Author: classictrials

Lands End Trial

Rain, sun, hail, the 79th Lands End Trial had it all. It was a cracking event, with just the right balance to give the experienced boys a bit of a challenge, but still left the beginners the chance to climb a few hills.

Beggars took it’s toll this year and at least a dozen people broke their diffs. Mike Hayward had plenty of help to get going.
Graham White in his Lea-Francis waiting for his attempt at Treworld.
Eric Wall attacking Hoskin in his Dellow. (Picture by John Salter)
Dudley Sterry concentrating hard as he leaves the line.
Tom Beckerleg pictured plodding up Bluehills by John Lees who had the misfortune to retire during the night. It’s an interesting picture as it clearly shows the earthworks to increase the gradient in the re-start area
Paul Bartleman commiserates with David Heale. The front of David’s Escort bears the scars of an attack on the bank at the top of Bluehills. He certainly wasn’t the only one and the old hill claimed a fair amount of bent body-work and deranged suspension.

Gordano Services Bristol had the honour of seeing the first competitors away, and by far the majority wanted to start from here. Nobody really wants to arrive at Penzance nine o’clock Saturday night! As usual, there were dramas at the start, or before it in Alan Bellamy’s case. First, the oil pressure light stubbornly refused to go out on his Brasilia’s re-vamped dry sumped motor. Then the engine started to cut out with a re-occurrence of last years fuel supply problems and Alan decided to give the event a miss. He still came along to the Bristol start though, to wish his buddies well.

Fellow Falcon Verdun Webley got to the start but the B series motor in his Marlin wasn’t running properly and Neil Bray dived under the bonnet for the first of many carburettor adjustments. While all this was going on a breathless, Simon Robson arrived, but in his familiar Skoda rather than the Leige he was entered in. Simon had made a super-human effort to get the lightweight class 8 machine finished and through the SVA bureaucracy. He thought everything was ready on the afternoon of the start, but a quick run up the road revealed the back axle was up-the-shoot, so it was back to the Skoda.

Verdun wasn’t the only one with a sick Marlin. Pete and Carlie Hart’s clutch was all spongy and getting worse. Fortunately help was at hand and with John Salter’s help they managed to get it sorted out before the off.

The early runners managed to get to the holding control at Haynes Motor Museum in the dry, but later numbers weren’t so lucky and the heavens opened, so they were grateful that they weren’t locked out this time! Sugg Lane provided the usual warm up and a bit of a delay when Verdun’s Marlin refused to start at the head of the queue. There was plenty of grip here, the rain washing away any mud that was around. Remember last year when a new age traveller commune flanked the exit road? Not this time, as the farmer had constructed massive earth banks to flank the track, so there was no possibility to pull off the road!

Felon’s Oak was the only other section before a very soggy break at Minehead Rugby club, which had about an inch of water on the floor and seems to get seedier every year. The descent down the rough track just before Minehead caused problems for Derek Reynolds and Fred Mills, when the radiator on their venerable Volvo parted company with the engine, but the resourceful crew fixed things with a wire coat hanger. At Minehead competitors learned, that Stoney Street was cancelled. There had been an accident when the chief official and his wife drove their 4×4 off the track and over the steep drop to the left while setting up the section and had to be taken to hospital with some nasty injuries.

The route diverted by the foot of the section and through the winding lanes that by-pass Porlock where car competitors saw David Northover’s abandoned Yamaha leaning forlornly against a tree. John Lee’s was another biker to retire here when water got into his magneto, so it’s no triple for John this year.

Soon it was Beggars. A bit easy in recent years but not this time. Later numbers were warned by all the broken machinery, either being repaired or awaiting recovery. Some reckoned that the best part of a dozen car competitors broke their diffs or transmissions. Alan Selwood was one of the first, his standard Ford diff broke on his Escort and he set to in the forecourt of the garage at the foot of the hill to change it for one of the two spares he was carrying. Mike Hayward, who was just crawling off the re-start when his diff let go with a resounding, crack soon joined him. Neil Bray had stopped too high in the box, and failed, so he was able to tow the stricken class 7 Escort to the garage forecourt and help fit the spare Mike was carrying. Neil Plumridge, had also broken his Ford diff and soon joined them, but there was no changing it by the roadside as it was installed in the transaxle of an Imp! Likewise, it was a recovery job for Philip Mitchell who had felt the rear of his Skoda locking on corners ever since Felons Oak and the diff finally cried enough on Beggars. This is not Phillip’s lucky hill as he was excluded here last year for doing his tyres in the wrong place. At least he didn’t get caught this time, despite John West “lurking in the bushes” as one rather un-kind web community member put it!

The Beggars re-start area was certainly taking its toll. It seemed a lot rougher than recent years, all rough solid rock rather than the usual loose stuff. It certainly caught out David Alderson, running in convoy with Lee Dove, and Troll creator Peter James. The rain was coming down pretty steadily and the team were all pretty wet and cold. Lee and Peter jumped out, let their tyres down and stormed up. David stayed put behind the wheel, suffering a bit from cramp, caused by hours imprisoned in the tiny cockpit. He stormed off the line OK, stopped in the re-start box and there he stayed, the tyres finding no grip at all at 18psi. Verdun Webley lost revs on his Marlin and failed, but the Web Community Marlins of Pete Hart and Mal Allen made storming climbs, as did John Salter in his Vincent. Tony Branson wasn’t so lucky in his A series Marlin which didn’t have the horses to burn it’s way of the re-start line. Nick Wollett was giving his Dellow it’s MCC debut and failed when the clutch went on strike. He summoned the RAC to recover him, but they actually got the car going, and Nick was able to carry on for a finish.

The sun came out on the long 50-mile road run to Sutcombe. Dudley Sterry for one was glad of that, as he had been having problems during the night with his dynamo not charging below 3000 rpm. Dudley was a bit peeved, as he had only just fitted a new one. Dudley wasn’t the only one getting a bit fed up with Joe Lucas as Stuart Harrold’s brand new starter motor had gone on the blink. Stuart and Chris Phillips were relying on push starts and running only eight cars from the back were praying there would be always someone there to give them a shove.

Sutcombe was it’s usual picturesque self and was another hill with one of the fashionable “safety stop” lines at the summit. Poor Mike Hayward didn’t see it and carried on, to get a right rollicking from the chief official. Brian Osbourne broke the prop shaft on his venerable MGB at Darracott, causing a delay whilst it was recovered from the lower reaches of the hill.

Cutliffe Lane was next on the agenda. This is one of the Lands End’s tougher hills, a combination of gradient, roughness and mud conspiring to bring competitors to a halt. The rain had washed much of the mud away but this is a tough hill and there were a lot of failures, especially amongst the later numbers and Neil Bray was very disappointed to fail, especially when he found that Simon Robson had got his Skoda to the summit. Inertia was the order of the day in order to get over the rough bits half way up, the type of hill that made John Salter glad he had fitted a Fack diff in his Vincent! RAC PCT champion Barrie Parker was spectating here to see David Haizeldens impressive clean in his Golf.

Most competitors enjoyed the special test at Bude and put their trotter down to provide a show for the spectators. It was a good job you couldn’t get a “fail” as there were quite a few distinguished wrong courses, including John Salter, Allen organiser Pete Hart and Tony Branson who was also suffering from tight steering as the column bolt was catching something. Derek Reynolds had a good run in his Volvo, but at the expense of the transmission and they had no reverse gear for the remainder of the trial. They retired later with a smell of burning rubber from the their Variomatic transmission.

Crackington came and went without any drama. It was pretty tame as there was little or no doctoring, so it was a bit of a non-event, apart from it’s usual quota of punctures. If Crackington is getting easier, Treworld is getting harder. It doesn’t look any different, but it’s one of those sections that is all about the re-start and I guess that as the years go by the holes get imperceptibly deeper!

There was a hard to find diff test at the cattle market stop before the long run down the A30 to Hoskin, buried deep in the Cardinham Woods. This was the hill that sorted the men from the boys. David Thompson was clean up to now in his VW Buggy and didn’t loose his clean sheet here. Passenger Mike Pearson reported David just “let out the clutch and drove away from the re-start” and spectators said it was a similar storey when Dudley Sterry came along.

The whites and blues didn’t have to re-start but it was still a tough hill for them. Neil Bray couldn’t get his Skoda to the summit but Simon Robson proved it could be done and was still clean in yet another final outing for his Czech wonder machine! Simon and Matt were still running with Gari Jones but they had lost Peter Davis. The hastily prepared Leige had a series of problems and Peter finally gave up when the diffs lifeblood started bleeding all over the A30 and couldn’t be repaired.

Hoskin was John Salter’s Waterloo when he couldn’t re-start his Vincent but the spectators reckoned he gave up too soon. Mal Allen was successful in his Marlin. Mal and Donny were still clean and were to go on to get gold. Pete Hart saw Mal’s climb and reckoned he got it just right, trickling off the re-start without any wheel-spin and slowly increasing the revs as they built their speed. Pete broke traction and stalled when he backed-off. Tony Branson managed to creep off the line but used too much throttle to soon, lost adhesion and that was that. Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips had to work hard in their Troll but made it OK to remain clean, but some of the other Troll’s weren’t so successful. Lee Dove trickled up but David Alderson blasted it and despite an incredible effort from Emma, and around four gear changes from David, he only managed to move a couple of car lengths.

Back on the A30 competitors were starting to get heavy eyed as they headed south-west into the sun on their way to Bluehills, where the MCC road gang had been hard at work since last year. It was difficult to see what they had done to Bluehills 1, perhaps nothing at all, but with tired eyes and a numb brain, after having been on the go for so long, it claimed a fair crop of failures. Tony Branson saw Jonathan Toulmin having a lot of trouble on the cobbles and went hell for leather around the hairpin. He crested the hump back onto the road in fine style before under-steering straight into the bank, bending the front suspension and nearly ripping off the front tie bar mounting. Verdun Webley wasn’t any luckier in his Marlin when the diff broke asunder. Verun had a spare but, having lost so much time helping Mike Hayward change his diff earlier, he had to retire.

There had been more changes to Bluehills 2. The chicane had been removed, but a lot of earth working had made the re-start area much steeper. Then the track through the gully had been narrowed and the corner made sharper. This was to catch out quite a few people, and damage a lot of cars, as it was necessary to tackle the steep narrow gully on full power and the hard walls were very un-forgiving if anything went wrong. David Heale and Simon Robson both did a lot of damage to the front of their cars when they hit the bank. At least they could keep going. Peter James went flying into the air when he hit the right hand bank and snapped a lower wishbone on landing. Neil Bray was another to go flying in the air, but his Skoda miraculously stayed in on piece on landing and he went on to clean the hill.

The end of the trial was near for the remaining wreckage. Trungle Mill was a nice easy section, a very welcome diversion after the recent excitement. Also welcome was the special test at Flambards. A simple, out and back affair over a spoil heap in a bus depot car park. This was also used as a holding control for Flambards as the section started just off quite a busy road. This is a good final hill for the Lands End, pretty straight, slippy and a fair gradient. It isn’t a formality though and can catch the un-wary as poor Neil Bray was to discover.

There just remained the run-in to the finish at Penzance, with a special test in the little car park just outside the pub. This was popular, despite being very tight and un-forgiving, with walls and railings waiting to trap the un-wary. Both the test and the pub had a nice intimate atmosphere and most competitors put on a good show for the spectators. Overall, most competitors voted this as a good Lands End Trial. The god of the weather was on the clubs side, there were no major delays and the finish arrangements were voted a major success.

2000_lands_end_resultsDownload

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Kyrle Trial

Adrian Dommett won a wet Kyrle Trial, beating Peter Fear on special test times. It went to the wire though, when both registered a three on Deep Dean. David Turner won class three in his BMW, finally breaking through the Escort domination. The results showed Murray MacDonald as winning class 4, but Murray sportingly owned up to being given a wrong score on Lane End, handing the class to fellow Falcon Neil Bray for the second successive year

Class 5 winners Peter and David Manning managed to stay in the ruts but bottomed out before they got to the re-start.
“Giles – you should stay in the ruts!”. Giles and Dennis Greenslade failing to get to the re-start on Snompers
Michael Crocker and Trevor Griffiths won class E

The Ross Club had chosen Jack from it’s pair of horrors for it’s starter course, but this was preceded by a little canapé, a funny little reversing section called Old Down. Like last year competitors had to drive down hill, stop, and reverse back up again. Most people managed it OK but there were a few who didn’t go far enough over the line and struggled to get back over the little hump just behind their rear wheels. A few notable competitors failed here, including Giles Greenslade, who with Dennis alongside should didn’t lack expert advice! Rich Welches Beetle didn’t make it either. It wasn’t down to Rich though. He was in the passenger seat, giving Imp man Jim Scott a ride in decent car! 

David Thompson was another to fail Old Down, but made up for it with a storming climb of Jack in his VW Buggy, the only Falcon to get to the summit. The class eight’s were running at the front of the field, their spirited attempts cut the bottom of the section up quite badly for the lower classes and Nigel Allen was the only saloon to get a clean. Most of the others got a 10, 11 or 12 apart from Murray MacDonald and Giles Greenslade, who got to the nine, and David Turner who got to the six in his Beemer, which made up for “cxxxxxg up” Old Down! 

Pludds was the final hill in this part of the forest complex and was to claim it’s usual share of the un-wary. The class eight’s had quite a high tyre pressure limit and David Thompson was the only Falcon here to get away. All the Falcon class four contenders cleaned Pludds, but the others all failed, including Giles, putting Murray MacDonald into the lead of the class as Neil Bray had failed Burnbrae. Dave Turner stopped at the re-start by mistake, the marshals rather meanly failing him, even though he got going to successfully to climb out of the top! 

There was quite a long road run before the next group of hills, deep in the forest near the village of Yorkley. The Classical Gas camera was on Snompers, ready to take the pictures for http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Mleete. The whites and blues went up the normal way but the yellows and reds had a dead end diversion on pure mud up through the trees. John Parsons under-steered into the bank on the “S” bend just after the diversion, a fate that was to befall a few more of the powerful cars. The bikes got the furthest, Nick Jones was the only clean on his solo, Ray Geering got to the two on his solo, equalled by an amazing performance by Michael Crocker with his chair. Adrian Dommett and Stuart Harrold got the furthest on four wheels with three, followed by Nigel Allen in his big Beetle, who got a four and then spent over a minute fruitlessly burning rubber and digging a hole to mess things up for the following cars. The other class six Beetles had under-steer problems on the lower “S” bend but Simon Woodhall did well to get the Baja around and go on to climb to the higher reaches. 

The Blues and Whites went the normal way up Snompers, although they had to negotiate a nasty little chicane just before the re-start. The re-start marshal was rather under-deployed as only two cars reached him! Most of the others got cross -rutted and ran out of grip. Neil Bray and Bill Bennett (MG J2) were the only two cars to get round the chicane and successfully climb the hill. They both managed to more or less stay in the ruts by judicious use of the throttle to stop the front end going to far awry. Peter and David Manning followed suit but ran out of ground clearance and bottomed out just inches away from the re-start line. Carl Talbot made one of the best performances in his Renault 5, getting around the corner OK but at the expense of losing so much momentum he lost all his grip. 

Tolmins Splash was another hill where ground clearance was at a premium and most of the lower slung cars grounded out in the lower reaches, including Peter Manning, Simon Robson and Richard Peck. Special Test Bravo was the final challenge in this complex. It involved a bit of reversing and this was all too much for Richard Peck’s and Neil Bray’s transmissions. They both lost reverse gear but managed to continue never less.

Cuddleigh Bank was a complicated affair as the Bristol Club, under Pete and Carlie Hart; had to change things for the lower classes after the class eight’s went through. Last year it was a straight run up the track with a blast up the steep bank at the end. This year the class eight’s had to divert down through the trees to the right before climbing again to assault the traditional bank. The other classes diverted up a theoretically easier bank to the left. The problem was that it dropped away to the right and with precious little grip after the re-start, this made things quite exciting. Neil Bray fell off the section at the four marker and had to be rescued by fellow competitors. Giles Greenslade cleaned the section but then got into trouble descending the hill on the exit road. Murray MacDonald watched this from behind and soon he was sliding towards the trees with all wheels locked. Rich Welch jumped out of the passenger’s seat of the following car and tried to hold Murray’s Beetle bank but he couldn’t do it despite putting a dent in the wing. Murray slid on and was fortunate to slide gently into a tree before building up too much speed. Even so, it took fellow competitors half an hour to extricate JAZ. 

Waterworks was being given a rest this year so the route went via Wallsprings, a long run up a nice track with a good stonw bottom, to Lane End and High Garlic. All the Falcon class eight’s got up OK, despite a difficult corner at the start. This caused problems for Giles Greenslade who couldn’t get around and most of the threes and fives had problems as well. 

Deep Dean provided the traditional Kyrle finale with its two tough challenges, a very difficult re-start for the higher classes, followed by an “impossible” hairpin for everyone. The only successful re-starter according to the results was Ray Geering on his solo, but even he had problems controlling his machine around the hairpin. Most of the spectators thought that early runner Peter Fear had cleaned the hill but the results showed him dropping three, the same as for those who failed the restart. The problem on the re-start was that the first few cars dug such a huge hole there was no way following competitors stood a chance. Most of the class eight’s really tried though and quite few punctured in the process, including Dudley Sterry and John Parsons. 

Experienced non-restarters knew what was in store and threw their machines at the obstruction, but most then couldn’t get around the following hairpin. The only exception was Dave Turner who put up a superb performance. He managed to get out of the ruts to the right just after the restart and power around the hairpin, blower whining, to a superb clean and class win. 

The dramas weren’t over though. Nigel Allen broke the gearbox on his class six Beetle but still limped to the finish for a class win. Julian Dommett was disqualified for putting his car on his trailer before the finish. Finally, although Murray MacDonald was shown as winning class four, Murray noticed he had been given a wrong score on Lane End, which will put him in second place behind Neil Bray, who takes the class. 

Overall, a difficult trial for the lower classes who struggled in the wet conditions which produced such a great event for the class eight’s. It’s always difficult for the organisers when so many of the sections don’t have a “bottom”. They are at the mercy of the conditions and it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea to drive a heavy saloon amongst the trees in deep mud! However, the Kyrle is an established trial and experienced competitors know what is in store! The event had a new Clerk of the Course in Adrian Marfell and most of the competitors reckoned he and the Ross club had dome a good job, keeping much of the old, but experimenting with some new things.

Kyrle TrophyAdrian DommettFord Special12
Class 1David HaizeldenVW Golf21
Class 3David TurnerBMW35
 Paul BartlemanEscort Estate40
 David HealeEscort Estate45
Class4Neil Bray*Skoda36
 Murray MacDonaldVW130239
Classes2 & 5Peter ManningMidget56
Class6Nigel AllenVW18
Class7Roger BricknellVincent28
Class8Peter FearDingo12
 Anthony YoungVW Special18
 Stuart HarroldTroll26
Class A1Ray GeeringKawasaki KMX20013
Class A2Richard ThompsonHonda XR25040
Class EMichael CrockerYamaha45

* Assumed outcome after Murray Macdonald’s e-mail to the organisers

2000_kyrle_resultsDownload

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Murrays March Hare by David Alderson

ACTC Chairman David Alderson climbing Water Tower
Class Winner Dave Turner at Edlersborough in his blown BMW
Overall winner Matthew Sharratt at Brickhill
Robin Howard splashing through Half Moon Lane

Sunday 12th March was a lovely spring day, clear blue sky, light wind and not too cold for the time of year, in fact everything Falcon MC could have wished for the second running of their Murray’s March Hare mini classic trial. Just one thing could have improved the day, a week of heavy rain beforehand to spice up the sections. Thirty crews, from the thirty-four entered, gathered at the “Hungry Bear”, Graveley for scruitineering and signing-on formalities. Falcon had drawn a varied entry, with representatives from all but class 6 turning out on the day. Peter Thompson led away in his Opel to section one at Cress Beds, where the dry stony surface favoured everyone, despite Murray MacDonalds marshalling team having introduced a restart part way up the climb. Under strict marshal control competitors crossed over the tarmac road at section ends to section two, Water Tower. Once again dry conditions had rather pulled the teeth of this long tree lined climb and it was clean sheets for all.

The road run to sections three and four at Mile Tree farm near Leighton Buzzard caused headaches, even amongst Herts/Beds based crews, many of whom were previously unaware of the maze of narrow lanes behind Luton airport. Two tricky sections were laid out amongst the worked out clay pits of Mile Tree Farm and almost two thirds of the entry forfeited marks here. Careful navigation through the section markers was essential on both sections and a tricky restart on section three required some thought. Notable casualties at Mile Tree were John Bell in his Escort, Keith Oakes’ Dutton, Reg Taylor’s Dellow like RDT, the Dellows of Ross Nuten and Clive Booth, and Hazel MacDonald in the Beetle.

A short drive west on the A5 bought competitors to Brickhill for two more sections and the first timed test of the day on Falcon’s prime trial’s site. Although the first of these sections was of relatively gentle gradient, the route wound it’s way tortuously amongst the trees, calling for accurate placing of the car to maintain a good line and continuous forward motion, there were further casualties. The first timed test followed immediately, with Richard Tompkins Imp claiming fastest time at 19.88 secs from Adrian Tucker-Peake in the Peugeot 205 on 20.62 secs. The other regular hot-shoes all managed to blot their copybooks by tearing off in the wrong direction looking for the hidden “B” line; seconds piled up as they corrected their mistakes. Andy Curtis, VW Buggy, effectively lost the trial here when he inadvertently crossed the “C” line and recorded fail. Before leaving, Brickhill there was a further long section in and out of the sand gully. Dave Turner blotted his copybook here, collecting a six in the Bee-Em. Eventual winner, Matthew Sharratt was so confident playing in the sand here that he followed the 7/8 deviation in his 1300 Beetle and still cleaned the section!

On now to Ivinghoe for Falcon’s now traditional brain teasing average speed regularity special test. Despite the required time/distance calculation being ridiculously simple, almost every crew completed the test with vague or troubled expressions on their faces. Michael Leete was the only competitor to hit the exact second and even he later admitted that it had been a fluke since both the Leete crew were still in the throes of mental arithmetic when they suddenly reached the stop line! The following Ivinghoe section contained a steep route deviation for classes 7/8 and a tricky re-start for classes 3-4-7-7-8. Poor Reg Taylor hit trouble again and despite considerable effort failed to encourage the RDT away from the restart. He was joined in his misery by the smart polished alloy, 16 inch wheeled, Dellow of Nicholas Woolett. More severe problems for Colin Stevens ensued when a stripped drive shaft meant retirement for the Skoda Carbriolet driver. Another short drive this time alongside the site of Queen Boadicea’s brave stand against the invading Romans just below Dunstable Downs, bought competitors to another of Falcon’s regular trials sites at Eddlesborough.

Two further sections here, both involving re-starts. The dry conditions at Eddlesborough meant plenty of grip despite the C of C’s efforts to include all the steepest climbs and most difficult adverse cambers of the site into the two sections. Once again, it was heartache for both Reg Taylor and Nicholas Woolett with most of the rest going away unpenalised. It would have been a different story if we had seen some rain at Eddlesborough, as all Falconers are well aware!

Time for a sandwich now, before moving on to the third Falcon pct site at Kensworth and two further sections. Cliff Morrell had laid out a tricky section in the main field, the re-start was perfectly placed and the long, steep grassy climb to the section ends was the undoing of several competitors including Keith Oakes, Adrian Tucker-Peake and pct expert, Robin Howard, in his Dutton. The second Kensworth section had a sharp sting in the tail and saw yet another fancied runner throw away the premier award by a silly mistake. The Alderson Troll dropped a three when it’s driver allowed the engine to drop off the cam within arms length of the section ends board. Passenger Boswell later maintained that it was the driver who had dropped off, not the cam! Previously clean Dave Nash in the Skeetle, Hazel MacDonald and Marlin mounted Jonathan Baggott all contrived to drop three points on Kensworth’s short but steep final bank, only two clean sheets remaining now.

Back onto the tarmac and heading south east now the trial took in a new find close to Markyate, glorifying in the name of Half Moon Lane, incorporating a long, chassis deep, quagmire middle sector. Those who up to this point had been planning to give the trials car a light rinse off at the finish were suddenly made rudely aware that it was going to be pressure washers at dawn after Half Moon! Roughly half the entry forced their way through unpenalised but the low slung Midgets of David Sheffield and Alan Shaw came to an abrupt halt at nine when they were joined by several others whose vehicles were less endowed in the ground clearance department.

The final section at Nortonstreet Lane near Whitwell was again under the control of Murray MacDonald who had moved his crew over from their earlier section and set up another difficult re-start. To the delight of a sizeable gathering of spectators, Murray’s mob extracted a further bag of sixes from over a third of the entry, and this was on a dry day! Finally the trial returned to the Hungry Bear for signing off and results. Only Matthew Sharratt and Andy Curtis finished with clean sheets but as we know Andy had overshot the line at the Brickhill timed test so it was Matthew’s day and Murray MacDonald was delighted to present his trophy to the VW Beetle driver.

Andy Curtis took the Best Falcon award whilst the class winners were Adrian Tucker-Peake, John Bell, Hazel MacDonald, David Sheffield, Dave Nash and David Alderson. Once again, despite route problems and dry ground conditions, Falcon had produced an enjoyable little trial. The atmosphere as ever was relaxed and friendly, the deceptive nature of the sections took points from newcomers and experts alike. The trial is never likely to become a full blown “blood and guts” classic but that isn’t Falcon’s intention. Murray’s March Hare trial looks set to become a regular feature in the calendar. Give it a try next year, you’ll enjoy an excellent day out.

2000_march_hare_resultsDownload

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

The Cotswold Clouds in a Marlin by Jonathan Baggott

I like to picture and write about Falcon members trialling exploits. One man has escaped me until recently as I always start so far away from him in the field I never see how he gets on. So I e-mailed Jonathan and persueded him to pen a few word for the worlds favorite internet trials site.

This was an event I had heard so many good reports about and wanted to have a try for myself. Having competed in 3 previous Ebworth Trials (also organised by the Stroud & District Motor Club) I was reckoning on this providing all the thrills and enjoyment of an MCC classic trial but without the excessive road mileage.

The choice of a passenger was quickly solved by my sister in law, Jane, who had been nagging me to take her trialling for the past 5 years. Being almost the last to start, took some of the pressure off driving to Stroud from Buckinghamshire in 1 and 1/2 hours, which helped as I hadn’t got bed until 1.30am the previous night.

I am never very good at remembering the individual sections, but several things stuck in my mind: · The scenery was spectacular and the route took us to some idyllic out of the way places, with challenging sections to climb · Most of the sections were a good test of skill but were very rough. We managed to clean just 2 and each one reminded me that I must adjust the torsion bars give my poor Marlin some additional ground clearance! · Falcon members were everywhere, which is good for having a friendly face to talk to, but means that your failures (my failures) were witnessed immediately and at first hand. · Jane enjoyed herself, but I failed to give her proper pre event training. Her solution when we failed to get off a restart was to sit and roar with laughter. I don’t claim to be an expert triallist ( I’ve only been doing it for 5 years) but I’ve never yet seen anyone laugh themselves to the top of a hill!

With 2 sections to go before the end, we decided to quit while the Marlin was still in one piece. Just at that moment as the daylight was failing completely, we stumbled upon another competitor who had broken down. A yellow and blue Imp had broken its sump and needing towing to the finish. We acted as good Samaritans and learnt during those last few miles that the car had not been fitted with a sump guard! Those Stroud Motor Club folk are renowned for their hardiness but remembering the sorts of terrain we had just encountered, the lack of undercar protection was asking too much.

As we got to the finish so the weather changed into a steady downpour, perfect for cleaning the mud off during the drive home.

On reflection, a tremendous day, I can’t wait to do it again, but I must get some narrower wheels, more ballast and a big dollop of extra skill.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Arthur Bowden won The Cotswold Clouds

The first Cotswold Clouds of the Millennium was a rough, tough, competitive event, and Clerk of the Course Paul Bartleman ensured victory was won on the hills rather than the special tests! The result was a host of closely fought battles throughout the field and overall victory went to the Stroud Club for putting on such a good event!

Simon and Matt Robson leapt for joy when they were the only class four car to clean Merves Swerve (picture by John Salter)
Pete and Carlie Hart bounce their way over the hump on Nailsworth Ladder (picture by John Salter)
Jim Scott finding a good line on Crooked Mustard on his way to win in a closely fought Class Four (picture by John Salter)
Dave Forshew concentrates hard on the way to cleaning Merves Swerve (picture by John Salter)
Mal Allen looking very relaxed as he climbs out of Mackhouse 2 in fine style (picture by John Salter)

There was drama at the start when Mike Pearson arrived with a broken alternator pulley. He went off in search of an accessory shop that was open on Sunday morning, while Arnold Lane set about removing the offending item. Mike came back after a fruitless search to find a beaming Fred Gregory with a spare alternator in his hand! The field was soon away, to follow a route where the first five sections were all used before the war, and are featured in Wheelspin. 

Sandfords only presented problems to a few cars but Crooked Mustard was a different problem of course. At the start, Ken Green reminded me that “Mustard” was originally known as “Breakheart”. It was a stopper then and it is a stopper now. Apart from David Heale, all the blues and whites ground to a halt on or before the steps on the third corner. A special mention here must go to Terry Coventry who persuaded his Citroen AX to climb to the five marker, which was better than many “more suitable” cars! ‘Mustard started to sort out the pecking order in class seven, catching Jonathan Baggott, Simon Woodall and Fred Gregory. Now Tommy and Clive Kalber are trialling a Melos Fred has a good benchmark for his car and they got up Mustard! So did all of the Web Communities red Marlins. The old hill was not very kind to Falcons class eight’s. Ian Davis got up OK but both Mike Pearson/Arnold Lane and David Thompson/Verdun Webley ground to a halt at the five. 

A few years ago Axe went through a “stopper” phase but these days it doesn’t create to much of a problem unless you are in a front wheel drive car, or don’t attack it with enough speed. It didn’t trouble Terry Coventry’s AX though, but poor old Collin Perryman, he who cleaned Simms in his Skoda!, failed half way up for the second year running. Dave Foreshew hit problems when he heard air escaping from a rear tyre just a few yards from the line, and had to nurse the powerful car to the summit, for fear the cover would roll of the rim. 

The route continued to follow a well-trodden route and soon reached the foot of Nailsworth Ladder. The old hill didn’t pose too many problems for the lower orders, but it was a different storey for the yellows and reds who had re-starts. In class eight David Thompson got way OK but Mike Pearson didn’t make it and Ian Davis lost his clean sheet as well. Nailsworth also shook things up in class seven as well. Andrew Brown, Pete Hart and Tommy Kalber retained their clean sheets, but Mal Allen lost his and neither Jonathan Baggott or Fred Gregory could get away and Fred broke his throttle cable in the attempt. He had a spare cable but didn’t have a pair of long nosed pliers to reach up under the bulkhead to reach the nipple. Fred and Pete were pondering the situation when Mike and Arnold rolled back down and dived into their tool kit to re-pay Fred’s earlier help. 

Ham Mill started the “trial by re-start” that was going to be a feature of the rest of the route. It defined the shape of the class 4 battle as only Jim Scott, Neil Bray, Dick Glossop and Richard Peck got away cleanly. Stuart Cairney was particularly disappointed not to get away, but was enjoying his first ‘Clouds never less. This was not to be a great Falcon hill as apart from Neil Bray and Ian Davis, we all failed and Michael Leete picked up a puncture. 

The Mackhouse’s were next on the agenda. They may follow directly after each other, but they are two completely different hills. Neither are proper tracks. “1” involves the dreaded “tree weaving” on slippery mud, where the descent from the higher reaches (they tell me!) is heart stopping. Personally I like “2” as much as I hate “1”. It starts by traversing some muddy grass before diving down into a stream bed, filled with what Fred Gregory describes as Dinosaurs eggs, the rest of us cal them bxxxxy great boulders! Assuming your tyres, transmission and underside survive this challenge you get to climb out the other side where, just as you crest the lip, the rocks end, the mud resumes and you get to do a little tree weaving before emerging into a grassy meadow. The competitive class threes all got out OK but Michael Leete and Mike Hayward were the only class fours to go clean, using the well known technique of foot flat to the floor and hang on! This is one of the occasions when paying all that money for a four planet “super diff” pays off as it gives you confidence! The Yellows and Reds had re-starts to slow down their progress and the reds had a bit of a chicane in theirs as well. It was on for most, but still caught out Andrew Brown and David Thompson. Andrew actually got out of the section OK but the re-start marshal adjudged that backing off the re-start and having a run didn’t constitute a clean! 

There then followed an organisational disaster. There was no rest halt at Tesco’s this year! It’s hardly surprising as I never understood how us dirty lot were tolerated in their nice clean cafeteria, but it was super to have such a civilised lunch! Actually, it was just as well, because the time taken in extracting cars down Mackhouse 1 caused delays to build up and later numbers faced a huge queue. 

Paul Bartleman and his team had spiced up Freds Folly, with a slippery re-start on the steepest part of the hill. This caused problems for some of the lower classes and caught both Michael Leete and Stuart Cairney, both of whom had severe cases of “pilot error” and were to have problems on all the remaining re-starts. Hazel MacDonald got away fine and was going well. In fact, she would have been challenging for the class lead if she had got away on Ham Mill. 

Catswood was a new hill for some of us. It didn’t trouble the scorer as they say, but it did involve a nice bit of green laning through the woods to get there, and it was worth including the hill for that alone. Rich Welch was doing a diff check here and Jim Scott had his Stiletto jacked up alongside. It all looked pretty terminal, but turned out to be a routine donut change before Jim’s charge on Merves Swerve! At this stage, class 4 was pretty close, with Jim and Richard Peck on 14 and Neil Bray just one behind. However, it was Simon Robson who was to be the class 4 hero here, gunning his Skoda out the top in fine style in what may be one his last drives in this well used car. Tommy Kalber and Pete Hart cleaned the hill in Melos and Marlin respectively, and so did Dave Foreshew in class 8. Dudley Sterry lost 5 here, putting him out of contention. A special mention again for Terry Coventry, who got over the first hump in his fwd AX to score 3. OK he had a preferential start line, and no re-start, but that doesn’t take anything away from his achievement. 

The two Highwood sections were pretty difficult. The first one had a fiendish, muddy, re-start which stopped all but three of the field. Likewise the second Highwood was tough, with different re-starts for the higher orders and nobody saw the summit here. The delays at Mackhouse meant the field was pretty spread out by now, and the later numbers arrived at Climperswell in the rain and dark. Stuart Cairney let the tyres down too much and bellied out in the ruts, dropping six. Michael Leete’s Beetle popped out of the ruts and Michael stopped to reverse rather than write the car off against a rather solid tree. The re-start marshal saw he had stopped and waved him through without stopping, but clearly took pity on him and recorded a clean. Thanks Dad! 

Only the two Bulls Bank sections remained. Both slippery, polished stone affairs. Jim Scott got away from both successfully and won class 4 by one mark from Neil Bray. Most of the other leading contenders were fine as well but Bulls Bank compounded the misery for some, including Fred Gregory, David Thompson, Simon Robson and Michael Leete who failed both. Notable Falcon double cleans were achieved by Stuart Cairney, Hazel MacDonald and Mike Pearson who was reported as trickling off both at under a thousand revs. Allen organiser Pete Hart failed both as well, dropping him from second to third in class. 

All in all a pretty good day, the delays at Mackhouse being the only problems on an otherwise smoothly run, competitive, event.

Overall WinnerArthur VowdenMarlin11
Best Stroud MemberMick WorkmanGVS13
Class1Terry CoventryCitroen AX31
2Bill BennettMG J238
3Mark LinforthFord Escort23
4Jim ScottSunbeam Stietto29
5Peter DaviesPanther Lima60
6Mike HobbsBeetle22
7Tommy KalberDutton Melos11
8Tony YoungVW Special16
2000_cotswold_clouds_resultsDownload

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Classy Clee

The regulations for the Midland Automobile Clubs Clee Hills promised some interesting “new” sections and the event more than lived up to this commitment. Regulars like Longville and Hungerford were retained, but out went much of the artificial stuff of recent years, replaced by a host of “new” hills, two of which were brand new, and two revived pre-war sections not used since the 50’s. There were three clean sheets. Overall victory went to Paul Bartleman who was faster than Adrian Dommett and Stuart Harrold on the special tests.

Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips pictured leaving the start on the way to a clean sheet. Unfortunately they lost out to Paul Bartleman on special test times

Pat and Jonathan Toulmin had thought of everything, and even organised good weather for their trial. So conditions were ideal when Falcons David Thompson led the entry, in class order, away from the start. Unfortunately this didn’t include David Alderson’s Troll. No sooner had he fixed the clutch he blew on the Exeter, than there were major problems with the front suspension and the bits to fix it didn’t arrive in time. The thorough Toulmin organisation had started the class eight’s at one minute intervals, but spaced the lower orders two minutes apart so they wouldn’t get in each others way too much when they got stuck! Jonathan must have been reading the “hanging back” debate over on the Web Community, because he instituted penalties for slipping too far back down the field. 

Classical Gas Web Community member Tony Branson’s dramas started before the off, when he had had minor problems with his lights at scruitineering. But it was good to see that Sally Bolam had recovered from the cuts to her face that she sustained when their Marlin dived into the bushes on the Exeter’s Normans Hump.

Tony Branson and Sally Bolam weaving through the trees at Starvecrow. At the time I thought this section had no place in the event, but reflecting afterwards it sorted out the results so I think it was a good thing.

Farlow has been the Clee’s first section in recent years, but there were problems with the neighbours this year so Jonathan substituted the woods at Starvecrow. These were very muddy and several competitors, including Mike Hayward and Robin Howard, had problems getting to and from the sections. It wasn’t David Thompson or Maureen Chattle’s favourite place either, as they both failed in the lower reaches of the section and the following special test as well. 

Starvecrow was followed by a long 20-mile road run to Allez Oop, a hill first used in 1938 and described in detail in C. A. N. May’s book “Wheelspin”. These days the hill is surfaced with shale so there was a fair amount of grip and Jonathan spiced things up with a re-start for the yellows and reds.

Simon Woodall and Adrian Marfell tackel Allez ‘Oop on their unique machines. As you would expect from Adrian he ain’t got no VW lump in the back!

Mike Hayward got off the re-start OK, but with a slipping clutch and massive clouds of white smoke, so much that he was concerned the engine was on fire! At the summit Mike found a fair amount of oil all over the engine, so stopped to clean it up and adjust the clutch before the next section. 

There was a diff check just before the next section called Stanbatch which was a long easy section, much loved by the VSCC. A bunch of marshal’s leapt out from behind the hedge with a trolley jack and proceeded to check the diff in the middle of a single-track road. 

Adstone was approached down a steep muddy rutted track that would have been a good challenge for the class 8 boys if used uphill. There was a rocky ford at the bottom, which was the downfall of Robin Howard, as he hit something nasty in the middle causing the front brakes to lock on and even the Land Rover had problems in dragging the Dutton Sierra out of the section.

Gatten’s Gamble was a great section but a bit heavy on tyres!

This was followed by a long blast up Ratlinghope and Jonathan continued to delight by finding a brand new hill he called Gatten’s Gamble. This long section stated with a steepish bank before the gradient eased off. It didn’t get any easier though, as the surface changed from rocks to mud and the ruts got pretty fearsome as well. This was certainly not one for the faint hearted, as you would stop if you eased off, as Neil Bray found out when he punctured. Mike Hayward had tyre problems as well, but kept his trotter down and came out of the top OK. There were a couple of notable class eight failures here as both Mike Pearson (Dellow Replica) and Bill Foreshew (GVS) ground to a halt on the final grassy bank. 

The traditional Clee sections of Harton Wood and Hungerford didn’t trouble the scorer too much, although it was pretty difficult to get out of the latter because of some very deep ruts. Peter Thompson had come all the way from Essex in his Opel Kadett and must have thought it was never going to get back there when he well and truly grounded out. The route card suggested straddling the right hand track, but this wasn’t practical as the car just slipped back in the ruts again. Finally Peter managed to back out, lightened his load by jettisoning his passenger and charged the obstacle at full speed to get out. 

Longville was nice and simple for the lower orders, but the yellows and reds had restarts actually on the steep ramp onto the main road. This was a gathering point for spectators, who included web community participants Kevin Barnes and Falcons Dave Nash and Alan Bellamy. This was Anthony Young’s downfall as he dropped his only mark of the day. If he hadn’t he would have been the overall winner as he had by far the best time on the special tests. Mind you he wasn’t the only one as very few class eights got away cleanly, and even Dudley Sterry dropped a three. Notable class eight cleans were Adrian Dommett and Stuart Harrold, both retaining their clean sheets. David Thompson was also successful in his Buggy, a small consolation for all the marks he had dropped at Starvecrow first thing in the morning. 

The Railway Special Test was a funny affair. To get a good time you had too crawl up a steep hill very slowly by slipping the clutch. Until you got half way when you blasted the rest. Yes was an interesting variation but not popular amongst those who liked to take care of their clutch! This was where Paul Bartleman won the event. He was one of three drivers to still have clean sheets and his time here was light years ahead of Adrian and Stuarts. 

The trial was drawing a close now. The leading contenders are growing wise to the hairpin at Ippkins Rock and it didn’t influence the result. It still catches out the unary though including ace class seven man Roger Bricknell.

The Clee started and finished with “tree weaving” and it was these sections that provided the results. It was worth it so we could tackle all those wonderful sections in the middle. Here Giles Greenslade and Murray MacDonald blast up Hillside 2

Just as the trial started with a muddy section through the woods so it finished, this time with Hillside, located within the Boyne Estate, just a mile or so from the finish. The principle class eight contenders and Paul Bartleman all went clear so it had no effect on the overall result. None of the Falcons got up but like everyone else I spoke to they enjoyed the event enormously. It was imaginative, with the challenge judged to perfection as the results show. Jonathan and Pat must be congratulated for finding those new sections and devising such a beautifully scenic route. They have run The Clee for four years now, during which thy have listened and improved their trial. Long may this excellent event continue under their stewardship.

OverallPaul BartlemanEscort Estate0
1 and 2Terry CoventryCitroen AX14
3 and 5Ian MossEscort7
4Richard PeckBeetle8
6Nigel AllenBeetle3
7Tim LakinMarlin4
8Adrian DommettSpecial0
0David LucasBuckler4
2000_clee_hills_results_routeDownload

Exeter Excels

The first MCC trial of the millennium was a corker. The conditions were excellent, the organisation mostly pretty smooth and the hills challenging. A bit to much for some as the higher classes were challenged with some pretty tough re-starts, reckoned by some as the MCC trying to eliminate as many Triples as possible early on.

Web Community member and Singer Webmaster Kevin Barnes powers ADU around Fingles first hairpin on the Exeters anniversary run (picture by Jon Kelsey)

It sounds a bit monotonous but once again there was excellent Falcon entry with 16 crews in the program, plus a marshalling team on Clinton. We had a couple of non-starters on the day. Clive Booth and John Allsop were stricken with flu and Alan Bellamy didn’t get back from his overseas millennium trip in time to prepare the car. Verdun Webley had been all over his Marlin since it’s problems on the way to the Allen and had invested in rolling road time at NB Motors in attempt to sort the carb which was all over the place. 

Peter Mountain and Mike Furse were entered in the anniversary run but Mike and Sheila were also struck by the bug and didn’t feel up to a long night in the open Buckler but they did drive down in the daylight to look in on how things were going. Most of the Falcon crews started from Cirencester and were able to find the venue this year as there were not only detailed directions in the final instructions but it was extremely well arrowed as well. 

The run down to the Haynes motor museum was pretty uneventful for most people although Keith Pettit was struggling with a dodgy dynamo and resorted to following Peter Manning who had son David in the passengers seat for the first time. All was not well at Sparkford as the manager had confused the day and was not there to open up, shades of the Edinburgh! Fortunately the control was manned by a resourceful group of marshals, led by Jim Harvey of Dellow fame and including Steve Strutt. They quickly commandeered a nearby piece of land and stuck too, clearing a heap of tyres to accommodate the large number of competitors who had driven down at a reasonable speed in the belief they would be able to spend an hour browsing the bookshop! 

Mike Pearson’s drama started immediately after the breakfast stop. The Dellow Rep started wandering all over the road and Mike found the bracket locating the panhard rod to the axle had broken. In his professional life Mike has learned to be resourceful in such situations and waited for the dawn to break to seek sought out a friendly welder to help him get underway again. 

Gatcombe Lane provided it’s usual gentle introduction, always welcome to settle the nerves. Then it was into the woods at Bovey Downs where the battle would really begin. There was plenty of grip in there but the lower part of Normans Hump was very rutted. It looked truly horrifying but was relatively soft so didn’t do to much damage, although Neil Bray punctured. Tony Branson found far to much grip and didn’t have enough power to get over the hump following the restart. He got into problems reversing down in the dark, attacking a gorse bush at some speed and Sally Bolam collected some nasty cuts and scratches to her face. 

Stuart Cairney was another one to suffer from excessive grip and couldn’t make the summit either. The top part of Norman’s is pretty steep. It’s essential to keep small, revvy engines on the cam, which on Norman’s needs a bit of wheel spin as its very difficult to build sufficient road speed because of the necessity to lift off a bit going over the cross track, even if you don’t have a re-start. In recent years the class eight’s have had a tougher affair higher up, but Ken Green was being generous this year and they restarted on the cross track along with the yellows. Our Red brethren weren’t let of the hook completely as they had to tackle Bovey bank, an extra section in the woods. This shattered their triple aspirations last year as only one car went clean. This year’s hill was a bit different and didn’t present the same challenge so most of them got up OK. 

Falcon member’s hearts were in a bit of a flutter as they approached Clinton as they would have to strut their stuff in front of their teammates who were marshalling the hill. Simon Robson’s Skoda must have been very nervous as it gave a little flurry of protest, cutting out at low revs, necessitating a tune up in the queue for the section. I think all the Falcon’s got up OK, including a delighted Verdun Webley debuting his Marlin. Verdun was not without his troubles though as Lee Howells found his leg was getting a bit warm. Oil was pouring out the end of the pipe to the oil pressure gauge. Neil Bray was just behind and gave Verdun a hand to block it off. 

Waterloo was it’s usual fun but was a little more than that for Michael Leete who failed immediately after the first right hander with a severe case of “operator error” and then had a puncture on the road section immediately afterwards. Stretes was pretty straightforward but the two Michael’s had to do a bit of PR work when a lady local approached them in the queue and asked them how many more hours they were going “round and round”. They tried to explain that there were several hundred competitors and that the field took five or six hours to go by. She departed home to the house on the corner where the route turned of the road leaving one or two choice and rather un-lady like words hanging in the air. She must have been out when the PR man called! 

There was a long road section out to Greenslinch where the section finished before the slurry pit so this one didn’t trouble the score keeper to much, although Simon Robson still managed to ding the front wing of his Skoda on the exit onto the road.

John Parsons suspension after a typical smooth, non-damaging section!

John Parsons arrived at Exeter services with one of the front wheels all awry with a coil over shock unit broken. JP decided this was a good test for the RAC. The actual shocker on the adjustable Spax unit had broken. The RAC man was a little surprised but rallied round and helped JP ring round to find a replacement. Not surprisingly they couldn’t locate a replacement competition unit, but the RAC man took JP off to a motor factor to see what they could find. Meanwhile Tom Goggin kindly stayed with Dot so she wouldn’t be on her own when the Falcons disappeared to do battle with the remaining sections.

They found something the right length and JP made up a couple of spring locators with some exhaust clamps. The man from the RAC was truly amazed at this, but before they parted thanked JP for giving him the most interesting morning in the job! Although the Westfield was mobile JP didn’t risk throwing the big car up the hills in its delicate state and he and Dot went directly down to the hotel in Torquay. While all this was going on news came through on the Mobile phone that Mike Pearson was underway again and was about to tackle Stretes although he was running some way down the field. Unfortunately the repair failed again later on and Mike was another addition to the retirement list.

Falcon members gather around the stricken Westfield. From left to right. Tom Goggin, Lee Howells, John Parsons, Verdun Webley, Pete Stafford, Fred Gregory and Dot Parsons.

Windout was the Exeter’s mandatory tarmac section and then it was on to Tillerton. The re-start was pretty rough and it was essential to put your car in exactly the right place. This caught out quite a few of the class sevens including Fred Gregory and Andrew Brown. Mike Furse was spectating here but was still suffering from the flu and Sheila wisely stayed in the warm of the car. Allen organiser Pete Hart got up at the expense of a damaged exhaust and was having a lot of problems with the Marlins fuel pump.

Fred Gregory on Windout and Mark Tooth on Fingle

There was a time control just before the bridge at Fingle. This was a new variation and caused a few problems later in the event when the Classic run competitors were on the same minute as competitors in the main event. This was very important to the Anniversary boys and girls as their award depended on them sticking to a strict time schedule. Those who attempted Fingle enjoyed the experience and it was great to see the period cars on this piece of MCC history. Neil Bray had to change another tyre before the special test which was pretty rough and wasn’t a pleasant experience for car competitors trying for a class win who had to throw their machines at a suspension breaking bump. 

The second special test was just up the road on the approach road to Wooston and was a much smoother affair. It involved a bit of reversing which put paid to David Aldersons AH Trophy hopes when the clutch on the Troll shattered to smithereens. Conditions on Wooston were quite favourable and the class sixes has things easy as they were allowed to take the deviation to the left. I have to say this was a problem as I don’t thing either the route or instructions or section markings made it clear where the turn was. In pervious years there has been a map at the start and the deviation has been well signed. It was OK for regulars but Peter Manning went up the wrong bit and I’m sure there will have been other competitors who got lost on the hill. Fred Gregory and Pete Stafford were delighted to make the summit and reported that the higher reaches are even more horrendous than the bit you can see at the bottom. 

There were only two sections remaining but they weren’t going to be easy. Simms was the first one, with a re-start for seven’s and eight’s but the sixes were allowed to have a uninterrupted run. The old hill was on form and broke it’s usual quota of hearts. Last year there were quite a few successful climbs up the right but not this year. The successful track was over to the left, halfway up the bank if possible according to a spectating John Sargeant. Falconwise I believe that David Thompson was our only successful climber and all of us in the lower classes came to a grinding halt. It was possible though as both Colin Perryman and Giles Greenslade got up OK in Skoda and Beetle respectively. Duncan Stephens was spectating here and said that the hill got more difficult as the day went on. It was relatively easy for the first 100 cars but then there was a few spots of rain, after which it was a real achievement to reach the A boards. Duncan didn’t see any class 1 or 5 cars reach the summit and witnessed a nasty accident when Barry Clarke rolled the Grotty Chummy. 

There was only one section left now. Slippery Sam for the blues and whites and Higher Gabwell for the yellows and reds. The restart on Slippery Sam had been on the right-hand hairpin for many years, probably to slow people down after the Yugo overturned here back in 1991. This time it was back in the old place and a good position was absolutely crucial, as there was a huge step. Michael Leete was delighted to get it just right but many didn’t including Hazel Mac in JAZ who had to tackle the obstacle in the dark and Neil Bray and Marc Lawrence who didn’t stop at all. 

Over on Higher Gabwell there was a real sting in the tail with a re-start spicing up a section that was pretty tough anyway. This cost David Thompson his gold and the other Falcons faired no better. This section really was a snorter and also claimed Classical Gas Web Community members Stuart Harrold, John Salter, Pete Hart and Sndrew Brown. 

Back at the finish, we heard that Colin Stevens had retired with gearbox gremlins and Dave Nash had been fighting with a broken gearbox mounting and failed two hills. The sevens and eight’s reckoned this year’s Exeter was a pretty tough challenge, perhaps a bit more than necessary in an attempt to slow down the “super-stars”. It ran pretty smoothly though, the weather was good and the organisation and conditions ensured things finished in good time for the traditional club supper where John Aley presented a select group with their Triples, including Classical Gas Web community member John Lees to considerable applause.

2000_exeter_resultsDownload

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Bossy and Jabs – A Stranger in the Camp

We had a stranger in the camp at the Gill Morrell memorial Trial, in the form of JAB’s, James Alexander’s Sporting Trials car. He had a familiar face in the passenger’s seat, none other than John Boswell, who is more commonly seen driving his Dutton Phaeton with great gusto. A brief chat with John wetted my appetite and I could feel an article coming on!

John Boswell hangs on tight while James Alexander assaults Brickhill’s bank in Jab’s

In my ignorance, I thought that JAB’s was short for John Boswell and that he had built the car. However, John soon put me right, saying that he was about as useful with a toolkit as a chocolate teapot! The car was actually built by John Benson in the mid-seventies when the BMC “A” series was the motor to have. James’ father Robin Alexander acquired JAB’s and had a real crack at the National title in the early eighties. It was Robin who got John into trials back in 1983 when he passengered Robin. They never won, but came very close, occupying the number two spot in both 1983 and 1984.

All this wetted John’s appetite and they reversed roles when John started to drive in Classic’s, that he felt suited his committed driving style. Robin continued with JAB’s for another season before swapping it for a Cannon, which he soon sold on, reinvesting in a Kincraft. This was to get little use as sadly Robin died of cancer in 1988 at the young age of 44.

JAB’s passed through a couple of hands, ending up in the care of Martin Halliday, the custodian of several fine old trials cars, including one of Colin Chapman’s early Lotus’. By now, James Alexander was anxious to re-acquire his father’s old car. John put him in touch with Martin and JAB’s was soon back in the Alexander family. They went to a Peterborough Motor Club event but James couldn’t compete, as he didn’t have a licence. So his first event was the Robin Alexander memorial trial, held in honour of his late father, down in Cornwall. He found it pretty tough going and decided he needed a bit more practice. A quick call to JP saw Robin and John out at our Brickhill event, getting the feel of the car under easier conditions than are found on the flyweight circuit.

The car has been developed considerably since Robin owned it. It’s still A series powered, but the iron block 1275 Midget motor has now been bored out a bit. Things have changed in the transmission department too and the cogs are now courtesy of a certain Mr Hewland. It still has rather old fashioned mechanical fiddle brakes but John reckons these are an advantage as you can actually “feel” if a wheel is spinning. James has joined the 750 MC so he can get entries to Sporting Trial events and John hopes to do a bit of passengering in the old car.

John Boswell enjoying an Autotest in his Midget
John is a fierce competitor in his local PCT’s seen at Brickhill in the Midget
John passengering David Anderson’s Troll
John in the Dutton

What about “Bossey” as he is known to some. Well, after Robin Alexander introduced him to Classics he competed quite regularly in his Midget, but got fed up with driving down to Cornwall and breaking the car on the first hill! After destroying thirteen diffs in a season he converted the back axle to take Ford components and then started breaking gearboxes! All this prompted John to acquire a Dellow from Jim Harvey. The only problem was it was in bits and it sat in a lock-up for several years before Steve Strutt bought it and John used money to buy his well known “wash and go” Dutton Phaeton.

John found this car very reliable and has had very few problems with it. It bought some success too, and John won the ACTC Crackington Trophy in 1990. It also achieved TV fame when the BBC used it as a camera car on the televised Lands End. John had to take things easy for a few years as he was having health problems with his heart. He was better in time to partner David Alderson in his assault on the ACTC Wheelspin series and they won the championship together in 1996. John then used both his Dutton and Midget in local PCT’s and Autotest’s but had an overwhelming desire to go Motor Racing. The only problem was that he needed to do it without spending a lot of money! Inspiration came one night in the pub during a chat with Mark Wilson from Milton Keynes Motor Club and they decided to get 2CV and take part in the Mondello 24 hour race, competing with such luminaries as TOCA’s Alan Gow and Marcos creator Jem Marsh.

They qualified 22nd and got up to 10th at the end of the first hour. Then the engine blew up. They had a spare but it took two hours to change it. After all that effort the team decided to drive for a finish, cutting back on the revs and short shifting to take care of the little 602cc motor. They succeeded, finishing in 22nd place, really enjoying themselves and vowing to return. John’s plans for the future include another crack at the Mondello 24 hours and competing in PCT’s with the Dutton, all with one objective, to have some fun!

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

David Foreshew wins Allen Trial

The result of this years Allen was decided on the re-starts and Special Tests. There were seventeen clean sheets at the end, including at least one on every class.

Allen Tropy winner David Foreshew takes an unusual line while Teresa Middleton bounces the GVS Mk2 away from the re-start on Guys Hill (Picture by John Salter)

The Bristol club had their usual full entry, plus reserves, for their Allen Trial on 28th November. The week before Pete Hart and his team were getting worried, as everything was bone dry, and it looked as if the hills were going to be too easy. Fortunately the rain came down pretty hard on the Thursday and Friday so there was a bit of mud about on the Sunday, even though it was a dry day.

We had an excellent Falcon entry. Fifteen crews coming across from Beds, Herts and Bucks to do battle with the Bristol hills. Well, that’s not quite right. Robin Howard came a lot further, all the way from Bury St Edmunds, to take part in his first ACTC Classic Trial. There was drama, even at the start, for the Falcon contingent. Verdun Webley had set of in convoy with John Parsons. Both of them were solo as they were going to meet up with their passengers at the start. John was to be accompanied by Keith Harris, with Sarah Harris riding with Mike Pearson in his Dellow Replica. Arnold Lane traveled to Bristol in Mike’s passenger seat, and was due to ride with Verdun, taking part in his first trial in the Marlin he bought after last years Exeter. That was the plan, however it all fell apart on the outskirts of Buckingham when the B series motor shredded its fanbelt. Verdun had a spare but it was too long and the alternator bracket fouled the steering so he couldn’t make the start.

This left Arnold without a ride, and with no car to go spectating or marshalling. In the end he went round the route with Simon Robson, getting out to walk or run up the hills so not to burden the Skoda with the extra weight! Tog Hill was the usual introduction to the competitive stuff, nice and gentle since the bumps were smoothed out a few years ago, and it didn’t trouble the scorer. Simon Robson had given his Skoda quite a bit of welly and dented a rim badly enough to need removing for some gentle adjustment with a club hammer on the following road section. 

Bitton Lane had its usual re-start on the corner. There was a little more grip on the slippery stones this year and only four cars were recorded as failing to get away. I say that as Mike Hayward was not one of them, but as his passenger I know we failed as we backed down a good ten yards to get a good run afterwards! Neil Bray got away OK, but picked up a puncture in the process. There were a lot of delays on Big Uplands last year when failures couldn’t get past cars queuing at the bottom. To avoid this happening again the route went down Little Uplands, with a holding control at the bottom to keep the failure route clear. The descent was quite interesting as it gave competitors the opportunity to see just how horrendous the step is at the top!

Big Uplands itself started to sort the results out a bit as around 40% of the entry failed the hill. The Blues and Whites had a clean run, with no re-start, but even so there were quite a few that didn’t make the summit, including Neil Bray and all of class five apart from Rob Cull. Simon Robson was in determined mood, and flew round the ninety left at full speed, using the bank and scattering marshals and spectators alike. The yellows and reds had their usual re-start on the ninety left. The approach to this was nice and smooth this year as the Bristol club had spent the year filling in the gullies, caused by water flowing down the hill, with over forty tons of stone! The majority of the yellows came to grief here. Dave Nash, Mike Hayward, Robin Howard and Tony Branson all failed to get off the re-start. Andrew Brown and Fred Gregory got away OK but couldn’t build up enough momentum to get over the rough stuff immediately afterwards and got fours.

The reds fared a little better but again there were quite a few failures including Falcon’s Mike Pearson, David Thompson, James Lindsay and Maureen Chattle. They were in distinguished company as neither Adrian Dommett, Duncan Welch or Anthony Young made it either. Going back to the Falcon’s James had Julian Robinson in the passengers “seat” of his Fugitive and I believe this was actually Maureen’s debut.

Guys Hill became famous because of the court case regarding the exit road. Unfortunately the case was lost and these days we have to stop at the top and come back down, rather than go straight out the top. This was academic for many of the yellows and reds, as they couldn’t get off their restart on some very greasy polished stones. David Thompson couldn’t get his VW Buggy off the line and neither could Maureen Chattle and Ross Neuten in their Dellow. Mike Pearson did well to get his Dellow away, but even he couldn’t get much beyond the four marker. Dave Nash had the Skeetles new type four motor cut out on the approach but fiddling with the battery got it away. Looking at the results it’s fascinating to see that with a few exceptions successful restarters on Guys had also succeeded on Big Uplands and visa versa. The exceptions included Falcon’s Ian Davis in his Buggy and Classical Gas Web Community member Stuart Harrold, both of whom lost their clean sheets here.

Sandy Lane wasn’t very difficult, despite a large amount of water on the approach, which was not very Sandy. The two Michael’s caused a minor delay when they found another flat tyre on the start line and had to change a wheel. The section at Strode was pretty simple but the special test was more complicated. After going forward around a corner you had to go all four wheels over line B, and reverse back round the corner to stop astride line C. Adrian Tucker-Peake set the fastest time in his Peugeot followed by David Foreshew, which was to be important by the end of the trial.

Travers was before the lunch break this year. It had a very tough restart for the yellows and reds with some horrible holes to get your front wheels stuck into. Very few of the yellows got away and a lot of the reds failed as well including Adrian Dommett and Anthony Young, neither of whom were having a very good day. Mike Hayward had another puncture and joined Fred and Pete at the top while they fixed their exhaust. They were enjoying the trial but were having a pretty torrid time results wise.

Dudley Sterry looking very worried as he approaches the re-start on Burledge. (Picture by John Salter)
Rob Cull, pictured by John Salter on Guys Hill, on his way to winning class 5
Clive bounces faster than the shutter on John Salters camera as Tommy Kalber eases his Dutton Melos away from the Guys Hill re-start.
Simon and Matt Robson blasting up Burledge on their way to a class win.

The lunch halt was held in a windswept car park alongside Chew Valley Lake. The Falcon tyre-changing brigade was in full force and Mike Hayward, Neil Bray and Dave Nash were all fixing punctures. The ruts on Burledge were not as deep as in previous years, but they were deep enough to cause problems for the non-giraffes amongst the yellows and reds as their re-start prevented a full frontal assault. The Falcons were starting to fall at this stage. Through the wonders of the mobile phone we heard that John Parsons had retired with electronic Gremlins in his V8 motor. Dave Nash was in trouble with his electric’s again. He got to the start line on Burledge when the engine cut out and wouldn’t restart. Dave and Julie retired and eventually Dave found the problem was as simple as the wire coming of the starter solenoid.

Nanny Hurns was not quite as straightforward as usual with a bit of to and froing required before the assault on the bank. This meant the dip was not approached at quite the same speed as pervious years, reducing the time in the air for the successful climbers as they crested the hump. David Foreshew set the fastest time, which was to give him the overall win and The Allen Trophy, as there were to be 17 clean sheets at the end.

The water at the start of Mill Lane was as deep as usual and the section itself was as fun, but not one to trouble the scorer as they say. The gentleman at the top had his airline out for us to use, which was very nice of him. He was beavering away in his garage amongst his restoration projects and there was a restored Ford Consul and old Caravan outside as well as a very tidy looking Marlin, albeit one that had clearly never set a wheel on a trials hill!

The route now skirted the suburbs of Bath on its way to Stoney. I don’t know if it’s a new hill but it was certainly new to me. The slope was quite gentle but the restart was a nasty, slippery thing and quite a few people really struggled to get away, including David Thompson and Murray MacDonald who lost his clean sheet here.

John Walker was the final hill. Most people view this as a nice thrash but not one they are likely to fail. This year it was a real sting in the tail though. The ruts were very deep at the top, giving major problems to people who didn’t have a lot of ground clearance. There was an additional hazard in the form of big rock close to the track. Several of the early numbers gave this a fair clout, including a Dellow. This caused quite a queue to build up early on. I don’t know exactly what happened to Rich Welch but he got stuck on the upper reaches for at least ten or fifteen minutes.

The ford at the bottom took its toll among the Falcons and both Neil Bray and Mike Hayward drowned out here. This final hill was to be a real sting in the tail for Stuart Cairney as he lost his clean sheet here. This left Simon Robson and Giles Greenslade on zero in class four, Simon taking the class win by being faster on the special tests. That bought another excellent Allen trial to an end, for many of us the last event of the millennium.

Allen TrophyDavid ForeshewGVS Mk2
Class 1David HaizeldenVW Golf
2Gerald BurridgeMG
3David HealeEscort Estate
4Simon RobsonSkoda
5Rob CullMG Midget
6Nigel AllenBeetle
7Julian DommettDellow
8Dudley SterryMG J2
1999_allen_results_routeDownload

Bits and Pieces

Giles Greenslade had a different Beetle. The engine was the same but it was in a new shell. This had been built for trials and done a few events when the owner retired because of a bad back and Giles snapped it up.

After the event I asked Pete Hart what happened to Elwell, always one of my favorite hills. Apparently the local farmer planned to use it for access to his land and told the club he was going to surface the whole track. He has started from the bottom and completed about 25% of the job after which the work stopped some 18 months ago. Pete intends to have another look next year with a view to bringing it back. He always enjoyed blasting up when he was competing on the Allen, but, as an organiser is more circumspect because of the problems in clearing failures.

Tommy and Clive Kalber were giving their Dutton an outing. This is a really smart car. How do they manage to get all that ground clearance at the back?

Tim and Anne Whellock drove a VW Fugitive and Adrian Marfell was also competing in class eight.

Dennis Greenslade has won the historic rally championship, navigating the infamous oil-dropping Imp that achieved so much notoriety on last years RAC Rally.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media

Edinburgh Notes – By Mike Furse

An Edinburgh Montage, featuring Andrew Brown, Pete and Carlie Hart, Ken Green and Terry Ball in the only competing Class Six Beetle. The organisers are trying to clamp down on class 6 so they handicapped him by making him drag his spare wheels to the top.

A few comments from my Edinburgh. Peter Manning certainly whitewashed class five with the only clean sheet. The next best being a bronze. I’m particularly pleased for Gary Booth who has persevered with his old and rather delicate Buckler, which was built by his late father-in-law, and looks like winning the Buckler Register’s trophy for the most successful Buckler in 1999. (To be fair to the others he hasn’t really had a lot of competition this year!) 

I should have got a bronze, but choose to park one front wheel against an outcrop on the restart at Calton, under the eye of Peter Mountain, who will, no doubt, remind me of the incident for some time to come! The other two hills I failed were a bit of a lottery. It rained as I approached Great Hucklow so a successful climb from a restart with 18 psi in the tyres was a bit much for me, and by the time we reached Pindale at the tail end of the trial it was rather dug out to say the least. Not a good excuse, that one, as Arthur Vowden climbed it just after me! Incidentally, I discovered before the start that my Racecorp does not comply with the ACTC Kitcar Spec. sheet, recently revised. I declared this at the start and put myself in Class 8. So, we had the rather strange situation of one Racecorp in Class 8 and the other in Class 7. No one at the A5 scruitineering point was interested at all and the results team didn’t pick it up. Because of the rather strange practice that the Edinburgh organisers have of making Classes 6, 7 and 8 do exactly the same things throughout the trial, it didn’t make a bit of difference, but I hope it can be sorted before I use the Racecorp on a Classic again. 

I met Robin Howard at the breakfast halt. He had an alternator problem and was going to do a few hills before the battery gave up. Then he would go home! Another thing the results team didn’t pick up was that Col (Colin Stevens) used a Skoda instead of the Dutton Special. I suspect that if you don’t finish they don’t bother to check all the details! Alan Bellamy didn’t run after putting a screwdriver through his finger but was well enough to go up to marshal on Corkscrew, for which the club is suitably grateful! I’m told that when we next see the Brasilia, we should be prepared to be impressed….

Bill Bennet exiting Litton in his MG (picture by Ken Green

The cancellation of Putwell for the car classes was inevitable. We were badly let down by the filling station at Newhaven, who apparently couldn’t distinguish between Saturday and Sunday. As a result, the bikes had severe problems finding fuel, and hence got very late indeed. This was not helped by conditions at Excelsior, where a lot of the bikes had great difficulty. This caused such a delay that Dave Turner and Adrian Tucker-Peake established an adhoc control in the village. The villagers, bless them, did not appear to be upset. At one time, we had about 60 cars there and everyone behaved extremely well, although the running order got very distorted! Some competitors were dismayed at the amount of mud left on the main road leading out of the village and there is a looooong storey of how John Hayes dealt with this problem. Suffice to say that the duty policeman who took his call could not believe that the person who made the mess was actually reporting it and offering to pay to clean it up! 

Looking back at the event as a whole, as a competitor I felt it went as well as could be expected, given the difficulties the organisers had. I certainly enjoyed it and have had many positive comments from other competitors. One of the most positive things that I felt about this event is that, at long last, we seem to be building up the popularity with the locals that the Exeter and, particularly, the Lands End have enjoyed for some time.

We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media