for a traditional sprint to the Ferry Boat Inn lunch stop.  Drink fine ales to the panorama of coastal boats on the estuary, stunning views, big skies, Martello towers, explore the Ferry boatyard...

Why is it called the Coprolite Run?  Coprolites are phosphate nodules, popularly attributed to fossilized dinosaur poo, which where collected on the beach, crushed, and sold as fertilizer.  The discovery of this substance in the district of Bawdsey Ferry is attributed to the Rev J S Henslow, Professor of Botany at Cambridge University, who first saw it when he stayed at Felixstowe with his family in 1843.  In 1854, a series of letters were published by an unknown gentleman under the nom-de-plume of ‘Humble Grumble’, describing Felixstowe of that time.  The people who lived in the cluster of houses at Bawdsey Ferry were, he tells us, very poor, ‘subsisting chiefly on lobsters and Coprolites’.

The jumble opens 9:30am, the run sets off at 11:00am, the jumble re-opens at 2:00pm when the run returns.

Kneel’s Wheels: November

Depending of the availability of the village halls, Kneel’s Wheels can start in either Great Blakenham or Coddenham.  The event hosts the last mopedjumble of the season combined with a tour of the quiet Suffolk lanes.  Both routes have the lunch stop at Claydon Crown.  After the road run it’s the club’s AGM.