2019 Camel Heights Trial

A good turn out of bikes including a lone quad

This was another one day, single venue trial virtually on my doorstep. It would almost be rude not to have joined in after the organisers had gone to such trouble.

And trouble aplenty there was!

I was nearly a non starter. The car electrics were completely dead but after a quick call to Adrian Booth, my car's creator/developer, the issue was chased to the isolator switch in the boot. I had jogged it whilst trying to rationalise the tides of flotsam and jetsam including really useful stuff needed on a trial somewhere.

Mr Graham Beddoe feeds the inner man

Today's somewhere was Dunmere Woods. I had driven passed it many times but never ventured in. I had the privileged sense of exploring a hidden corner of God's own country.

Organised by the Camel Vale Motor Club, most of the sections were dead ends and involved reversing back down again. I prefer the straight through ones, probably as a result of my background in MCC trials.

The first section was bleddy brilliant! Gerald's Dream looked so difficult from the start line. So much for an easy one to start with. I didn't think we'd get very far but the MG-Arkley dug into the ruts and sailed up.

What one can expect - Camel Staircase. Lots of humps then

From then on it was a different story, with some sections proving extremely difficult. We hardly got off the start line on some sections especially when we had some rain to liquify the mud.

There was one that we managed to get all the way up

Poor Clive Kalber broke a steering arm on his Dutton Melos. He said the tree he'd hit in his Pop on the Launceston Trial had bent the front axle, hence the use of the Dutton. Norton Selwood added that he'd almost come through the front windscreen with the impact and was black and blue afterwards. The Pop and the Dutton should be out again for the LET at Easter.

I don't think anything stopped the Harry family in their VW-powered Hillman Imp

I was pleased to renew an old acquaintance with the Hillman Imp of Martin Harry. I first saw this device on the 1987 Land's End when his wife drove it and put in some very notable performances. It's now back on the hills, often with their daughter driving although today she was studying for her A levels.

There were a couple of memorable climbs and failures, although I am not sure now what sections they were - the Camel Classic wads held on 3rd March and I am writing this some two months later.

There was one where we had to be turned around by the combined efforts of the marshals and another where we hit a root and came to such a sudden dead stop I thought we'd broken another halfshaft. If we could get off the start line we had a 50/50 chance of clearing the section but a rain shower just after lunch covered the sections in liquid runny mud and it became a 75/25 chance of not going anywhere when the marshal dropped his or her flag.

Wot no grip? Photo courtesy of Mr Graham Beddoe when he wasn't doubled up from giggling at his escape

There was one notable climb that we almost managed. It was called The Firs and featured a restart. At the top we were supposed to join a forestry track but instead we slid off piste down the hillside until a large tree helpfully arrested our progress. Unfortunately, this tree liked Arkley-MGs a little too much and snagged us in its roots. We had to be towed out by a 4x4 after a lot of fruitless pushing an shoving by the marshals.

A bit late to be looking at the map

It's the roots that are the killer. They snatch the steering out of your hands and throw you off course.

As Malcolm Owen of The Ruts once sang, "When you're in a rut, you wanna get out of it!" Photo : Graham Beddoe

On one of the last sections Graham had to get out and push because there was just us and the marshal officiating on the restart box. We had to let the tyres down really low as by then we'd slid into an old tree stump and going backwards was not an option. Dropping the tyres pressures right down showed me what was possible - the car fought it its way out.

They've already got further than we did. Derek Rogers and Charles Gregory on their way to the top.

Some competitors were running their tyres what I would call flat. Consequently, many of them had punctures. Word was that Martin Harry had as many as 5 flat tyres but he's an experienced wizard with inner tubes and tyre irons.

I am not.

The sections I like best are the fast ones where you whizz straight through. I have been talking to Nigel Barnett recently and something like the autosolos he organises sound fun. Sliding around on fields without tree roots seems strangely appealing!

Groover Groves and Dick Bolt do their bead breaking thing on their 1600 Troll while Ryan and Claire Tonkin offer advice from the comfort of their Beetle

We had two punctures overall, one of which was a fast slow puncture. We used that tyre for the last long section, which I particularly enjoyed. We were warned to have plenty of fuel for Keater's Dream and it was a fitting finale to another tough trial which was very useful practice for the long distance stuff.