2021 Tamar Trial

Rickman Metisee of Neil Browne

This year's Tamar Trial took me to some obscure parts of countryside that were probably familiar to regular competitors. The 2019 event impressed me with the varied sections, some of which were very close to home but previously unknown to me. Simon Riddell and Nigel Cowling said on that occasion that they were trying to show us more of the county. 

Groover Groves and Luke Butler at the start of the Tamar Trial in their Troll.

Graham Beddoe was on a marathon post-Covid road trip so my navigator and bouncer for the 2021 Tamar Trial was Adrian Booth. Many of the hills were familiar to him and I knew the sections in Lew Woods and, of course, Crackington and Angel Steps.

The hydraulic jack had been a bit lazy on the Launceston Trial earlier in the year. The pump for this had enjoyed a quieter life raising the roof on a Fiat Punto and after some experiments with electric power steering pumps, Adrian decided something beefier was required. He found a pump for a tipping trailer and after warming up the wiring nicely we thought that would probably prove strong enough. It did. And some thicker cables said goodbye to the Joe Lucas quality smoke and warm hands when handling.

He had to chop the oil tank down a bit and create a "power bulge" with a hammer and an old brake drum in the bootlid but the result is a much quicker lift. It also lowers the car on a button. Previously you had to release the pressure and the car would sink like the palm trees on Thunderbird Island. I would also have to lean on the ram before it would fit in the boot. 

Two Booth-developed cars - the Peugeot 205 of James Shallcross and my Arkley with Adrian Booth seated.

We started the 2021 Tamar Trial from the Proper Ansom Café in Launceston and Eastcott Down was our first section with a restart for Classes 7 & 8. We got away well but in the wet it would have been different. The 8 restart a few feet beyond ours on a sharp cambered righthand bend.

Lew Wood 1 wasn’t far away. This was a variation of what had been a stopper on the last Launceston Trial but we got off our restart line only to grind to a halt on the Class 8 restart line. However, I “kept it in” and we elbowed our way up with some waggling of the front wheels and some tyre smoke.  I was especially pleased with that!

On Lew Wood 2, Tris White thought the conditions were too dry to make much of a challenge for us so set up an impromptu wooden fence on the left side. This section was very twisty with lots of roots and very narrow gates but no restart. We got up. After the section ended, the route to the main forestry track was very nadgery and quite a challenge in itself.

The Ramps were cancelled and Trehole 3 was substituted later on in the trial.

We got up Allerford Steep but on Lee Quarry we failed the restart and had to turn around and go back down again.

I managed to ascend Angel Steps on the Pop Up Trial but that was without a restart. For this event there was a restart and tyre pressure limit of 14 psi for Class 7. Class 8 had to attempt Angel Steps on 16psi! We managed to get off the restart line and struggled a little further, waggling the front wheels and smoking the rear tyres but didn’t have enough forward momentum or grip to climb a polished rock slab. We slid back down with the wheels still turning forward. Dave Ball, who was marshalling got an excellent video of our attempt that ends with Adrian exclaiming “bugger!”

We had to come down again like many of the cars before us. The hydraulic handbrake is a great boon in this situation and the larger steering wheel helps as well.

Harts Lane started off innocently enough but had a bomb hole at the top full of muddy water. We beached out and just about managed to reverse out of it again, even with the help of gravity.

Ashleigh was much more enjoyable. It consisted of an up and down loop on grass and then a climb up the side of a quarry across the roots of a large tree. I failed the restart on the roots of that tree last time but without a restart this year kept going with my wheels spinning all the way to the top. I might have been able to throttle back slightly to get more grip on the grass which seemed dry but didn’t feel quite confident enough. We had a quick chat with spectators who told us it had caught quite a few out already so we put that one down as another good climb. I'd heard a thump on the way up, though, and think we caught a pole with a mirror.

Park Impossible had a 12psi limit and a lower restart line but we were unable to get away. We had to turn around and go back down again. Dave Symons told us not many had got away. Phil Thomas managed it though and proved a worthy Class 7 winner.

Our lunch halt was at Tresmeer village hall with some excellent pasties we pre-ordered at the start. We were surprised to get a puncture as we departed the carpark. Age said he didn't mind tyre pressure limits because they minimised punctures but he aslo s ays if you don't get any you're not trying hard enough.

This meant that we then had one old repaired Nankang cover and, on the nearside, a newer Camac Classic. These had worked alright on the Pop Up Trial but I suspected they wouldn’t be so good in clearing thick mud. They were the softest weight rating I could find for a 185 x 14 but the cleats didn’t inspire me. They even had an option for a white sidewall, which should have told me something….

Conference at the lunch stop at Tresmeer

Scarsick observed test consisted of a start on Line A, driving all four wheels over Line B, reversing back over it again with all four wheels and then stopping astride Line C. This was just like an MCC observed test but laid out on a steep stony track with a sharp lefthand bend at the top for line C. I have over-cooked approaches in the past and side over Line C but the gradient helped us in this case. One of the cars ahead of us stalled on trying to get away again from Line B.

We had a restart on Crackington and a tyre pressure limit of 14psi. We couldn’t get away on the restart but struggled up the hill with a run at it. It seemed much rougher than previous Land’s End Trials and perhaps hadn’t been doctored by the locals.

Following the cancellation of The Ramps, Trehole became a complex of three sections in a little valley near Crackington.

Trehole 1 was a tight loop in a quarry. I couldn’t make out the route and stopped twice to check where to go. I must make an effort to trickle forward rather come to a halt when this happens. It was rough over the heaped shale but we got around.

Trehole 2 had a very muddy start at ninety degrees to the bottom track. We burned our way through and cleared the section but saw a few struggle to get away. Nick Aldridge in his Honda-powered Smart Roadster was spectacular! Revs up to the limiter, flames out the zorst and away he went. Somebody film him next time.

I tried to recreate Nick’s performance on Trehole 3 but this was far too muddy for us to get very far. Adrian pointed out that the mismatched rear tyres didn’t help and our little car slewed sideways. He said it had often had a tendency to do that. We suspect the short wheelbase also contributes to this trait but the bigger steering wheel helps correct it.

We approached New Langleys across the side of a steep hill. My rear tyre looked flat as it took all the weight of the car at the back but it was on the lower side. After a quick chat with Roy Hartley on the start line, we weaved tightly around some thickets to the Class restart line. Tris White flagged us off the restart and we almost cleared the hill but ground to a halt about a car length away from section end boards. We had to be winched up by a digger.

After the final section at Trevilla, before we set off for the finish

Trevilla was on the same farm, behind the farmhouse. Mature trees huddled round a small quarry and the surface was mostly grass. After passing through two steep banks, I couldn’t see where we were going. Age knew the section again and directed me but it was a struggle all the way until we ascended into the next field. Then we came back down into the hollow for a right hand bend. There was no restart but we bounced off course attempting the turn and were suddenly faced with a stern looking tree. Trevilla proved difficult for many people but we saw some good climbs. Ben Tonkin in his orange Beetle made it look easy

Signing off at The Frog and Bucket at South Petherwin, we met up with Adrian’s sister Jill and her friend Pat who competes in MCC events in Class R with his MGB. Over hog roast, Pat said how much he'd enjoyed the day and what a well kept secret the local trials are.

I know what he means. I wonder sometimes how much longer we'll be able to do this sort of event. The Camel Vale Motor Club have been banned from using forestry plantations along with other users such as husky dog training teams.

Top marks for observation to Paul Merson, though, for being the only one who asked about the power bulge in the boot lid.

The organisation of the Tamar Trial by the Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club really is excellent. The directions were clear and the hills well-chosen. Doing it year on year helps and there's a lot of experience within the club when it comes to running an event like this.

Because it had been so dry, we were wondering if we’d see any mud but they found plenty of it. The weather on the day was consistently sunny. As I write this on the following Monday, it’s been raining all day and I can’t see the trees opposite my house let alone the old mine chimney on Craddock Moor. What a difference a day could have made…

Nigel and Nicola Martin-Oakley had this lightweight bouncer in the back of their Saab. Adrian Booth really should wave back