Edinburgh Trial 2012
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| Scrutineering at Tamworth Services was in persistent rain |
I'd never even spectated on the Edinburgh but had heard that it was very rough. The Peak District had also remained unexplored territory for me until this summer when the National Rally of the Hillman Imp Club pulled me northwards and I found a new bit of Britain that I really liked.
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| A Benelli dirt bike! When was the last time you saw a Benelli of any sort? |
However, the week before the event, the Allard failed its MOT and then there was a roller coaster ride of "we will, we won't" be ready.
The problem began as a brake imbalance and, while new cylinders at the front was a partial solution, the nearside brake drum did not want to come off. While getting down and dirty with some large hammers, Binky noticed that the slot for the Woodruff key in the hub was ninety degrees round on the axle.
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| The Allard J1 gets scrutineered by a glowing lady |
To cut a long story short, he had to enlist the help of Valley Gas Speed Shop in downtown Andover. The drum and hub had to be smashed to get them off to reveal a shaft that had partially welded itself to the hub . Fortunately, the shaft and bearings were all good and Binkers had a splendid array of spares (almost enough to make another car in fact) which included a replacement hub and brake drum.
On Thursday night I had an ansafone message to say the re-test was tomorrow afternoon i.e. a few hours before we were due to set off. So off I went from Cornwall, not knowing if we would be in the trial or suddenly available for mashalling duties. The car passed its test, though, and following food torture by Mrs Binky and an LLD (little lie down) we set off in torrential rain for the start at Tamworth.
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| This is the newly re-engineered spare wheel carrier that gives the spare wheels a much more rakish angle. It also proved an effective talisman against punctures - we had no flat tyres this time. |
By the time we got to Bicester we decided to put the hood up. We both had our motorcycle waterproofs on and the engine kept us toasty but there are limits to what you can see at night with rain on your specs. I wore my contact lenses and steampunk goggles because I find that my glasses get covered in rain and mud on classic trials and mud gets converted to dust by that great iron flathead.
The Allard's roof is very simple and uses a central strut cunningly fashioned out of plastic pipe - not quite 1947 but surprisingly effective.
There was the also the small matter of a misfire at part throttle. Rob/Binky began torturing himself with visions of burnt valves. Mechanical sympathy is all very well but I'm glad I don't have as much of it as he does. I talked him out of taking the car apart on the hard shoulder of beside the M40 and instead bought a can of WD40. It didn't help but not for any lack of liberality around the engine bay.
There were 183 entrants in the main trial, with 52 in Class O, and unlike the other two classic trials in the west country everyone starts from the same place. We arrived early for once had time to look around the rest of the cars and bikes before they got muddy.
Map reading in the dark in strange country can be difficult - a trial almost - but fortunately the MCC route card is easy to follow, even if the mileage seemed at times pessimistic and at others optimistic, and we found the Holding Control at Carsington Water without any difficulty.
There was a bit of hanging around before they let us set off for the first hill, which was Haven Hill. Most hills had a restart for us but this one posed no problems. At Tamworth we'd learned that restarts at Litton Slack and Clough Wood had been abandoned due to the muddy conditions but every other hill featured a restart. Bamford Clough and Clough Mine also featured A boards - whoever gets closest to them, or furthest passed them, is deemed to be the class champ if the hill stops all comers.
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| Dawn breaks as we wait to do Cliff Quarry |
At idle - and with "beans" - the misfire went away and we chugged our way to Observed Section 2, Cliff Quarry, with the occasional backfire on the overrun.
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| Binky talks axles with Bill Holt and Steve Holder |
Again there was a long wait and we had a quick chat with Bill Holt and Steve Holder in their very smart Allard M type special, which runs a 3.9 litre Rover V8. Bill'd had problems with his hubs in the past, too. It seems the offset layout of the rear axle transmits the power first to the nearside so this can wilt if abused. I think the slightly shorter shaft doesn't "spring" so much. Their car had been sorted and Binky had marked the hub on Candidi in case it began to spin round again but before long everything was covered in mud and we couldn't see if trouble was brewing or not.
Cliff Quarry featured a sharp left hand turn on a level but very muddy section and although Binky ably did the steering thing we were going too fast even at a crawl and sailed serenely - okay not serenely, we were a bit agitated actually - by the cones. Pumping up our tyres afterwards, we spoke to a few Class 7 and 8 contestants and everyone said the same thing had happened to them. By the time they came to a stop, or the steering worked, they'd missed the gate.
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| Pumping up tyres after Black Harry. Matt and Barry Benny in their UVA Fugitive had heard about the French 4x4s powered by Ford flathead V8s. |
After that Rileys Rise (a quick blast up a muddy lane after a holding control on the B6001 at a sharp bend) and Black Harry (another blast but this time across open moorland near Cavendish Mill) seemed positively palatial. In between was a Special Test at Deep Rake, which was a tight blast against the clock around a tree (if you get my meaning) that was almost too tight for the lengthy Allard. Caroline Ugalde was obviously thoroughly enjoying herself in her Beetle, though.
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| Car parked at Putwell |
Then we came to Putwell and the delays increased.
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| James Shallcross does a bead breaking break dance whilst Roger Bricknell experiences the euphoria of classic trials |
Putwell was run in in two parts. If you didn't get up Putwell A you couldn't get to the start line for Putwell B. The only way for failures was down the approach road and the marshals had their work cut out organising the passage of failures back down the narrow lane under the railway arch. As we waited our turn it was obvious that many people were not clearing Putwell A, even useful bits of kit like Marlins. Although there was no restart box on Putwell A, there was an awkward bit were you turned left and then right among rough stones and tree roots but Rob did the business with the Allard and we came up without any problems.
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| This isn't the section at Putwell but the approach to the start line. Caroline Ugalde's Beetle had a starter problem so she had to keep its engine running. |
Just before us on Putwell B, some of James Shallcross' ballast fell into his gear linkage and jammed his selector shafts approaching the start line. Fortunately it was a simple matter to retrieve this while we admired his engine bay. This car has been extensively developed since James bought it off Adrian Booth and it wasn't exactly a sluggard then. Unfortuantely, Richard and Barbara Uren then had a total driveline failure near the restart box at the top of Putwell B and they were out of the trial. Their only option was to bump back down to the Putwell B start line so that a group of us could push their car onto a levellish plot facing downhill, ready for recovery operations when the rest of the field had gone through. I asked Richard what sort of noise the car made when it stopped transmitting drive and he said it wasn't a bang, rattle or a graunch but more of a ping. Let's hope that means it's not expensive...
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| The Marlin is on the start line at Putwell B |
When it was our turn we battled up the hill and Binky did his trick of stopping as low as he could in the restart box so that we could get a bit of momentum going. With the long wheelbase of the Allard, this means we usually can find some grip away from the polished bits and so it proved here but once we were under way again I couldn't believe how rough the final section was right at the top of the hill. There were transverse broken rocky steps of about 20cm height and, as we were doing tyre pressures at the top of the hill, one of the sidevalve Ford Pops pulled up with a severely dented offside rear wheel.
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| You've to grab some shuteye when you can. The Allard J1 is so comfy in the sunshine |
By the time we got to the Bill I'Th Thorn pub where had our compulsory hour rest and breakfast stop it was getting on for 3 o'clock and we were wondering if we'd get served. But we were and there was plenty of it.
The weather by now had settled into a very sunny day andthe Peak District looked at its magnificent best.
The misfire went away with the sunshine so we think it may have been water in the carb. There is no air filter and - in fact - there never has been one but there was an awful lot of water and it doesn't always burn as well it could for something that is two parts oxygen to one of hydrogen.
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| If you're waiting it helps if it's sunny |
Next up was Litton Slack. This is not the section it used to be as a rare something may have been discovered at the foot of the hill. Or may not have been - it seems it depends on which ecofreak has got on all fours with nature. Until something conclusive is, er, concluded, the MCC has nobly abstained from muddying the argument and we entertain ourselves with what I think used to be the route up the hill for failures. Even this, though, proved tricky. The restart had been scratched and at the next hill, where there was a massive wait, a tall chap (sorry, I don't recall your name) was berating himself for not paying more attention to the cars in front because he couldn't even get away from the start line.
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| Litton Slack could still prove tricky for the unwary |
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| Waiting at Bamford Clough, we were able to ask this Suzuki X-90 why they'd failed the hill. Derek Reynolds and Fred Mills in the Daf got fed up with waiting and eventually skipped on. |
Bamford Clough was where the longest wait of many long waits occurred. I think we were there for over an hour and cars were backed down the hill into the village and - at one point - onto the main road. Fortunately, Travelling Marshal Duncan Welch was on hand to organise carparking more safely.
A lot of people were contemplating calling it a day by this point. Many thought that the subsequent hills would all be deserted by the marshals because of the late running and many already knew they weren't up for an award. Others were just plain tired.
There was a good opportunity to gawp at the opposition, though, and chat to our competitors. there was some very interesting machinery to ask awkward questions about, too, but I just wish I'd known my old mate Colin Valentine was the start line marshal. We could've had a really good chinwag.
Once we were on Bamford Clough, the Allard battled its way up to the restart box without too much drama apart from a slippery but under the trees that was actually concrete but kind of polished concrete. That's what it felt like anyway. Bamford Clough is awesome, dude. It's hard work walking up it and seems to go on for ever. It consists of undulating steps of concrete in between big rocks and tree roots. It's literally a stair way up the side of a mountain and maintaining any sort of speed to get you over the crests of the bumps could easily damage your machinery. Although I must have blinked and missed them, "A" boards were in operation here in case all competitors in some classes did not clear the hill at all. In these circumstances, those who got closest to the "A" boards are the winners, especially if they get beyond them.
But we cleaned Bamford Clough. Binky said the Allard did the work but, personally, I think he had something to do with it as well. Knowing when to blip the throttle and not blip it seemed critical here.
I was really pleased to have got up Bamford Clough and Litton Slack, for these are the "named" hills for the Edinburgh competitors and are ranked right up there with Blue Hills and Simms. I was beginning to think we could clear the rest of the hills having got up these monsters but Calton caught us out.
On a virtually flat scetion (after Bamford Clough) we found a cunningly placed restart box on well polished knobbles of limestone. Or very ungritty gritsone. I bounced as hard as I could and Binky waggled his steering wheel, which can sometimes get the Allard to elbow its way over the stones while the tail end is scrabbling, but we weren't going anywhere and the marshals instructed us to roll back down and take a run up at it. That made it easy. I think the only way we could've got up it was to have smoked the tyres and then throttled back so that their warmth and stickiness could get us going.
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| If you haven't already been to the Peak district then you've a real treat to look forward to. |
Nobody really wanted to hang around for twenty minutes at Hollinsclough Control until we discovered the cake on offer. The views were quite spectacular, though, as the setting sun lit up Chrome Hill - its not as shiny as you'd think but a wonderful blend of lush green and bracken orange.
The tea ladies were spot on and full of good humour. They asked me to re-stock the men's lavatory with toilet rolls and when I passed out the old cardboard tubes they said "They didn't last long" and pretended I'd misunderstood the question and been profligate with the bogroll.
Still full of chagrin over our failure on Calton, we approached Rakes Head determined to do better but here the car died in the restart box. Something is up with the carb, we think. It doesn't like being at an acute angle and goes on strike. With another run up we got through but the low sun was blinding at the top
Excelsior was sunny, too, but we weren't facing west. Here, they'd wisely given up on the restart box and when we saw where they'd put it, we could see why. Great fists of rock seemed to be punched out of the living earth and all around the wound was an oozing slime of liquid mud.
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| The Candid Provocateurs openly provoked quite a lot of displaced mud |
By the time we got to Clough Mine, it was getting dark. We saw Roger Ugalde driving the other way and almost managed to stop to talk to him but then there was other traffic and we carried on, wondering if he'd closed the rest of the trial. Rob asked me what our allotted time for this section was and I told him it was 14:12.
As we mulled this over, we saw Caroline Ugalde and Graham Greenwell coming towards us and they said that Clough Mine was still open but that Clough Wood had been scratched and so it proved. The tireless marshals even had a signed placard of cardboard with Roger's signature on it to show everyone.
Clough Mine was one of Roger's specials. If we'd've cleaned everything up to now - unlikely I know - this one would have rattled us. Okay, it did rattle us and we dropped out tyre pressures to 10psi when before we'd gone down to 14psi as a bare minimum before. Most of the hills had been rocky as well as muddy but Clough Mine was just muddy and there were "A" boards as well as a restart box. Binky did well to keep momentum going from the start line and through the muddy dip and then put pedal to the metal to struggle up to just short of the "A" boards. He reckoned the 4' 8" front track was too wide for the ruts of other cars so we had front wheels gouging at the walls of mud on either side. We still got further up than the Mk2 Escort behind us, though.
At Dudwood, the final hill and Observed Test 2, things almost dissolved into farce. Nothing seemed to be going anywhere from the start line, which was awash with liquid mud. An Escort just slid sideways and that was on the level. We slithered forward a bit and made a rooster tail of mud that found one of the marshals. He amazingly didn't seem to mind. We gently reversed and turned around on a patch of grass that hadn't been cut up already and slowly slithered back the way we'd came. Another marshal skated over to tell us that the test has been abandoned and that we should follow the Class O directions on our route card but because we'd stopped we couldn't get going again. This was on the flat. So the marshal gave us a push although I don't know how he managed to stand up. In return we covered him in mud. Well, he would stand behind the rear wheel, wouldn't he? By now it was dark so how muddy he was I couldn't say. His jacket was no longer reflective at any rate.
Following the Class O route was trickier than at first I thought. In this sort of situation, satnav is next to useless and you have to join the gaps up using the route card. My sense of direction is pretty good but this was one of its severest tests. I was back to using a torch and operating the headlamp dip switch, just like we had to on the overnight sections. We acquired a small convoy of stragglers behind us ("No pressure, Ginger!") and never did find the Cheese Factory, which was our Holy Grail for a while. I did manage to find a Cornish engine house, the one at Magpie Mine, and from my earlier explorations knew where we were. By the time we got to the finish at Bull I'Th Thorn it was gone eight and our restaurant booking was looking iffy. Fortunately, Dave Turner had extended this by thirty minutes and organised taxis so after a quick change we had a celebratory slap up binge with the Bicknells and MX5 crews, although the Urens were sorely missed, especially as we'd not heard if they'd been recovered.
At breakfast I found that the Keats and the Cundies were in the same hotel and had a good look at Lester's Avenger. I was able to say that my dad used to have one almost like it. His dad had this car from new so it's a sort of heirloom. I don't think our old one is still around.
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| "Look what we've got! (Photo : Mrs Binky) |
On the long drive back, it occurred to Binky and I that we'd greatly enjoyed ourselves despite all the hanging around. The Edinburgh is a nicely compact trial that loops around the Peak District but is fiendishly rough. Most people only do it if they're in the running for a Triple after having done well in the Exeter and Land's End but I doubt if many will get a Gold this year. Everyone I spoke to said they hadn't cleared the hills they should have and I think the results will again be interesting if not contentious. Some said the trial should've been shortened in light of the conditions but others said true northern grit showed through in the marshalling teams staying on for what turned out be a very long day.
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