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Class Eight winner Ian Davis reports on his Allen Trial
Ian Davis climbing Birch Hill in his VW Buggy. Ian won class eight despite arriving at the finish with a broken diff.
I haven’t done the Allen for five or six years and was surprised at how much we enjoyed a trial with only 9 sections, where the first class 8 car finished 14th overall! We drove down from Oxford on the day but as things transpired this was not such a good idea.
I had never seen Birch Hill before, it was enjoyable at the time but how much clay is there stuck to the car now? Not as much as to Paul’s Troll by all accounts, but still plenty.
We were travelling with Brian Partridge, Adrian Marfell and Tony Young and watched Tony fail to trickle off the Guy’s restart. We wondered how we would get on, as I can’t remember ever getting off it. We already knew Paul Bartleman was the only one to get away, so the pressure was on for us to pull something out of the bag. We just managed it, with much bouncing, a quick change to second gear and lots of tyre smoke! In the end the two of us were the only Class 8’s to get off the restart and there was only one from classes 6 & 7, Gary Browning in the Type 4 engined Beetle.
On to the special tests which were well laid out. Long enough to be worth doing, but not just a question of most power wins. The second one, which went through a lake of smelly water, was great fun in an open car as you can imagine! We managed Travers OK and went on to the lunch stop where we watched Camel organiser Hans Viertal and Pete Barr effecting some running repairs to Pete’s 1300 Beetle which wasn’t going too well as its brand new twin carbs were out of synch.
Burledge was the first hill after the break. Brain Partridge had retired with a broken diff by now, it must have happened on Travers as the diff test was immediately before. No one had got up Burledge so a chance to pull ahead of Paul who had grounded out (running at the front). Tony Young was first car to get up followed by Adrian who stormed up in his 1300 and then us in the Buggy, again with the use of second gear after the restart. We watched a valiant effort from Dave Shaylor in the 1300 Beetle, but he stopped just yards from the top. As did one of the Trojans which apparently got pushed out the top, what a great effort!
Harvey Walters jammed the Escort’s gears trying to change up near the top of the section. The solution? Chisel through the floor of the car, take the top of the gearbox off, un-jam the gears and complete the event….obvious really when you think about it
A very slippery Nanny Hurns and on to Little Uplands. Conflicting reports from the start marshals as to whether anyone had got off the Class 8 restart. In the event no-one did although we tried long and hard before finally having to give best to a cunningly placed restart line. Dave Foreshaw unfortunately stopped on the Class 7 restart line which looked somewhat easier. At the top of Little Uplands we were pretty down, having failed the restart, as we knew Adrian Marfell in front of us was still clear and we were trying for a top 10 finish for the Wheelspin points. Bizarrely Adrian wanted to finish outside the top 10 but win his class as he wanted Crackington points not Wheelspin points.
We went up John Walker too fast, smashed the car on the ground (I don’t remember it being so rocky), punctured a tyre and experienced very strange steering on the road on the way back to the finish. Half a mile away the diff broke and we coasted down to the pub to sign off. The real trial for us then began, getting home courtesy of the RAC…but I’ll save that story for another day. I must remember to tow the car to events more often in the future!
Also seen on the day was the latest of the Jones family from Bristol in a lovely old Lotus. He hill climbs and sprints it but tells me he’s going to maybe start trialling a Cannon next year. His elder brother Matthew was a leading contender in the early 90’s in the Dingo now owned by Pete Fear. Dad has also competed – in a blown Dellow I think but more recently in a VW special.
That’s it, must stop now and finish replacing the gearbox in time for the Camel this Sunday.
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David Haizelden was won The Allen Trial with one of six clean sheets. Victory going to the Green Golf on special test times. Take nothing away from David though, as getting a FWD Golf on 13 inch wheels to the summit of Burledge is a fantastic achievement and he earned a well deserved victory.
Pete Hart, Mark Tooth and their team had a full entry, and ideal trialling weather, for The Allen which maintained its well established format. All the sections, with perhaps the exception of Nanny Hurns, being run on real old roads, with no Mickey Mouse stuff marked out with tape.
Togg Hill was a nice easy starter before venturing back across the M4 to Birch Hill. This starts on a nice stony surface before venturing into deep, glutinous, mud as the track goes uphill alongside a field. The problem is that there is quite a camber, dragging the cars against the side of the bank where the ruts are deepest. The early numbers were at a definite disadvantage, as were class eight who had a restart. It was necessary to build up a fair head of steam to get through the mud and Duncan Welch was one who didn’t have the speed to get through.
Ground clearance was a big factor as well as speed, and none of the sports cars in class 5, or Stuart Cairneys Imp made it though to the summit. Stuart had the misfortune to get a puncture and got wedged against the bank, necessitating a Land Rover tow as did Andrew Brown later on. The most spectacular climbs came in class two. Adrian Dommett and Bill Bennett just stormed up, but climb of the day was Jeremy Flann, whose passenger bounced the little Austin Seven up at about half a snails pace!
Bitton Lane was all about the usual slippery restart, for all, accept classes one and two, on a corner surfaced with polished stones. Dave Nash and Neil Bray couldn’t get The MGeetle away but at least this time it was down to them rather than the bad advice they had received from Michael Leete on Birch Hill! Andrew Brown was another to fail here as was Morgan man Rob Wells having his first outing in a Troll.
The infamous Guys Hill was next, with separate restarts for yellows and reds, and a straight run through for the others. Only three re-starters got away and went on for a clean. Gary Browning managed it in class six, which saw Giles Greenslade debuting his Nigel Allen built 1835 Beetle and discovering how much harder it is than class four! Duncan Welch was the first class eight to attempt the hill and used a little too much right foot. Paul Bartleman saw this and successfully trickled his Troll off the line for a clean climb. The only other car to succeed was Ian Davis in his VW Buggy, with the aid of a lot of bouncing, a change to second gear and a fair amount of tyre smoke. Clive Booth did well to coax his 1300 cc Dellow Replica off the line for a five which would put him a point ahead of fellow Falcon Mike Pearson at the end of the day.
Travers was another hill all about the restart for the higher classes where positioning was everything. Clive managed to get it just right to put him ahead of Mike Pearson who failed, although that position was to be reversed on the following Burledge which was very tricky this year. The ruts were deeper and the mud more slippery!
Paul Bartleman was the first car and had to act as a snowplough for those following. He’d got the Troll away from the restart OK but the mound between the two ruts was too much and he stopped at the three.
Burledge was another hill that favoured the late numbers because of the snowplough factor, but frankly anyone coming out of the top was a real hero, so a special well done to David Haizelden in his Golf. Also Adrian Marfell who was the only Beetle to get to the summit.
Nanny Hurns was its usual tricky self and Dave Nash was delighted to clean the section in The MGeetle, as was PCT expert Colin Weeks in his more conventional MG. Little Uplands put paid to Ian Davis’ hopes of overall victory as the Class Eights had an impossible restart and none of them got away from the line. John Walker was drew the trial to its traditional conclusion, in the dark for later numbers. It didn’t have any effect on the overall results, although Colin Weeks had the misfortune to fail.
At the finish six competitors had clean sheets, all of them in classes one to four, including both the BMW’s of Colin Perryman and Nick Farmer. So it was down to special test times. David Haizelden was fastest and was declared overall victor. Well deserved for getting a FWD car to the summit of the fearsome Burledge.
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The rain god shone on Bristol Motor Club and there was a fair amount of the wet stuff descending from the sky to make the sections on the fringe of the Mendip Hills nice and muddy.
The Start
Competitors gather at the Start
There had to be a last minute change of venue when The White Hart Inn pulled the plug at the last moment and the start was moved to The Cross House Inn in organisers Pete and Carlie Harts home village of Doynton. The pub was right in the centre of the village with a super atmosphere and a nice car park un-spoiled by all those nasty trailers which were relegated to a muddy field several miles away.
The Route
This years Allen incorporated the usual favourite hills, including Birch Hill that was added last year. Perhaps the only despoilment is that it’s no longer possible to use Elwell, that lovely long section the other side of Winford. The route did go a slightly different way though, with the usual opener, Tog Hill, coming towards the end of the trial this year.
Bitton Lane
This was the usual section, entered by the side of a house on the A431 in the village of Bitton, the challenge being a restart on polished stones positioned on a left hand bend for all but classes one and two. It wasn’t as slippery as usual so tyre pressure limits were in force and only four competitors didn’t get away. Unfortunately these included both Simon Robson and Peter Mountain, competing in his newly restored Dellow Mk1 for only the second time.
So, the Allen wasn’t being very kind to Falcon Motor Club members driving open yellow cars! John Looker in his Yellow Beetle and Colin Biles in his Midget were the other competitors who didn’t get away. Classes four and five could now breathe a sigh of relief, as they had no more re-starts for the rest of the day.
Guys Hill
Dudley Sterry pondering on his technique while Barry Clarke enjoys the view aheadRussell Clarke trying in vain to get his Triumph Special away from the Class Eight re-start.
Next on the agenda came one of the Allen terror’s, Guys Hill with its deceptively slippery surface with separate restarts on slippery stones and tree roots for the yellows and reds. It wasn’t a doodle for the non restarting blues and whites though as the hill is much steeper than it looks and quite a few didn’t build enough momentum to carry them over the slippery tree roots on the upper reaches. Unfortunately these included Stuart Cairney, taking part in his first trial since the Exeter and shaking down a new transmission in his Imp. Stuart had a bit of drama just before the trial when he found fuel spraying out of his fuel lines all of which had completely perished during the Imp’s lay-off, sparking the question about the effects of un-leaded fuel on rubber.
The yellows and reds had different re-starts and these were to have a big effect on the results as only three yellows, Roger Bricknell (Vincent), Andrew Martin (Dutton Melos), Mal Allen (Marlin) and one red, Paul Bartleman (Troll) got away to clean the section. Pete Hart was there to see Paul’s climb and his impressive trickle away from the restart.
Sandy Lane Special Test
This was run downhill this year, approached by the local councils newly surfaced entrance road. Despite being the only class eight to clean Guys Hill Paul Bartleman was taking no chances and set the fastest time amongst the specials but it was beaten by a flying Andrew Martin in class seven which put him into the overall lead of the event.
Travers Hill
There was a diff test just before the section with Patrick Osborne’s uncle in charge. On this occasion competitors had a different face at the start as Jim Travers (after whose father Ted the hill is named) was marshalling on a bike trial elsewhere. The restart for yellows and reds was in its usual place on a rocky step and positioning was crucial for both front and rear wheels. John Parsons was well aware of the difficulty and went high on the bank to the left in an attempt to avoid both step and gradient. It was to no avail as the car slipped sideways as soon as he let the clutch out and he was stationary in the middle of the track with spinning wheels just like so many others. Simon Robson made up for his indiscretion on Sandy Lane, picked a good place and restarted successfully but neither Peter Mountain nor Clive Booth could get away. Clive was trying some new Continentals, which were proving very successful in mud, and disaster as soon as a rock came into view.
Travers Special Test
Patrick Osborne splashing his way through the water.
This started downhill, through a puddle to line B before a reverse to stop astride line C. This was a disaster for Andrew Martin who got a fail, which was to cost him the chance of overall victory. Patrick Osborne and Michael Leete both fumbled their changes to reverse gear. Earlier Patrick had problems on Travers when the coil lead came adrift just after the section ends board.
Chew Valley Lake Rest Halt
This couldn’t really be called a lunch halt as it came very early in the event, perhaps “Brunch Halt” would be more appropriate! Never less it was a welcome opportunity to have a social chat with other competitors and helps the organisers by regrouping and controlling the flow to the following sections.
Burledge
Giles Greenslade speeding to the summitPhillip Mitchell in one of the two BMW’s to clean the section.
Another of The Allen’s major challenges was on form this year, with Nigel and Ian Moss in charge. It starts with a rocky surface on a gentle gradient with a big bump over a sunken pipe a few yards up the track just before a right hand bend. This slows things down, even for those who don’t have to re-start. Once round the bend the real challenge of Burledge comes into sight. It’s a rutted sunken lane, very muddy with the ruts getting deeper towards the top. The yellows and reds have a restart just as the ruts begin, the blues and whites have a straight blast, in as much as the dreaded bump over the pipe allows!
As you will gather ground clearance is all-important at Burledge and it was very unfriendly to the Midgets and Morgan in class five, all of whom bottomed out early on. The Escorts were in similar trouble, David Heale getting furthest with a two. A BMW was the class three car to have here and both David Turner and Phillip Mitchell sped to the top on their larger diameter wheels with blowers whining. With Jim Scott and Colin Perryman marshalling the hill Stuart Cairney wanted to do well and got to the two after slip sliding away from the rocky start. Michael Leete and Dave Sergeant nearly got out the top for a one as did Patrick Osbourne. Dave could have cleaned the section if the throttle cable hadn’t became detached, but the class one honours were definitely Giles Greenslade’s as he stormed out of the section at enormous speed.
A fair sprinkling of class eights were clean but Tony Rothin didn’t get away from the restart and Stuart Harrold, Clive Booth and Peter Mountain all bottomed out. The class sevens all struggled a bit but Roger Bricknell made good use of the Vincents 15 inch wheels for a clean and Andrew Martin came out of the top as well, kicking himself for his indiscretion on the Travers special test. Clerk-of-the-Course Pete Hart looked in on the section just in time to see both Dave Haizelden and Paul Allaway clean Burledge as both proved yet again that they are little short of trialling supermen.
Nanny Hurns
Run as a section rather than a special test this year Nanny Hurns gives lie to the Allen sections all being run on real roads. The organisers can be forgiven though as this strange little section is part of the character of the modern Allen Trial. For those of you that have never seen Nanny Hurns it’s an artificial deviation off a track. First there’s a more or less level sharp left hand bend, then a very steep bump where there is a great danger of bottoming out at the top before the downhill finish. The main problems came for the big engined Beetles who had the usual under-steer problem on the left hander and the low slung sports cars who bottomed out on the crest of the bump. So a special well done to the persistent Brian Osborn for his first ever Nanny Hurns clean in his MGB.
Mill Lane
This is the long section, going under the railway bridge just after the start. The big disappointment was that there was no big puddle this year, to drown out the electrics, and the entire entry cleaned the hill.
Little Uplands
It was Little Uplands again this year as the track to its big cousin was blocked with construction machinery! The section was its usual self with a tricky restart in the rocks for the yellows and reds. Most of the non-restarters made successful climbs but both Dave Sargeant and Patrick Osborne lost momentum amongst the rocks and stopped. The restart was certainly a tough proposition though and by far the majority who had to attempt it failed.
Birch Hill
There was a long road run off over 20 miles east across the M4 to Birch Hill with John Sargeant in charge. The hill was similar to last year, a relatively straightforward run up a stony track then a right left into a field and the challenge of a huge patch of clay. The lower classes were allowed a straight blast but yellows and reds had a restart just before the glutinous stuff under the eyes of MGeetle builder Dave Nash. None of the cars in classes four, five and six got through but Giles Greenslade got far enough to give him the class four win and the lead in the Crackington league of the ACTC championship.
After cleaning Burledge both Dave Haizelden and Paul Allaway showed they are human by failing at the three but it was possible in a class one car as both Michael Collins and Nick Farmer proved and this was to give Michael Collins the class win. In class three both of the BMW’s failed to blast through the mire but both David Heale and Harvey Waters were successful in their Escorts reversing the fortunes of Burledge.
The status quo in 7 and 8 was preserved with the leaders all going clear and John Parsons and Clive Booth were happy to be successful under Dave Nashe’s gaze but Peter Mountain wasn’t so lucky.
Tog Hill
It was back across the M4 and back to Doynton for Tog Hill, tackled in the dark for the later numbers, but presenting no problems and everyone was clear.
John Walker
The Allens usual finale was on form as usual. The first cars arrived a bit early at just gone 2.30 and were asked to hang around at the summit in order not to get back to the pub while the lunch-time crowd were still enjoying their meal! The water level in the stream was pretty low so there wasn’t the usual problem of drowning out the ignition and everyone apart from Brian Osborn and David Mallin went clear.
The Finish
Back at Doynton Paul Bartleman was found to be the overall winner with a clean sheet, beating Roger Bricknell on special test times. Things could behave been very different if Andrew Martin hadn’t failed the 2nd special test as he was fastest on the first one and went clean on the observed sections.
So concluded another successful Allen Trial. The wet weather and skill of Pete Hart and his team resulted in a competitive trial over some non-damaging sections as it was mud rather than rocks rubbing the underside of the cars that ran out of ground clearance.
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Julian Dommett won the Allen for a record third time. It was a close thing though, as there were four clean sheets. Julian won by a second on special test times, beating Giles Greenslade, Bill Bennett and Philip Mitchell. David Foreshew was the best class eight but everyone in this class dropped marks somewhere as a result of their extra restarts.
Michale Leete smiling for the camera, as in the background competitors can be seen tackling the new section at Birch HillNeil Bray changing his drive shaft after Nanny HurnsStuart Harrold and Chris Phillips grounding out on BurledgeAnyone for Class Nine! Stuart Ridge out for a gentle Sunday drive on Burledge.
Pete Hart and his team kept The Allen to its established format, with all the hills, with the exception of Nanny Hurns, run on well-established tracks. There were changes though. There was a new hill and the route was a little different as the start had to be moved a few miles up the road this year.
Last years winner, Adrian Marfell, led the field away from The White Hart in Cold Ashton in near ideal trialling conditions. The weather was overcast, but dry, after some very heavy rain the previous two days, and even on the morning itself, to spice things up. This was a good thing as The Allen’s sections are not particularly difficult in the dry.
The route from the start passed the top of Tog Hill, the normal first hill, on the way to Bitton Lane, which was the first competitive section this time. The Blues and Whites had a clean run at the hill. Yellows and Reds had the usual restart on the left hand bend but this didn’t present much of a problem and only Arthur Jones in his Liege failed to get away.
The trial followed its usual route through Keynsham to Uplands where “Little Uplands” was on the agenda this year while it’s “big” cousin was given a rest. This was the end of Stephen Potters trial when his magnificent Trojan cried enough. This was a shame but Trojan fans still had John Wilton’s similar machine to watch. Like all except the reds the Trojan crew had a clear run through, so they could build a bit of momentum over the rough rocky bit in the middle. Class eight weren’t let off so easy and this is where they had their restart, which was to prove pretty challenging. Last year’s winner Adrian Marfell failed to get away properly and he wasn’t the only one. Stuart Harrold (Troll), Anthony Young (VW Special) didn’t get away either. The three class eight Falcon’s all failed to re-start. Although John Parsons actually got going he slipped back quite a few inches in the process and was given a fail.
Next came the infamous Guy’s Hill, where everyone has to reverse and come back down after the land-mark right-of-way judgement of a few years ago. Guy’s Hill is dead straight and doesn’t have a tremendous gradient. It’s the surface that makes the section difficult, with a combination of polished stones and tree roots. Blue and White were allowed a clean run and those who built up sufficient momentum got to the summit OK. There were a few that didn’t though. In class One Paul Allaway stopped at the one and Adrian Tucker-Peake couldn’t get past the six. All the class three’s got up except Stuart Deacon (Escort) and Murray Montgomery-Smith (Morris Minor), both of whom retired not long afterwards. The section didn’t present much of a problem to class four although Michael Leete didn’t drive it very well and stopped at the two.
Life was different for the Yellows and Reds who had to restart half way up and tackle the upper reaches without the benefit of momentum. Most either failed for a six or stuttered a few yards to gain a five. It was cleanable though and Mike Hobbs stormed to the top in his Big Beetle, followed by Julian Dommett in his side valve Dellow Mk 1. A few of the class eights were successful including Adrian Marfell, Carl Talbot and Falcon’s Mike Pearson.
Everyone had to restart on Sandy Lane and this was all about stopping in the right place. Surprisingly it was the class seven’s who seemed to have the most difficulty and ACTC Rights of Way Officer and “Wheelspin” webmaster Andrew Brown was one of the failures. After a wonderfully muddy, rutted track and a series of tiny lanes came Strode, which is also all about the restart for all except the blues. This one didn’t present many problems and it was followed more or less immediately by a special test involving going across and then back through a puddle of muddy water!
The route continued it’s traditional way to Travers where again the yellows and reds had to re-start, although this was a little higher up the section than usual. Without a restart it wasn’t too difficult, provided you didn’t have a puncture of course! Unfortunately Neil Bray did and had to change the wheel on the section in order to clear the way for those following. The restart area was quite rocky. John Parsons stopped quite high up and got away but Mike Pearson chose to come to a halt lower down and got his wheels stuck in a dip.
There were a dozen clean sheets at the Chew Valley reservoir rest halt, but that was to change just up the road at Burledge. This is a real classic trials hill. The lower reaches are in a tree-lined gully, rocky but pretty smooth. After a 45 degree right hander the section goes straight as an arrow up a rutted track with a restart for yellows and reds and less and less ground clearance a you get near the top. Tyre pressures are critical, especially for the restarters. As Chief Official Nigel Moss said, “you need 6 psi to get off the re-start then fifty psi to maximise ground clearance at the top!
The guys with the big wheels did well here; although the section was to see the end of Dudley Sterry. In Class One David Haizelden and Michael Collins were to loose their only marks of the day in their VW Golf’s. Phillip Mitchell stormed up in his David Turner prepared blower BMW and so did Giles Greenslade and Dick Glossop in Class Four. It was a tough section for the restarters although it clearly suited the big Beetles as four of them got up. In class seven wheel size was everything and all the Marlins failed but Julian Dommett (Dellow) and Arthur Jones (Liege) were clean.
Quite a few of the class eights stopped, either failing to get away from the restart or running out of ground clearance just before the summit. Mike Pearson couldn’t get away but Clive Booth in his similar Reg Taylor/Geoff Jackson built Dellow Replica got off the re-start only to fail at the two. Poor John Parsons got out the top of the section but was judged to have failed the restart.
Seven competitors lost their clean sheets on Burledge and the remaining five approached Nanny Hurns with all to play for. The special test was separate to the section this year. Julian Dommett set another fast time and this put him in the lead of the trial. The section was its usual self, short, muddy and slippery but cleanable with skill. It’s necessary to get the speed just right. To slow and you won’t get over the bank, to fast and you under-steer into the trees. All of the leaders slid over the bank OK and the entire field cleaned the following Tog Hill after Stony Hill had to be cancelled due to an influx of New Age Travellers. Neil Bray had to change a drive shaft on the way when a rat-tat-tat from the rear indicated that one of the CV’s were on its way out.
It was north up the A46 now, over the M4 in the gathering gloom to a new section called Birch Hill, presided over by John Sargeant. The hill was quite long. The first bit had a gentle gradient but was quite badly rutted, catching out Mike Hobbs in his Big Beetle. It entered a tunnel of trees, rounded a gentle right hander then wiggled through a muddy quagmire with a restart for Reds right on the edge where the grip went away. The weather was to play its part here as the heavens opened up to make things more interesting. Getting through the mud was all about burning your way through with sheer power or building speed and using pure momentum if you didn’t have to re-start. Jeremy Flann (Austin Seven) lost his clean sheet here so it was down to four as then field wound it’s way to John Walker which was to be the final hill of the day.
The section was it’s usual magnificent self, by no means a “stopper” but a pure pleasure to drive. It can catch out the unwary though, as Clive Booth found out when he flooded out in the ford. So there were four clean sheets in the end, with overall victory going to Julian Dommett on Special Test times. It was a well-fought trial and the result could have been different. Clee winner Michael Collins had faster times than Julian but got a three on Burledge. What a year if a Class One driver had won two ACTC events! And spare a thought for Adrian Marfell who also did better on the Special Tests but couldn’t restart on the dinosaurs eggs at Little Uplands! But well done to Julian Dommett who on the day was the best driver in a well-prepared car. And thank you to Pete & Carlie Hart, Mark Tooth and all the team for another excellent and well judged Allen Trial.
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There were 12 clean sheets on this years Allen Trial so the overall winner and three of the classes were decided on the two special tests, both of which put a premium on reversing skills. This played into the hands of Adrian Marfell, with his famous head out the side style, and he emerged the easy winner. OK, the result wasn’t decided on the hills, but this was a brilliant Allen Trial, despite the loss of a couple of old favourite hills. The weather was reasonably kind and the organisers were rewarded by a wonderfully varied entry, including a magnificent old two stroke Trojan.
Adrian Marfell, hanging out the side to see the road ahead in his usual style, approaching the re-start on Burledge on his way to winning The Allen Trial (picture by Murray MacDonald)Everyone’s favourite car – Stephen Potter and John Wilton in the Trojan, 2 stroke engine, chain drive and all
Falcon’s Mike Massey Memorial Trophy winners Clive Booth and John Allsop led the field away from the Crown Inn at 8.30 sharp on a mild day. The autumn rain and storms had caused problems though and Pete Hart had to take Big Uplands out of the route, when he found all the water that had been running down the section had washed most of the track away. This was a shame as the trial has also lost Elwell, another favourite, because of resurfacing a few years ago.
Tog Hill was first on the agenda, after a last minute diversion to avoid some flooded roads. This is quite easy these days, since some resurfacing was done a few years ago, removing the big bump that put such a huge dent in one of my new floor pans! Anyway, this one didn’t trouble the scorer as they say, so it was right onto the A420, down the hill and past the Texaco garage. No drink for thirsty motor cars though, as it was all shuttered up, with builders working on a refurbishment.
Bitton Lane was next. This is the one with the tricky re-start, cunningly positioned on a left hand bend where the polished stones evilly glint in the light as you approach, warning of the challenge to come! Actually it wasn’t so bad this year, claiming only a couple of victims, including ACTC Rights of Way officer and Stroud Anniversary Trial organiser, Andrew Brown in his Marlin. The route emerged onto a busy A4175 to skirt the edge of urban Bristol, crossing the delightful river Avon into the town of Keysham. Does this ring a bell with you older triallers? Well, remember when you used to listen to radio Luxembourg under the bedclothes and the music was interrupted by Horace Bachelor with his ad for the scheme that would win you a fortune on the football pools? You sent your Postal Order to “box something or other, Keynsham, that’s K-E-Y-N-S-H-A-M”. Don’t knock it, you can learn something here on Classical Gas, best value on the Internet, you get what you pay for!
No Big Uplands this year, so it was onto Guys, which didn’t trouble any of us girls who didn’t have to re-start. It put Mike Hobbs into the class six lead though, as his opposition both struggled on the re-start. Ace Beetle fettler Nigel Allen crawled to the five but bead breaker maker John Looker moved hardly at all on those smooth stones. Most of the class seven aces got away OK, including Classical gasser Mal Allen but poor old Tim Lakin stuttered to a halt after a tremendous tyre smoking attempt. It was pretty tough for the class eight’s as well and 12 of the 21 hot shoes failed, including notables such as Adrian Dommett and Stuart Harrold. Perhaps you could have to much power as there were great cleans by Clive Booth in the 1300 Dellow Rep and Iain Daniels in the Rebel TS with it’s little 700cc motor. Clean or fail there’s no way out the top of Guys these days, so it was back down to the start and through the field to the road. The rain showers had started by now and this could be a slip-sliding affair if you weren’t careful.
Eric Wall catches up on his sleep as Dudley Sterry eases of the re-start to glide serenely to the summit and another clean sheet. (pictures by John Salter)Adrian Dommett and Judy Phillips seem to be going their separate ways after failing to bounce their way of the re-start.
Competitors relaxed a little on the way to Sandy Lane, as this is one of The Allen’s easier hills. Michael Leete stopped to investigate a funny feeling from the back, which felt like a tyre going down. Nothing appeared amiss but this was to re-occur later and looking back was the first warning of a mechanical problem. Did I say Sandy Lane was easy, well not this year? It was quite wet by now and the re-start was very muddy. As there is no bottom to the section it was quite tricky and got more so as the holes got deeper and deeper. Everyone had to re-start here. The classes ones were probably quite apprehensive about this but they needn’t have worried as they could get their driven wheels up steam of the holes and all but Paul Allaway got away. It caught a lot of the rest of us though. Percentage wise the class three’s fared worse and in class two Stephen Potter incurred his only fail of the day in the wonderful Trojan. The hill also spoilt David Thompson’s clean sheet, despite some frenetic bouncing from Hazel MacDonald, enjoying her first outing in an open car.
The Strode section was nice and easy but it saw the end of John Parsons trial when the big Westfield nudged the bank at the end and broke a wishbone on his front suspension. The Allen is not John’s lucky trial as I think it’s the third retirement in the last three outings. A special test followed, just up the track. A blind round a ninety right, through a big muddy puddle, all four wheels over line B then reverse back again. David Heale was fastest, completing the section in an un-believable 17.6 seconds in his Escort Estate.
The re-start on Travers caught the unwary yellows and reds, including Anthony Young, big wheels and all! Martin Jones was struggling with a very sick engine in the ex-Vowden VW Variant Special and had to retire just up the road. Martin wasn’t that surprised as this was a thrown together motor after the pukka job seized up on the last event. The whites and yellows could drive straight through and the section wasn’t too much of a problem if you maintained plenty of momentum over the loose stones and rocks just after the re-start. However, they caused a problem for Neil Bray who blew a tyre, changed the wheel only for that to go flat as well.
Lunch was taken, as usual, at the Chew Valley lake picnic area, where there was plenty of time to relax as the trial was running well to time. Neil Bray soon had his inner tubes changed with the help of Dave Nash, who would be in the Guinness book of records for the job if they had such a category! There wasn’t much else happening on the mechanical side, although the Trojan crew took time out to oil their drive chain.
Adrian and Andrew Tucker-Peake confer on how better that man Haizelden. They got a clean sheet but lost out on the special tests.Mick Workman and Philip Mitchell make a pit stop at the top of Mill Lane. Worky is pumping up, courtesy of the air line provided by the gentleman who owns that house while Phil changes a wheel.
Burledge was interesting this year. The rain had washed all the mud away from the lower reaches, so the rocks were exposed and there was plenty of grip here. Yellows and Reds had a re-start at the bottom of the straight gully. This caused a few problems, particularly for Peter Fear who got penalised for jumping the re-start flag. This is where the ruts started and they were quite bad this year, becoming deeper and deeper towards the top. Apart from the re-start these were the deciding factor. A spectaing Murray MacDonald said that you knew if a car would come out the top by how they went over the big bump on the left hander. Anyone who bashed their bottom here would bottom out their belly up at the top. This was the fate befalling about a third of the entry. Things became more difficult as time went on. The Range Rover towing the failures out of the top was backing down into the section to hook up, and the driver hadn’t been to classes on throttle control, making the holes deeper and deeper as time went on. The other organisational problem on Burledge was that failures that came back down the hill had to go over the village green to get past the queue, which made quite a mess. This was a shame, but there wasn’t much chief official Nigel Moss could do about it without establishing some form of holding control well before the section.
Nanny Hurns was a combined special test and section. Pete Hart taking the opportunity to sub-divide the tricky bit over the bump to help sort a result. The special test bit was very similar to Strode. Forward round a corner and reverse back. Adrian Marfell won the trial here, setting a time of 15.2, nearly a second quicker than his nearest rival. Most of the yellows and reds went clean and so did all the class ones and the Trojan! The three’s, four’s and five’s all struggled and Neil Bray was the only one of the lot to come out the top. This was where some of the results were decided though. John Bell went one mark better than Paul Eamer to claim class three. Colin Perryman got to the two but because he had dropped one on Burledge it bought him level with Giles Greenslade and Jim Scott. The class going to Giles in the Nigel Allen prepared Beetle by being 0.1 seconds quicker on the special tests!
The trial was drawing to a close now. As things were running on time competitors were able to do Mill Lane in the light. Nobody failed but that doesn’t matter. This is a lovely long hill. The locals enter into the spirit and a guy at the top has an airline available outside his house for competitors to pump-up. The section wasn’t kind to Skoda tyres with both Philip Mitchell and Neil Bray knocking out sidewalls on the same rock.
Competitors wound their way through Bath alongside Gods Wonderful Railway on their way to Stony Hill, which started just off the A4. There was plenty of grip but there were a few failures on the restart. Michael Leete’s handbrake had disappeared by now. The problem after Guys had been an early warning of something breaking inside the drum and with no socket cable of undoing a couple of hundred foot lbs of torque Michael had carried on to the sound of much graunching. All this meant the Beetle slipped back on the restart. The section wasn’t kind to Mick Workman in the Ford engined Imp either and he broke something in the driveline.
Mark and Will Rosten-Edwards coming out the top of Mill Lane. Peter and David Manning are elated after John Walker.
John Walker rounded off the day. It was in prime condition, nice and muddy and a glorious thrash. It wasn’t a formality though. The water at the bottom caught out Neil Bray and he stuttered to a halt before the crossroads. Stuart Cairney didn’t fair much better. Stuart went a bit to fast to soon and when the right hand front wheel dipped into a rut the Imp got sucked into the muddy bank and came to a halt just before the cross track. The class eight’s didn’t have too much trouble but don’t say that to Bill Foreshew who incurred a fail with the Fiat engined GVS Mk 2.
That rounded off another magnificent Allen Trial. OK with the terrain available it will probably always be necessary for the special tests to sort out the results amongst the super stars. For the rest of us it is a superb event, with everything, apart from the deviation on nanny Hurns, on real tracks and roads. Pete, Carlie, Mark and Tim were rewarded by a truly diverse entry; long may they continue with the event in this format. Well done Adrian Marfell and a special message for Stephen Potter, please bring the Trojan back next year!
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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 5Clive 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.
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.
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Another enjoyable Allen won by Tony Young in his Class 8 Ardley. More difficult this year as there had been enough rain in the week to make thing slippy, but not enough to wash the mud of the rocks! Murray MacDonald put in the best Falcon performance. Going round clean in his 1302, but Giles Greenslade pipped him for the class win with better special test times.
Drama on Big Uplands. Pete Stafford waiting to attach the tow rope to Fred Gregories Dutton MelosMurray and Hazel MacDonald coming out of the sump on Nanny Hurns. They lost the class to Giles Greenslade on special test times. Watch out for Hazel driving JAZ on the Exeter while Murray is Chief Official on Fingle.Michael Leete blasting off the line on Guys Hill
It was another excellent Falcon entry on the Allen. Nine crews leaving the start just off Junction 18 of the M4. It would have been more, but the entry was over-subscribed and Simon Robson had his turned away. Neil Bray was down as a reserve and it was only on the Thursday that he got a phone call from Carlie Hart to say he would get a run.
The route followed a similar pattern to recent years, starting at Tog Hill which didn’t create any problems. These began at Bitton Lane and centred around the infamous re-start. This is situated on a left hand bend, it looks easy but it’s very deceptive. The gradient increases markedly just where the line is and the surface consists of small polished stones that offer very little grip. To make things more difficult this year they were covered in mud!
Neither Fred nor Michael got away cleanly, although Fred managed to get about ten feet before coming to a stop, wheels spinning, in a cloud of smoke. Murray found a good position, feathered the throttle, and drove away cleanly. Ian Davis was the only other Falcon to get a clear. In overall terms class four was the most successful, with over 50% clean, while in class six car only one car succeeded out of five, even Graham Brazier failing to burn his way up.
The later numbers arrived at Big Uplands to find a long queue. Conditions were quite slippery and there were quite few failures. This causes a problem as they had to reverse down the section, which is tricky because it’s quite rough. Then comes the big problem, passing the queue of cars waiting to attempt the section. All of this caused an increasing delay, up to ninety minutes for the tail-end-Charlie’s.
The first part of the section is straight and rough, with a surface of solid rock. This changes to loose rock just before a sharp left hander, where there is a re-start for the yellow and red classes. This area was very tricky. The rain the week before had washed a lot mud onto the rocks and they were very slippery. It would actually had been easier if it had been raining as the water would have washed the mud away!
Neither Neil Bray nor Stuart Cairney could get round the corner. Michael and Mike got a bit further but not much leaving Murray as out only clean class four. Fred didn’t make it off the re-start and had the misfortune to get his diff stuck on a rock reversing down. Now, the marshals on Big Uplands are notorious for not giving competitors a helping shove. Today was no exception, but eventually they summoned a recovery truck, a four wheel drive Toyota pick-up. This attempted to pull Fred up but it failed to move, all four wheels spinning fruitlessly. Meanwhile Fred had pumped his tyres up and this gave him the necessary increase in ground clearance to untangle his diff. Fred reversed down the hill but the drama was not over. First the Toyota had difficulty in getting back up the hill. Then after Michael failed he got stuck on a muddy verge trying to get past the queue for the section. Ron Bradshaw kindly towed him out, but the back bumper was wedged around a tree and got rather bent in the process! Mike Pearson and John Parsons both got away from the restart OK and went on to clear the hill, but neither Clive Booth nor Ian Davis were successful.
Guys Hill was next. Name sound familiar? This is the one that all the legal business is about concerning the road out of the top. I can remember on my first Allen we went out the end of the section. These days the gate at the top is firmly closed. It’s another one of these “polished stones” sections, made devilishly difficult for the yellows and reds as they have to re-start. It’s also one of the Allen’s two subdivided hills, the other being Burledge.
Stuart started off the line pretty well, but a plug lead jumped off about half way up. The engine fluffed and the Imp ground to a halt at the two. It was the same story for Neil and Marc in the Skoda, which really wasn’t running at all well. Our other class fours made it OK but none of the yellows and reds could get off that slippery re-start.
Fred and Murray were unaware of all Michael’s dramas on Big Uplands and were waiting for him at Guys Hill. They were able to watch a superb restart from Dudley Sterry. They reckon it took him the best part of a minute, but he got his rather special class 8 MG J2 off the line and up the hill for a clean. Julian Dommett and Tony Young were the only other re-starters to get away and clean the section. How does Julian do so well with that 1172 Dellow?
After Sandy Lane and Strode came Travers, which didn’t present any difficulty to the lower classes, but was more tricky for the yellows and reds who had to re-start. Earlier in the ear the Bristol club had made a gully near the top of the hill to reduce the damage caused by water. Fred and Pete got away well in their Dutton and so did Mike Pearson. The others weren’t so lucky and succumbed to the step and slippery rocks after the re-start.
The organisers had been carrying out more construction work on Burledge to reduce the depth of the ruts and make it less of a test of ground clearance. This certainly made a difference to Falcons class fours and only Stuart failed to drive out of the top, grounding out at the one. Fred and Pete made it OK in class seven, but class eight had things a bit more difficult as they had to re-start. This prevented a full blooded run at the rutted part and Clive wasn’t able to build up sufficient momentum, grinding to a halt at the one.
Mill Lane didn’t present any problems for most competitors but it was rough enough to break the suspension on Dennis Greenslades Reliant. Dennis seems to be breaking this car pretty regularly. I wonder how long he will persevere with it as it doesn’t appear to be very strong. Clive Booth was in trouble as well, with a broken exhaust manifold on his Dellow. It’s a casting and there was little hope of doing a satisfactory repair, so Clive and John retired. In all probability it was Burledge’s ruts that did the damage and they didn’t fancy knocking it off completely on John Walker!
Very soon competitors were going back down the rather wet lane approaching Big Uplands. Only this time it was sharp left after the bridge to tackle “Little Uplands” instead. By now Neil’s Skoda was running quite roughly and he was taking things easy to preserve the car. A little too easy as it turns out, as he didn’t have enough momentum to get over the big hump covering the drainage pipe, grinding to a halt. He needed the services of the Toyota, which was a little better than when it tried to help Fred but not much. About as much use as a chocolate teapot as they say!
Things weren’t much better for Neil on John Walker. The Skoda cut out about fifty yards after the water splash and had to be retrieved out of the section. Not an easy task in the dark as those of you that know the hill will testify. The remaining Falcon’s cleared the hill OK, so it was back to the finish for a well earned rest. Then it was off home, but not before the final challenge, turning right out of the start venue onto the busy main road. Think I’m joking? I’m not, and several competitors got so fed up waiting for a break in the traffic that they turned left and went several miles up the road to “U-turn” at the next roundabout!
So ended another Allen. Normally reckoned to be the easiest of the ACTC events, this one certainly had a few surprises in store for the complacent. It was a great event, run 100% on “real” tracks by a nice bunch of people. Long may it continue.
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John Parsons and Keith Harris emerge from the sump on Nanny Hurns. They finished third in class eight.Neil Bray waiting for the off with Graham Bazier behindGuys Hill stretches in front of Simon and Matt Robson in their Skoda
We had super trialing conditions for the Allen. It had rained quite a bit in the week preceding the trial, so the ground was nice and muddy. However, it was dry on the day and the sun even came out for a while, so Arnold Lane was spared the soaking he received on last years wet event.
Arnold was alongside Mike Pearson in the Dellow Rep that was trailered down the M4 to the start, just off Junction 17. Mindful of the fearsome ruts on Burledge Mike was trying some different tyres with a higher profile in an attempt to generate precious ground clearance. John Parsons was our other class eight competitor in the familiar Westfield, with Keith Harris in charge of the bouncing department.
There were a whole gaggle of Falcons running line astern earlier in the field, headed by Triple winner, and Crackington cup contender, Murray MacDonald. The now familiar Red Beetle is not short of ground clearance, even though Murray has lowered and ballasted the front a little after some scary moments when the car threatened to turn base over apex when reversing down some of the horror hills on the Kyrle and Exmoor Clouds.
Both Falcon Skodas were running well after their successful Edinburgh. I don’t believe they had any mechanical changes but Simon seemed a bit reticent to talk about his carburettor so you never know. Matt had returned from his American trip and was alongside Simon while Martin Sheppard was bouncing for Neil. Team Falcon was completed by Fred Gregory/Pete Stafford (Dutton Melos) and Michael Leete/Mike Hayward (VW 1302 S).
The sections started with Tog Hill, presenting no problems since the fearsome bump was levelled a few years ago. That was more than can be said for Bitton Lane. The hill would be easy enough if it wasn’t for the re-start. A tricky affair, positioned on a corner with a noticeable increase in gradient. The surface is really tricky, consisting of compacted pebbles that become more and more polished with the passage of cars. It’s quite muddy just before the re-start line and it’s quite difficult to position your car. You tend to lose all traction when slowing as you approach the line. Then you are so busy trying to get to the line itself that you don’t have a chance to position the car. That’s what happened to most of us. J.P. got away OK and Fred took time to find some traction and thought he may have slipped back in the process, but the marshals couldn’t see through the smoke enough to notice! Neil came up to the line pretty fast, looked at the polished stones and decided the mud on the right was a better bet. The only problem was that’s where the marshals were standing. Fortunately they moved in time, Neil’s wheel’s bit into the rock underneath the mud and the Skoda pulled away easily.
Big Uplands was next on the agenda. This has been used on the Allen for many years. Most hills get rougher over the years but Big Uplands is an exception. The deep rut on the right of the lower slopes is nothing like as fearsome as it was a few years ago. It’s quite a straightforward hill for the girls in classes’ one to five, but us men have to re-start just before the 90 left. After this there’s a rough bit before the hill exits on the main road.. JP got away OK and so did Michael Leete, the first time in the five times he has competed in this event. Poor Mike Pearson was not so lucky when the Dellow Rep slipped back as he let the clutch out.
Guys Hill came next. This is the one that Mike Pearson was telling us about in his article about the legal status of trials hills in the November magazine. The girls didn’t have to re-start so they all cleaned it OK. Things were different in the mens classes. They had an extremely difficult re-start on the polished stones between the tree roots and all the Falcons in six, seven and eight failed to get away. This was the norm, most six, sevens and eight’s couldn’t restart and only a select few achieved a clean. In class six Graham Brasier went clear in his 130 hp VW based Bitza and so did Nigel Allen in his Beetle. (By the way I think Graham Brasier is a nice, friendly guy. I just don’t think his car should be in class six. I have heard through the grapevine he is now selling this machine and migrating to class four). All but one class seven failed. The exception being Julian Dommett in his 1172 cc, sidevalve engined Dellow Mk1. Is that man a good driver or what. In class eight it was only Antony Young who went clear in his buggy. All the Cannons, Trolls and GVS’s either failing to re-start or grinding to an immediate halt. The Mill Lane special test was nothing special but the approach lane was decidedly interesting with some very deep ruts cut out by either tractors or four wheel drives. They were OK in a properly prepared trials car but pity the poor beginner driving a standard car in his first event.
Elwell was the final offering before lunch. Everyone remembers last year when it was very wet and muddy and it was so difficult to get across the field at the end. The surprise was at the bottom this year. The farmer had built a concrete hump just before the water splash. It’s hard to know why, maybe it’s a culvert or something. Anyway it was a challenge for anyone without plenty of ground clearance. The Falcons had become split up by now. Murray and Neil were together, Simon was a few cars back, followed some way behind by Michael and Fred who had stopped for petrol. There was quite a queue when they arrived, waiting for Philip Roberts and his dead Escort to be towed out. The halfshaft had moved on the bearing and they had lost drive. Later on Mike Hayward saw Philip and told him about the autocross trick of putting a blob of weld just behind the bearing. Murray and Neil got away OK but there was another delay when Simon got his Skoda stuck firmly on the hump and had to be towed off. The marshal at the foot of the hill had warned Simon about the severity of the hump. He tried to ease the Czech wonder climber over slowly, fearful of damaging the petrol tank. Unfortunately it bottomed out with all four wheels in the air Next time Simon go faster and fly over it like the rest of us!
Then it was off to Chew Valley lake for a rest halt beside the reservoir. Unfortunately the cafe was closed this year so it was sandwiches from home rather than Cumberland sausages. Strode was next, approached up a watery lane. The hill is all about a re-start that I thought was easy, but caught Fred Gregory unawares, the other Falcons going clear. Travers was pretty straightforward for the girls and they all went clear. Some of the men had problems on the usual tree rooty re-start, supervised by Jim Travers himself, and both Mike Pearson and Michael Leete failed. They got off the line OK but couldn’t build enough speed and spun to a halt on the roots a few yards further on.
Up until now Mike had not been having a good day but that was to change on Burledge. This is one of the Allens guaranteed “stoppers”. It starts on a rocky track, with a huge bump a few yards from the line where a water pipe has been culveted. After a 45 degree right hand bend the horror of Burledge comes into view, a dead straight rutted track about a hundred yards long. And when I say ruts I mean r-u-t-s. They really are deep and it takes a combination of ground clearance and momentum to get you through.
Mike had searched around at home to find some really high profile KUMO rubberware which he pumped up really hard. He eased the Dellow over the culvert and around the corner to the class eight re-start. Pulling away Mike applied the power just right and with Arnold’s assistance found the grip to cruise out the top. JP had a re-start as well but frankly stood no chance in the low slung Westfield and failed at the two.
Fred and Michael joined the girls on this section and were allowed a straight climb. Michael was pleased with his two but Fred had started to experience problems a few hills earlier and had to drop back from the start line to tinker with the electric’s. (This took a bit of time because although he is a really nice guy Fred is to automobile electric’s what the late Cyril Smith is to hang-gliding). Once Pete Stafford and Fred got going they did quite well, but with the Dutton on comparatively small wheels they ran out of ground clearance at the three. Our two giraffes in class four did well. Neil got a one and Murray stormed out of the top wondering what all the fuss was about, but the low slung Robson Skoda stopped at four.
Murray’s triumph was short lived as he failed to get out of the sump on the infamous Nanny Hurns special test. It was pretty greasy this year and if you applied the power too soon you understeered into the tress. Neil Bray and Michael Leete experienced the same fate but Fred, Mike and JP all popped out without any problems. Simon did very well to come out with the Skoda. Competitors are allowed to inspect Nanny Hurns before making their runs and Simon had seen a few abortive attempts. So it was right down on pressures at the back and the front wheel that would be on the outside round the tricky corner. Then gently, but not to slow, into the sump. Get the front wheels onto the slope and half straightened, then apply the power. It worked!
Mill Lane, Little Uplands and John Walker concluded the trial. None of them were very difficult but boy were they good fun. Long, wet and rough enough without being car breakers. The Allen certainly boasts some enjoyable hills, there isn’t a make-weight amongst them. So it was back to the finish to conclude an enjoyable day and compare notes.
Murray and Michael had trouble free runs in their Beetles and so did Neil. Simon had the misfortune to damage a front wing when he had a collision with a car in a passing place on a single track road. Fred had to keep fiddling with his electric’s to keep the Dutton going. Mike Pearson had a puncture on the road section before John Walker. Finally JP’s Westfield started to make clunking noises from the diff after the Elwell Hump. John carried on but thinks he may have chipped a tooth on the crown wheel. Results wise John was our only award winner, coming third in a well-supported class eight. But I think I can speak for everybody in saying what a great day we all had. Roll on the next Allen Trial.
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