Classical Gas

Edinburgh 2005

It was a very competitive Edinburgh. Litton, Great Hucklow and the restart on Excelsior really shaking up the results. It certainly thinned out the triples. Only five cars and five bikes gaining the MCC’s premier award. The trial was well supported by Falcons, with 18 entries in the main trial and 2 in class 0. Colin Sumner put in the best performance, gaining Silver.

2005_edinburgh_results Download

Ian Bates and his team organised a very different route with some interesting “new” hills. After a nice easy introduction at the tree lined Haven Hill the entry soon found itself at the foot of a rather rough Clough Wood, and an hours delay, even for the early cars, as some of the bikers were falling off. With a long section and a tricky restart for the higher classes the delay built up, so later numbers were waiting for the best part of two and a half hours, although having arrived an hour early they were not so far behind scheduled time.

The section was quite rough and the restart caught out both Keith Oakes and Maureen Chattle/Ross Neuton. Ted Holloway had problems with the ruts at the bottom and got his very special rear engined Mini wedged sideways across the track on the lower reaches. Barrie Parker was another Falcon to fail in the big Audi 80.

Deep Rake was another very easy section, followed by a special test before the run to Litton. The descent was as hairy as ever, especially when the skies opened every now and again and the rain came down. The old hill was in fine form and only 15 cars made it to the summit. None of the cars in 1, 4, 5 or 6 got to the A boards, so the section didn’t count in the results. Brian Partridge was the first car to be shown it could be done in his Cannon and Pete Hart made a fine ascent to go clear. Waiting in the queue I saw Ray Goodright make a flawless climb in his Arkley MG and then Adrian Dommett and Julie Phillips fight and bounce their way to the summit after so nearly stopping just past the tree. I also saw Tim Whellock grind to a halt and loose his triple in the ex-John Parsons Fugitive. This was a real shame because Tim is taking over as Clerk of the Course for the Exeter and won’t get another chance for a while.

Calton is starting to get ruttier again at the summit but there was plenty of grip and it only stopped one car, unfortunately Maureen and Ross in their Mk2 Dellow. There was an excellent breakfast waiting at The Bull I’th Thorn before going off to Haydale, with a very muddy and rutted approach to where the gradient and hard surface starts. The section defeated Barrie Parker and Ted Holloway who had to retire afterwards.

The trial started to toughen up now, as the route wound its way down Winnats Pass and across the Ladybower reservoir to Haggside. This section was under threat a few years ago; full marks to the MCC for managing to keep it in the trial. As usual the main test was the restart just after the hairpin, right after the start. It can be very tricky if you don’t know its there, or position the car in the wrong place and it wasn’t that long ago it cost Falconry Editor David a triple. Most made it OK, although a few newcomers drove through before they realised it was there! It did stop a few though, including Colin Perryman in his lovely BMW and Falcons Peter Manning and Barrie Parker.

After a holding control came Bamford, a true prince amongst trials sections. OK, Litton can be more challenging but Bamford brings out the brave! It was much smoother than in previous years, thanks to the MCC road gang. Class eight had to restart as well, just to stop them getting complacent. Running at the front of the field Dave Nash and Julie Fleet stormed up in the MGeetle. Neil Bray and Mike Hayward had problems getting away from the restart but a kindly marshal took pity on them and gave them a clear. Simon Robson cleaned the section in his Liege but to the sounds of tinkling from his transmission. Driving away from the hill it was clear all was not well with the ‘box and Simon and Matt retired. Peter Thompson was delighted to go clear but Bamford wasn’t kind to rear engined cars and Colin Sumner and Brian Alexander had their first counting stops of the trial. Earlier Clive Booth had struggled to get away from the restart, floored the throttle, spinning the wheels which fortunately dropped into a hole with plenty of grip and went on to clear.

Great Hucklow was its evil self with the rocky deviation up to the left for all but class 0. The yellows and reds had to restart amongst the rocks. John Parsons was amongst many who couldn’t get away from the restart which some would say was just s he was one of the team who created the deviation back in the days of the SODC Conquest Trial!

Kings Stearndale was not to create to many problems but after the tea stop at Hollingsclough came a couple of horrors. Rakes Head was only just up the road. It was short but quite tricky. It started on the road before a sharp 90 left and a severe rise in gradient, with a restart for yellows and reds. Clive Booth was defeated by the combination of restart and harsh camber and didn’t get away, although he backed down and got up with a run. Colin Sumner was delighted to get the Beetle away from the restart but Geoff Hodge had his first failure since Litton. At the front of the field Neil Bray got away but Dave Nash in the MGeetle couldn’t make it.

Excelsior was the penultimate hill and was to prove a real sting in the tail. The problem was the restart, sited on polished stones just before a 90 left. Only 30 cars succeeded in getting away and none of these were Falcons! Class 0 tackled this one, although without a restart, and this was Verdun Webleys only failure. Verdun using the shopping Seat as the GTM wasn’t ready in time. Reg Taylor was more successful in his Anglia and went on to claim a class 0 award. Running at the back of the field the results show Simon Groves/Michael Leete as clear but they failed just like the rest. The “RB” was shown against Rakes Head (which they cleaned) and not Excelsior.

The route then went away from Buxton towards Ashbourne and quite a few of the late runners at the tail of the field decided to skip the section and call it a day as the trial was running quite late at this time. Chief Official Mike Pearson greeted those that did the hill. It was none other than Wigber Low, normally tackled at the start of the trial but at the end this time and still in the dark for some! The restart was to trap the unwary, including Brian Alexander whose diminutive Fiat wasn’t running too well by now.

After a final special test it was back to sign off at the Bull I’th thorn before most went back to Buxton for a nice club supper. It was a shame later runners were so late but this is what happens when the Edinburgh is run as a competitive trial and most competitors were willing to accept that. Well-done Ian Bates and his team.

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Adrian Dommett’s Kyrle

Adrian Dommett won a really tough Kyrle Trial on 24th April. Rain the day before had made the steep sections slippery and they rutted up during the day making things particularly difficult for the later runners, including the Escorts in Class Three who spent much of the trial digging furrows with their diff casings. All credit to Adrian though, a great drive in a superbly prepared car.

*Adrian Dommett and Judy Phillips on Lane End*

David Dyer
*The only Class 4 to clean Lane End.*

2005_kyrle_results Download

To quote Simon Woodall “Someone once said that the Camel Classic was ‘a trial organised by buggy drivers for buggy drivers’. It looks to me like it’s got to pass that handle to the Kyrle”. Indeed Simon and Ian Davis had a ding dong battle for the lead but it was spoilt by Adrian Dommett who pipped them for overall victory in his Wolseley Hornet.

The organising team had chosen a mix of old and new hills in and around The Forest of Dean for their notoriously tough event. As well as some very steep hills they were aided by a fair amount of rain for a few days before so a competitive event was on the cards, without the necessity to impose tyre pressure restrictions.

The first group of hills was just north of Monmouth and they set the tone of the event. Steep, long, rutted with near impossible hairpins, and that was just the approach road! There were three sections close together, with a map of the forest to ensure the crews found them OK. The first one started in a sea of mud and led straight up a steep, very rutted track. The ruts were very deep and defeated all the Escorts whose diff casings dug into ground in between the grooves. Most of the other classes succeeded, but it still caught out quite a few, including Keith Oakes in his Dutton Phaeton.

Keith wasn’t any luckier on Widow Maker which came next, as classes 6, 7 and 8 had to restart. Most of the Class 8’s pulled away, but not Tony Young and the five he lost here cost him an overall win. It was different proposition for classes 6 and 7 and only Andrew Martin (Dutton Melos) and Brian Phipps (Marlin) succeeded. The third hill, Howards Way, was a bit easier and gave some respite, although Simon Groves picked up a puncture, his third on the day, the other two wee on the way to the start!

Next it was back onto the A40 before turning back into the complex for Goldsmiths 1 and 2 and a greeting from the genial John Sergeant. They were both fearsomely steep and rutted, with a hairpin to liven up Goldsmiths 2. Again most of the class eights were successful, but the others struggled and even eventual winner Adrian Dommett dropped two on the first one.

Back on the A40 again, in the direction of Ross, it was only a few miles to the new sections at Goodrich. These were some way off the road across the fields and down to the River Wye. On arrival at Ropers competitors were greeted by Simon Harris with the unusual opportunity to go past “section begins” and view the section. Wow, it was worth seeing. After a few yards on the level it was into a pool of mud, 90 left and up a straight muddy climb between the trees that was probably a fire break. It was a tough one but as Simon Woodall and Paul Bartleman proved it was possible to go clean and this put them in joint lead of the event. Geddes didn’t present too much of a problem and neither did Castle View that was only tackled by the lower classes.

After the first long road run of the day the route wound its way into The Forest of Dean itself for a complex of four hills and a special test. Jack and Jill were first and were cleaned only by most of the class eights, Andrew Martin, Ray Goodnight and of course Adrian Dommett. In class 8 Simon Woodall dropped two on both of these horrors, putting Paul Bartleman into the sole lead. Class four lost Ian Moss here, the powerful Imp’s transmission crying enough for the second trial in succession.

A few yards up the track came Burnbrae. The drop down to the stream is always the same but afterwards the route depends on the whim of the organisers. This year it was around the tree for everyone. This is very tough as it’s hard to regain traction after the corner and very few were successful. Paul Bartleman and Ian Davis were amongst the unlucky ones, dropping five and three respectively. Ian and and Simon Woodall were in the joint lead now, together with Mike Workman, one in front of Adrian Dommett.

The tree was to take its toll. Not just on the section but also for the failures who dropped back onto the lay-by and were encouraged by the marshals to have a second go. Numerous saloons sustained body damage, the worst being Simon Groves who came near to ripping the side off the gold Escort.

Just across the road lay a special test and the infamous Pludds where Andrew Brown reported on http://www.wheelspin.org.uk/blog/index.htm:-

“For those that don’t know it, Pludds in an almost straight, very steep, climb on a stony/rocky track with a very rocky section just over half way up and that, of course, is where the restart is always placed. Clerk of the Course, Adrian Marfell, had inspected Pludds immediately before our arrival and imposed tyre pressure restrictions for just this one section – the rest of the trial being run unrestricted. 14psi for Class 8, and 12psi for Class 7, was to have a significant effect on the restarters. First up, once again, was Mike Workman who made it look easy after which car after car failed although there were notable climbs by Paul Bartleman (Troll) and Tony Young (VW Special), Tony being particularly pleased as his special does not like tyre pressure restrictions. Tony came back down, after his climb, to say “Hello” to Mark and it was interesting to hear that he’d spectated at Pludds last year and worked out what he thought was the best line on the restart – the same line that we’d worked out by watching this year. I’m certainly not telling anyone else the ‘secret’ except to say that a significant number of the failures stopped with their nearside front tyre up against a large rock step and we knew they were going nowhere long before the marshal’s flag dropped. The same decimation continued in Class 7 with the notable exception of Andrew Martin, who had time to shake Tony’s hand as he left the restart, Derek Tyler (VW Baja) and Ray Goodright. John Ludford (Marlin) certainly also cleared the section but may have spent too long on the restart – I haven’t seen the full results yet.”

In fact the results show they were all were given a clean. All the class three’s bar Tom Jones went clean but it wasn’t very class four friendly and only David Shaylor was clear. Neither Ian Davis nor Simon Woodall got away from the restart, putting Mike Workman into an overall lead, one ahead of Adrian Dommett.

There was an hours rest at the Speculation picnic site where a couple of dead cars were resting. David Wall’s Canhai Special had run its big ends on the Pludds restart and Andrew Rippons ex–Jason Collins Baja, now with 1935 power, had broken its diff. Saloon competitors were able to compare Burnbrae body damage and the judges unanimously voted Simon Groves the winner!

After the second special test came Snompers. This was another ground clearance problem for many, with a restart for class eight. Mick Workman failed to get away from this passing the overall lead to Adrian Dommett. Bluebell was a rather strange hill in the same complex which stopped most of the entry but not Keith Sanders in his Scimitar which was going very well in class five and was to finish a very credible sixth overall.

There was another longish road run to the final complex where 6, 7 and 8 attempted Dawes Tump. Attempt being the operative word as only Ian Davis, Simon Woodall, Russ Norman and Paul Bartleman were clean.

Lane End was just up the track. A fearsome challenge. The start line was in a mud bath, followed by a very sharp hairpin left, then a straight steep bit with fearsome ruts and so on and so on! The early runners in class eight stormed up. The class sevens struggled a bit and Keith Oakes grounded out in the ruts but Andrew Martin got through them for a clean and a class win. The incredible Keith Sanders stormed up. David Dyer was the only successful class four and Colin Perryman the only class three after all the Escorts grounded out in the lower reaches and Nick Farmer failed on the third hairpin.

Running at the end of the field conditions were at the worst for Adrian Dommett but he had no problems at all, cleaning the section for a well deserved overall win of a very rough, tough, Kyrle Trial.

Best Overall
Adrian Dommett	Wolseley Hornet	5
Class 1
David Haizelden	VW Golf	52
Terry Coventry	Peugeot 205 GTi	69
Class 2
Adrian Dommett	Wolseley Hornet	5
Bill Bennett	MGJ2	55
Class 3
Colin Perryman	BMW 2002	24
Nick Farmer	BMW 318S	33
Tristan White	Ford Escort	46
Class 4
David Shaylor	VW Beetle	41
David Dyer	VW Beetle	50
Class 5
Keith Sanders	Reliant Scimitar SS1	11
Chris Symons	Porshe 924	53
Class 6
Jon Robilliard	VW Beetle	38
Gary Browning	VW Beetle	48
Class 7
Andrew Martin	Dutton Melos	27
Ray Goodright	Arley-MG Midget	33
Bryan Phipps	Marlin	35
Class 8
Ian Davis	VW Buggy	9
Simon Woodall	VW Buggy	9
Tony Young	VW Special	10

Lands End Class 0

Chris Clarke competed in Class 0 on the Lands End in his Golf. Here is his report.

When we first discussed the Lands End with experienced competitors; for some reason the impression we gained was one of a series of off and on road driving sections interspersed with meal stops – or was it the other way round? We like our food (the VW suspension is up-rated for good reasons) so it seemed a good idea to give it a go. Unfortunately at our first attempt the car ran out of energy (alternator failure) after only the third refreshment stop, so that was the end of it for 2004.

For 2005 we set off in good time for the start to allow plenty of time for our evening meal, plus signing on etc. Suitably fortified we set off on the first road section, taking advantage of the holding control to fine tune the headlights, and then into Catsash, which we climbed without event. Whilst pumping up the tyres, we remarked on how difficult even the simplest task becomes at night, what with fiddling about with torches and if you drop anything small it’s gone for ever.

On to Up Ewey and Grabhurst where it was noticeable how much more traction and control the new tyres gave over last year. What was more remarkable was how bright the moon had become; it was almost possible to drive without lights, although I suspect our navigator was not impressed by my practical demonstration of this.

We left the Culborne Inn (bacon sandwich) and drove down Countisbury and up Porlock Hill, these are challenging in a modern car so it’s hard to imagine what they must have been like on an early c20th motorcycle.

The restart on Barton Steep was the first serious challenge, as the larger wheels on the Golf have raised the gear ratio and it took a lot of clutch slipping and some burning smells to ensure a fool-proof getaway. We were promised more of the same at Upper Molland and the feeling of trepidation was heightened by the optical illusion, as you descend into the clearing at the start, that the hill is steeper than it actually is. A VW beetle looked remarkably like its namesake as it climbed the track opposite. In fact the restart on loose surface was a lot easier on the clutch (obvious when you think about it) and we climbed it with only some wheel twirling on the corner.

Beyond this we were further than 2004, but no mention was made of this at the time for fear of “Murray Walkering” our chances until we reached the services at Roundswell (coffee & chocolate bars). Wargery and Roly Poly passed without incident and we continued to the café (control point) at Wilsey Down – ham, egg and chips with a mug of tea – excellent – and a chance for a nap in the sunshine. At Petherwin it was nice to see our first spectators there, but there was a scary moment as we rounded the first corner by Ruses Mill, trying to build up speed for an unknown gradient ahead and just missing a large stone covered with about 400 years worth of scrape marks.

We arrived at the Lady Vale test to a pressure building combination of spectators and the distant sound of a car struggling up something like the North face of the Eiger. In fact this test had one huge advantage, it was not necessary to engage reverse gear (refer to previous March Hare articles for an explanation of this), and we completed the test in what seemed a reasonable time, although I haven’t seen the results when writing this so may have to eat those words. The subsequent Mays Hill was very enjoyable and we approached Adrian’s Way with mounting confidence.

The section was a bit slippery at the start, then a nice few yards to build up speed round the corner and a steepish climb to something I can’t tell you about because we never made it. There were two routes round the corner. I took the left hand one and avoided the rut, but unfortunately hit a large lump of earth on the inside which killed our momentum and we just did not have enough grip to make it to the top. At this point our navigator, quite out of character, suggested a more gung-ho approach which involved dropping a wheel into the rut (wall of death), thus firing the car round the corner and up the hill to certain success. At the time I was too surprised to challenge this view, but subsequently we concluded that you would have probably have either grounded with the wheel in free space or dented the (newly repaired) wing on the bank.

We opted to do only the first part of Bishops path, a wise decision looking at what followed and stopped for a few minutes (sorry) to watch a Skoda literally fly over the top of the rock slope on the way to a clean. We’ve got a digital film of this if anyone is would like a copy.

At Perranporth car park we could have spent the rest of the day explaining why we were driving around Cornwall in a car covered in mud, but had to move on the final section at Blue Hills. My apologies to all those who tried to encourage us to give the big one a go, but having spent the previous Saturday panel beating and with a good chance of making it home in one piece I didn’t want to take any chances and took the soft option. This took us safely to the finish control at the Crossroads Motel (yes that really is its name) where we relaxed and reflected on a very enjoyable event over a pasty and pint. It really is a pleasure to take part in an event on this scale and our thanks to the (literally) hundreds of organisers and marshals who make it possible. This particularly applies to those who cover the class O sections, where I imagine the smaller number of competitors makes it a bit quiet, but we really appreciate the chance to get used to these events in stages.

Lands End 2005

83rd Lands End Trial – It was a competitive Lands End despite the dry weather leading up to the event. The reintroduction of Cutliffe Lane and tricky restarts on Hoskins and Blue Hills One mean the MCC will not be paying out much for triples this year.

It was a nice dry night for the run in to eligibility scruitineering at North Petherton.

Felons Oak – The restart box was very short, some of the competitors described it as almost a line but the boards were in fact about 6 feet apart, but there was limited scope for careful positioning in what is becoming an increasingly “competitive” restart.. This caught out around 50 competitors including the cars of Keith Oakes, Ted Holloway, Geoff Hodge, Peter Mountain, Brian Alexander and Bill Rosten for what was to be his only fail of the day. Simon Groves was judged to have failed to stop for the restart which was not a good start to his trial.

Stoney Street – This long , rocky hill didn’t present to many problems although both Ross Nuten and Colin Sumner were delayed by other competitors and credited with baulks.

Beggars Roost – The section had to be cancelled when Ian Bates in the course opening Land Rover found the track blocked by a vehicle. It soon became clear that this was put there deliberately by one of the local farmers. He became more than a little aggressive when Ian tried to reason with him and it was prudent to pull the hill rather than cause trouble in the middle of the night.

Riverton – There was a lot of mud for the bikes and delays built up when a number of riders hit the deck. It’s a long section so the delays continued to build and by the final cars came along they were stacked up, not just on the approach track but well down the road as well. It wasn’t to challenging for the four wheeled brigade and PCT expert Nick Politt was one of the few to fail in his Nissan Micra.

Cutliffe Lane – Another section with a lot of mud and clay that caused a lot of problems for the bikers to stay upright and stopped around half the cars, especially those running towards the end of the field.

Sutcombe – The hill was used from a different direction this year. It wasn’t to difficult although it caught out both Brian Alexander in his Fiat and Giles Greenslade in his 1835 beetle which was starting to get a bit hot now the chill of the night had passed.

Darracott – With the previous delays there wasn’t too long to wait at the Goosenham holding control. Just long enough for Simon Robson to adjust his clutch. Ed Nikel had been having problems with the front suspension on his buggy and on investigation found one of the shock absorber mountings had collapsed. Fortunately he wasn’t far from a friends place and diverted there for repairs that kept him in the trial, even though he slipped down the field. Ted Holloway had problems here as well and retired.

Crackington

There was still evidence of the devastation caused by the flash flood last summer, although the bridge at the bottom of the hill had been rebuilt, saving some wet feet. The hill itself didn’t appear to have been doctored as much as usual, although there had been the usual localised rain shower in the restart area. There was a little aggravation here when one of the marshals in the restart area stood on the dry part of the track for a while, forcing competitors into the deepest part of the mire where some of them failed. There was some heated “discussion” with his fellow officials, in front of a sizable crowd, which didn’t do a lot of good to the image of the sport.

Most of the bikes were able to cope quite well, although some of those who weren’t going fast enough lost momentum through the mire, lost “steerage way” and either had to foot or fell off. Those that were brave enough to go up at some speed had no problem. None faster than Chris Beare on his 350 Suzuki but goodness knows how much damage he would have done to himself if he had fallen off.

Tony Young was the first car to arrive and had an unhurried climb. Then came another dozen bikes before the cars arrived in earnest. Mike Warnes was the first failure of the day in his very smart Triumph TR7. Former “Old Spot Piglet” driver Clive Cook was taking things very easily and stopped before the mire to become the second candidate for the very efficient recovery crews winch. Then came Richard Shirley in his Class Seven Dellow, who stopped and restarted, as did quite a few more class sevens who came a long later. It appears that some drivers were confused because although the route card said they didn’t have a restart the boards were yellow with a black R, indicating they should stop. Class eight only restarts being shown in the route card as red with a black R.

In Class 1 Paul Allaway made a very impressive full throttle climb, neither slowing, nor deviating from his line through the tricky stuff. They were followed by David Symons who was equally impressive in his Citroen AX. Most of the cars in class 2 made clean climbs although neither Steve Potter nor John Wilton’s Trojans had enough power. It will be interesting to see if John Turner is shown as cleaning the hill. His Austin Seven stopped in the restart area before getting going again with a shove from the controversial marshal.

Giles Greenslade retired at the foot of Crackington with a very hot Beetle. It had been getting more and more overheated as the trial went on until Giles finally decided to retire rather than cause permanent damage.

After the hours break at The Wilsey Down at Hallworthy came Warleggan by which time Brian Alexander had to retire.

Hoskin

Competitors with clean sheets approached Cardinham Woods with some trepidation as Hoskin was lying in wait. They weren’t to be disappointed. Hoskin is steep and under a layer of loose stuff there is a solid, polished stone surface.

The lower classes weren’t to badly off as they were allowed a straight run through, but even so the hill couldn’t be taken for granted as its so steep. Lower powered engines can easily bog down unless they generate a bit of wheel-spin, but too much and you are in trouble on the slippery surface. In class four Dave Sargeant and Bill Rosten got it just right and flew up but Terry Ball had too much wheelspin, lost momentum and came to a stop in the class eight re-start area. Most of the powerful Escorts in class three and stormed to the summit, Simon Groves managing to wag his tail from side to side in the process.

In Class 2 Bill Bennett had no difficulty but the other members of his team didn’t do so well and Ian Williamson got well and truly stuck in his attempts to turn and go back down.

Classes six and Seven had a restart on a more gentle part of the gradient but even if they got away it was difficult for them to build enough speed to get over the lumps and bumps in the class eight restart area. All credit to those that were successful, including Andrew Martin in his Dutton Melos and Roger Bricknell who had the audacity to change into second before the summit! In class six Mark Tooth did everything right and trickled away from the restart but was just unable to build enough speed and spun to a stop after a good attempt.

If it was difficult for the lower classes it was really tough for class eight. Their restart was on the steepest part of the hill and there were lots of little steps and little rocks to trap the unwary. The main line was very slippery as the polished rock was exposed and no one, not even Dudley, could get away on this surface. The trick was to go either to the right or left and trickle away on the loose stuff, before putting the power down when it became a case of controlling the wheel spin as the track narrowed and the car forced onto the polished surface. Mike Chatwin got it right in his Troll and so did Ross Norman in his Deere Special who had no problems. David Bache managed to trickle off the line just right and although it was a struggle powered the Mk1 Dellow to the summit. Climb of the day though went to Tim Whellock. Wheelspin set in almost as soon as he left the line but he kept his foot down and he and Anne bounced and bounced and finally the Fugitive edged forward only to stop again as one of the front wheels came up against a rock. They repeated the process several times until finally the tyres gripped properly and the car flew to the summit.

In the nearly, but not quite, category came Peter Mountain who went well to the right off the slippery stuff and pulled away nicely, but the camber dragged the Mk1 Dellow down onto the polished stone and that was that. Emma Flay went well to the left and trickled away from the line really nicely, keeping her wheels off those polished centre tramlines. It looked as if Emma would trickle her way to the summit but a front wheel came up against a rock, the Troll slowed, Emma blasted but didn’t have enough momentum and in the end had to give best to the hill.

Bishopswood – There was a tricky restart for the Yellows and Reds, situated on the bump over the cross track as usual. It was far from straightforward and caught out Stuart Harrold who was running towards the front of the field. There was some unhappiness about the restart and many competitors thought that it was impossible for lower powered cars and a lottery for the others.

Blue Hills 1 – Although this is a tricky section it hardly counts as a hill and this year the restart was a very narrow box right on the stone surface back on to the road. Unusually this was for Yellows Reds and Class Three! Car after car failed to get the necessary grip and failed. Ed Nikel had his throttle go over centre and shot out at an enormous speed, just avoiding the bank the other side. Fellow Falcon Colin Sumner had the reverse problem as his throttle became disconnected and he stopped without any power. This certainly wasn’t a Falcon friendly hill and only Keith Oakes and Ross Nuten were judged to be clean.

Blue Hills 2

The hillside surrounding Bluehills 2 was thronged with spectators who had glorious weather for their afternoons entertainment. There was restart for yellows and reds in the middle of the artificial deviation. Most of the Sevens and Eights didn’t have a problem but the Beetles in class six struggled and neither John Sargeant nor Mark Tooth could pull away. Then along came Dave Sergeant who didn’t have to restart in his 1300 Beetle but failed anyway. He was followed by Terry ball who made up for his debacle on Hoskin and stormed up in his smart orange car.

The outside bank on the artificial deviation claimed quite a few causalities as it acted as a magnet for Escorts and Midgets, many of which damaged their bodywork in the process.

There was a new finish at The Crossroads Lodge at Scorrier where competitors reckoned it was an enjoyable and competitive Lands End.

Keith Pettit best on March Hare Trial

Keith Pettit put in the best performance on The March Hare, winning National B. Last years winner Ian Davis was second and Ross Nuten best in Clubsport.

Keith Pettit eases his venerable Frogeye Sprite between the banks of Norton Street Lane on his way to best overall performance on Murray’s March Hare

2005_march_hare_results Download

There were 42 crews entered but the flu bug struck and 36 crewsgathered at The Watling Street Café, just of Junction nine of the M1, on 13th March.

With dry conditions, no restart, and an absence of loose stones, Norton Street Lane was cleaned by everyone except John Wilton who retired his venerable Trojan with a seized engine. John had rebuilt the two stroke motor after it was down on power on The Exeter and reckoned he hadn’t honed the bores sufficiently. The only other cars to hit trouble were some of the lower slung FWD cars who strayed into the deep rut on the left hand side and scrapped their bottoms in the process.

It wasn’t so long ago that this section was totally impassable. Then along came the council’s road gang and now it’s probably smoother than the nearby M1! It’s so smooth that it’s not competitive as an observed section so it was run as a regularity again under the eager eye of sponsor Murray MacDonald. It involved driving an un-known distance in a known time. This defeated most people but it was a condition of using the track that outright speed would not be a factor.

Last years PR problems had been overcome and Cress Beds and water Tower were on the agenda again. Arnold Lane and Mike Pearson’s road mending was still in place at the top and only Pete Crawford had problems when he stalled his Marlin changing from 1st to 2nd.

The challenge at Water Tower was the muddy ruts at the bottom which were avoided by most people apart from David Symons in his Citroen AX and Alun Lewis in his Yellow Marlin. Alun created the biggest bow wave of the day, drowning out the Marlin and giving the recovery crew some exercise!

Next up should have been Half Moon Lane but it had to be cancelled when the County Council decided to close it for resurfacing. Unfortunately this is likely to emasculate it for the next few years just like Whitehall Lane.

Dry conditions meant the sections at Edlesborough were not as difficult as usual but a tricky restart on the first ones for the sevens and eights stopped much of the entry, including classic trials debutant Roger Dudley in his newly rebuilt Marlin.

There was an extra section at Brickhill to compensate for the loss of Half Moon Lane. The local Land Rover Club had been using the venue and the ruts up the sandy gully were very deep, causing problems for some of the lower slung cars including Cliff Morrell in the ex- Barrie Parker Citroen AX. Cliff had given the sump guard a good clout in the Pepperstock ford, loosening some bolts.

The steep bank at the start proved to much for more than half the entry. Having survived that the restart was to prove to much for some and Harry Butcher, Clive Booth, Paul Weston and Colin Sumner all lost their clean sheets here.

Fellow Liege driver Stephen Kenny also failed and was struggling without reverse gear in the replacement box fitted after breaking the transmission on The Northern Trial. Stephen had come all the way down from Rochdale to take part having made his trials debut in last years March Hare.

Arnold Lane and Andy Clarke had spiced things up a little by bringing some water up from the wet patch at the bottom to add some action to the restart. The slippery conditions necessitated a delicate right foot to stop wheelspin settling in.

Fred Gregory got away very smoothly, Reg Taylor failed and Simon Groves smoked his way off the line, just inching forward until he suddenly found some grip. Ted Holloway stopped, then stalled to the accompaniment of some choice four letter words! Chris Wall lost his clean sheet here when he was judged to have run back six inches or more.

Then both Kevin Alexander and Stephen Kenny sat on the line with wheels spinning and failed to get away.

The route traversed Hill Farm as usual but not as an observed section this year. The final two sections took place on private land in a wood near Potten End. The first was an artificial journey through the trees, marked out with tape. The second started amongst the trees before picking up a long, straight track with a restart for the sevens and eights.

Falcon had thought this last hill would be a real stopper but in the try conditions that was not the case. Stewart Ikin was the only non-restarter to fail in his very standard Fiat Panda. Everyone else attacked the steep bit at some speed for successful climbs.

Life was a bit tougher for the re-starters with the line on the steepest part of the gradient where there was a handy tree root, although with care this could be avoided by going well to the left. The root took its toll of notable class eights Harry Butcher and Rob Wells. In class seven it was a magnet for Marlin, catching out Alun Lewis, Peter Crawford, Roger Dudley, the Westfield of David Kirby and Ted Holloway in his very special Mini.

Back at the A5 truck stop Dot Parsons and Francis Webley soon produced the results and the trophies were presented. There were seven clean sheets so the regularity and special tests came into play. This was shame but was an almost inevitable consequence of the dry conditions.

There had been no more retirements after the unfortunate John Wilton. With the simultaneous National B and Clubsport events there were plenty of wards to go round and Roger and Christina Dudley were particularly delighted to be awarded best Falcon.

Looking Back

It was shame to loose Half Moon Lane and the dry conditions made the sections on public roads much easier than anyone would have liked. However, the restart on Hawridge Lane was certainly a challenge for many and things seemed to be Ok with the landowner in the woods at Potten End which bodes well for the future.

Particular mention must go to Verdun Webley who assembled more than 50 marshals on the day. The local Herts VW Club took care of Brickhill which meant they had to go to the trouble of re-arranging one of their own events scheduled for the same day. Thanks guys.

Christina’s March Hare

Roger Dudley took part in his first Classic Trial in his Marlin, passengered by daughter Christina.

Roger and Christina at the foot of Norton Street Lane

My first impressions of how the day was going to go were not great! Having to wake up at 6.30am to leave at 7.00am and being transported down to Markyate in an open top car in the freezing cold – let’s say I wasn’t impressed!!

This year was the first time both me and my dad had competed in the March Hare using our own car and also the first time using the car!! My dad had always wanted a Marlin and when one came up he just had to have it – I suppose its better than the Dutton, but I would still prefer a Ferrari!!

When we got to the café at Markyate, we went straight to scrutineering, which we passed, thank goodness! Our time to set off was 9.25, so we had a bite to eat and took a few pictures of the car before it got hammered and then spoke to a few people. Before we knew it, it was our time to go! I was quite excited about what the task was, even though my map reading skills are very bad! I must admit I thought we would get a lost a couple of times, although it was good to see that other people got lost in the same places, so it wasn’t just us!! It was quite fun watching all the people staring at you as you go past; I bet they were thinking that we must be mad!!

My favourite hill of the day has to be the Edlesborough Hill, second section; the reason – we got up it!! My worst hill has to be section 10 at Ivinghoe; dad completely mucked it up going at it from the wrong angle! We ended up coming down faster than we went up!! Nevertheless, we were still happy to have the car in one piece!!

We would like to mention a big thanks to all the marshals, as without their support the March Hare would not be able to take place – and I sure know what it feels like to be standing in the freezing cold! At least it wasn’t snowing like last year! We would also like to say thanks to the drivers for giving us tips on how not to get lost, and how to climb a hill! Roll on next year – maybe we will do a bit better (and dad might have got the car sorted by then!)

Christina Dudley

Chris Clarke’s March Hare

After our disastrous showing in the 2004 Allen trial (someone has to come last) it was obvious that the Golf was suffering a severe lack of traction. With mods over the winter to improve weight distribution and a new set of tyres to replace the previous motley assortment, we set off early full of hope for the event ahead. This would also be the first event we had done before, so we would be able to discuss the perils of old “diff mangler” or “slippery precipice” knowledgeably rather than being constantly surprised by what the organisers were throwing at us.

In fact my recollection of the first section, Nortonstreet lane was so hazy that we might have been doing it for the first time, nonetheless we completed it successfully, as we did the next 3. At Eddlesborough hill the element of surprise was our undoing, as I was so disorientated by the series of dips at the top of the section that I proceeded to miss the next corner and loose an argument with a tree. This necessitated some impromptu body repairs but we were able to continue. On section 6 we made good progress, but the 1300cc engine just couldn’t pull the Golf up the last steep part. The very dry conditions, plus the mods had exchanged a problem of lack of grip with one of lack of grunt. A quick search of the field failed to reveal any spare 1800cc engines lying about, so we limited ourselves to some panel beating and carried on.

It would be impossible to anticipate anything at Brickhill, as it is effectively a PCT Mecanno kit, where the organisers can assemble a variety of steep bits to make an infinite number of routes. We could perhaps have done better on the first section (7) had we taken the corner before the last steep bit a bit wider, but again the little engine was really struggling. On section 9 (which was a bit familiar) we go to the end, but I was concerned that we had taken the wrong route and this was borne out by the scorecard. By this time we had been on the road for some time and it was noticeable that as each crew arrived at the rest halt, they immediately broke out the sandwiches.

At the Ivinghoe special test, the difference in temperament between driver and navigator and the still unfixed reverse gear (refer to last years article) was our undoing. Despite good advice my “gung-ho” approach took over as soon as the flag dropped. This lead to a “discussion” as to whether we had crossed line ‘A’, followed by gear selection and handbrake problems, leading to a time that must surely be a record for this test. At least it provided some amusement for the waiting crews. The section (10), I could clearly remember the from last year and avoided the bit that stopped us before, but again lack of power was our undoing, however, I see that a Fiat 500 made it so perhaps I’m being a bit hasty.

This was followed by a section from last year, (Hawridge lane), but run in the opposite direction, another fiendish trick. My navigator is convinced that it would be possible to get stuck on your side in the deep ‘V’ shaped groove in the track, but I prefer not to think about it.

To finish; 2 new sections in another wood, with a more cautious approach, as the navigators view was prevailing by now, so we avoided the trees and climbed the last steep bit with just the right balance between traction and power, very satisfying.

At the finish, apart from the prospect of another Saturdays panel beating on the damaged wing we were a little disappointed with how things had gone especially the lack of power and more importantly skill. We were therefore very surprised to find that we had been awarded the Clubsport class 1 award, a good end to what had been a very enjoyable day. Setting aside the technicalities, what I had remembered from 2004 was the friendly atmosphere, good organisation and enjoyable driving and the same was true for 2005. Thank-you to all the organisers and officials for an excellent event.

Chris Clarke

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.

Michael’s Marshalling Clee

With no car available Michael Leete and Mike Hayward marshalled on the Clee Hills

Jeff Buchanan arriving at the hairpin on Phils Folly. It was t0o difficult in the morning, their were delays and the section had to be cancelled.

The landowner came to the rescue and tried to improve conditions for the afternoon.

All was well for a while but there were problems on the exit road and when Andrew Martin slid into the barbed wire the section was cancelled again.

As I am out of action regarding Trials Driving at the moment Mike Hayward and I decided to marshal on The Clee. We were sent to Phil’s Folly, a new section before the farm on the approach to Gattens Gamble, on the lower slopes of The Long Mynd. The journey there was interesting to say the least, because there was snow on the Shropshire hills so discretion was the better part of valour and we detoured around The Long Mynd.

The section started on a level, rutted track, hair-pinned round a tight right hander and went straight up a muddy tree lined gully before emerging on to the exit track which was recessed into the side of the hill. This was to be the scene of some problems as it was very slippery and later some cars went over the edge.

There were four of us on the section, Michael (Chief Official) and Richard from the MAC, Mike Hayward and I. It was an enjoyable, if challenging, day but we really struggled at times.

The first disaster was that the driver of the Discovery recovery vehicle went up to the hairpin and decided that he would get his vehicle too muddy, went back to the farm and spectated on Gattens Gamble for the rest of the day! After this, the four of us had real problems running the section and had to call on competitors and the farmer to help us.

The first car along was Jeff Buchanan. He couldn’t get his ex Dennis Greenslade Reliant round the corner, he was really stuck and we had to go and ask the farmer for help. He came along with a Mitsubishi 4WD but even that struggled and it was more than 30 minutes before we got Jeff out of the section.

Then David Bowlas got his Midget stuck in the same place but we managed to turn him round in the field and gave him a run at the section. However, he half slipped off the bank on the escape road and in the end, the only way we could extricate him was to lower him down the bank with a rope and winch (the farmer’s idea). By that time, we called Clerk of the Course Jonathan Toulmin and cancelled the section for the lower classes.

Determined not to give up the farmer bought along his JCB and scrapped the mud of the hairpin, coming down to a stone surface to give the afternoons runners a chance at the section.

Falcons Ian Davis was the first class eight. He rounded the hairpin without any difficulty and blasted up the muddy hill. We thought that as each car went up it would clean more mud away, making it easier for the later numbers. To some extent this was true, but it was too bring other problems as it wore the edge away at the top of the section and on the exit road, tending to drag cars off the track and down the bank.

Most of the class eights cleaned the section OK. It was all a question of getting the line around the hairpin right. Simon Woodall clearly knew all about the hairpin as he came along the approach track with one wheel out of the ruts and up the bank. Although this should have given him the possibility of a wider turn it didn’t work out somehow and his buggy under-steered straight on into the trees. The same befell Stuart Ridge in his flyweight. Tim Foster and Harry Butcher were two more who couldn’t get around in one bite and failed. Dave Foreshew got round OK but his GVS fluffed and stalled at the two marker and took a while to get going.

Difficult as the hairpin was the real drama was at the top of the section on the exit road.

Extricating the two class fives in the morning had weekend the edge of the bank and Simon Woodall’s VW Buggy slipped off the edge into the field below, only Simons skill as a driver preventing a nasty accident. The same thing almost happened to Stuart Harrold and Chris Phillips. The Troll was right on the edge and in the end Chris hoped out, and swung the front round at 90 degrees so Stuart could make a graceful if rather scary slide down the bank.

Most of the cars traversed the exit road OK but Tony Young saw what was happening and drove off the track and down the bank voluntarily.

By now the edge of the track at the top of the section itself was deteriorating and when Andrew Martin slipped off into the barbed wire on the section itself we had a group meeting with the experienced competitors in the queue and decided to call it a day! The farmer was more than disappointed and said that he would dig the track out and put some stone down so the section would be OK for next year!

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