Sat 13th Feb at quads for all just outside of Hartlepool near Dalton Piercy, it was raining and it was very muddy, but this quad biking was booked so we had to do it. Needless to say, my 17 year old younger brother Daniel, was well up for the challenge. My younger, squeamish 18 year old sister Katie on the other hand, well she took a little more persuading.
Parking was available on the site which is just off the beaten track of a country road and we were kindly greeted by the owner. He showed us to the terms of use which we read through then within a few minutes we were on our quads – no messing about! 250cc quads and a quick guide of how to use them, we had a couple of small practice laps guided by the lads there, then the course was all ours! I loved the fact were allowed to just go off! I was going rather slow, just to get the hang of it, andcoming to a complete stop at every turn, as was Katie. Daniel was straight into it with one lap done he was trailing behind us! Bit by bit I managed to speed up, taking the corners at a little bit of speed and really getting into it! There are staff on most of the big corners who point you in the right direction, gradually until your able to do the whole track. I started moving down to the 2ndpart of the track which is way down hill with lots of bumps, holding on tight and not too much acceleration I bobbled down it bouncing around and laughing like crazy! My pace gathered – and so did the mud, it was literally to the top of my helmet and all over my face through it, I was surprisingly not bothered and very happy to get completely covered. We had a short break and a hot drink after 30 mins to give our thumbs rest (thumbs are used to accelerate the quads and after 30 mins we sure needed the rest) and had a good old laugh at how we’d all got on!
Back to the quads, I couldn’t wait! The scenery is amazing here and the air was countryside fresh. This time we were all very comfortable flying around the course knowing what paths were our favourite thrashing round them and waving when we went past each other. The second half passed so quickly, we all just felt so at ease and were having superb time. But all good things must come to an end and so did the quad biking. We pulled up, took our helmets off and felt ready to carry on the day after an amazing start! We were covered in mud and said our goodbyes to the team there who were great, and knew we would return, £30 well spent for an full hours fun!
On to the Smiths Arms in Greatham for a hearty lunch and a warm up, my Mum had to bring us all clean clothes first. One look at the menu and I was torn, between the Tees Valley favourite chicken parmo, peppered beef strips, and mince n dumps. I went for the latter after much deliberation. My brother went for a parmo, and Katie went for the homemade curry. (Everything on the menu was home made, yum!) After a few hot drinks, the food came in good timing and we munched through every last bit. Really good, home-some goodness grub, andwith most dishes priced at £4.95, it was a really good deal too. We decided on 2 deserts, sticky toffee pudding and jam rolly polly andall had a taste of them. A good all roundpub withgreat all round food. Perfect for a bite to eat!
So if you would like to go quadbiking at Quads4All you can check out their website http://www.quads4all.org.uk/, they have quads and prices for all ages and take birthday parties, stag do’s etc. You can see more great days out in our area at www.visitteesvalley.co.uk.
Tags: face of tees valley, Joanna Wake, quad biking hartlepool, quad biking tees valley, quads4all, smiths arms greatham, visitteesvalley
Sounds like you had fun! I went quad biking up by Aviemore on a stag do a few years ago, and got a little carried away – we were going round an estate, stopping every so often to catch everyone up, and I forgot to stop. I ended up going half way round before I realised that I’d left everyone behind, and I had to wait for ages for them all to catch up, because they thought I’d been lost behind them!
Hope all good with you?
Hx
Joanna you are certainly putting your life and soul into this project ! Thanks for your advice on Crathorne Hall, not only did I take my wife there for Valentines day but Paul, Lynsey and I have also booked mothers day for mam and dad to stay over and enjoy an amazing meal.
I love Quad Biking so have this morning suggested to Dave, Anth and James that we go Quad Biking one weekend rather then our usual hook up of an Indian in Durham. Two have said yes so far so just waiting for James to give the thumbs up and then we are on it.
You should be proud of everything that you have achieved so far and you have certainly raised the profile of many events and deals that your friends and family would not otherwise have been aware of. Every time I read your Facebook status update you seem to be doing something exciting with the Face of Tees Valley and are proud to do so.
Enjoy the remainder of your and activities and keep us all posted on the great deals that you come across on your various adventures.
Thanks
Craig
Hey Joanna,
This sounds great, we have been looking for something unusual to do now the weather is getting better. There is loads of stuff we fancy on the Visit Tees Valley website I never knew we had so much to do on our doorstep!
Keep up the good work, looking forward to your next post. Swimming with dolphins in Hartlepool Marina can’t wait!
Cheers