https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/leicestershire-northamptonshire/stoneywell
It’s an absolutely beautiful day in early May 2025. We’re out on the MT10 and we’re heading over to Stony Well. So, let’s jump on the bike and get over there. Stony well is a National Trust property, but you actually have to make a booking on this one. There’s a few like that. I think some of them are still actually occupied by either owners or tenants. And I guess some of them are also smaller scale, so you have to book it in. But as you can see here, the countryside around here in Leicester is absolutely amazing. And the weather’s really great. It’s not too roasting warm like it was yesterday as well. Slightly cooler. Just making the riding um just perfect really comfort wise. And um yet again experimenting with a different position on the X 4 360 camera. Still got it in single lens mode. It’s just easier for the editing for what I want to do. But I’ve got it on here. Last time I had it on here um with the big selfie stick which got in the way of this camera and then I just got annoyed with it. I tried a different position which was clipped to the uh pillion peg which is okay, but I think if the 360 was on that would be great because it would give you a rear view as well. It kind of caught the back of my head on my Monero sticker and uh but it was okay. It was worth experimenting with that. But I’m trying this position again now. I don’t know how with the camera angled like this. Um Oh, this is a real blind spot here. Anyhow, with the camera angled like this, how the footage is going to come out, but it’s quite a fisheye camera, so it might be okay. Beautiful little hamlets here in Leicester. Um, so anyway, we’ll see. I’ve always got the GoPro on as well. I’ve also repositioned my mic, so I’m hoping I’m not going to have that audio malfunction I had the other day. So, respect to these moto vloggers who they just get the uh audio and the visual down to a perfection, down to a tea. I’m sure those pros also, the guys doing it a lot, also have bad days as well, mind you. So Stony Well National Trust property are also going on a little trip tomorrow to place called the Furs which is actually the birthplace of Elgar and had I known it was more or less on my doorstep as in an hour’s biking I would have visited it way earlier but I just stumbled across it on the National uh Trust. you know, booklet that they sent me when I renewed my membership. Um, going a bit too fast here. Boy, have you not done your speed awareness course recently? So, yeah, that will double up as a violin pilgrimage cuz Algar loved the violin and composed the violin concerto. So, that will land on my other YouTube channel as well. Um, and I gather there’s somewhat of a sort of a museum thing. Woo! Going on down there. The National Forest. Whoa. Elgar Museum type type thing to check out. So, that should be cool. But for today, we’ll go to this Stony Well. And um, the satnav was wanting to take me on three different motorways. I think M1, M69, and Uh, I haven’t quite figured out if there’s an option on this Garmin to bypass motorways. I’m sure there probably is, but just as easy to rig up the phone, which just kept correcting the route. And now the satnav has kind of realized what I’m trying to do. So, all the gizmos. This is good kind of trial run for Scotland. I’m still like preparing myself mentally for that what for me will be an epic trip. I’ve got some mates who have really done proper touring abroad to Spain and uh Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria. Uh but I haven’t done any proper touring apart from Wales. So, can you believe that? I’ve had a bike license since 2001, something like that. So, it’s about time. And I I hope it’s going to wet my appetite for more tours. As I was saying, uh it’s quite an epic tour for me. So, I think about it West every day. All right. But I’m sure it’ll be fine. But you think about things like, you know, what are you going to do if you get a blowout? What are you going to do if your bike there’s a problem or god forbid someone nicks your bike or all these thoughts go through your mind but then that’s why we adventure I suppose cuz you have to just go through the barrier of all these fears and anxieties and just get on with it and do it and then you feel very good at the end when you’ve done it. I hope I hope that’ll be true for me and I hope I don’t get like really just rained on the whole trip. You have to be prepared for that with Scotland unfortunately. But I’m I’m thinking like that way far north in August cuz we’re in May now and it’s very pleasant. I’ve got my my summer gloves on. Need to get some new ones. These are well day from when I passed my test. I think that’s how long these have lasted. My hope is that um the weather will be at least as pleasant as it is here today. And I think I think it’s somewhere between 15 and 20°. It feels warmer than 15 actually. Nice and pleasant. I’ve just got a t-shirt underneath my leathers and uh it’s perfect. And I got the summer gloves on. I’ve got nothing underneath my trousers this time cuz last time I I just heated up at the National Trust and walking around inside the house and uh I was getting too warm. No, that was at that was at rest park, the English heritage place, was it? So, we’re now just under 10 minutes [Music] away. It’s very nice. You’re reminded of just how much wide open space there is in the UK. The problem with illegal immigration and stuff, I know they do shove pe like these people in uh I don’t mean to dehumanize them, but often they’re like military age fighting men from stone age countries and they shove them out in the countryside somewhere where they then start hanging around schools and things. You have to watch for the kids then. Um anyway, there are some genuine asylum seekers. Have to remember that. But yeah, this illegal immigration problem, I think it affects the city more than anything. When you’re out here, you just see wide open country spaces, kind of makes you forget the problems that the country faces. Um although there are just houses just springing up everywhere. And although they’re nicely built houses, they spoil the landscape a bit cuz when you go past like a 150y old stone house, it just fits with the landscape. But the new houses kind of stick out of it. But I suppose people got to live somewhere, right? So Stony Well, I actually haven’t properly cased the joint. I don’t really know quite what to expect here on this trip other than it being a National Trust property. It’s likely to be very very nice. Um small uh scale, not not a kind of stately home, I don’t think this one. And I feel like I I feel like I’m recognizing parts of this route, although that could be my brain playing games with me. But I have been out to Leicester She a couple of bike outings few times. Couple of times I was looking for organic farms, organic farm shops. And on one occasion it was disappointing cuz the shop was closed on the it was on a bank holiday. It’s freezing cold day as well. Quite a cold day. So, I’d almost wasted the journey. Although, you know, some footage of the outside of the farm and, you know, documented the journey and it was a lovely ride. So, it wasn’t really a waste. But what’s the speed limit? So, it’s a dual carriageway. I know that because for my road safety course, there’s a barrier in the middle of the road, but there are lights. So this could be it’s where you got to be careful. See, could be a 30. So much more conscious of it. Uh after having done the road safety course, I just would not even give that a thought before that. It’s that long ago since I’ve taken a any kind of vehicle test which was my bike test which I took few years after the car test. When I took the car test there was no written theory test by the time I took the bike test some 6 years laterish that that had come in. That was a thing. See I don’t know what the speed limit is here cuz there’s street lights. It’s built up. It’s a dual carriageway cuz there is a barrier. All the traffic’s doing 50. I can’t see where it’s a little confusing. And there’s a bloody pedestrian. I reckon it could be 40 here. 30 cuz it there’s a pedestrian. What’s it? I have to be careful I don’t miss my turn in now. Aha. There’s a services. So somewhere I could get some fuel on the way back. 40. Now I know it’s 40 cuz I can see a sign. I should have stopped here and then rigged my cameras up there. Actually, look, there’s a BP on the other side. Okay, I’m going to be going left here. opportunity to it’s going to say to weave if that traffic light was red. All right, plenty of fuel options. Okay, we’re about 4 minutes away now and escaping civilization once more. which is exactly what I want to do. The trouble is when you’re filming and you’re trying to keep your head steady, cuz I make this mistake of bobbing my head a lot on the videos and it kind of messes the videos a little. It’s then difficult to watch your route and especially when you have a turning coming up. But if I end up using the 360 footage on Insta 360 X4 footage, I won’t have to worry about it cuz it’s right here. So, we’ll try and do that. I’ve got enough go footage as it is. I just don’t quite know how this is going to turn out because it’s tilted. This isn’t the best bike. There’s a motorway. This isn’t the best bike for having loads of things to put your heavy duty clamp on against. And I’ve settled on the wing mirror at the end. So the motorway being there, if I had not avoided the motorway, then it would have probably taken me off the junction before around about here, I guess, which didn’t seem like much of a quicker route. Must maybe slightly quicker. Okay, I got to turn here soon. So, let’s get ready to turn. Here we go. Down here. And then we’ll be just about 2 minutes away from our destination. All right. Well, this is where it gets really beautiful. Continue for a half mile. Absolutely lovely English countryside. in early May. All right, this is the kind of road I’ve almost dropped my bike on before. It’s just full of potholes and trenches in the road. So, I’ll proceed carefully here. Wow. I just wonder this light is just something else. I wonder how this is going to show on the cameras. It’s just dappling through the leaves here. And got to trust that my satnav isn’t lying to me on both my devices. Right. One of one is one satnav is the garment cuz I don’t see any signs for stony well here. No, that’s a pretty nice property. It’s a pretty nice place to live and I love love these stone walls. If I had the opportunity to make one, but it’s quite an art though. And the woods here have got loads of beautiful blue bells in. Okay. So, we got to keep going. So, that sat nav is conked out and this one is now going to be my my trustworthy one. That’s why I think sometimes on some of these like rural places that you you’re visiting and you put the postcode in, you’re better off switching on your Google Maps maybe the last 5 minutes of the journey. In fact, a lot of people on YouTube when talking about the Scotland NC500 tell you to do just that cuz postcodes often don’t take you to your hotel where you want to end up for the night or whatever, right? Okay. So, we’re going to go straight over here to there and hopefully near the thing that’s worrying me though is we’re not we’re not seeing any signs yet. Uh I have got about half an hour to play with. Would have liked to have seen a little National Trust sign to reassure me a bit. Then again it is one of these smaller properties so bit but more discreet. Take the next arrive at your destination. Okay this is it then. Car park. Please return to Wrath Lane. Should I put Wick Cross Lane in the satnav then? Should I put Wick Cross Lane in the satnav for the car park? The the um I suppose I could leave my bike here. Could I? No. No. Planning you have to park in the car park. Okay. Did you discover the car park? Just the other side of the crossroads. Just go back up then back up this lane to the crossroad across and then 100 meters on the left hand side. Okay, got it. Thank you. Will f you down. You’re booked in. Yeah, I’m booked in for 12. Yeah, that’s okay. I should have time. Bit of time. Okay. So, straight over the road and then it’s on the right. Yeah, on the left. On the left. Okay. On the left road. Thank you. going up on a push on a push bike slightly. Head northwest on Polybots Lane towards Priary Lane. In 300 y, turn right onto Lane. Take the next right onto Piery Lane. So, we’re going to leave the bike in that car park. Now, see the National Trust sign on this side. Maybe it was on the other side and I missed it. Anyway, this is where we got to park. Oh, yeah. I guess it was, but there’s a bit of a bramble in front of it. All right, here we go then. Take the next. Here we are. [Music] Victorian. That’s this. So they had a a Bhutan pine from the Himalaya which as we go past it’s got abs the most beautiful are you know best view is right up there and so that’s um name but I think the name Chuck Berry gives you some notes they are but she plant them in nursery beds she likes to plant them out and do week you basically You won’t be able to see the green. You’ll only see the red. Is that a mountain? It’s a chili flame tree. on the top of the hill. [Music] [Music] It was made of ground. [Music] 68. There’s no main water to six. 74. So he’s simply [Music] concerned. I think considering the fact that it’s lay on impossible to water everything. This line is 76. [Music] [Music] in the barn the weekend. So then when he gets into the family business [Music]