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Last in Class and Last in Trial
by Nicola
Butcher
Our
journey starts Saturday afternoon to friends in Church Stretton to stay
the night, towing the Beach Buggy on the A frame with our van.
My Dad drove our VW Beach Buggy from Church Stretton to Ludlow
and up to Burwarton and I am passenger. There is a howling wind but as
yet no rain! We are togged up in our snow suits and I have two more
layers on than I usually do for PCTs, just incase it gets cold.
We arrive at “The Boyne Arms” just before 8 am as requested
one hour before start time. Inside to sign on, outside to be
scrutineered and back in again, to get the route card.
This is only the second time we have been on a classic trial so the
route card system is fairly new and I am nervous that we will go wrong.
So I read through it all, highlighting our tyre pressure limits,
restarts and where the route divides etc, along with asking Barbara
Selkirk loads of questions when she’s organising the signing on of
everyone, so thanks Barbara for accommodating me. At 8.40 Dad and I go
out into the paddock to await our start time. We find number 17 and 19,
but no 18 (who is unfortunately a non- starter) and wait in line. The starting marshal’s comment when waiting for 2 minutes
to go by after no: 19 had disappeared. “Gosh, you haven't got much
ground clearance have you!” was worrying to say the least and proved
to be our downfall on getting very far on some of the hills, or even out
of them after the section…9.03 came and off we went.
Reading the route card and looking out for the turnings on the 5 miles
to the first hill, “Farlow”. No restart and free tyre pressure
limit, so we decide on 15 psi in both front and back. We get a 9 on this
hill, not very far but never mind we are just having fun. I then
continue to read about the hill and discover the section description! It
may have been useful if I had actually told Dad these, will try on the
next hill. Two miles along the road brings us to Special Test 1 at
“Catherton Common” we are not very fast, but never mind. Now for the
longest mileage between sections of the day, so the back tyres are
pumped up to 20 psi. During the 20 miles we have time to enjoy the
wonderful scenery around us, although it is a bit miserable the wind is
fast and is keeping the clouds moving. As yet still no rain.
“Round
Oak” is hill number 2 and the general information informs us that it
is a new section for 2002 although it was used in the 50s and 60s by
motorcycle trials, so we are at least on a par with everyone this time
due to this being a new hill. Free tyre pressure limit, so we decide to
be a little more adventurous and go down to 10 psi. Well we got to the 6
maker to claim those points then the sump shield decided it would sit on
the mud/grass between the ruts and not move. Ground clearance a major
problem and Dad says we will stick to 15 psi from now on. We seriously
need to raise the back end of the Buggy. Other than that getting up the
hill was not that much of a problem, coming down was another story
entirely! Once out of the ruts we slid sideways into the hedge on our
right and our left wheels ended up in the right hand rut. We were stuck
in the hedge and the left back wheel just span making the hole deeper,
we were not going anywhere. The
marshals on this section come to help push and bounce the back end but
its no good as we are sat on the sump shield. Oh delight! The
film crew have decided it would be good to film all this mayhem.
So after making the left wheel spin again for the camera and Dad being
interviewed about what went wrong, we were told never to do a trial with
the roof on… The learning curve is huge by now. It is back to deciding
what to do next… someone calls for the Land Rover, but decides it
would be best for us to be pulled backwards out of our predicament. So
the Land Rover comes around via the road behind us. If I was no help
before I am certainly no help what so ever now and decide I am probably
more of a hindrance than a help. I let the marshals decide where and
what to do with the Buggy. Did I mention the film crew, now it’s my
turn to be interviewed and why do I do this as a hobby and not something
like playing scrabble? Mmm… Because this is slightly more interesting
… as you can see… I look a state but I am really enjoying myself
even though a little scared at times. We now focus our attention back to
the Buggy!
Stuart Ridge appearing from the top of
Round
Oak
I can only look on in horror and see
Dad's face do the same, as the Buggy
is being pulled backwards along and into the hedge, nearly taking the
right hand front wing and lights with it. Making a lovely crack in the
fiberglass, we will soon have 2 matching grey wings. Shame we could not
of been pulled forward. There were lots of people around trying to see
if they could lift the Buggy sideways out of the hedge and ruts, the
front is fine but the back is just to heavy and the rut to deep. After
more pulling and scraping we finally get to a place where the ruts are
shallow and the verge between track and hedge widens. The Buggy is
driven forwards and at last free of the hedge. We proceed to reverse
down to the bottom to find a huge queue of cars waiting and lots of
people watching. With our breath back we pump up the rear tyres to 20
psi during which Emma Flay and David Wall came to see if we were OK, it
is great to see people care and the sporting spirit there to help
everyone if needed. Thanks very much guys.
Whilst the recovery of the Buggy was being undertaking
I was thinking at least we have done 2 hills and a special test
before having to retire, but we are OK. So we continue on for 10 miles
to Adstone. "Oh! were we supposed to go straight down that track,
where that grass triangle was?" Good job we had two cars following
and Dad saw them turn down the track, we then doubled back. The general
information informed us that this hill is a country road although not
shown on an OS map even as a footpath! Oh! well we were up for anything
as nothing could be as bad as the hill. Tyres 15, restarts RED that’s
us. We always get stuck on restarts. Section description is mud and
stones, slippery and wet at top. Damn, did I say this was going to be an
easy hill? We amazingly cleared the hill, our spirits were lifted (for
the time being).
We journey the 5 miles to Section 4 (Rattlinghope) being as quiet as we
could be in our Buggy with our exhaust, slow is not a problem. Past the
white house then stables and cottage (we find out later on why, because
of passing it again on our way to Harton Wood. Rattlinghope, we were
informed, was a country road used in late 1938/ 39 by the MGCC which is
described in Wheelspin. (Dad informs me this is a book describing
classic trials before the war that is now out of print). Tyres 15 and no
restarts with hard stony track and almost a straight climb. I just read
Dad "What to do when you clear the section" Brilliant Dad does
it again, we are clear. I am happy, Dad's happy and the Buggy is still
running! One mile on to Gatten's Gamble and another country road! Should
have been a superb view from the top if the weather was good to us.
Tyres 15, Restarts none. It would really help if I had read the special
instructions before we went up this hill. "Did you say mind those
gorse bushes" Dad finds out the hard way with a face full of them.
I am not doing my job properly, but we cleared the hill and yes the view
was lovely, which we got time to admire whilst our tyre pressures are
being
checked.
Stuart Ridge near the top of Gatten's Gamble
Next section was 16 miles, but we stay on 15 psi because Harton Wood is
road tyres pressures only, no adjustments allowed. Passing the YHA and
the white house again and up onto the top of the Long Mynd we only met
one vehicle with trailer which had a courteous driver, which we later
find out was a rare occurrence. Which is why all the warnings about
extremely steep unguarded drops to the Left was in bold and underlined.
Harton Wood was the last of our clears, but it was nice to see that we
got the same as some others on the remaining hills.
Six miles onto the next section with a little petrol and toilet stop
in-between, nice lady letting me put muddy footprints all the way
through her shop. Hungerford is section 7 and we park on the verge as
instructed. The nice marshal informs us of some rather deep ruts after
the section has finished that have been made by large farm machinery. To
stay out of these by straddling them is easier said than done! Tyre
pressures said 10 but we stuck to our 15 psi because of ground
clearance. Restarts for Red, and we are not so lucky this time because
our sump shield decides it is going to stop us just as we come up to the
first line of the restart box. Another nice marshal politely tells us
that people usually stop on the second line of the box. We reverse a
little to take the hill without the restart. We got out of the section
and then the fun really began. Just out of sight of cars coming up from
the section, we meet the deep ruts and slipped back into them and got
stuck. Dad tried pushing while I tried to drive but to no avail. I went
back and met car 19 coming up the hill. With Dad's and their help we
manage to push the Buggy to a flatter, less rutted area. We didn’t
think that was to bad until we met the really big ruts! We were
straddling these as well until the mud got really bad and we slid back
in. They gradually got deeper and deeper until
we stopped again. Enter Robin and Derek from Car 19 then the same
situation of Dad and the others pushing while I drove. By the time we
got out this set of ruts there were at least 4 other cars waiting who
all helped by pushing and lifting the Buggy.
I was told to get back in and drive towards the hedge! ("Haven't we
met one of these before? You really want me to do this? Ok!) So there
are about 10 people pushing
and bouncing the Buggy while I am looking and driving straight at the
hedge. I was told to keep driving until it was flat with no mud. I did
as I was asked at what felt like a 45 degree angle. I was scared stiff
that I would tip over, but I have great faith in my Dad, that he would
not have made me do this if it was that dangerous. I could see the
ground in front of me and it looked pretty good. I relaxed and stopped
on a large grass verve and Dad rejoined me and we drove on. We wondered
whether to stop and say thank you, but as no waiting was allowed we
continued on to the next hill. Longville is a by-way (BOAT, what ever
that stands for)(By-way Open to All Traffic – ed) through
another piece of National Trust land. This was used in the 1940s and
then since 1980. Tyre pressures were kept at 15 psi and there were
restarts for red and yellows in different places. We nearly stopped at
the wrong restart but then it didn’t matter because again we didn’t
get any further than the red restart line, so another 6 penalty points.
During the next three miles to Special Test 2 (Railway) we take a little
detour by missing a very sharp left hand turn. Another detour was then
taken underneath the old railway bridge instead of over the top, so
again we had to double back, being careful of any horses or pedestrians
we may bump into. The general information told us that the railway ran
along where Special Test 2 was run, until Dr Beeching had his way.
Nothing special to report other than the slowest time, so we continued
to Majors Leap. I haven't seen Ippikin's rock but it must have been
impressive to have had a tale told about it for over 250 years. We did
not see the blinding sun at the top of Majors Leap due to the grand
total of 12 penalty points in this section.
Jenny-Wind
was Section 11. It was an old railway incline, that sounded exciting! We
managed to get 7 penalty points, which good as the restart box was at
marker 8. Only another 200 yards to Harley Bank, now this had a very
interesting diversion in the way of a very sharp hair pin to the left
for red and yellow classes. We got stuck at marker 10 and had to reverse
down to join the easier hill that the other classes were using. We got
to maker 7 this time and after trying with more marshals to keep us
moving up the hill, (with no success) we found there was no tow
available. We had a long reverse to the foot of the section to ask if
there was an alternative route to get out. As no alternative was known
we double back to find Much Wenlock so to follow the route card again.
When
we arrived at the control and waited our turn, car 19 arrived and we had
our first opportunity to thank them for their help (they were covered in
mud from Hungerford). After 25 minutes we were sent off to tackle
Section 13 Meadowley Wood, the ground was soft and very slippery with
some tree roots, that will be another 6 points for us than. Once at the
Boyne Estate we went passed sections 14 and 15 to Special Test 3, "Ditton
Slack". In the general information we were told it was always used
before BT tarmaced it. After
this test we found out that we were not the only ones who failed this,
due to some of the lines not being exactly straight and with the marshal
watching. Section 14 Hillside should have been a restart for our class
but was unnecessary due to the fact we stopped at maker 9 before the
restart at 8. Forrester's Fright was the last section and only a couple
of hundred yards further on, we scored a grand total of 11.
We had extremely good fun
during the day and realised that our performance could have been a lot
worse if the rain had fallen. Dad and I would just like to say a huge
THANK YOU to everyone who helped us throughout the trial with advice and
man power. See you all next year when we will have 3 more inches of
ground clearance!!!
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2002 Restart
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