If you have one in your town give them a visit, after all, we can’t complain if all we have are chained shops, if when something different opens, we don’t push the door and step inside.
8th May 2025
Those of you that have followed me and my work over the years will know that I specialise in military subjects, with a focus on post-war aviation. What you might not be so aware of, is that alongside those more warlike subjects I have a penchant for motorcycles, both in real life and miniature.
Despite my love of these two-wheeled machines I have never not once, ridden a motorcycle. That though, has never stopped me looking at them and when the chance arises, building them in miniature. Though I’ve not built a lot of them, I do now have a reasonable collection of replicas in both 1/12 and 1/6, with many more in the loft still to build. Truth be told, I love them and certainly enjoy tackling one every now and then.
Recently, the small market town in which I live has been graced with a very smart cafe that caters in the main though not exclusively, to the biking community. Though it’s been open for a while, Liz and I had yet to take a look inside so this morning half way around our daily walk (and half-way through my time in front of the computer, designing yet more parts for the commission that I’m currently working on) we decide to remedy that failing, and take look. Coffee and motorcycles: what’s not to like?
Forming part of a well-known petrol station in a lovely part of town, the Dragon Soul Bikers Coffee Shop really shows what can be done when imagination and the use of space, combine. Housed in a modern extension to the old petrol station building, the glass-fronted façade does its best to hide an interior that is well-designed, welcoming and filled with all manner of biking paraphernalia. You’ll find the coffee shop, bikes, posters and other trinketry and then a shop that offers tee shirts, hats and other garments for you to enjoy.
Those that may be reticent to enter such a place can be reassured that it’s relaxed atmosphere, pleasing music and the delicate smell of coffee all help to calm the nerves and sooth the mind. It may be a coffee shop with bikers in mind, but it’s not sufficiently so, to leave everyone else behind along the way. Neither Liz now I are bikers per se, as weren’t many of the other customers that we saw today, but we all felt welcome and at ease.
Though we only had coffee this morning (two cappuccinos that were very nice…) the cafe also serves a variety of different foods, including cakes that I have to say looked very appetising! Maybe when we next stop in we’ll stay for while longer and maybe do that, when we are not out walking whilst trying to get fit!
Having these venues in your town is a pleasing development and one that I have to say is more than welcome. When endless chained shops have turned traditional towns into identikit destinations that all look depressingly the same, it’s reassuring that there are still those keen to open something just a little more original. The Dragon Soul Bikers Coffee Shop is certainly one of those places.
Having spent a wee while in the shop this morning surrounded by bikes, I’m now taken by the idea of once again building one of my overly large collection of kits, because of course I am. Despite having zero time to do such things, I’ve been rummaging through the ‘if not now then when?‘ pile with some early 80s machines taking my fancy once more. Though I enjoy the racing bikes, I think I’ll stick with those designs that I remember from my youth, the smaller types that could be seen in the very same town that I live in now, over 40 years ago. We all love the bigger bikes, but honestly I do like a machine with an engine of less than 250cc and little to no additional panels, or fairings…
Having waited a while to visit this new venue, I can do no more than remind myself how important they are to the lifeblood of small towns like ours. If you have one in your town give them a visit, after all, we can’t complain if all we have are chained shops, if when something different opens, we don’t push the door and step inside.
Now, where did I put that Tamiya RD350..?
See you tomorrow.
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- A MODELMAKER’S LIFE: CHRISTMAS BEGINS!
I’m looking forward to seeing you in the PL. Hopefully Brentford will still be there.🤞
Dear Spencer! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you, Liz, and your family. It was great to meet up with…
Merry Christmas to you and your, 2025!
Merry Christmas to you and family Spencer and a blessed New Year.
Hi Spencer have a great Christmas for you and your family. And a fruitful and a happy New year. Tom
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
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