Cotswold Clouds – Page 2

Clouds in a Model Y

The Cotswold clouds in a new perspective

Ian and Josh Moss forsook their usual Imp and took their Model Y trialling on The Cotswold Clouds, the third generation of Moss Model Y Triallers! -By Josh Moss

The Moss family Model Y at the Start of the Trial

Just about climbing out of bed and slinging the overalls on, we made it to Terry Coventrys house where we met to go to the start. On route we were passing dad’s business ‘Moss Motors’ and doing the usual check we spotted a white van with blacked out windows which as you can imagine is not the best thing to see. But on further inspection it turned out to be car 78 a red midget immerging from a trailer.

Finally to the start which was at what’s becoming the usual start venue SKF. After passing scrutineering we went to sign on and receive the route card and competition numbers (28). After a quick bacon roll and a chit chat it was time for the off.

Crawley: The first challenge of the day with its large drainage channels and slightly slippery surface. We new in the old Y Type we had a challenge on our hands. Letting the tyres down to 10psi I thought we would fly it. With not a lot of traction of the line we were unable to back off much for the first drainage channel, Hitting the first corner with as much speed as possible we scrabbled are way to the top of the section.

Crooked Mustard: With no pressure to climb the hill (as there is with the Imp) we eased the Y of the line and settled for a respectable 8 ‘That will do’ we said. Very well done Dave Haizelden for doing yet another miracle with that front wheel drive Golf.

Axe: A very long surprisingly steep muddy lane, ‘our challenge’ hill as we named it. It was hard and showed just what a challenge pre war car are, so yes we had failed, but it was a fair attempt. Phillip Tucker in his Escort Estate made a very good climb here as he was a early number (21).

Nailsworth Ladder: A very old section that we feared failing because of the pure embarrassment of all the people witnessing your failure, But luckily we flew up there all 1172cc’s singing-‘Result’.

Over the valley to-

Ham Mill: Another very old hill that would be a doddle in the Imp. Was a full throttle challenge and was great fun. After quickly putting some air in the tyres we were back on the road again. Nick Farmer lost the trial hear with a tyre spinning in the wheel

Wicked Juniper: A fairly steep, very slick and generally not to suit the Y section but we gave it our full effort, We waited and had a chat to Jim Scott and his gang from reading who were doing a very fine job managing the section.

Pheasants Run: A new section which was steep and muddy with a nasty corner and a tree staring you in the face. Hear we had a much better climb than we anticipated, bouncing and revving as hard a possible. In fact, bouncing so much that the engine note was being stalled I had the instruction of dad to stop bouncing and let the engine recover a bit, a slight dip of the clutch and we were soon attacking the deadly corner. Turning in and hoping for the best we grabbed a 5 stopping just inside the restart box. Nigel Scotford was my climb of the day hear in his Skoda.

Merve Swerve: We knew that we had no hope of cleaning this little devil of a section which also saw many over cars fail including eventual winner Mike Workman. Creditable climbs hear went to Dick Bolt, Tris White (Tubby) and NickFarmer, all having disadvantages with either having to stop or being an early number or in nicks case an early number and having to stop.

Highwood Special Test 1: Starting on (A) left of a cone and astride (B), only taking it steady we had a mid range time. Highwood Special Test 2: Again starting on (A) going in between two cones which were very cleverly placed and stooping astride (B).

With the special tests done we moved onto-

Highwood 1: With the ever cheerful Bristol team, we had are tyres checked and were ready for the off. Starting down hill we fired of the line and hit the ruts, gaining a 3 ‘we were happy’, a quick yank from a Bristol Land Rover and we had access to-.

Highwood 2: Very steep, very slippery and this year proving un-climbable, we managed a (8), maybe we could have gone a little further but are main concern was coming back down the gradient.

Climperwell: The first restart of the day. A muddy track that winds through the trees, we pulled away looking for the restart and more importantly where to stop. It was located on a very rooted patch, we thought we had stopped perfectly but as we were soon to find out we did not move an inch. After revering behind the restart box and having a run at it we realised some nasty chicanes had been added, which snatched a few class positions of people one being Bryan Phipps, His Marlin decided it wasn’t going to steer into the chicane.

Bull Banks 1: With a restart for classes 3-8 we new we should be alright. On approaching the restart box we decided that it was particularly evil this year and would claim a few class positions and so it did, Nigel Moss in his Blue Troll lost second class position hear.

Bull Banks 2: we had our second and last restart of the day here, a surprisingly steep section that has a marble like surface claimed yet a another failure out of the old ‘Y’, we moved but not quit far enough to get over the dinosaur eggs.

The last section of the day-.

Station Lane: As described by somebody as the marmite section ‘You either love it or you hate it’. Personally I think it’s a good section that suits some cars and not others e.g. Beetles storm up there Imps ground out, BMW’s fly up there Escorts ground out. Bill Bennett, failing just before the section ends board (about a yard) but what a climb none the less. We stopped just before the 5 marker here, which we were very pleased with. On are way back down I hoped out for a watch of the rest of the entry and soon got back to the pub to sign off, get a drink and listen out for the results.

A Fantastic day that made me realise what a challenge class 2 cars are. Very big thanks to the marshals I think they did I great job and I think you will agree.

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Cotswold Clouds 2006

Ian’s Imperious Imp

Local man Ian Moss won a closely fought Cotswold Clouds on special test times, tying on three with Andrew Martin and Bill Bennet Behind came Dave Haizelden, Simon Groves and Bryan Phipps all on four. The class 8’s were well out of things with their tough start line on Highwood 2. To many the moral victor was Kelly Thomas who cleaned all the hills but failed to complete the second special test properly.

2006_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Dave Cooks Photos

Stroud’s long running Cotswold Clouds rejoined the ACTC championship this year and was well and truly over-subscribed. Some of the reserves came to the start but were turned away, notably Harvey Waters who spent the day spectating after his long journey up from Cornwall.

The route followed a well-trodden path, via a nice easy Crawley Wood, through Dursley to Crooked Mustard, or Breakhart as it was once appropriately known. The dry conditions meant there was plenty of grip and it wasn’t until Roland Panes came along at number 10 that the usual big crowd of spectators saw their first failure.

As Andrew Brown said last year the hill is more a triumph of engineering over driving for the nimbler class eights with their high power to weight ratios and ability to chop and change direction at will. For the rest it was very important to get the line right as there is a big step on the inside off the final right-hander. For any except the class eights going that way meant certain failure. Even if you did avoid the step Crooked Mustard still demands a good power to weight ratio and Giles Greenslade was the only Beetle to go clean. In class four both Ian Moss and Bill Rosten mastered the conditions. The question was would the fragile Imps hang together? In class one the amazing Dave Haizelden humbled many “more suitable” cars as he flew up in his VW Golf.

There was plenty of entertainment for the spectators. Harry Butcher was definitely the star of the show, getting near to vertical as he “wall of deathed” around the left hander, losing speed and nearly toppling over as he tried to repeat the performance on the following right hander, oh so nearly stopping before getting it all back together and clearing the section.

Some of the Escorts were spectacular, throwing themselves at the section but with very little control, getting a bad line and failing in the process. Well done to Richard Hayward, Kelly Thomas, Tristan White and Simon Groves for using their brains, driving fast but smoothly, taking a good line and going clean.

A rather dry Axe didn’t present any problems but Nailsworth Ladder certainly did. The lower classes were allowed to blast straight through so the step didn’t present any problems, apart from Stuart Deacon who broke a half-shaft, couldn’t get the end out and ended up having to change the diff, missing a couple of sections in the process.

The yellows and reds had a restart right on the step. Giles was the only big Beetle to get away and two thirds of the sevens and eights failed. Amongst the Falcon contingent Ian Davis was the only one to succeed as neither Geoff Hodge, Keith Oakes or Peter Mountain succeeded. Talking of Peter it was nice to see Mike Young, the builder of Martin Allen’s Racecorp, in the passengers seat.

At Ham Mill the deviation was used again, with a cunningly positioned restart, right on a sharp corner where the ruts dragged the inside wheel up against a bank. This caught out even the experienced Simon Woodhall and Adrian Dommett amongst others.

After a dry wicked Juniper came Freds Folly with another restart to catch the unwary yellows and reds.

Merves Swerve attracted the usual hoard of spectators and with differential start lines and restarts presented a real challenge. Just getting to the restarts was a problem. As ever the start lines were such cars couldn’t really get a run at the hill. If they got away from the start OK non restarters could throw their machinery at the steep bank, leaping in the air and hoping to regain some sort of control on landing. It was all very hairy. Passengers had to hang on for dear life and Sara hit her head very hard in the back Simon Groves Escort.

It was here some of the class 8 challengers fell by the wayside. They had a very tough re-start, positioned right on the bank and Paul Bartleman and Ian Davis lost their clean sheet. Eric Wall may have failed Nailsworth Ladder but here he was master of intelligent positioning. Stopping his Mk1 Dellow well over to the left, minimising the rise up the bank and pulling away without any wheel spin.

The Highwood complex lay just up the road. There were two sections and two special tests and this is where the trial would be decided. The fearsome Highwood Two was where it all happened. All but one competitor lost their clean sheet. Only Kelly Thomas came out of the top to go into the overall lead of the trial. Simon Woodall was the only car to come close, dropping one in his buggy now repaired after its Clee Hills engine problems., with his Clee Hills enging problems repaired.

Kellys lead was to be short lived as tragedy befell her on the second special test where she stalled, couldn’t restart and had to be pushed over the line, incurring a penalty of six marks and costing her overall victory. This put Ian Moss, Andrew Martin and Bill Bennet into a joint lead, all on three marks with Dave Haizelden, Simon Groves and Bryan Phipps just behind on four. It ended this way as they all cleaned an easy Climperwell and the tricky Bulls Bank restarts. It all came down to special tests times and victory went to Ian by less than a second. Kelly’s problems pushed her down into 3rd place in class three. Class honours going to Simon Groves, making a hat trick of ACTC wins for the hard charging Ely driver.

Overall Winner	Ian Moss (Imp)	3
Best Stroud	Andrew Martin (Dutton Melos)	3
Class Winners
1	Dave Haizelden (VW Gold GTi)	4
2	Bill Bennett (MG J2)	3
3	Simon Groves (Escort)	4
4	Bill Rosten (Imp)	16
5	Stuart Roach (HRG)	12
6	Giles Greenslade (VW Beetle)	11
7	Bryan Phipps (Marlin)	4
8	Adrian Marfell (Buggy)	7

Dave’s Clouds

Dave Sargeant reports on his day marshalling the perfect hill.

Over the past ten or eleven years I have been a competitor, either driving, or as a navigator for my dad, on the Cotswold clouds trial. As this year I decided not to compete I thought I would join my dad marshalling a section.

Being familiar with the sections I looked forward to the day, and particularly the hill that we would be marshalling, would it be Merves Swerve, Nailsworh Ladder or even Crooked Mustard? No, it was Highwood 2, a fantastic hill I have certainly never climbed over the top of, although I have balanced on the peak of it a few times but never quite managed to get enough power to finish it properly.

As we didn’t have to be there until 12.15 we didn’t have to leave our Worcester homes until 11am. It seemed funny to be leaving knowing that usually we would be half way around the sections by now.

We got to the hill and parked the car, to be greeted by a familiar face, Mike Workman, who kindly saved our legs and gave us a lift to the section itself. Along with myself and my dad, were Mike James, Andrew Brown and Guy and family at the top.

We all walked up the section to see what the competitors had in stall for them The hill looked very wet and deep mud at the top, starting by the 4 marker, the rest of the hill was covered in leaves so hard to tell what lay beneath. To clear the section the whole car had to go right over the top at the 2 marker then go right and then finally left to clear the section.

We all commented that we would be surprised to see many if any out of the top, as we waited for the first cars to arrive with us we got into our positions and took a look at the entry list, the first few cars were down as class 8 so it would be interesting how high they were going to get.

First car to arrive was Tony Underhill, who attacked the section with vigour but only reached an 8. It certainly was greasy under those leaves. A few more class 8s attempted the section no one getting any higher. Then came Jonathon and Pat Toulmin, trying to get the class 7 Marlin up this tricky section reaching an 8 also A couple of Escorts from class 3 started to push the marks higher. Paul Eamer had a great climb up to 7, bring on the Trojans!!. The lack of speed made them look like they weren’t even going to reach the 11 marker, but these amazing vehicles plodded their way up to 10.

Bill Bennett had a good run at the hill to reach 8, hearing Ian Moss had retired from a broken gearbox the first class 4 car arrived driven by Dave Shaylor a nice climb up to 7 nearly reaching the marker for a 6.

Next came Paul Bartleman. Up until now the marshals and spectators had been able to comfortably stand across the top of the section, would Paul be able to push up past the 6 marker, we didn’t have to wait long for the answer, he blasted past the highest previous mark up to a 4, and warmed my feet up with his exhaust as well, did that mean the hill was unclimbable today?.

Nicola Wainwright and Emma Flay pushed class 4’s effort up another notch as they got the Beetles’ front wheel past the 7 for a well earned 6.

Simon Woodall and Barbara Selkirk fresh from their success on the Clee Hills were clear up to Highwood 2, could they get over the top? Not even the power of this Buggy could reach any higher than 7. Eric Wall reached 7 and Brian Partridge reached 8.

The first of the Class 6 beetles arrive driven by Mark Smith. Could this 2 litre Beetle make any impression on the Hill? No Mark reached 7 for all his power and effort.

On came Anthony Young with his fantastic VW special, surely this could be the car that broke the top of the hill, everyone moved back as Tony unleashed the power, the road speed was impressive as the car went higher and higher finally stopping higher than anyone had been all day on the 2 marker, he certainly cleared all the deep mud out of the ruts.

Gregor Dixon–Smith was out in Geoff Margetts old class 5 Morgan, I passenger this car on two Exeter’s and a Lands End trial when it was driven by Morgan man Bill Beck, unfortunately I didn’t see much of it as he reached 9 on the hill.

Tony and Ann Rothin attacked the hill, had Tony Young’s climb made the hill any easier, it didn’t look like it, as Tony reached a respectable 5, and George Linnecor reached 3 with a nice bouncing motion along with his passenger.

Now half way through the entry list I spanned over the names of who was to come, there were still some big names that could do what seemed now impossible and clear the section.

Ian Davis attempted it but stopped at the 9 board, leaving us looking at Stuart Ridge, Dudley Sterry, Mike Chatwin and Carl Talbot from class 8 left in the entry list surely one of them could make our day and climb the hill.

In class 7 there was Derek Tyler in the Baja Bug he had a great climb up to 3; David Haizelden reached the highest in class 1 with a 5. Simon Groves pushed his Escort up to 6 in class 3. This left us with 3 determined class 4 drivers left, Terry Ball, David Dyer and Adrian Marfell, winner of the Clee Hills trial.

David Dyer attempted the section and really nailed the throttle, the mud on the 4 marker slowed his progress and he stopped between the 4 and 3 marker. Next came Adrian Marfell, you could feel the expectation in the air, surely he would go that bit further and we would see the first clear of the day! He drove the hill in his usually style with head out of the window, the Beetle sounding lovely as it powered up the hill, but even Adrian couldn’t beat Highwood 2 on this day he stopped just past the 4 marker. Terry Ball attempted the section later and reached a 7.

And so the wait went on, Dudley Sterry’s attempt ended with a 7 even with the supercharger whistling away merrily, up came Mike Chatwin could the Troll get to the top, no Mike finished with a 7 also.

With 5 cars left to go, the only class 8 car left was driven by Carl Talbot, he was certainly clear up till now, he blasted up the section and finally we saw what we all had waited for as Carl drove the Morris Trialsmaster over the crest and turned past the section ends board, what a fantastic end to our day. A great cheer went up and we all agreed how the hill had really tested all classes and in fact we had ended up with a car stopping on every number apart from 12 and 1, reflecting was this the perfect hill. I certainly think so, well done to Carl Talbot after cleaning this section he went on to win the trial overall with a clean sheet. Paul Bartleman only dropped 4 and Simon Woodall dropped 7, The first 4 cars overall were from class 8 and then Adrian Marfell came in 5th overall only dropping 12 points. Well done to all the Cotswold Clouds organisers they have always done a fantastic job of running this event and we all enjoyed marshalling this section.

See you soon

Dave Sargeant.

Carl’s Cotswold Clouds

Carl Talbot wins Cotswold Clouds with the only Clean Sheet

Carl Talbot’s Morris Trialsmaster paws the air as he pulls away from the Nailsworth Ladder restart

2005_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Dave Cooks Photos

Stroud attracted their usual full entry for the Cotswold Clouds. The route followed a familiar path, with just a few subtle changes, including, substituting Mackhouse with a new section called Wicked Juniper.

There had been a lot of rain on the Saturday, which made the hills very slippery. This affected Crawley, put in to be an easy opener, but proved to be a problem for Murray MacDonald who found that his un-ballasted Mk2 Golf had very little grip and needed pushing to get going. After a similar experience on the lower slopes of Crooked Mustard, Murray and Hazel decided to call it a day and head for home rather than cause more hold ups. But watch out Dave Haizelden, he will be back.

During their inspection the week before the Stroud organisers had reckoned that Crooked Mustard was going to be easier than usual, but the rain on Saturday put paid to that. The first cars had a definite advantage as the rock steps were quite clean, but as the morning went on mud was drawn down from the banks making it more and more slippery.

As Andrew Brown says, “Crooked Mustard is all about taking the right line”. The flyweights in Class Eight had a definite advantage as their short wheelbase and ample power to weight ratio’s allowed them to revise their strategy if they got it wrong. Most succeeded, as did the buggies of Simon Woodall and Ian Davis. Two of the best climbs were made by father and son Wall. David storming up early on in the Canhi special and Eric making it all look effortless in his big wheeled Dellow, which has the smoothest, sweetest, engine I have ever heard. Geoff Hodge has quite a wide wheelbase on the RDT and with this disadvantage wasn’t able to correct a bad line and failed between the two corners.

Class Seven had a challenge. Their lower power to weight ratio and longer wheelbases meant they had to have a perfect line to succeed. Only four made-it, three Marlins and Derek Tyler in his Baja Beetle. Rick Neale was one of many to get the line wrong in his Dutton Melos, cutting the corner too tight to the sound of an enormous crack as the transmission broke.

Two Class six cars were clean. Gary Browning in the Course Opening car, which doesn’t count of course! and Mike Hobbs amongst the competitors. It looked all over for Mike when he cut in to tight on the right hander and lost a lot of speed. He recovered and got things absolutely perfect on the left hander but he had lost so much momentum it looked as if he would come to a stop. Mike kept his foot down, the Beetle swayed from side to side, and just found enough grip to be the only saloon to go clean. Mark Smith used all the power of his 2-litre motor to throw his Beetle at the left hander but it ploughed into, rather than around, the bank and he came to a halt.

Everyone was looking forward to class Four to see if Ian Moss and Adrian Marfell would get up. We will never know if Ian would have got the right line. His new engine proved too powerful for the transmission, which let go with a loud bang on the lower reaches and could be heard destroying itself as he backed down. Adrian tried his hardest but hit the step between corners two and three all wrong and it just wouldn’t go over.

Class three provided the biggest spectacle. Tristan White performed perfect walls of death on corners two and three only to stop when a plug lead came off. Simon Grooves tried a similar trick but it didn’t quite come off, leaving the Escort with a front wheel four feet in the air and needing a fair few bodies to hang onto it to stop it turning over while he backed down. Then Colin Perryman came along and broke a half shaft on his nice BMW so it definitely wasn’t a Class Three day! Steve Potter deserves an honourable mention, getting his Trojan right up to the third corner before running out of puff but getting a huge handclap from the appreciative spectators.

Nailsworth was a challenge for the re-starters in the higher classes as it was pretty slippery and they had to stop just before the step. The fact it was a challenge was revealed when none other than Dudley Sterry couldn’t get away. The lower classes didn’t have to restart, their challenge was for their transmissions to survive as they hit the step at speed and leapt into the air. Neither Colin Biles (Midget) nor Nigel Scotford (Escort) diffs survived. Simon Groves’ Fack stayed in one piece for him to win the high jump!

Ham Mill incorporated the new deviation pioneered last year and this was where the restart was situated. It was very slippery lower down and Mike Chatwin and Robert Grounds bounced so much they lost their spare wheels. The re start wasn’t to bad for the class eights but was a challenge for the lower classes and Simon Groves and Verdun Webley couldn’t get away cleanly.

Mackhouse was omitted this year and a new section called Wicked Juniper introduced. This is in the same area near Stroud as the famous pre-war trials hill pictured in Austen May’s book, but is not the original section. The inspiration for the “Wicked” part of the name probably came from its location in Wick Street. Ian Davis reports that the new section was excellent, much better than Mackhouse. It had a long, steep, muddy climb up a track through trees until the four marker over bare earth. Many didn’t get past the initial bend and rise at the ten. There were nine clears including Ian, Simon Woodall, Paul Bartleman, Dudley Sterry, Tony Young and Brian Phipps in his Marlin. The new section saw the end of Bill Foreshew’s Trial when his GVS retired with a holed piston. In the lower classes Adrian Marfell got a long way up but eventually the engine bogged down and he stopped.

The action after lunch commenced with a special test followed by the familiar Freds Folly which has definitely got more difficult over the years. Class eight had to restart on polished stones which defeated Ian Davis and Robert Gregg who had to retire his Troll with a broken prop shaft.

Merves Swerve was back to the straightforward climb over the hump, without last years tricky deviation. It didn’t matter, the conditions were enough to make it difficult, especially for the class sevens. There were two restarts. The class eights were right up against the hump, the sevens a little further down. The extra distance to attack the hump didn’t do any good as it was so slippery none of them got off the line. There was some confusion on the restart as the marshal was standing on the class eight line and quite a few class sevens went up to this instead of stopping on their own line. In some cases they were allowed to back down to their line and have a go. This could have caused some dispute but in the end was nullified as none got away. Most of the top men in class eight got up, despite their restart, but none of the saloons apart from the amazing David Haizelsen could get over the big bump although Simon Groves came very close.

Highwood 1 was very slippery around the restart as usual, but was cleanable with a struggle. Highwood 2 had a high limit of 16 psi and some of the class 8’s struggled for grip. Ian Davis failed at the 9. Fellow Buggy driver Simon Woodall at the 7 and Paul Bartleman the 4. In Paul and Simons case these were the only marks they lost all day. Tony Young got right up to the two but had already failed to get off the Nailsworth restart. It was left to Carl Talbot in his Class Eight Morris Trialsmaster to prove the section was possible and he flew up to be the only car to reach Andrew Brown who was marshalling the top of the section.

Climperwell was the usual trek through the trees. It had a comparatively easy restart but you had to stay in the ruts to avoid the trees and Ian Davis was one of many who didn’t to the detriment of his score.

The trial drew to a close with the restarts on Bulls Bank 1 and 2 which got more tricky as the day went on. Ian Davis failed the first one, in front of the marshalling Foreshew family but no problems for Carl Talbot who cleaned both to win the Cotswold Clouds with a clean sheet.

Mike Workman Wins Close Cotswold Clouds

Local man Mike Workman won a closely fought Cotswold Clouds by one mark from Paul Bartleman and Andrew Martin. Once again they were chased by the amazing Front Wheel Drives of Dave Haizelden and Paul Allaway who were only the two marks lost on Crooked Mustard away from overall victory.

Colin and Edna Perryman emptying the diesel from their BMW

2004_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Stroud had good trialling conditions for this years Cotswold Clouds. There had been quite a bit of rain the week before the event but it remained dry on the day until just before the end. There was drama at the start for Colin Perryman, who forgot he wasn’t in his road car and filled his BMW’s tank with Diesel, leaving him with quite a job to get it flushed out so he could start. After a nice easy Crawley Wood the action started with Crooked Mustard where most of the class eights got up, although not Falcon’s Geoff Hodge or Ian Davis and surprisingly Stuart Harrold who got a twelve. Amongst the saloons class three did the best with a delighted Simon Groves cleaning the section on what was to be a class winning performance.

In class six Mark Tooth and Jon Robillard came out of the top but none of the Beetles in class four succeeded, leaving it to Ian Moss in his superbly prepared Imp to show how it should be done. We have come to expect some fantastic performances in Class One these days and both Dave Haizeleden and Terry Coventry came oh so very close.

Axe was not as difficult as in recent years and the big step seemed to have disappeared. The trial followed its usual route to Nailsworth Ladder where the restart caused problems for a lot of competitors in classes seven and eight. It had started to rain by the time later numbers arrived and Simon Robson couldn’t get enough grip to build the momentum to get over the step. This was very disappointing for Simon and Matt who had done well to clean Crooked Mustard in their Liege for the second year running.

There was quite a delay on the common opposite The Bear Hotel where competitors queued for Ham Mill. As if the restarts weren’t enough there was a “mini Nanny Hearns” diversion at the left-hander to spice things up. The rain was coming and going now and the conditions were quite a problem for some competitors who couldn’t even reach the restarts. Michael Leete and Mike Hayward managed that part OK but came to grief on the new deviation.

There are numerous variations of Mackhouse and this year it was a slippery, muddy climb through the trees with a restart for the higher classes. Restart or not almost everyone failed at the seven before a scary sideways slip down the camber. The most successful competitors were Simon Woodhall who got to the four in his VW Buggy as did Mike Chatwin although the excitement proved to much and he retired his Troll soon afterwards. We lost Peter and James Mountain here as well when the brazing on one end of the Panhard Rod came adrift and with the back end crashing and banging they decided to retire, which was a shame as they had conquered the fearsome Crooked Mustard earlier in the day.

Freds Folly had a slippery restart in the mud for the higher classes, causing particular problems for the yellow and reds where even the all conquering Andrew Martin failed in his Melos. A few miles up the road the usual crowd had gathered at Merves Swerve where Allen Trial organisers Pete and Carlie Hart were watching over a new variation where a taped off deviation marked a tight left hander where many of those lucky enough to get over the hump understeered off into the greenery. It was possible though as half a dozen or so competitors proved, including Terry Coventry in class one.

The trial was drawing to a close now, with the rain getting heavier as competitors headed into the woods for the two Highwood sections. Both of the sections seemed a little easier this year but the fearsome Highwood 2 remains a most daunting section. It seemed the rain had washed the mud away as there was plenty of grip, so much so that some of the less powerful cars ran out of grunt at the top. Class 8 had a tough start line which defeated most of front runners who were running at the front of the field but later numbers David Wall (Dellow Mk1) and Geoff Hodge in the Reg Taylor built RDT climbed out the top. Class 8 was decided here as when they arrived the top four had dropped an identical 7 marks, all lost at Mackhouse. None of them cleaned Highwood two but Mike Workman got the furthest to win both the class and the trial.

After a relatively easy Climperwell competitors arrived at the two Bulls Bank sections to be greeted by a very wet Chris Phillips. All the leaders cleaned both and picked their way through the puddles to the finish at The Old Lodge Inn at Minchinhampton.

Adrian Marfell Cleans Cotswold Clouds

There was one clean sheet on the Cotswold Clouds and it was achieved by Kyrle organiser, and Man of the Moment, Adrian Marfell, in his Fiat Twin cam engined rail. The Moss Bros were only just behind, both only dropping one mark with Nigel beating Ian on special test times.

Overall winner Adrian Marfell kept cool and achieved the only clean sheet of the event.

The Stroud club had excellent conditions for The Cotswold Clouds. It was dry on the day, but bad weather during the previous week made the sections nice and muddy, without turning into a quagmire. Needless to say there was a full entry for this historic and very special event which stands on it’s own, not wanting or needing the “status” of any championship.

Roger Fox led the field away from the Gordons Garage for the short run to Crawley Hill. His Citroen AX wasn’t running very well and he soon had to stop and dive under the bonnet. This left Simon and Matt Robson to run first car on the road for much of the event. The little yellow Liege must have been rather over-awed by the experience because it promptly failed Crawley, one of the very few to stop on this gentle opener.

Team Robson soon made up for this by being one of only two class seven’s to clean Crooked Mustard, something they never achieved in their Skoda days. The majority of the class eight’s cleaned this demanding hill but only Ian Moss in his smart new yellow Imp got up from the lower classes. John Bell deserves an honourable mention for getting to the four marker. However, the red Escort was soon to blot it’s copybook by failing Axe with no less than three punctures! The problem was after the step, where there must have been some nasty sharp rocks buried in the mud as there were numerous punctures, including Ian Davis, whose VW Buggy picked up two, a front and a rear.

There was plenty of grip on Nailsworth Ladder, but it still caused problems for the majority of the class ones and only the “super-quartet” of Dave Haizelden, Paul Allaway, Michael Collins and Adrian Tucker-Peake cleaned the section. These four certainly set a high standard and not only have fantastic scraps between them but are challenging for overall wins on many trials. The sevens and eight’s had to restart of course and neither Clive Booth nor Owen Briggs got away, although fellow Falcon Simon Robson was clean. This was a particular shame for Owen as he had coaxed his self built special “Winney One” up Mustard.

Clerk of the Course Tim Lakin had devised a handicap system for Ham Mill. The Blues had a clear run, the whites a restart on the exit from the right hander and the yellows and reds before the corner with a step to contend with. Most competitors cleaned the section but the restarts caught out a few including Falcon’s Clive Booth and Michael Leete.

There was a new variation for Mackhouse, which gave a downhill approach before the muddy blast up through the trees. Classes seven and eight had a re-start on the slope so the downhill approach didn’t help very much. Even so a fair few of the class eight’s cleaned the section, but not Nigel Moss who like most of the entry stopped short of the final muddy rise for a one. This cost Nigel overall victory as Adrian Marfell cleaned the hill. Has Nigel done the same he would have won as he was faster on the special tests.

The lunchbreak was at Tesco’s as usual, although most competitors didn’t stay long as the delays at Crooked Mustard had put the timing a bit behind. Unlike some of the MCC events there didn’t appear to be a ban on toolkits, so Michael Leete helped Ian Davis change the tube in one of his punctured wheels. The Bulls Cross special test was just up the road with a downhill stop line, which fooled both Jim Scott and John Ludford.

Freds Folly was across the road. Like Axe this is a hill that has become more difficult over the years. It’s a long gentle climb through the trees, then comes a right hander after which the ruts get deeper, the gradient steepens and the mud starts! The difficulty is that with the right hander you can’t take much of a run at the last bit as if you go too fast you jump out of the ruts and under-steer into the trees. With their low diffs the hill wasn’t very friendly to class three and only John Bell and Dave Miller got their Escorts to the summit, in John’s case after a near 360 on the lower reaches! In class seven Simon Robson found an early number a decided disadvantage as he cleared some of the mud away for the later numbers, failing at the four marker.

Owen Briggs, baring his chassis tubes for all to see in the MCC Committee’s favourite car, is pictured by Pete Hart on Merve’s Swerve on Owen’s first one day trial. “Whinney” attracted a lot of attention at the start. Can we expect more VR6 powered specials in class 8 soon?

The crowds had gathered for the entertainment at Merve’s Sweerve, which was under the control of Allen organisers Pete and Carlie Hart. The stars were definitely Paul Allaway and Dave Haizelden who both got their Front Wheel Drive cars over the muddy hump. Ian Davis and Owen Briggs both went clear but otherwise Merve’s wasn’t Falcon friendly and Michael Leete, Simon Robson and Clive Booth all floundered on the big bump for a humiliating reverse in front of their peers!

It was back into the woods for the Highwood Special Test and two observed sections. The challenge on Highwood One is another quagmire at the top of a hill! It wasn’t so muddy this year and it is possible to build some speed on the approach so there were cleans in all classes this year. Highwood Two was just up the track. There were different start lines for the various classes but nobody had a real run at the steep bit this year. The overall lead of the trial changed here. Up until now there were six clean sheets and the leading order was decided by the special test times reading:-

David Foreshew (GVS) 23.35
Mike Workman (GVS) 23.78
Paul Bartleman (Troll) 24.24
Dudley Sterry (MG J2) 24.34
Adrian Marfell (VW Special) 26.91
Peter Fear (Dingo) 31.40.

Everything was change here, as apart from Ian Moss only class eight’s Adrian Marfell, Nigel Moss and Carl Talbot got to the summit, most people having to make the terrifying reverse back down the section. As Nigel had failed Mackhouse and Carl the Highwood Special test, this gave Adrian the lead of the trial that kept to the end.

Things were drawing to a close now. Climperwell didn’t present any problems so it was all down to the finale at he two Bulls Bank re-starts, where competitors were greeted by Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips, with the news that “the restart are evil and competitors in all classes are failing”. Thanks guys! Adrian got away OK but the restarts did affect the results in some classes. Stephen White failed Bulls Bank Two, passing the lead in Class Two to Bill Bennett. John Bell’s successful climb of Freds Folly faded away when he couldn’t get away from “Two” either, leaving class Three to successful restarter Paul Eamer. In Class Six Terry Ball failed Bulls Bank One putting him back to the same hill score as Mike Hobbs but Terry hung onto his lead on special test times.

Most competitors got to the finish at The Old Lodge Inn on Minchinhampton Common at a reasonable time, as there were no real delays after lunch. Well-done Adrian Marfell on another well deserved victory. And well done Tim Lakin and the Stroud team for another successful, enjoyable and well judged Cotsold Clouds.

1st Overall	Adrian Marfel (VW Special)	0
Best Stroud	Nigel Moss (Troll)	1
Class 1	Paul Allaway (Astra)	10
Class 2	Bill Bennett (MG J2	19
Class 3	Paul Eamer (Escort)	20
Class 4	Ian Moss (Imp)	1
Class 5	Mike Wordsworth (MG Midget)	28
Class 6	Terry Ball(VW Beetle)	17
Class 7	Dean Vowden (Marlin)	5
Class 8	Dudley Sterry (MG J2)	2

2003_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Fearsome Cotswold Clouds

Peter Fear won The Cotswold Clouds with a nearly perfect run, spoilt only by a misunderstanding about the restart on Nailsworth Ladder where he stopped in the wrong place. Richard Hayward had a magnificent run in his Escort to finish second overall, and would have won had he cleaned Crooked Mustard!

**Stuart Cairney coming out the top of Ham Mill on his way to 3rd in class 4.**

Stroud and District Motor Club had their usual full entry for their Cotswold Clouds, one of the most popular one day trials, despite it’s traditional non-championship status. Nigel Allen led the entry away on the Cloud’s established route, which has changed little in recent years apart from the addition or deletion of the occasional section. Crawley was first on the agenda, a nice easy start to the trial, especially when you knew the left-hand hairpin was coming! Soon competitors were in Dursley at the foot of Crooked Mustard, known most appropriately as Break Heart in its earlier life. This is one of the feature hills on The Clouds, retaining its teeth despite its age. There had been rumours at the start of some sort of construction work on the hill and while this wasn’t evident, the lower reaches were certainly cut up with a lot of loose stones.

Most of the class eight’s cleaned the section, although sadly not Classical Gas supporters, and former Dingo owners, Martin and Tom Jones. In class seven three of the Marlins made a clean ascent, including the determined Mal Allen. From the bottom it sounded as if Pete Hart had got up but despite a resolute attempt, he stopped at the final corner for a four. Nigel Allen in class six was the only rear engined car to come out the top but Colin Perryman did well to get to the five in his Skoda as did the Imp of Mike Trim. The best of the other Beetles in class four were Giles Greenslade and Dick Glossop one mark behind. The only other clean was in Class Three where John Bell stormed up to take the lead in the conventional saloon class. There were some magnificent climbs in Class One where Paul Allaway (Astra) got to the four, closely followed by Golf Gti drivers David Haizelden and Michael Collins in their usual closely fought battle.

There was no Rushmire this year but there was still a holding control just along the road, manned by Mr Moss senior and an enthusiastic local policeman who was very interested in all the cars. Axe has got more difficult in recent years and took a few victims once again if they had low ground clearance or didn’t build enough momentum to power through the mud and ruts just sort of the summit. There are a few pretty big steps as well, which can easily blow out a tyre or dent a rim. John Bell was caught out here as were the low slug MGB’s of Gill Hayward and Andy Biffen. The leading Front Wheel Drives all made clean ascents, albeit at the expense of a dented rim for David Haizlden. Neil Bray arrived at the top with both a front and a rear puncture and a shattered wheel rim and was grateful for the help from “Team Sargeant” in getting him on the road again.

Nailsworth Ladder was relatively easy this year. Classes one to seven didn’t have a restart and everyone made clean ascents. Even the class eight restart was kind to competitors, positioned a long way before the step so cars could get going before the obstruction. A handful were caught out though, including eventual winner Peter Fear who overran the restart line by mistake as he thought that some cones blocking off a gully defined the restart box. Chris Phillips was spectating here and reckoned that Bill Bennett won the prize for showing the most air under his car as he flew over the bump.

There was the usual holding control before Ham Mill and only six, seven and eight had to restart this year. Almost all the lower classes stormed through the tricky right hander although Paul Allaway stopped in the grassy ruts near the summit. Peter Davis in his Panther Lima was the only class five to get round the right hander, which also caught out Michael Leete and Rick Neale in class four. The restart for the higher classes was right on the corner and caught out Mike Hobbs and Mark Tooth in their big engined Beetles but didn’t present a problem to the seven’s and eight’s. Neil Bray cleaned the hill but at the expense of another puncture and such a horrible noise from the transmission that he decided to retire and head for home.

There was the usual civilised stop for lunch at the Tesco Cafeteria, although there wasn’t as much time as some of us would have liked because of delays at Crooked Mustard, Axe and Ham Mill. Bulls Cross followed this, promoted from a special test to an observed section, before going into the woods across the road for Freds Folly. This is a nice long section with a muddy right hander at the top that again took a small crop of victims.

Catswood was a stopper in the woods before Merve’s Swerve, reached after a nice long trek along some muddy tracks through the trees. There was a restart for classes six to eight but this really didn’t make much difference, as the lower classes couldn’t build much speed through the “chicane” anyway. The challenge here is the bank across the track. The ruts looked deep and muddy although there was quite a bit of grip for the later runners as the early numbers cut down to the solid stuff. About half the class eight’s went clean but the best anyone else could do was Bill Bennett in the J2 who got to the one.

There was the usual crowd of spectators at Merves Swerve, which had Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips marshalling instead of driving their usual Troll. Chris reported that “Merve’s was looking absolutely horrible when we got there. The restart area was very claggy. The steps even more so, and if you got over that there was a significant rut around the three marker. The first two or three customers merely confirmed my opinion that it was going to be a day of backing down. Then Pete Fear appeared (about car four), got out of the ruts left on the restart and just went away making it look easy. Car No1, Nigel Allen, also cleaned, but without the restart, but then there were no more successes for about 40-50 cars until the restart area had worn down to the rock underneath.

Gallant efforts from David Haizelden (how does he get a front wheel drive car that far up hills) and lots of local Stroud boys in Escorts who gave it absolute death and made it to the four marker. My prize for the best attempt went to the big old Riley (in class 2) which got a 2, I believe, and the driver was mighty disgusted that he hadn’t cleaned it. In total, I think five class 8 cleaned it and the big VW from class 6.”

There were usual two hills in the Highwood complex. The first section features a very muddy patch where the track deviates to the right. Classes 1 to 6 had a straight run though, without a re-start, but it was still very difficult and only a handful of cars got through for a clear, including David Haizelden and Paul Allaway in class one. Peter Fear was the only restarter to go clear, making up for his error on Nailsworth Ladder and putting him in the lead of the trial. Highwood Two was as fearsome as ever. It’s not going up that’s the trouble, it’s coming back down again when you fail! Even Giles Greenslade had to reverse back down! But a string of good climbs had put him in back in front of Colin Perryman after slipping behind on Crooked Mustard.

Clerk of the Course Nigel Moss cancelled Climperswell after some of the early numbers damaged their cars when they came out of the ruts and hit trees. This left only the usual two Bulls Bank sections which didn’t affect the results much apart from in class 4 where Stuart Cairney lost second place to Colin Perryman when he failed the first one. The restart wasn’t on a particularly steep place but there was a nasty rock to put the front wheel against if you didn’t stop in exactly the right place. The second Bulls Bank didn’t have any obstructions but it was on a steeper gradient and the stones were as slippery and polished as usual, necessitating a gentle take-off, something rather lacking in some attempts, to the amusement of some of the competitors spectating now the last hill was finished.

Then there was just the run to the finish to round off another excellent Cotswold Clouds. It was a well-judged trial, which Peter Fear would have cleaned, had it not been for stopping in the wrong place on Nailsworth Ladder. The adjustments to the restarts for the lower classes seemed just right and were fortuitous as they stopped too many delays. The organisation was as professional as ever in the usual Stroud relaxed way, with a lot of top competitors marshalling the hills.

1st Overall	Peter Fear (Dingo)	6
Best Stroud	Richard Hayward (Escort)	9
Class 1	David Haizelden (VW Golf Gti)	17
Class 2	Bill Bennett (MG J2)	22
Class 3	Paul Eamer (Escort)	27
	Mark Linforth (Escort)	28
	Stuart Deacon (Escort)	28
Class 4	Giles Greenslade (Beetle)	16
	Colin Perryman (Skoda)	21
	Stuart Cairney (Imp)	27
Class 5	Peter Davies (Panther Lima)	28
Class 6	Nigel Allen (Beetle)	18
	Gary Browning (Beetle)	23
Class 7	Arthur Vowden (Marlin)	20
	Tim Lakin (Marlin)	25
	Mal Allen (Marlin)	25
Class 8	Paul Bartleman (Troll)	10
	Mike Chatwin (Troll)	10
	Dudley Sterry (MG J2)	10

2002_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Mike Chatwin wins Classic Clouds

The Stroud Club found a window in the wet weather and although some of the sections were very boggy put on yet another excellent event. Nigel Moss set out to bring the event closer to a “classic format” and the sections had a more natural feel with very little “tree weaving”.

**David Thompson storming Crooked Mustard in his Troll**

Stroud had their usual full entry for their event, which stands alone, no championship, triples or anything at stake, you do this one for it’s own sake. There were a couple of non-starters, including Clive Booth, so second reserve Ian Davis got a run as second reserve.

With Sandfords know longer available Nigel Moss had found a new hill called Crawley for the first section. This was pretty muddy, but there was plenty of grip, so it didn’t pose many problems. Hazel MacDonald wouldn’t agree as she under-steered off into the scenery on the hairpin!

There was a queue for Crooked Mustard and Andrew Brown had to hold later numbers out on the main road for some time. The old section was quite slippery and there was a big step between the second and third corners. Most of the class eight’s got up OK, and a few of the sixes and sevens, but the rest floundered on, or in between, the corners. There were exceptions of course and local man Mark Linforth came out of the top in his Escort. So did Mick Workman in his class seven Imp. Colin Perryman broke a drive shaft on the first corner and dropped nine. However, he managed to repair the Skoda and went on to win class four. Mike Pearson found he had damaged a wheel quite badly and had to stop to hammer it straight.

Rushmire was badly washed out so part of it was used as a down hill special test. The challenge here was to stop on the finish line and this caught out a few including David Heale, Paul Bartleman and Adrian Marfell. Neil Bray broke his gearbox, loosing first and reverse and retired to limp home after a bit of spectating on Nailsworth. Michael Leete was also given a fail, even though he and Mike Hayward were certain they performed the test correctly, perhaps it was for setting such a slow time!

There was a holding control in the lane before the road to prevent a build-up at the foot of Axe, which was causing a few problems this year. It didn’t seem to be causing any PR problems as the lady in the pub at the start was keeping Clerk of the Course Nigel Moss supplied with tea served on a proper cup and saucer! All the rain had made Axe pretty claggy in a couple of places, one just after the start and the other quite near to the top. This caused problems for the lower classes with their lees powerful engines and lower ground clearance. However, the results make interesting reading. Adrian Tucker-Peake went clean in his Front Drive Peugeot but local men Mark Linforth and Mike Hobbs both failed even though they had just cleaned Crooked Mustard! The class 4 Imp’s all failed but Stuart Cairney and Jim Scott were level pegging with local Ian Moss.

There was lots of grip on Nailsworth Ladder and there were very few failures, even amongst the restarting class eight’s. The Ham Mill restart was just after the corner this year, which made it much easier and there were not very many failures. Although it still caught out a few, including Dick Glossop and Ade Welsh in class four, Mark Smiths powerful Beetle and all the class ones apart from Adrian T-P.

**Nathan Camm was disapointed not to win The Ian Moss Trophy for best presented car**

Lunch was taken in the civilised surroundings of the Tesco cafeteria, civilised for us maybe, but I don’t know what the shoppers thought of the muddy triallers and their strange collection of cars! Fred’s Folly was the usual glorious long blast up through the trees, there were special tyre pressure restrictions but no nonsense like restarts to impede progress. It is pretty boggy and rutty up near the top and like Axe you needed a combination of power, ground clearance and a heavy right foot to get through. This caught out both Stuart Cairney and Jim Scott, letting Ian Moss into the lead of the Imp battle.

The trial was to be decided on the next section, a new Catswood, reached after a lovely long drive through the forest below Merve’s Swerve. The Forshew family was in charge here, some of the many regular competitors who were out marshalling, for what must be the strongest trials club in the country. The lower reaches of the hill aren’t a problem, these started after a cross track where there was a restart and a ninety left ninety right, followed by a very steep, muddy gradient which nobody cleaned. Most of the competitive class eights got to the two, but Dudley Sterry failed lower down for a four and I can vouch how hard it is for Dudley to get the narrow tracked J2 up such a section as it won’t go in the ruts! This was also where all the Falcon class eight’s failed, including David Thompson, out for his first trial in his Troll.

Merves Swerve was next on the agenda, a “Clouds favourite! Not for John Bell though as he broke the gearbox on his Escort. Only classes seven and eight had to restart. The challenge for the rest was to crest the slippery big bump on the sharp right hand bend, which defeated all but Nigel Allen in his big engined Beetle. The class sevens all struggled and hot shot Arthur Vowden couldn’t even get away from the restart. Neither could David Thompson who was still adapting his driving style to the Troll. David had been told it wouldn’t trickle and was still to learning how to slip the clutch on the line and blast it! Dudley Sterry, Mike Chatwin and Peter Fear were amongst a select group of class eight’s to come out the top of the section. So was Adrian Marfell who was also one of the few to get away from the muddy restart on Highwood 1. David Thompson got away here as well with only Dudley Sterry and Mike Chatwin joining them to succeed in class eight.

Although there was, a lot of mud there seemed to be a fair amount of grip on both the Highwood sections. However, there was a horrible hump at the top of Highwood 2 and most of the entry bottomed out and faced the horrible task of reversing down carefully or risk a plunge to oblivion. Mike Chatwin cleaned the section, putting him into an unassailable lead. Ian Davis was the only successful Falcon. There was no doubt a short wheelbase helped, as the section turned left after the bump this year and the turn was very tricky.

Cimperswell was a glorious mud bath with a tricky restart with tree roots just waiting too catch out the un-wary. A lot of the class eight’s managed it OK, including David Thompson, but Mike Pearson failed. Apart from the leading class 3’s and Colin Perryman in class four competitors in the lower classes failed on or around the restart. Adrian Tucker-Peake didn’t have to restart in his class one Peugeot but never less must be congratulated for emerging from the Climperswell bog in a forward direction.

There were just the two Bulls Bank sections to complete the day. Hazel MacDonald got away from both of them and would have challenged for second in class if it wasn’t for her mistake on the first section.

Overall Winner	Mike Chatwin (Troll)	2
Class 1	Adrian Tucker-Peake (Peugeot)	33
Class 2	Steve White	16
Class 3	Mark Linfiorth (Escort)	17
Class 4	Colin Perryman (Skoda)	17
Class 5	Andrew Biffen (MGB GT)	74
Class 6	Nigel Allen (VW Beetle)	7
Class 7	Arthur Vowden (Marlin)	14
Class 8	Dudley Sterry (MG J2)	5

2001_cotswold_clouds_results Download

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.

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)**

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 Winner	Arthur Vowden	Marlin	11
Best Stroud Member	Mick Workman	GVS	13
Class1	Terry Coventry	Citroen AX	31
2	Bill Bennett	MG J2	38
3	Mark Linforth	Ford Escort	23
4	Jim Scott	Sunbeam Stietto	29
5	Peter Davies	Panther Lima	60
6	Mike Hobbs	Beetle	22
7	Tommy Kalber	Dutton Melos	11
8	Tony Young	VW Special	16

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