The Hairy Bikers have been on a return journey of foodie rediscovery
The Hairy Bikers Go North Thursday 8.00pm BBC2
KATIE BOWMAN - 29 September 2021
Get your motor runnin’… In their latest series, The Hairy Bikers Go North, Si King and Dave Myers have donned their leathers once again, to ride from Lancashire to Tyne and Wear. But this return to their northern roots was “no kneejerk reaction to Covid”, says Myers. “After ten years of filming outside Britain, this rediscovery of our home is a love letter to ourselves.” Here they share some of the flavours they discovered on the road…
Go North is a homecoming for you. Did you go on holiday locally when you were kids?
Myers: I did because my family was so skint we couldn’t go far! I grew up in Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, and it’s great because you’re at the end of the peninsula and – for a child with a bicycle – there’s the Irish Sea breaking on one side, then on the other sides you’ve got Morecambe Bay and the Lake District. Si and I have been to the most remarkable places in the world and we still look at each other and say, “It’s not a patch on the Lakes!”
King: I always went to Bamburgh Beach, in Northumberland, when I was small. My dad and my mum had this static caravan near there, so we took every available opportunity to go – wind, rain, hail or snow. My dad would cook a “cowboy breakfast” in the car boot, which was bacon and beans. Things were a bit smarter for this series, though: we stayed at Bamburgh Castle – inside the castle walls! It blew my mind.
Did you find any places that you’ll be rushing to go back to?
King: The Yorkshire coast, around Whitby. We ate kippers and had the most wonderful langoustines.
Myers: We loved Talbot Yard in Malton, North Yorkshire, too. It’s an incredible foodie enclave, and there’s a Frenchman there called Florian Poirot who makes the most amazing macarons.
How did you find life on the road?
Myers: We had to “bubble” together because of lockdown, which meant we had just one base that we called home for each episode. That was quite restful, and meant we had time to open up a lot more. You’ll see us settling down for a beer – or a gin – and having a good craic together.
King: For instance, we stayed in a lovely forest lodge in the North York Moors National Park (studfordluxurylodges.com), where we cooked and hung out in the open-air kitchen. And I loved the Engine Shed in Whitby (whitbyengineshed.net): a flat inside a converted train shed, with the trains thundering past a metre from the front door.
Speaking of transport, what was the best motorbike journey?
King: The Peak District – it was just the mutt’s nuts. The roads were fantastic: plenty of twisties. Then amazing, amazing views; great people; great places to stop for coffee. It was beautiful. And it’s nice to reacquaint yourself with the stuff that’s right under your nose.
Myers: Northumberland as well – the roads across the Moors. It was really wild. We had appalling weather for this series, but the sun came out in Northumberland. Riding that coastal road to Bamburgh was just spectacular.
You’ve both spoken about people’s poor mental health during lockdown. Did the lack of travel affect you?
Myers: I think it went deeper than that. In the first lockdown everybody was just frightened. We were so lucky: we had outdoor space and a dog to take for a walk. For people who didn’t have that, it was hellish.
When foreign travel gets easier, where will you go first?
King: Italy, for me, because my brother is in Abruzzo and my sister in Tuscany.
Myers: I’d like to get back to France. I’ve not been to my house there since last October. Also, my in-laws are in Romania – I’ll soon be off to see them up in the mountains.
And back on home ground, which were your top foodie pit-stops on tour?
King: Anarchy Brewery in Newcastle was great. It’s an outreach kind of thing for the local community – lots of street-food sellers on an industrial estate (anarchybrewco.com). There’s food from Korea, unbelievable pizzas, a couple serving Indian chaat…
Myers: The pies at the Parkers Arms in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire! The lady there is half-Lebanese, half-French, making curry pies in a pub (parkersarms.co.uk). Also, the Potted Lobster in Bamburgh (thepottedlobster.co.uk), where they serve turbot fillets with the most wonderful triple-cooked chips and a big mug of tea. Then there was Tommy Banks, the youngest Michelin starred chef in the world. You can’t get a table at his place, the Black Swan at Oldstead in North Yorkshire, for love nor money (blackswanoldstead.co.uk). I managed to book us in, for last January. But then, of course, we couldn’t go because of lockdown
Get your motor runnin’… In their latest series, The Hairy Bikers Go North, Si King and Dave Myers have donned their leathers once again, to ride from Lancashire to Tyne and Wear. But this return to their northern roots was “no kneejerk reaction to Covid”, says Myers. “After ten years of filming outside Britain, this rediscovery of our home is a love letter to ourselves.” Here they share some of the flavours they discovered on the road…
Go North is a homecoming for you. Did you go on holiday locally when you were kids?
Myers: I did because my family was so skint we couldn’t go far! I grew up in Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, and it’s great because you’re at the end of the peninsula and – for a child with a bicycle – there’s the Irish Sea breaking on one side, then on the other sides you’ve got Morecambe Bay and the Lake District. Si and I have been to the most remarkable places in the world and we still look at each other and say, “It’s not a patch on the Lakes!”
King: I always went to Bamburgh Beach, in Northumberland, when I was small. My dad and my mum had this static caravan near there, so we took every available opportunity to go – wind, rain, hail or snow. My dad would cook a “cowboy breakfast” in the car boot, which was bacon and beans. Things were a bit smarter for this series, though: we stayed at Bamburgh Castle – inside the castle walls! It blew my mind.
Did you find any places that you’ll be rushing to go back to?
King: The Yorkshire coast, around Whitby. We ate kippers and had the most wonderful langoustines.
Myers: We loved Talbot Yard in Malton, North Yorkshire, too. It’s an incredible foodie enclave, and there’s a Frenchman there called Florian Poirot who makes the most amazing macarons.
How did you find life on the road?
Myers: We had to “bubble” together because of lockdown, which meant we had just one base that we called home for each episode. That was quite restful, and meant we had time to open up a lot more. You’ll see us settling down for a beer – or a gin – and having a good craic together.
King: For instance, we stayed in a lovely forest lodge in the North York Moors National Park (studfordluxurylodges.com), where we cooked and hung out in the open-air kitchen. And I loved the Engine Shed in Whitby (whitbyengineshed.net): a flat inside a converted train shed, with the trains thundering past a metre from the front door.
Speaking of transport, what was the best motorbike journey?
King: The Peak District – it was just the mutt’s nuts. The roads were fantastic: plenty of twisties. Then amazing, amazing views; great people; great places to stop for coffee. It was beautiful. And it’s nice to reacquaint yourself with the stuff that’s right under your nose.
Myers: Northumberland as well – the roads across the Moors. It was really wild. We had appalling weather for this series, but the sun came out in Northumberland. Riding that coastal road to Bamburgh was just spectacular.
You’ve both spoken about people’s poor mental health during lockdown. Did the lack of travel affect you?
Myers: I think it went deeper than that. In the first lockdown everybody was just frightened. We were so lucky: we had outdoor space and a dog to take for a walk. For people who didn’t have that, it was hellish.
When foreign travel gets easier, where will you go first?
King: Italy, for me, because my brother is in Abruzzo and my sister in Tuscany.
Myers: I’d like to get back to France. I’ve not been to my house there since last October. Also, my in-laws are in Romania – I’ll soon be off to see them up in the mountains.
And back on home ground, which were your top foodie pit-stops on tour?
King: Anarchy Brewery in Newcastle was great. It’s an outreach kind of thing for the local community – lots of street-food sellers on an industrial estate (anarchybrewco.com). There’s food from Korea, unbelievable pizzas, a couple serving Indian chaat…
Myers: The pies at the Parkers Arms in the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire! The lady there is half-Lebanese, half-French, making curry pies in a pub (parkersarms.co.uk). Also, the Potted Lobster in Bamburgh (thepottedlobster.co.uk), where they serve turbot fillets with the most wonderful triple-cooked chips and a big mug of tea. Then there was Tommy Banks, the youngest Michelin starred chef in the world. You can’t get a table at his place, the Black Swan at Oldstead in North Yorkshire, for love nor money (blackswanoldstead.co.uk). I managed to book us in, for last January. But then, of course, we couldn’t go because of lockdown
King: Gutted!
KATIE BOWMAN