ON Saturday May 30, on a visit to Stanhope, I realised why some people in Weardale complain of motorcyclists and their motorbikes.

After a short walk, I sat on one of the benches near to St Thomas’s Church and enjoyed the warm sunshine.

That was until the roar of motorbikes descended into the quiet market town. One after another, sometimes in convoys of three, four and five, the motorcyclists noisily roared down the main street.

At about 1pm two motorcyclists, travelling southwards, veered left off the road, came 20 yards down the pavement, turned left again, and drove towards me on the seat.

They stopped two metres away, revved their engines up a final time, and dismounted. At least they obeyed the social distancing rules.

To say that they disturbed the peace, is an understatement, I also felt that it was an intrusion into my space. Fifteen minutes later, four more motorcyclists did the same thing, but this time they parked four to six metres away. Still the noise was deafening when they all arrived.

At 2.50pm I went to the bus stop to catch my bus. Luckily, I took my time, and looked both ways before crossing the road because a motorbike travelling northwards flew past me at around 60 mph.

I could have hit a bad day, but my overall opinion was that Weardale definitely has a problem with motorcyclists and their bikes.

Name supplied, Howden-le-Wear.