Anything about Pontefract Section

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	Tockwith Carol Service 2004.
	Puncture. Seven members of the section were making excellent progress through Barkston Ash on the A162 Tadcaster road on a still, but grey December morning, when the cry 'puncture' went up. The pace had been brisk, because they were late for their 10am roundezvous with the rest of the section who would be already waiting at Tadcaster.
		Tockwith's 18th Century Wesleyan Chapel
	Rob and Euan's rear tandem wheel puncture was soon fixed and they were all able to continue briskly again, helped by the gradual drop to the River Wharfe at Tadcaster. They found the sizeable, car assisted, group waiting patiently, their numbers increased by a contingent from Huddersfield CTC including John Radford and Ken Roberts and also Gwen Gains from Doncaster CTC.
	Mystery Bull escapes There were twenty or so now in the group moving steadily through the lanes north of Tadcaster, heading for Tockwith and the annual cyclists carol service in the 18th century Wesleyan Chapel. Fred Coupland, who set off separately from Tadcaster, found himself 50 metres behind the group which had disappeared as the lane curved around the far side of a wood, when a group of the same size emerged charging round the curve in the opposite direction. Fred, thought it was the same group and stopped, thinking perhaps that a bull had got loose and was chasing them back the way they had come until he recognised it was a Sunday chain gang of road racers. Just after the woods the body of a young deer was on the grass verge, probably hit by a vehicle. Feast and Songs of Praise One highlight of the Tockwith Carol Service is the food, laid on for the cyclists, in the village hall. The spread is prepared by Tockwith ladies and this year, the proceeds benefited the village under 5s group. There was a very generous buffet, homemade, with huge chunks of cake and a variety of buns and mince pies to follow.

As the hungry cyclists gathered from all parts of Yorkshire and North Derbyshire to tuck in, a film crew from BBC 'Look North' arrived and proceeded to film, urging the diners to carry on eating and talking, but not to look at the camera. The short walk from the village Hall to the chapel was also filmed and as the service began, the cameras were positioned at the front and focused on the lycra clad congregation. Serena Westerman and Fred Coupland joined the choir in the elevated gallery facing the congregation and above the Reverend Jackie Betts who led the service of lessons and carols. The lessons were read by representatives of the various cycling groups present; a rare chance to see the reading from Genesis chapter 22 verses 15 to 18 spoken by someone in a red and white CSC Tiscali trade jersey and black tights.
Some rounded off the day by visiting the adjacent Civil War, Marston Moor battlefield site and there was more food in the village hall before long trails of flashing red LED rear cycle lights threaded the lanes away from Tockwith in the December dusk. After Tadcaster, those who'd ridden out from Pontefract found themselves on their own once again, apart from the addition of John Walshaw from Dewsbury, and not long after Barkston Ash, this time to the south, Rob suffered another rear wheel puncture.