'You can't have a bad time in the biking community'

It’s the first Bench episode of 2026!

‘It’s just the nicest feeling in the world’

Every Tuesday evening during British Summer Time dozens, often hundreds of bikers descend on the picnic area around the Montford Bridge Café, just off the A5, for tea and coffee, burgers and chips but mostly just to hang out and chat.

This struck me as a great opportunity to record a ‘Bench’ episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast, and Amanda Mullins of Shropshire and Powys Advanced Riders had the same idea.

So last Tuesday I went along. In this episode of Hello You the Shropshire podcast you can hear what happened.

I met some wonderful people, learned about great ideas like Motorbiker Acts of Random Kindness’ brilliant Bike and Brew Passport, felt the warmth of the welcome from the biking community and heard some fantastic stories about what biking means and has done for people.

‘The freedom and self-belief from it has been phenomenal … I can be me’

Whether you’re astride a bike or not, I can definitely recommend a Tuesday evening at the Montford Bridge Café!

Where else could I sit on a bench and talk to people?

If you know of a bench where there are plenty of people around, let me know?

It could be in a town centre in Shropshire or one of our villages. It might be at an event, as in this episode. It could even be a ‘virtual bench’ somewhere, as long as there are folk for me to chat with and listen to.

Message me your bench suggestion and I’ll put it on the list!