A Winter’s Ride to the Smallest County in England | Rutland | All Year Round Motorcycling

Greetings YouTube! Hit that subscribe button and join me as I jump upon my BMW R1250 GS Adventure and enjoy a winter’s ride to the Rutland, the smallest country in England.

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greetings YouTube and welcome back to my channel it is or it was originally a beautiful Winter’s day the sun was out it’s not so sure now there’s a fairly ominous Bank of clouds ahead of me but it’s 5° it’s a great day to take the bike out for a ride and I thought I would take you to the smallest county in England let’s have it [Music] [Music] so we’re heading to the county of Rutland which is bordered by leest Lincolnshire and Northampton share and on my way from uh just outside of Milton keing I’m getting to ride through some absolutely spectacular Northampton share Countryside at the moment and passing through little Villages like this which are made of that glorious Sandstone so yeah uh Rutland County is only 147 square miles in size so it’s very small it’s got a population of 41,000 people roughly just over and it has two towns two major towns one is oakam which we’ll pay a visit to today the other one is uppingham which I’ve visited many times in the past it has oddly enough a Harley-Davidson dealership um out in the middle of nowhere it’s also famous for Rutland water which is a reservoir which was constructed in the ’70s and has uh been designated like a wild a wildlife place a natural park reserve whatever you might call it and that’s known for um overwintering of wild fou and also Osprey breeding so a little County with a lot going on and a perfect place for a winter ride to it is a bit chilly it’s only 5° I’m us using BMW’s rudimentary turn by turn navigation in their uh connected Ride app which is getting me there I keep getting lost but uh it’s more me than than the system it’s user eror as usual I thought it’ be nice to take you guys along with me show you something different and get out on a Winter’s day ah the Sun is back out beautiful right let’s enjoy these twisty Country Roads for a bit [Music] [Music] n [Music] I have the saav set to um maximum windy for for this journey which is uh which is almost doubled it in length for me but it’s worth it just to have an interesting ride so crossing over from Northampton share inter Upland when we eventually do we should notice a difference in the construction of the Cottages the buildings The Villages cuz Northampton sh is predominantly Sandstone I believe that kind of orangey colored Stone and Rutland is known for Limestone with either slate or fat shoes so it’ll be interesting to see if we can see the difference there beautiful beautiful Sandstone buildings I love them even in the Stark harshness of Winter the English Countryside has a certain Beauty about it that said I can’t wait for spring or even better summer quite difficult to see this time of the year the sun being so low especially when the road’s wet and it just sort of glares over even so it’s worth it to be out on a daylight today beautiful What a Beautiful Day 5° pretty it’s not a bit warmer still a great day to be out on the bike so just arriving at Upham where the Harley-Davidson dealership is I may well just call in and warm up a bit I had the uh navigation app thingy set for o at least I thought I did admittedly I did put it in without my glasses on so I could barely see thing um we’ll see the plan is uping um Oak and Rutland water today I think it’s a right turn here and then it’ll be on my left at Crossroads or something guessing that’s the Limestone construction I was on about earlier maybe I don’t know sure somebody will correct me in the comments right if I do a left here the Harley dealership is on my right just here park up go all right try and get warm lots of shiny Machinery you probably wouldn’t want to take out with you on Mucky winter roads I like the little monkey bike I spent many many years rid in Harley-Davidson’s had many a good Adventure on them never had one let me down over thousands and thousands and thousands of miles I was ever in a position to have lots of bikes in the two whe dreamer stable which is highly unlikely I would have thought there would definitely be a Harley in there I do have a soft spot for them anyway back to my bike and then oak okay that didn’t really warm me up very much in there to be honest but we’ll take a little look at okum show you what that looks like I don’t think I’ve ever been and then uh onto Rutland water to definitely warm up in a cafe and if I can’t do that then I will be looking at finding myself a pub somewhere and having some sort of lunch or meal or something something warm hopefully all right the navigation seems to have decided it’s not having it where are we there we go oh that works out well as well o and R and water in the same direction so I’m not going to be zigzagging backward and forwards all over the place and then what I might do once I’ve warmed up had a bike to eat and run water I might just select the fastest route home because it’s getting pretty cold on quite for quite a few hours now okay so just arriving at okum and I think this is considered the kind of principal city city principal Town um in the smallest county in England which is Rutland I think rut loans was first recognized um in 1179 if I’m wrong about that and I could well be cuz I’m relying on my memory which isn’t brilliant um if I’m wrong about that I’ll flash up the correct the correct date on the screen now uh I think it’s 1179 and I think there’s some sort of Market Square which I will ride past or stop at if I find it and then it’s off to R and water to get warm and have something to eat so you’re probably noticing the Christmas decorations up in the town this is actually being filmed although it’s going out in February it’s actually been filmed just a few days before Christmas well I didn’t come across the market The Market Square or whatever it is um and be honest I’m too cold I’m too cold to hunt for it I’ve Just Seen A sign for rotten water that’s where I’m going to head see if I can get myself warmed up and I believe at R water there’s a Northshore and a Southshore um I don’t know where the visitor center is I haven’t researched it typical me uh but we’ll find it surely where there’s yach in and mountain biking and stuff like that there may be sustenance we will find out Harbor Cafe Bar and restaurant there we go we’re winning doesn’t take much to make me happy but it certainly has been a beautiful day to bring you on a ride to England’s smallest county I thought it was going to rain on me at one point when the clouds were gathering and it was looking ominous and dark but the stun the stun the sun has stayed out it’s all good welcome to Rutland water says car park locks at 4 I intend to be gone long before then because I want to get home before it’s dark if I possibly can time to get some food I can’t come to rot and water without going and have a look at the water now that looks cold I know he’s got waiters on but my word as beautiful as it is I’m frozen I need to get some heat inside of me some warm food a hot coffee or something Cafe beckons thank very much you’re welcome thank you warmth result I have a veggie and caramelized onion chabata potato wedges dipping gravy sounds amazing it’s going to warm me up a nice warm latte too ah it’s been really really cold on this ride um which brings into sharp Focus the fact that I’m setting off very shortly uh for Portugal so um I need to keep warm there I lost all my thermal gear when it got stolen in France back in the summer I need to either sort out some Replacements or a heated um Gile underneath the jacket something like that I don’t know I will look into it uh I hope you enjoyed today’s ride to the smallest county in England I certainly did no better way to spend a Winter’s day than riding in some lovely Sunshine um if you haven’t um already subscribe to the Channel please do so and if you like today’s video please please give it a like it pushes it all along in the algorithm and keeps everything rolling until the next time bye-bye [Music] oh [Music]