Blue Hills
Video by Roger Woodley
Category: Lands End
Lands End 2016 Stuff
Keep Checking Back. This is frequently updated. A collection of links and notes while I compile a report over the coming week.
The above Video Playlist starts with the latest YouTube Video. Sorry can’t embed Face Book Videos 😦
- In Car and On Bike Video
- Main Trial Video
- Class 0 Video
- Lots of Stuff on the Classic Trials FaceBook Group
- Michael’s Reports from the Lands End
- Scrutiineering at Cirencester
You can comment on The Lands End Trial 🙂
1504 Lands End 2015
The tough sections took their toll on the results. Only five cars cleaned all the hills with non-counting stops deciding awards in many classes. The results would be very different had the initial timing penalties not been dropped when the final results were published.
- Dave Cooks Photos
- Video Playlist
- InCar and OnBike Videos
- Bob Blackmans Lands End
- Stephen Maddalena’s Blue Hills Photos
- Andrew Trenoweth’s Blue Hills 1 & 2 Photos
With a dry spell leading up to the trial the heavy rain on the evening of the trial was to liven up the early sections.
Failures on Felons Oak
With very distance between the R boards there was little choice of where to stop on the Felons Oak Restart, assuming of course you could sight your wheels between the lines! Everyone in Class Eight went clear but failures were prevalent as you went down the classes and by the time you got to Class One there were only four cleans. Perhaps the MCC need a rethink on making Class One do restarts, it must have been very de-motivating for newcomers to fail the first hill like this.
Chaos at County Gate
After the Crook Horn Hill Special Test there came the usual run over the wilds of Exmoor on a clear night, with none of the usual fog or horizontal snow to liven things up this year.
The idea of the County Gate Control is to regulate the flow into Barbrook to reduce congestion. Its a sound principle, but unfortunately the execution didn’t work out so well. It took well over a minute for the officials to process each competitor. This caused a considerable queue to build up and later competitors lost well over half an hour waiting for a signature.
The other sections during the hours of darkness passed without too much drama and didn’t have any significant effect on the results
Cutliffe Lane was Rough
After a string of gentle sections things changed at Cutliffe Lane. There were no restarts and Classes One and Two only had to reach the A Boards. No matter, this was a tough hill, rough as well. Eric Wall had his Dellows spare wheel carrier break away, forcing his first retirement in more than 40 years of MCC trialling.
The hill wasn’t friendly to rear engined cars, unless you were a member of the Butcher family. Nicola and Harry were the only cleans, in classes four and six respectively. They were to go on to class awards although in Harry’s case after battling with three punctures and initially falling victim to time penalties before they were all cancelled.
After such a rough hill Darracott didn’t present many problems with its new surface eliminating the steps up to the concrete slabs on the corners.
Doctored Crackington
The locals had spiced up Crackington with a fair amount of clag dumped in the area where Class Eight had their restart. Getting away was tricky and around half were penalised, including Dudley Sterry, running his MG J2 in Class Eight instead of Seven as he has been doing on ACTC events recently. Brian Partridge (Ridge Cannon), Mike Pearson (Dellow Rep) were amongst others that didn’t succeed.
The other classes had a straight run through the clag but it still took its toll, especially in the well supported Class Five where around half spun to a halt.
Warleggan followed the Wilsey Down Rest Halt, where those that arrived early enough had breakfast. This is a very rough section with a restart for classes seven and eight where Brian Partridge was penalised for running back again. It was a tough hill for the Marlin dominated Class Seven, who had already lost about a quarter of their number through retirements, and only 50% of the remainder were to get away.
New Section in Laneskin Woods
After a special test came the new section in Laneskin Woods. It was straight and not too rough, but it was very muddy and this was what stopped many competitors, especially in the lower classes where only a handful of cars went clean.
Hoskin was Tough
Cardinham Woods was only a few miles away, where Hoskin was to be the biggest challenge of the trial. Six, Seven and Eight had a restart but the other classes were denied a straight run by a tapped off chicane. This prevented the lower classes taking a full blooded run at the steep bit which certainly took its toll and all the Front Wheel Drives failed and received non counting stops. Classes Three and Four each had only one clear, Lester Keat and Nicola Butcher respectively. Three Class fives came out of the top and Alan Bee proved that power isn’t everything by coaxing his Austin Seven to the summit in Class Two along with Adrian Dommett in his Wolsley Hornet.
The re-starters had a tough challenge and nobody in Classes Six or Seven succeeded so they benefited from a non counting stop. It was cleanable though, as Nick Farmer and Josh Moss proved.
Bishops Wood Restarts
After the usual Special Test the Bishops Wood section lay just up the track. This had the usual two restarts situated around the cross track. One to Six had theirs on a loose surface leading up to the track, with the box located so it was possible to get the front wheels well onto the track itself. It was a challenge, but an achievable one, and around half got away OK.
Seven and Eight had a tougher job, their box was on the steep polished paving after the track. This was a tough one, only Rob Haworth (Liege) and Mac Taylor (Marlin) getting away. Class Eight found it difficult as as well with only four successes.
Blue Hills
The tricky horseshoe that is Blue Hills One had tough tyre pressure limits and a restart for Six, Seven and Eight. There had also been a local rain shower, well downpour, that left the track leading to the restart area flooded, ensuring tyres were wet and muddy for the difficult bit!
With a straight run through most in the lower classes went clear, apart from Class Five that is where many of the big Suzukis struggled a bit. The restart really sorted out the higher classes. Only Harry Butcher got away in Class Six along with a mere four of the Seven’s. Class Eights did a bit better but even they only had a 50% success rate.
After that BH2 was a bit of an anti climax to finish off the sections, leaving just the run back up for signing off at Fraddon to finish the event.
Timing Issues
The provisional results had lateness penalties applied and this had a considerable impact on the awards. By the time the finals were issued these had been scrapped on technicalities.
All in all a tough Lands End with some very rough sections and long queues for the later numbers. The timing issues were controversial and in the main didn’t go down very well with competitors. Clerk of the Course Bill Rosten was much in evidence throughout the trial, looking at what was going on and talking to competitors. He has a lot to think about but I’m sure he will be looking to address the issues.
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
1504 Tough Lands End for Class 0
After a relatively easy Exeter things where 21 Tins were awarded things toughened up on the Lands End and only two cars went clean. The difficult sections came towards the end of the trial where Silver Lead Mine and Bishops Wood took their toll.
Links:-
Through the Night
12 Motorcycles and 36 Cars left the start at Bridgwater for the first section at Catsash, with a restart this year. Like most of the sections during the night it didn’t stop many but they were all long and enjoyable. There was some concern if the delays at County Gate (see main trial report) would result in time penalties, but these were confined to the main trial.
Slippery Sherwood
Come the dawn Sherwood was slippery at the start with a big hole further up. This caught out Nev Bowers on his first Lands End in his Suzuki X90 and John Turner lost his tin with his only fail on the event.
Hackmarsh was a new Section
Hackmarsh was a new section, approached down the track the main trial use to get to Darracott. The junction was where the Hobbs Choice Special Test used to be, Class 0 going straight on where the main trial went left. It was a very nice section, categorised as 8 for roughness in the route card. There were a lot of small loose rocks but it wasn’t to bad if you took things steadily. A couple of lower slung cars struggled and needed a tow but most competitors really enjoyed the section.
Laneskin was Cancelled
After a welcome breakfast at Wilsey Down things toughened up at Cardinham. The new section in Laneskin Wood was cancelled after early numbers got stuck on the upper reaches and the Chief Official decided to halt proceedings to keep the event running on time. The Laneskin Junction Special test ran though, this was very tight and the experienced Mike Oakins (Liege) and Vic Lockley (VW Beetle) were both penalised, costing mike his Tin.
Tape Touched at Silver Lead Mine
There was only one section in Cardinham woods this year, the familiar Silver Lead Mine with a chicane just after the start defined by tape. Up until now a lot of cars still had clean sheets but this changed with a whole host of penalties for either stopping on the chicane or touching the tape.
Bishops Wood was Tough
Bishops Wood was to prove the toughest challenge on the trial. It wasn’t rough but the final part of the section was quite muddy and only eight cars carried sufficient momentum to reach the section ends board.
Alternative Blue Hills
Only Blue Hills remained, with a choice of the old tarmac hill with a restart on the sharp left hander or a run up with the new section but leaving out the artificial bit at the top. The choices were about equal and as it turned out the Old Hill restart was probably more difficult than the rough track. There were quite a few failures on both but fortunately nobody was denied a tin by making the wrong decision.
ts all Over!
All that was left was the long road run back up to signing off at the Fraddon Premier Inn. No results of course, they took a few days to come through when they showed just how tough the final part of the trial was for Class 0. Only David Richards in his Liege ad Michael Leete in his Beetle were clean with a further 11 Copper’s awarded.
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
Lands End Gold Rush
Lots of Golds on a Dry Lands End
With Easter so late this year Clerk of the Course Bill Rosten caught the nice weather for his first event. With only subtle changes the event ran smoothly although enforcement of the timing regulations caught out a few established competitors.
- Dave Cooks Photos
- Video Playlist
- Bob Blackmans Lands End
- Pictures by Sarah Turner
- Stephen Maddalena’s Blue Hills Photos
Plusha was definitely the place to start on this years event, with 96 cars, nearly two thirds of the entry, choosing the first starting point, many of the more northerly competitors choosing to trailer down to the West Country. It wasn’t long before they were on their way back up the A30 for the night run to the Bridgwater accumulation control where Dean Vowden lost his Class Six award when he was penalised for late arrival.
Penalties at Felons Oak and Crook Horn
The first section was the familiar Felons Oak, a nice opener, but the last section on this years event for the venerable Courtney Yandle, who retired his Class Six Beetle after stopping here.
The Crook Horn Special Test was very disappointing for John Wilton in, or should I say on, his Trojan, penalised ORL and loosing his Gold. No such mistake by Nigel Hilling who went on to the Class Two Award, returning to trials after a years enforced break in his 100E engined upright Ford Anglia. Roger Vanstone (Suzuki X90) was another to loose his Gold here. A couple of competitors were penalised for stopping at the flying finish line, including the father and son duo of Peter and James Mountain in their Mk1 Dellow.
Time Issues at Barbrook
A trip over the wilds of Exmoor preceded a holding control at County Gate to regulate arrival at Barbrook where there was a penalty for early arrival. A number of competitors fell foul of this, including Lee Peck in his his Kracken. This was unfortunate as Lee would otherwise have won Gold, which would have been a great ad for the Kracken which he has put into production.
Neither Beggars nor the other sections before the Wilsey Down rest halt caused problems for most although Darracott was cancelled after Ivan Sharrock had the misfortune to turn over in his HRG, the good news was the crew were OK.
Warleggan Restart wasn’t easy
Warleggan came after the break. The higher classes had to restart and this took its toll on the medals, either for not pulling away or in the case of Steve Glasson and Linden Alcock who were penalised for not stopping in their Dellow Mk2’s. None of the three German crews got this far which was a shame considering all the way they had come.
Into Cardinham Woods and Lady Vale which had a restart with a very narrow box, where Paul Brooks lost his gold in his X90. Hoskin was next, in the same complex, with different restarts according to class. These boxes were narrow as well but the marshals must have been lenient as they didn’t record as many fails as was feared.
Bishops Wood
The Bishops Wood test saw Dave Wall loose his gold when he over ran the line as did Trevor Wood in his Suzuki powered Leige.
The Bishops Wood section was just up the track, with a restart after the cross track for the higher clases and just before for the lower category cars. This wasn’t a problem for most but Ian Musgrove in his X90 said goodbye to his gold here. The higher class restart was definitely not Marlin friendly, confirmed by Harry Bounden who lost his gold when he was judged not to have got away.
Blue Hills
Only the two sections at Blue Hills remained where neither Nick Farmer or Neal Vile could cope with the tight corner in their UVA Fugitives, nor could Mike Tucker’s X 90. BH2 had its usual big crowd enjoying the spectacle and saw a handful of competitors loose their golds.
All that remained was the 19 mile run back up the A30 to the finish where a handful of competitors were penalised for late arrival.
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
Enjoyable Lands End
A Super Summer Weekend in the West Country
With Easter being so late, and all the dry weather, it was a very different Lands End. Perhaps the hills lost their competitive edge but the nice weather made it a super event. As it happened some of the later hills took their toll on clean sheets and Bishops Wood and Blue Hills 2 reduced the medal count. Although competitors on MCC events compete against the club rather than each other winners are declared on the basis of Special Test Times and the seemingly invincible Nick Farmer won the Field Trophy.
With glorious weather and a short night because Easter was so late it was a different sort of Lands End Trial this year. Competitors enjoyed the nice weather and relaxed atmosphere which more than made up for some of the hills not being competitive as they were so dry.
There were some toughies though. Crackington had been well and truly doctored, with at least three trailer loads of very sticky clay. This took its toll and Tris White in his Troll was one of many to miss a gold in the clag. Tris had also been shown as failing Hoskin in the provisional results but this was amended in the finals along with several others.
Bishops Wood is normally an innocuous hill for the lower classes. However, this year they had a fearsome restart on the bank up to the cross track. Even classes 1 and 2 had to attempt this. Only one car in Class 1 was successful and unsurprisingly this was David Haizelden in his familiar VW Golf. The failures and the hill being shared with Class 0 caused considerable delays here, especially as it proved far to challenging for the majority of the motorcycles.
Hoskin was another section to have a restart for the lower classes this year. Although it was on quite a slope there was grip and most succeeded. Not so local man Hans Viertel who lost his gold here in front of his Camel Vale club mates.
There was a big crowd on Bluehills for the finale. Many competitors feel Blue Hills 2 has been spoilt by the maniac JCB driver as the turn into the deviation is ridiculously tight. many got round although some needed to go up the bank to do it. Matt Denny found it far to much for his Fugitive and lost his gold here.
All in all a very enjoyable trial though. Long may we continue to have such a wonderful way to spend Easter.
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
Lands End 09
Excellent Lands End
Conditions were ideal. Dry and sunny on the Saturday but damp underfoot on many of the sections.
The weather was a little drizzly for the night run from Popham, Bristol and Plusha down to the convergence control at Bridgewater where Class 0 was to start, missing out the drive through the night.
Felons Oak was the first observed section for the main trial. The weather was dry now but this is not one to be taken lightly. It has become much rougher recently and the “box” had the boards very close together again this year, making it quite difficult to get either the front wheels or black wheels between. Straddling would mean a fail of course. Nick Bowler, Brian Partridge and Kevin Barnes were amongst those penalised.
Crook Horn Hill Special Test – With Stoney Street lost due to being reclassified this special test took over its position in the route card, taking place in the same woods near the village of Luccombe. It was a nice straightforward affair although Reg Salway, who was marshalling there, reckoned a lot of competitors didn’t perform it correctly.
The route bypassed the infamous Porlock Hill, winding its way down into a deep valley in the narrowest of lanes to a ford before climbing high onto Exmoor before rejoining the A39 and the holding control at The Culbone Inn.
The restart at Beggars was over on left again, on the loose stuff. It was good to see that the direct route was closed off with tape, directing everyone through the box. This prevented the debacle of last year when some competitors who didn’t have to re-start were penalised when they didn’t go through the restart area. Mike Warnes had his only failure of the event here in his TR7, caught out by the grip level and applying to little throttle.
Rodneys Revenge
There were a few crews having navigation issues and had problems finding Rodneys Revenge. Simon Robson was one and lost nearly an hour having to backtrack when he missed the turning off the A39. With a loose surface this forestry section favoured the later numbers, many of the early runners spinning out in the stones if they didn’t fly round the 90 left at the bottom to build momentum ready for the steepening gradient with restart to spice things up for class eight. There may even have been a localised shower of rain in this area! Nick Bowler wasn’t to have a great run elsewhere but was one of the early runners to emerge clean.
This hill has a very similar character to Rodneys Revenge, starting on a slope leading to a 90 left followed by a steepening long, straight climb on loose stones. In the case of Rodney’s Revenge its a 90 left and at Cutliffe Lane 90 right, otherwise very similar. Now the gate is no longer there its possible to blast round the 90 right but many didn’t and failed on the upper reaches with insufficient momentum.
This really is one of the most atmospheric hills on The Lands End, approached in the morning it has everything, a ford at the bottom, a rocky restart and a finish in the village itself with refreshments provided by the local ladies. It isn’t the most competitive section, provided you stop in the right place! This caught out a few drivers who should have known better, including Bill Rosten in his Imp and Falcons Geoff Hodge in the RDT. Former biker Roy Opie stopped here and retired soon after, returning home. John Aley reports in the MCC News of the Week that there was a fire that night, destroying Roys Marlin, his collection of bikes and all his tools. I am sure everyone will join Classical Gas in saying our heart goes out to Roy.
Darracott
The restart box was over to the left again this year, on a camber that drew you towards the centre of the track and towards the restart markers! Fortunately for many the marshals didn’t seem to penalise hitting these boards. This restart configuration wasn’t that easy to get away on. Positioning was everything and it caught out a few experienced drivers, including Harvey Waters in his Pop who lost his gold here, and the experienced beetle Drivers Terry Ball and Mark’s Tooth and Smith.
This wonderful Lands End section has lost some of its sting in recent years, are the cars and drivers better or haven’t the locals been doctoring it as much? This time it seemed to benefit from a heavy, very localised, shower on the upper reaches and a herd of elephants all stopping to defecate in the same place, exactly where the MCC sited the class eight restart. This certainly had the desired effect and kept the winch crew busy for the lower slung or less powerful cars. For the others who was a wonderful blast accompanied by the shouts of encouragement from the knowledgeable spectators who gather on the banks.
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
Lands End 2007
What a Glorious Trial
Lots of Sun and Lots and Lots of Golds
There was lots of Sun and lots of gold’s and lots of sun on the Lands End. Unfortunately, not so many came Falcons way, as only Keith Oakes and Simon Groves came home with a gold.
Most Falcons elected to start from Popham, and were flagged away by Verdun Webley for a nice run through the gathering dusk to the consolidation point at Bridgewater Rugby Club. There was work for the passengers here, updating the route card with amendments, as there were problems with both Riverton and Hoskins.
The run to the first hill at Felons Oak was not without drama. The two Trojans were stopped by the roadside and Steve Potter had to retire soon after. Neil Bray heard ominous rumblings from the front of Primrose and diagnosed wheel bearing problems. He continued, but by Minehead it was so bad he had to retire. Primrose was despatched back to Hertfordshire with Arthur’s Army while Neil and Julie went down to Wilsey Down in a hire car and on to Bluehills to watch their fellow Falcons.
Felons Oak only claimed a few casualties, but Paul Weston (Liege) and Nick Wollett (Dellow Mk1) must have been disappointed this was their only failure. With Stony Street out of bounds competitors tackled Stoneless Street instead, but this wasn’t too trouble the scorer to much, although Mike Young was penalised a runback in his Austin Big 7 on his first trial for the best part of ten years.
Beggars had a restart within a chicane created by tape, causing uncertainty as to what happens if you touched it or knocked it down. Both Simon Groves and Michael Leete came very close and were relieved to see they had not been penalised when the results were published.
With Riverton out of action, Rodney’s Revenge was on the agenda, a hill familiar to some from North Devon’s events. It was a short, sharp, very steep affair, cleaned by most of the early numbers. However, like Beggars Roost it cut up badly towards the end and claimed numerous scalps amongst the later runners.
The dry conditions made both Sutcombe and Cutliffe Lane achievable for most, but Michael Leete fell foul of the restart on Darracott, which had a taped off chicane like Beggars, marshalled by Brian Alexander. Simon Robson lost his gold on Crackington, the next hill, after the engine fluffed and the 850 motor didn’t have the steam to pull the Liege through the doctored section where there had been the usual localised shower.
After Warleggan and Powells Hill (substituting for Hoskin) came Bishopwood. The yellows and reds had been dreading this. However, the usual Mickey Mouse restart was been more generous and there was the possibility to stop before the slab and get some momentum going. Keith Oakes and Simon Robson were both thrilled to get away. Peter Mountain, Geoff Hodge and Ross Nuten all picked up their only fails in the event here. Ross was later thrown excluded as Maureen was down in the program and the MCC ruled he was not allowed to change the driver.
On to the finale at Bluehills, where there did not seem to be as many spectators as usual, despite the lovely weather. Both hills were Falcon friendly, apart from BH2 where running at the back of the field Mike Young had problems with the big holes that had dug by preceding competitors.
In Class 0 both Fred Gregory (Rickman Ranger), Richard Tompkins (Imp) and Ian Nute (Suzuki X90) went clean but Reg Taylor and Clive Booth (Ford Ka) were penalised for alleged misdemeanours on the special tests.
Claire’s Lands End
Claire and Keith Oakes took part in the Lands End in their Duttom Phaeton. Here is Claire’s report
Dry, warm and starless night made it perfect driving across the moors, no fog, thank God. The fun started for us at Michaelwood Services, when Keith found that a hose had disconnected itself from the heater, water every where. I bet Ted Holloway wished that was all that happened to him, instead of his Mini Enigma Spl falling apart a stones throw from Popham.
Felons Oak Smiles here, as I’m sure the restart has shrunk with the Vim in the wash. It was small last year but now it`s shrivelled from my big bloomers to the size of my daughters G- string. No chance of putting whole car in, perhaps it was a train buff setting out double O gauge lines.
Beggars Roost Cars were queued from the entrance to the section back to the Garage. Ed Nickel there as a spectator now as his dynamo packed up on his VW Buggy
A marshal said restart was higher up to try and stop 7 & 8s. News filtered down in the wait to go as far right as possible in the box. Thank you to that man who told us. As we approached the box I could see thick churned mud on the left. I shouted at Keith “go right” he did and we got away fine, just missing an over hanging branch.
Riverton Smiles left my face here, not the wait; we had that last year, but the second year of sitting behind a car, which doesn’t switch the engine OFF. Last year it was a VW, this year an orange Marlin. I have read that males unconsciously touch their bits
I think this lad was so high on testosterones by his constant vroom, vroom, the nearer we got to the section the more vrooms we had. Next year I will have a loofah ready to soak in quick drying cement to push up any offender’s exhaust pipe. Yes, I know I could have got off my butt and asked him to cease, but that would have meant getting my boots dirty! Neither navigator nor he has read the route card fully which states NO NOISE, but there again I didn’t realize how much noise I make until I saw myself on video shouting encouragement to the Dutton when driving up a section! Thank you for getting that off my chest, onto;
Roundswell Control. Carbon monoxide washed away by a nice hot cup of tea supplied by our son Allan who was marshalling at the control. Happy bunny again.
Crackington. Waiting at the ford at the foot of the hill we watched class 7 Andrew Browns Marlin fade & die on the climb, but a quick switch back on, he did a slick re start and he pulled away like a dream to complete the section.
Wilsey Down. Bravo to the person/s who thought of having a gazebo for the control point at Hallworthy Market top car park. This saved squeezing passed each other as control used to be just inside the café entrance
Hoskin. We nearly got to the red restart. I do feel that yellow restart being so low down the section the Dutton doesn’t have enough time to wind up from section begins.
Bishops Wood. Our favourite hill, I think not. This hill we have never got away from the restart. We flew pass the “A” boards over the plateau track and like a swatted fly splat into the glutinous mud in the box. Keith tried to get his back wheels as high as he could but the mud held us tight. I’m sure in the past years grass was there in the box?
Blue Hills 1 Smoking wheels, but got away
Blue Hills 2. Clean pair of heels.
Finished a great trial staying in Cornwall until Tuesday, as we celebrated our daughters birthday on Easter Monday at the Cross roads Lodge, who looked after us very well during our stay there.
We have been publishing stuff about Classic Trials on the Web since 1995 and always appreciate feedback. Comments, Corrections, Criticism & Concerns are all welcome. You can leave a comment to have your say here on this web site or our Social Media
Chris Clarke’s Lands End
Last year Chris drove in Class 0, This time he tackled the main event.
The Land End seen from a competitors viewpoint. Regular correspondent Chris Clarke reports.
Following our timekeeping problems on the Edinburgh, we decided that tyre deflating & pumping was the biggest cause of delay and made some improvements to speed up the process as far as possible, helped by useful advice on the Classical Gas message board. More importantly, we had taken advantage of the Allen, Clee Hills & March Hare events to fine tune the coffee & biscuits routine with the rigour usually associated with GP tyre changes, so even in extreme circumstances we wouldn’t miss this vital ritual. As things turned out, both these preparations proved very useful.
Having left Michaelwood via the unofficial exit (the rebel in me enjoys this bit) we proceeded by the “great circle” route to North Petherton, completed the formalities, and tried the omelette & chips at the truck stop (recommended). Then it was off to Felons Oak and Stoney Street, which we completed without too much difficulty (at least compared with what followed). I don’t know if it’s deliberate, but all Classic trials seem to start with a couple of “warm up” sections like this, a very good idea we think and hopefully any organisers reading this agree, otherwise I expect a nasty surprise the next time.
The night driving across Exmoor is one of the best and most distinctive parts of this event. Although we know the area well from holidays in the area, it takes on a completely different atmosphere, with the arrival (and refreshments) at the Culborne Inn one of the high points. Tempered by the thought that you’re still less than a quarter of the way through; and ordering a double Scotch probably wouldn’t go down too well at that point.
The next section, Beggars Roost, is part of Colin’s folklore as both his father (in the 1937 event), and more recently his brother, have attempted it. The weight of family honour was resting on his shoulders as we approached, while I was just concerned that we had been told to read the failure instructions before starting. As it was we were pleased to clean the section, but not before some nervous moments in the area of the restart box. Before anyone asks why we, in class one, worry about the restart area, I must record that we very much appreciate not having to deliberately stop there and long may this dispensation continue. The flip side is that it usually consists of either a jumble of razor sharp boulders, a mirror smooth sheet of rock or a bottomless mud pit, and to get maximum advantage from the concession you seem to have to drive as fast as possible through it – quite exciting.
The build up at Beggars was nothing compared with Riverton, where we had to wait for some time. This would not be so bad, as there was time for a chat or a nap, but explanations for the delay kept filtering back – cars stuck in impossible positions, marshals having to stop them falling over precipices, crews running out of oxygen at the section ends board, etc. Finally, it was our turn and we have to say, this is the best section we have ever attempted, the length, sharp corners, straight bits to build up speed and the feeling of satisfaction when we (very unexpectedly) arrived at the top. After that there had to be a let-down and sure enough we just ran out of grip some way up Cutcliffe Lane. We were also still very late and not sure how near to the end of the field, so we had to press on through Sutcombe, Darracot & Crackington. It was satisfying to see so many people spectating and the cheers and encouragement are much appreciated, especially as we clawed our way through the muddy restart area at Darracot. However, the worst moment of this part was at Widemouth Bay, where I ambled into the car park in second gear and nearly got stuck in the sand – could have been very embarrassing.
Lack of grip (or the skill to find it) was the problem again at Hoskins, if the spectator’s encouragement was all it took we would have continued into earth orbit at the top, as it was we stopped just short of the restart, possibly weighed down by the excellent lunch we had just eaten at the Wilsey Down Hotel. Grip was not a problem at Bishop’s Wood where the plan was to build up speed on the straight lower section and across the track, so as to clear the two ramps; and thence to the finish. As it was the straight was longer than I remembered, so the speed was very high, the view of VW bonnet as we cleared the first ramp was not very helpful as to steering and the track slopes a fair bit so we hit the next ramp too far left and just slid out of contention, straight through all the carefully placed restart markers – sorry.
Finally Blue Hills, where we prepared by finishing the last of our refreshments at Perranporth. Last year we disappointed the spectators by taking the class 0 soft option of the old hill, but this year there was no avoiding the main event. As you descent to the start, the view of the hill opposite with ant like cars bumping over the ruts is pretty daunting, but we were encouraged by getting round the first part (Blue Hills 1), although looking at Michaels pictures there was a lot less margin than we thought at the time.
For the second part we got started well, but the car lost speed over the bumps, the little engine just couldn’t drag it any further and we stalled before the corner. Maybe a bit more skill with the clutch would have got it going again or maybe we just need a bigger engine, but there’s always next year and having spectated here for some years, just to arrive at the top as competitors (even with some help from the friendly winch) was very satisfying.
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