Stroud and District Motor Club – Page 2

Work Wins Clouds

Duncan Stephens Reports

Mike Workman won The Cotswold Clouds after beating an equal scoring Tris White on Special Test Times. Kelly Thomas was third in Paul Bartleman’s Troll only one mark behind.

***Cotswold Clouds Winner Mike Workman spinning to a halt on Merves Swerve(Picture by Dave Cook)***

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Sunday 7th February, and seventy five crews travelled to the secure parking area and start of the Cotswold Clouds near Stonehouse. Each of the classes were represented, five and six been the smallest with four in each. The Clouds saw the début of two brand new cars in experienced hands. Nicola Butcher in her long awaited swing axle 1300 Beetle, and Paul Allaway in his even longer awaited Nova GTE. Nicola was to have a very trying day as the engine didn’t pull very well, but was awarded the Ian Moss trophy for best presented car.

The first section was Crawley, just down the road from the start, where you pass the finish on the way to the section. The road sweeper and marshals were busy keeping the main road clear of mud, although it was a bit disconcerting to find the tractor heading towards you as it kept the road clean! Passing the sensitive houses at the bottom with great care and onto a gently meandering section with three gutters running across. These are no normal gutters as they had been built up in big speed humps with sand bags! A slow approach was needed but five competitors were adjudged to have stopped whilst traversing them which had a huge effect on the results.

A short run down the road to Dursley where Crooked Mustard awaited. Whilst waiting it soon got round that the hill was on top form, especially for the early cars. By the time Dave Haizleden arrived in car 37 only a handful of class 7’s and 8’s had been successful. Dave was the first “saloon” up the section with Duncan Stephens passengering so far forward he cracked the windscreen with his head somewhere on the section. He never worked out where as couldn’t find a bruise!! Made of hard stuff these sporting trial guys!! Special mention must also go to Giles and Keith Sanders who were the only other saloon cars to be successful on the day. Classes 7&8 had a much easier time of it though, with twenty two climbs, the majority been class eight. Dave Cook was here once again catching cars at all angles round the bends! One of these included David Shaylor who had borrowed Gary Brownings trial winning Beetle and went onto win the class.

A short loop to get to Axe on the other side of the road, with a holding control beforehand. With a deep area of clay half way up this proved extremely hard for the first twenty five cars with very few successful climbs on an clean/fail basis. Phil Tucker was one of the early successful climbs, his Escort Estate revving hard.

Next was another historic section, Nailsworth Ladder, with Ross & District Motor Club marshalling. It’s great seeing local motor clubs supporting each other in marshalling section in each other’s trials. The ladder had two restart lines for all classes but 1&2. Bruce Aitkin continued to have a very challenging day in his low slung AX, and the Trojan were the only other non-stoppers to fail. Bill Bennett continued his heroic acts in the J2 getting airborne twice on the step!! Dean Partington was in full confidence mode, backing right off even before the front got to the step. The higher re-starters generally didn’t have too much trouble provided they moved off the restart with some pace.

Ham Mill was just across the common at the top of the Ladder, with a restart on the right hand bend for some classes on polished rock, but with plenty of width to choose your line. The section ontinued to finish on grass. The restart caught approximately half the stoppers, including Nick Farmer who was unfortunate to have a puncture, costing him the overall win.

Wicked Juniper came next, gradually works its way further and further into the woods on lots of leaf mould. Just for an extra challenge a restart was in place with a nice long box to choose from. Bill Bennett, Keith Sanders and Emma Robilliard were the only saloons to climb, the latter two with a restart. Carl Talbot had a wheel fall off his Anglia which resulted in a 30 minute job to get him out of the way of the section.

Pheasant Run was a new section in a huge wood complex. You had to go past the section, turn round and come back to it. The early runners started on the track, but this soon became starting straight. The first few feet didn’t see much grip then loads before a slight bends with trees keeping you steady, and then another restart. Bill Bennett continued to excel with another clean, Dave Haizelden was persuaded he should have climbed it afterwards! Giles dropped a three here, but was out-climbed by Bill Rosten’s Imp and Nigel Scotford’s Skoda which cost Giles the overall win. Class seven saw Tubby, Rick Neale, Norman Tonkin (who must have shot gunned the trailer before Ryan or Ben) the only ones away and out of the top.

Following a long trip through the woods and across a horse training ground Merves Swerve was next, with 7&8 having their normal restart just before the bend. Dick Bolt used all his Duratec power under the watchful eyes of the noise meter to be the first climb. Dave Haizelden, Nick Cleal, Bill Bennett, Dick Bolt, Carl Talbot, Giles Greenslade and Keith Sanders were the only saloons to climb this year, as not much grip could be found up the first bit. Various re-starters tried to get out of the tracks but failed and the only way was flat out off the restart. Mike Workman failed to move far, Tubby was the only seven to climb it with Claire working hard in the back. Kelly Thomas using Paul’s Troll this week, Nick Farmer and Dean Partington were the only successful eights.

Into the Highwood complex for the two special tests and two sections. The two special tests were short all forwards simple tests which generally suited early numbers before the mud was brought onto the track, or the brave. Worky and Nigel Moss was fastest over these. Onto the sections and Highwood one was on fine form catching a few unwary at the top bend. Highwood two was a real stopper as normal. Nick Farmer was best with a one, but a trip into the trees on the previous section cost him dearly.

Climperwell was next running up the side of a country lane with a restart for all, and a couple of deviations on the way to slow you down. The restart caught all that came rushing up to it and inconveniently parked with the wheels against a tree root! Under the watchful eyes of South West Chairman Paul Parker.

Next were the two fearsome Blue Banks sections and their tricky restarts, which have caused so much heartbreak in the past, costing many an overall win. Who were they going to stop this year? Keith Sanders failed the second costing him overall, Norman Tonkin failed both, possibly due to never seeing them before, but Dean Partington didn’t have that excuse but was struggling selecting second gear and rolled back on each.

The finale was at Station Lane, with many competitors parking up and watching after theyfinished. Tim Whitney caused a few issues in his Imp repaired after the Kyrle, as reverse had broken. Then Neil Robins high revving BMW finally broke its diff, but there wasn’t much of a hold up, despite the length of the section. As time went on it got a little easier until the ruts got deep. Nick out climbed Dave in class one and was the only clear. Bill was once again in super determined mood and climbed out of the top, having been on valve bounce all the way. No class three looked like climbing due to ground clearance issues. Giles and John White were the only fours up, Keith the only five, as was Dave Shaylor in six. Late on Tubby got stuck in the ruts, and despite lots of bouncing which got the car moving again he had stopped for a four which cost him the trial. Next up was his Troll which had been leant to Mark and Mandy Hobbs for the day who had big grins at the finish having competed for the first time in many many years.

Very fittingly Mike Workman won overall with his grandson passengering. Next were the “if only club” competitors of Tubby, Kelly, Giles, Keith and then the extraordinary Bill Bennett’s MG.

Best Overall	Mike Workman (GVS)	7
Class Winners
1	David Haizelden (VW Golf GTi)	11
2	Bill Bennett (MG J2)	32
3	Carl Talbot (Ford Anglia)	27
4	Giles Greenslade (VW Beetle)	9
5	Keith Sanders (Reliant Scimitar)	11
6	Dave Shaylor (VW Beetle)	30
7	Tristan White (Imp)	7
8	Kelly Thomas (Troll)	8

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Cotswold Clouds 2006

Ian’s Imperious Imp

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

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Dave Cooks Photos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dave’s Clouds

Dave Sargeant reports on his day marshalling the perfect hill.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See you soon

Dave Sargeant.

Carl’s Cotswold Clouds

Carl Talbot wins Cotswold Clouds with the only Clean Sheet

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

2005_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Dave Cooks Photos

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mike Workman Wins Close Cotswold Clouds

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

Colin and Edna Perryman emptying the diesel from their BMW

2004_cotswold_clouds_results Download

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mechanics Trial by Michael Leete

Adrian Marfell won this years Mechanics Trial, but in a Beetle this time rather than his usual special. There were quite a few clean sheets so Adrian’s win was decided on special test times and he was fastest by a long way

Adrian Marfell with his Mechanics Trial winning Beetle

Unusually for my reports this one will be written in the first person as running at the front of the field I didn’t see much of what went on and didn’t stand waiting in many queues to chat to competitors and marshals!

This was the second year Stroud had run The Mechanics as a road trial. It was born out of the clubs one off Anniversary Trial, organised by Andrew Brown and Rich Welch, but never ran because of Foot and Mouth. The event was taken over by the Hayward clan and run by taking The Mechanics Trial out on the road. With the Cotswold Clouds running in the area there must have been a great temptation to use some of the well-known hills. However, this was resisted and there was no duplication with “The Clouds” apart from the start and finish venues.

Mike Hayward, (who is not related to the organising family) and I had entered “The Mechanics” last year but never even got to the start as my Beetles Brakes seized only a few miles from home. We managed a bit better this year, which was really good as we were especially looking forward to The Mechanics, which promised us new hills and a route in the area of Falcon’s old Guy Fawkes Trial.

We were running only a few cars from the front so it was an early start, leaving Bedfordshire at 4.30am and arriving at The Little Chef just off the M5 at Stonehouse dead on 7 for our slap up breakfast. This was not to be, as along with Clive Booth and John Allsop we waited in vain for some sign of life, giving up at 7.30 in favour of a bacon bap at The Ryford! We were first in line at scruitineering and started to worry as there were was no scruitineer, no organisers and no other competitors. There were signs of life just before 8 and the formalities were soon completed and we were on our way with a few nice words from Ken Hobbs, thanking us for journeying out to the Cotswolds for the event.

Clive Booth and John Allsop in good form on the start line at Tin Pan Alley

It was right out of Gordon’s garage, as would be usual for the Clouds, but instead of turning left we went straight on, past the Little Chef that was now open, and crossing and re-crossing the M5 to the first hill. This first section was not the problem hill of last year where so many people got stuck, but Tin Pan Alley which May’s Wheelspin tells me was first used before the war on the Bristol’s Clubs Fedden Trial when it was called Tramps Paradise.

A very un-tramp like John and June Blakeley greeted competitors on this gentle warm-up hill. Like most of the hills it was a long and leafy lane and as an early number there were so many fallen leaves it was difficult to see the surface underneath.

A passengers eye view of Alf’s delight as Mike Hobbs waits on the start line.

Eric Wall greeted us a few miles up the road at “Alfs Delight” another long leafy section which finished by going over a carpet to get the mud off the wheels before emerging onto a very clean and tidy estate road that led us to the new Age Traveller encampment at the Crooked Mustard/Axe cross roads so familiar on The Cotswold Clouds.

Things got a bit tougher at Boxwell where we approached through Scrubbets Farm. Looking at an old Guy Fawkes program from 1960 I see that the last two hills were “Axe” and “Scrubbets” and Mike and I reckoned that this was the same hill. It was approached with quite a steep downhill so the Guy Fawkes section could have been the Mechanics approach road. Anyway today’s section was easy enough, apart from the restart at the end which was on a big bump leading to a very sharp left at tee.

Robert Gregg hustles his Troll towards the tricky re-start on Boxwell

Waiting at the start we heard Mike Hobbs fail the restart in his Beetle and then David Bowlas do the same in his Midget and when we arrived we made it three in a row! Looking through the results afterwards we saw that around one third failed and two thirds got away clean, including both Dave and John Sargeant in their Beetles who were running just behind us.

Dave Sargeant approaching the summit of Wood Lane watched by some of the many spectators from nearby Nailsworth.

The route then led into the centre of Nailsworth and Wood Lane, a tree lined track with a grassy surface, that would have been tricky had it been wet, but didn’t trouble the scorer in the dry. The route then wound its way round the houses and cottages up and down some very, very steep single-track tarmac roads to Ferris Court where Simon Harris was in charge at the start of another hill used on the 1960 Guy Fawkes. Simon warned us that the exit track was extremely over-grown. The section was nice and long with two quite sharp hairpins, the first left, the second right and what I thought at the time was an easy re-start but from the results I see it stopped a few competitors, notably one Andrew Brown!

We were soon back in Cotswold Clouds territory, passing Merves Swerve and down Catswood (used on the 1960 Guy Fawkes) where we stopped to observe the two minutes remembrance silence. At the bottom we went straight across to King Charles Lane, which again was very, very long with the track developing a deep vee gully towards the summit so it was important to keep up the momentum if you wanted to avoid toppling over!

Jim Scott marks Carl Talbot’s card as he heads towards the fallen tree on Greenway Lane

The route now headed north towards Cheltenham up the A46 to Greenway Lane where Jim Scott was on the start line and Stuart Cairney on the restart. The surface was smooth at the start but it became rougher and rockier then deviated off to the right around a fallen tree where there were two different restarts for the higher classes. It looked pretty fearsome as there was a steep step on the inside but by keeping right it was possible to avoid it and most of the experienced drivers went clean.

The distance between the sections started to markedly increase now and we went into the suburbs of Cheltenham coming out again on heading South east on the A40 towards Oxford turning off on the B4632 through Winchcombe to Laverton, a hill I’m sure I remember reading about but can’t find any reference to! It looked innocuous enough at the bottom but the ruts soon got deeper just before we reached a huge rocky step, which had experienced an extremely local downpour. The yellows and reds had a restart but we were able to go straight through so we just eased the Beetle over the bump for a clean. There was a very long exit track and as we were getting hungry and it was one o’clock we stopped for the best part of twenty minutes to eat our sandwiches. We didn’t see any competitors while we waited so there must have been some delays somewhere.

The route wound through Winchcombe again and back north towards Cheltenham, interrupted only by a special test at Postlip managed by Bill Foreshew and his wife. This was another familiar name from the Guy Fawkes, featuring in the 1970 event, my first Classic trial as a competitor, bouncing for Pete Smith in his Anglia.

Bryan Phipps leaving it very late to turn into the hairpin at the top of Noverton Lane. To late as having lost his ballast on the restart Bryan compounded his problems by under-steering into trees immediately after this picture was taken!

The trial was coming to an end now but there was a sting in the tail at Noverton Lane with Tim Lakin at the start. It started easy enough with a gentle track through a wood but soon the gradient and the rocks started. There were separate restarts for whites to yellows/reds. Just as I slowed for our restart I heard a loud hissing and on the restart stuck my head out of the window to see a rear tyre going down. We tried to pull away but not to hard as we could see a horrendous rock step ahead and we didn’t fancy our chances getting over with a wheel down to the rim. Mark Linforth had a rescue crew here with a tractor and a Landrover and they dragged us up to a lay-by where we changed the wheel and took a few pictures. We saw that competitor’s troubles didn’t end at the step as there was a very sharp hairpin left just before the finish and this caught out a lot of drivers who under-steered into the trees.

We weren’t the only Beetle to get a puncture here as both John and Dave Sargeant were changing wheels at the summit. All that remained was a special test at Burcombe Lane and an observed section called Viaduct before the finish on Minchinghampton Common. It wasn’t that easy though as we got well and truly lost, as did a few other competitors, and we were pretty certain that all was not well with the road book here.

Mike and I signed off just before 4pm and headed straight for home, as I had to get up at 4 the next morning. We arrived back in Bedfordshire at 7pm having driven though a bit of rain!

We enjoyed our Mechanics Trial. Lots of nice long sections, all on real tracks. OK Noverton Lane was a bit rough but as Andrew Brown says there was plenty of grip so you could pick your speed and line. Like a lot of the hills it could have been a very different storey in the mud! All round we really enjoyed our Mechanics Trial and we will be back next year.

Adrian Marfel (VW Beetle)	0	Overall Winner
Michael Collins (VW Golf)	0	Class 1
Nigel Green (Ford Escort)	0	Class 3
David Shaylor (Beetle)	0	Class 4
Peter Davis (Panther Lima)	0	Class 5
Gary Browning (Beetle)	0	Class 6
Steve Tucker (Imp)	0	Class 7
Carl Talbot (Morris Trialsmaster)	0	Class 8

2003_mechanics_results Download

Adrian Marfell Cleans Cotswold Clouds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2003_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Mechanics Trial

by Fred Gregory

Having competed in quite a few Cotswold Clouds, Pete Stafford and I knew that their Mechanic’s Trial was going to be a rough, tough event. We were not disappointed, and getting the chance to explore sections and tracks that we had never seen before, and had not been trialled for many years, heightened the experience.

The day dawned wet and misty. We were running quite early in the field; at number seven, so we hadn’t expected to see clubmates Michael Leete and Mike Hayward, who were among the tail end Charlie’s. It was a good job we didn’t hang around for them, because they didn’t make the start, when the Beetles front brakes locked on only a few miles from home.

Our adventure started even before the first hill. We were travelling in convoy on a long off road run-in to the first section when my Rickman Ranger got stuck. We were actually going down hill at the time and the car was well and truly stuck on its diff casing. We were stranded with our driven wheels practically off the ground. Clearly we weren’t going to drive off under our own power, so the ever resourceful Pete Stafford dived into the undergrowth to produce a strong tree branch that we used to lever the car off. Away we went towards the first section, not very far though, because just a few yards further on the track had been washed out. There was a triangular shaped gully up the middle with the sides at an angle of about 30 degrees. I tried my hardest to straddle it but the Rickman soon dropped in, to heel over at an enormous angle. Pete fell across on top of me but there was no choice but to keep my foot down. We scraped along with the side of the car wearing away as it rubbed along the side of the trench! We were not alone; one of the Moss Brothers in an Imp did the same, only he got stuck! I wonder how many other competitors followed suite?

The section was a no-no, too tight a turn at the bottom for us. On to section two, not so fast though as there was more off roading. Our convoy found a Cannon ahead trying to reach the tarmac road un-aided. Teamwork got him out, plus our entire group of six or so cars. Carl Talbot got all the way to the four in his class eight Trialsmaster and Ian Moss wasn’t far behind him in his Imp. Most of the entry was like me though, grinding to a halt at the eleven!

Some of the sections were sub divided, funnily enough we found these ones easier! The off-roading was great, the sections were often narrow, rough and challenging, absolutely marvellous stuff, never mind that two were abandoned.

By the time we reached the last section, called “Viaduct” we were running first on the road. The start was on a flat, deep leaf-moulded surface then a muddy bit, through a gate onto a soggy field, climbing, then harder ground followed by steep mud with ruts and it was sub-divided. We gave it full power. Pete on full bounce mode even using 2^nd gear it was touch and go at times, a brilliant section. We stopped in sight of the section ends board for a one. No way out, it was back down to the start, nearly half a mile away.

While we waited for a way back to the road there was a medical emergency, a suspected heart attack. Nearly everybody had to leave to make room for an ambulance. We hoped the patient was OK but after the event we learned that he died.

The section was cancelled and the entry wound their sad way to the finish. A tragic end but thanks Stroud boys and girls we really enjoyed our Mechanics Trial.

Carl Talbot (Trialmaster)	10	First Overall, The Mechanics Trophy
Michael Collins (VW Golf)	16	1st Class 1
Paul Bartleman (Escort)	11	1st Class 3
Stuart Deacon (Escort)	17	2nd Class 3
Giles Greenslade (VW Beetle)	11	1st Class 4
Ian Moss (Imp)	17	2nd Class 4
Rob Cull (MG Midget)	23	1st Class 5
Mal Allen (Marlin)	15	1st Class 7
Arthur Vowden (Marlin)	17	2nd Class 7
Bill Foreshew (GVS)	15	1st Class 8
Iain Daniels (Rebel)	17	2nd Class 8

2002_mechanics_results_route_report Download

Fearsome Cotswold Clouds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2002_cotswold_clouds_results Download

Mike Chatwin wins Classic Clouds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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