We had another excellent Falcon entry, seventeen cars coming to the line. The four Popham crews had it easy. They could find the start! It wasn’t so easy for those electing to sign on at Cirencester. The MCC directions were very comprehensive, “Haynes & Strange, Cirencester” and that was that. There were many different strategies to cope with this, varying from ringing the Clerk of the Course the week before to just turning up at Cirencester and hoping to stumble across the venue. As it turns out the new start was only a hundred yards away from the old one and everyone found it OK.
As usual there were drama’s before the off. It was a nice one for Dave Nash as the club finally accepted the Skeetle in class seven. So it was off with the red sticker and on with the yellow. Life had been pretty tough for Brian Alexander since the Edinburgh. His white Fiat failed the MOT because the under-body damage was so bad after seven years hard trialing, much of it on those rough, tough West Country events. There wasn’t time to fix it so Brian decided to transfer the white cars engine and gearbox to the red PCT car that he and Kevin drove at Brickhill last year. This is bored out and tuned a bit more than the red cars normal lump. These things never go to plan and when it was finally installed it ran hot and blew the heater valve in protest. Brian and Kevin couldn’t repair it in time so they had to blank it off and rely on the winter woollies and thermal underwear. The drama wasn’t over yet because the motor didn’t want to re-start from hot, all was well once the dirt was cleaned out of the idle jet and Brian and Kevin made it to the start. At least all was well with Alan Bellamy’s Brasilia, which was fit and ready to start its first MCC event.
There were a few interesting crew changes. Hazel MacDonald was driving in her first classic trial with Veronica Caspari reading the route card. Andrew Cairney had exams on the Monday and wisely decided to stay at home revising so his sister Sarah sat alongside Dad to ensure he stayed out of trouble. Christine Manning had to put her job first this weekend so Peters sister stepped in as his passenger, a job she had once done for his father.
The night was cold for the run to the breakfast halt at The Jolly Diner at Tintinhull. No, it I haven’t got confused with the Lands End. The Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park is no more and is being converted to a posh Hotel, even Mr Blobby couldn’t save it, or was it all his fault! All the Falcons survived scruitineering, the greasy spoon breakfast and the first hill at Gatcombe Lane. Hazel MacDonald’s problems started at the summit after she and Veronica had pumped up JAZ’s tyres as the Beetle went into a sulk and wouldn’t start. They finally got things going but lost half an hour by the time they arrived in Bovey Woods. Normans Hump was first on the agenda, with Reg Taylor and Geoff Jackson on the start and Peter Mountain officiating higher up. It was pretty greasy on top but there was plenty of grip underneath and all the mud from the logging operations had disappeared since last year. A few words of description for those of you that don’t know the hill. It’s very long, absolutely straight and quite steep, apart from where a track crosses half way up. This is where the yellow restart is situated, the reds having a tougher one just where the gradient increases dramatically.
All our re-starters got away OK for a clean but there were problems down in class four even though they had a straight run at the hill. Brian and Kevin were finding the little Fiat was severely down on power and it didn’t make the top. Neither did Hazel and Veronica. They started off OK and made the cross track but they weren’t going fast enough and ran out of momentum before the summit. This set an amusing series of events into motion, involving Fred Gregory and Pete Stafford, who else! Hazel reversed down to the cross track and off the hill where the engine fluffed and refused to start. Fred and Pete were given the all clear and stormed away up the lower reaches. Meanwhile a front wheel drive car dodged around Hazel’s stranded Beetle and crossed the track in Fred’s path bringing him to a halt for a balk. There were now three cars strewn around the junction and it was some time before the hill was clear. The Falcon drama wasn’t over as Neil and Marc arrived at the top with a puncture. Their first of six! Running at the end of the field Stuart Cairney was finding the deep ruts a problem, but once the Imp jumped out of them things got a lot worse and he stopped with a loss of traction.
Normally Clinton is next on the agenda, but not for the class eight’s this year. They had to tackle a new hill called Branscombe Bank. This started on the main track, before turning ninety right up a rough, muddy path through the woods. It was pretty tough. The best Falcons got about twenty yards up the hill before coming to a stop with wheels spinning. Ian Davis and David Thompson didn’t get that far in their VW Buggy’s. With very little weight on the front end they both under-steered into the bank on the right hander.
Clinton was next, the clubs own hill so all the Falcons wanted to do well in front of their friends. It was a new Clinton though, with an extra bit at the bottom. Hazel put her trotter down and stormed up but Brian wasn’t so fortunate as the Fiat just didn’t have enough power. He wasn’t the only one, Tom didn’t make it around the corner and neither did Peter Manning whose Midget had got a bit hot waiting at the bottom and fluffed to a stop immediately after the line and was another client for the super tractor. Dave Nash failed as well and there’s quite a storey behind this. Dave and Julie had punctured earlier and the damaged tyre was on the spare wheel carrier immediately over the type the engine. Unfortunately the flat took up more room and knocked off one of the air filters, this deranged the throttle linkage and the Skeetle didn’t have the grunt to get round the first bend.
Then it was across the A3025 to Waterloo where Hazel MacDonald was still having trouble starting JAZ. Although she knew what was just around that sharp right hander Hazel didn’t have her trotter planted firmly enough on the gas peddle and the Beetle didn’t make it up the steep gradient that follows the corner. This is a common problem for Waterloo first timers and I can remember doing exactly the same thing myself. All you can see from the start is a sharp, blind, right hand bend, but its essential to put the power down hard as soon as you start to turn, even though you can’t see where you are going to end up! Hazel wasn’t the only one in trouble on what old hands regard as a pretty straightforward section. Simon and Matt Robson had their Skoda jump out of gear. Their gold depends on charitable marshals taking the view they didn’t come to a complete stop before getting going again. Alan Bellamy was having an exciting time with his Brasilia as the throttle kept jamming open. It wasn’t a problem on the sections but it was a bit disconcerting on the road, especially when coming up to roundabouts and traffic lights! Waterloo was to bring just the reverse problem for Alan as the brakes seized solid on the hill and the car came to a halt in mid-section with all four wheels firmly locked. After getting clear Alan released some of the pressure from a bleed nipple after which everything returned to normal. There must have been some muck in the system from the considerable time the car was laid up in Andy Clarke’s back garden.
Stretes was simple enough and the special test at Greenslinch wasn’t as wet as normal, the hole containing slurry rather than water this year. After this section the navigators had to earn their keep, as the route to Exeter services was an MCC delight. The route card said “SO into Broadclyst and just after 30 mph sign L dp Dog Village”. Coming to Broadclyst there was the 30 sign and a left turning but no “Dog Village” sign, but there was a left turning with a Pet Centre on the corner. However turning left bought you into a little road with lock up garages either side which ended up as a dead end. There were competitors going up and down in every direction. The real turning was about half a mile up the road just after a 30-mph sign. Closer examination revealed that the first sign was a few yards before the “Broadclyst” sign and that didn’t count!
After the break at Exeter came Tillerton Steep. Rough and rocky as ever, with a restart on the slab for classes six, seven and eight. This defeated Clive Booth, Alan Bellamy and possibly others, the notes are a little sketchy here! Mike Pearson didn’t fail the re-start, he didn’t see it and just drove straight through. That’s why some of us wear specs Mike! Hazel Mac was learning how to gun the motor in JAZ, finding that if you go fast enough you can fly over the bumps! This technique didn’t work for Stuart Cairney, he got his Imp airborne on the slab. When it came down it found mega grip and stalled. Our other class fours all made successful ascents, although it was at the expense of another puncture
for Neil Bray. Fingle was next with more Falcon involvement as Murray MacDonald was Chief Official on the hill and Mike Furse was sector marshal for the area. Colin Stevens had a puncture and as he was in considerable pain from Sciatica decided to retire. Peter Manning was another to puncture here but kept going at the expense of a destroyed wheel rim.
Fred Gregory’s Melos was making some rather horrible noises and riding mechanic Pete Stafford diagnosed the fault as a propshaft UJ bearing breaking up. They decided to carry on and nurse the car to the finish, incurring a fail on Wooston Steep by taking the blue and white route. Wooston contained various handicaps for the higher classes. Six could go up the easy route, but had to perform a restart. This was identified by a red board which according to the route card meant class eight only, a common re-start being specified as a Black R on a Yellow board. This caused confusion for Dave Nash and Alan Bellamy, Dave stopped and Alan didn’t. We await the results to see who was right! Ian Davis was our only class eight to make a successful ascent, the others being defeated by either the re-start or the steep hill they had to climb.
The Pepperdon section was a re-start on tarmac, an Exeter speciality that had to be treated with respect as the road was covered in mud and the gradient was quite sharp. There was a time control before Simms and the early numbers had to waste away around three quarters of an hour to avoid being early. The old hill was on form again this year and only Simon Robson and Ian Davis made successful ascents. Arnold Lane was watching and said that Simon’s climb was really something, scattering the spectators as he swerved to the right hand bank to avoid the slippery slab. This appeared to be the trick, Arnold reporting that ninety percent of the successful climbers went the same way. The slab was the problem, it was very slippery and provided almost zero grip and few competitors had the momentum to carry them over this formidable obstacle.
Competitors now only had Slippery Sam standing between them, a cold beer and warm bath. This was to be a sting in the tail. The re-start was right at the top on the last corner. Neil Bray thought he had missed it lower down and was so busy worrying where it was he did a Mike Pearson and drove straight through. Alan Bellamy was another to have brain fade here after struggling with more carburettor problems. The idle jets kept blocking up and Alan had to keep stopping to clear them. So ended another Exeter, a competitive trial run in pleasant conditions. There seemed to be a few organisational problems, but this didn’t detract from a wonderful trial, wrapped up for many with a dinner where we had twenty Falcons seated together, a fitting end to a great event.
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