98th Land's End Trial 2022
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| A family affair 1 - Team Robson at the start of the 2022 Land's End Trial. Esme was out of the frame, dancing. |
My aim for the 98th Land’s End Trial was to do
better than last time. Regular readers will remember that in my last Land’s End episode, I didn’t get as far as the Bridgwater Time Control. The ignition
warning lamp bulb had blown so the charging system wasn’t getting “excited” and
the battery gradually lost its charge until the engine conked out.
By the time we got going again, we were out of time for the
start. And then on the way home…
But enough about the 97th. That was then and this
was now. I was feeling sufficiently ambitious this year to aim for a finish.
Binky reprised his 2002 Exeter Trial role as my navigator
and drove down to my place on Friday. He’d had Covid the week before so was
still a bit phlegmatic and fatigued. He also felt the cold more than usual so
we had the top up for the night.
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| Some people have dancing Elvises on their dashboards for luck |
As competitor 310, we were 5 hours and 10 minutes after standard time. The first bike was away from Plusha Services at 5pm but somewhere in translating the 12 hour clock into 24 hours and not adding 2 hours for VAT meant we turned up expecting to be off at 2010hrs instead of 2210hrs. Fortunately, this meant we got to have a yarn with the competitors and marshals, see the bikes off and see the cars arrive without any mud on them.
An innovation this year for the step through
motorbikes, which nowadays enjoy a perverse popularity in long distance trials,
was a special class for them, along the lines for those other automotive orphans,
the Suzuki X90s, so that they all compete against each other and don’t
intimidate the other classic trials machinery. We saw the pack of Class S
entrants lined up near the start as we arrived and left them well alone.
We made it to Bridgwater so anything after that was a
pleasant bonus. We had a celebratory slap up binge at the rugby club but were
asked to move out of the club house soon afterwards as the staff needed to go
home. The 98th Land’s End Trial ran somewhat later than previous
affairs and, as we were 310 out of a maximum of 360, we weren’t due to finish
until 1940hrs on the Saturday, with the last car 48 minutes later.
There was a full moon but patchy mist in many places during
the night. Neither full beam nor dip gave us much visibility at times and
sometimes we crawled along.
I’d reorganised the boot after the Launceston Trial to make pumping
the tyres up easier in the dark. We settled on a default of 14psi for the rear
tyres and this proved effective on Felons Oak, the first section. In the queue,
we could hear quite a few cars struggling to get away from the restart line,
which applied to all car classes. There were gullies and sudden changes of
camber and a harsh setp before quite a large restart box.
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| Dick Bolt's crowd pleasing Ford Pop |
Pete Adams told me at the rugby club about the Adams family Peugeot 205 on Felons Oak. He said they had to use a much lower front tyre pressure than we did just to get grip. After crashing over the step, running out of grip on the restart and then crashing over the step again when they re-tried Felons Oak with a run up to it, their front wheels were like 50p pieces.
Binky advised to keep low in the restart box. We could
probably have parked the Arkley-MG in it quite comfortably. He also suggested keeping
right and picking a route through the ruts and stones to give the navigator – that
would be him then – as comfortable a ride as possible. We got away and I then
kept left to straddle the gully.
Behind us was Ian Moss in his luvverly Anglia Estate and he
had a puncture on the offside rear. I noticed his rims were reinforced and
wonder if the battered Mondeo rims on the Arkley-MG preserve the tyres a bit by deforming.
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| Phil Tucker's TR3. It would be nice to see more like this |
The congestion was due to a restart for all competitors on
Beggars Roost. This was to celebrate 100 years of using this section but the
queue stretched all the way to the garage and beyond.
After about an hour, Dave Middleditch arrived to investigate
and, as if by magic, things began to move again. As we got closer to the hill,
rumours abounded about how this hill, which has seemed a little tame recently
compared to its fearsome reputation in the more distant past, had become a “stopper”.
We went down to 12psi and then 10psi but when our turn came we found grip and
got away okay. Most of the people around us did, too.
I heard from Stuart Palmer that for Class O, who also did
this hill, it was a difficult restart. It was the one that he worried about and
– sure enough – it caught him, Phil Bannister and their Austin 7, out.
The first Observed test was at Barton Steep and on tarmac. I was on my best behaviour having skidded right across Line C in the past so our progress here was gentlemanly rather than class winning.
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| A family affair 2 - the marlins of the Adams family, Austin Powers and Austin Martin |
Riverton was cancelled as people with diggers had got the Exmoor and Land’s End Trials mixed up. Sutcombe was consequently our third hill and we had another restart after getting our tyres wet in the ford at the bottom of the hill. It wasn’t too rough and we got away nicely and stopped dutifully when bidden by the marshals.
There was a new post Covid cake venue in someone’s well
converted garage. The fruit cake this year
was especially fine and we had a chat with Crashby and Tim Cockcorft, his passenger.
These two really looked the part in the Coates Orthoptera (VT No.155) with
their flying helmets, flat caps, jackets and ties and split lens goggles. If
there is an award for best presented crew, they would’ve aced it.
Dave Symons was having some issues with his MX5. It made amazing gunshot backfires when he started it up. Fortunately, we split no tea in shock. When you’ve cheated death so often we’re virtually inured to loud bangs like gun dogs.
Somewhere along the road route we passed Nigel and Nicola Martin-Oakley.
They had the bonnet up on their Saab V4 but they’d stopped in an awkward place
and we weren’t Travelling Marshals on this occasion so didn’t stop. My mate
Adrian had converted this car to electric assisted steering for Nigel a few
days earlier. Nigel had said at the start that he was already enjoying the benefit
from it. I later heard that the car had jammed in fourth gear but that there’s
still talk of supercharging it!
The first section without a restart was Cutliffe Lane. This was
because it’s a challenging section and A boards were in place as a target below
the section ends signs in case no one in any class climbed any further.
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| Dapper gents Mr Roger Ashby and Mr Tim Cockcroft in their Coates Orthoptera |
We had another very long wait here. In the end, Dave Middleditch
turned up again and walked to the front of the queue, which began moving again.
He’d told us earlier that he’d been reading Paddington Bear stories to his
youngest so we reckon he was giving penetrating stares.
When we came back, we heard that an Austin 7 had overturned while
reversing down the section after failing to climb it. Fortunately, the only
injury was a head cut and the crew were able to drive the car off afterwards so
we saw none of this.
Many other cars were having problems, though. The marshals
were pretty slick and had them in a holding area at the foot of the hill where
they could turn. We were with the extended team entry of the Barbrook Bunch, of
whom, Laurence Payne and Sue Fidler were from Yorkshire – such is the extended
trialling family people enjoy in this sport - and Sue Fidler said waiting for
Cutliffe reminded her of a maternity ward where she could hear the other women’s
screams when they were in a more advanced stage of labour!
After their turn came, Laurence Payne came back down after stopping
and intimated that we had to give it beans. Our start line was further up than I
remembered from marshalling here, beyond the narrow gateposts near the foot of
the hill.
We picked up okay and beans were given. We gradually built up momentum
despite our wet tyres from all the wet start. I could see where earlier trials
had probably had a restart. There were deep wheel ruts that veered off to the
right and Binky “strongly suggested” to keep right here and ride the sides of
this tree lined sunken lane. Despite the mud, conditions soon became stony and
we had some hard impacts but still found grip and, after an exhilarating climb,
we cleared the section.
I was very pleased with this. I’d thought this might stop
us. Compared to me, other successful competitors following us seemed remarkably
nonchalant about their success. I wasn’t.
Binky found a big dent in the offside rear wheel again when
he pumped the tyres up but the tyre was okay.
I had a thought provoking discussion with Roger Ashby about rim reinforcements. He's been looking into getting some steel hoops welded to the rims of his "ugly web" Ford Pop wheels to prevent buckled rims but I reckon the bendable Mondeo rims I use on the rear of the Arkley seem to keep the air in better and can be bent back into shape. Of course, his rims are much more difficult to find these days. I suppose it won't be long before steel wheels of any sort become rare.
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| Another crowd pleaser, Lester Keat with his Avenger |
I had a vague memory of Hackmarsh before our attempt. Despite being reintroduced to trialling as a Class O hill, this was now known to have a vicious step and there was a growing queue when we arrived. The Mercedes C200 Kompressor of Bob Bullard and family had to be towed out. When our turn came, we found it stony with tight bends. The step was still there but there was a stony ramp to one side of the step and by taking it slow we didn’t hit too hard. The Arkley-MG found grip very well in the dryish conditions and I began to later my driving style. It was clear that more beans weren’t needed in places.
At the top, the Barbrook Bunch had swooped on the C200. I
later heard the step had partially torn the whole rear axle away but they just
strapped it up with strops and towropes and made it home!
We reprised the way into Hackmarsh as part of the approach
to the Gooseham holding control. The routes diverged at a loop of tracks I’d
marshalled on years before when it formed a special test called Hobbs Choice.
Binky said, “See how slowly you can drive on the approach routes
to the sections to gauge the amount of grip.”
I tried this and was pleasantly surprised. On dry, loose
stones, the Arkley-MG is really grippy.
Gooseham control was the prelude to Darracott. We didn’t
have a restart here but Classes 3, 4, 5, 6 & 90 did. The restart box was
right on the change of camber in the lane and we could remember failing this hill
years before in the Allard. Fortunately, without the restart, we cleaned it
without a hitch. The bigger, standard-sized steering wheel that I have on the
car now made bend swinging easy, although getting in and out requires a bit of
yoga.
There was no waiting for us at Widemouth and hardly any
queue for Crackington. There were lots of familiar faces here, with Cap’n
Cowling up by the restart and Simon Riddle on the start line. Simon owned my
car before Adrian Booth it off him and they can spin some good yarns about
their exploits in it, usually involving dragging door handles through mud. I’ve
never tried this so must listen, more closely.
Still on 14psi, we went up the middle as far as we could. The
section began dry and got progressively rougher until it got really muddy.
Rough and muddy – how do they do that? Class 8s were the only ones with a
restart and my little car battled its way up.
We dutifully paused until we were unequivocally given the
clear to go and made another point of not pumping our tyres up on the verges.
With events like this, I’m always conscious of how others see
us and don’t want to give an excuse for closing down our fun.
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| The DP Cannon of Jonathan Prance and Mark Glover looked fresh from its resto |
Everything seemed to happen at once at Wisley Down. We parked
next to Duncan Pittaway and Hughie Walker in – or on – the GN 11.9hp. 11.9
horsepower? Someone’s having a laugh there, that things got two cylinders out
of an aero engine in it!
Trying not to gawp at this device, we were accosted by
Adrian Booth who asked, “How are you doing?”
“Clear so far!” we replied.
“Any punctures?”
“No but one dented rim!”
“Argh! Yer not trying hard enough!”
Then Nick Symons joined us. He had some “Imp porn” to look at.
On a cracked screen in strong sunlight with my shades on I thought the restored shell looked lovely.
“We gotta check in!” I said, tearing myself away from the Imp resto and the aero-engined bolide and then the control marshal said “You’ve got half an hour and the food’s all ready for you!”
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| Engine room of the GN |
A quick trough and we fuelled up at the filling station next
to the pub before making our way around the eastern edge of Bodmin Moor and
following the famous Hillman Avenger of Lester and Dan Keat to the holding
control at Panters Bridge.
Here Lester Keat told us about the sheer amount of work that
had gone into Great Grogley, a sparkly new section that he’d been instrumental
in establishing. He knew the land owner through his work and although he was keen
to have the trial come through his land the entrance and exit belonged to two other
people. Fortunately, everything was squared away but for those of us who just
turn up and drive their cars this was an insight into the sheer amount
of effort that goes on behind the scenes.
Sitting by the bridge was a Class S rider with a very swollen
ankle. He’d dropped his bike and retired hurt but seemed in good spirits as he
chatted with us.
I marshalled at Warleggan, many years ago, and it’s got
rougher since but luckily for us only Class 8 had a restart. Binky said slow
down and see if you can trickle along. “Feel the section, feel the conditions.”
The conditions were dry and the outlook very sunny. My nose was even feeling
sunburnt.
There was so much grip I didn’t
need to blast up the hill with the risk of damaging a rim or getting a
puncture. If it’s wet, my car benefits from a dollop of momentum but it didn’t
seem to be needed. Adrian was going to be most disappointed at our efforts.
Great Grogley was new for this year and somehow
in a part of Cornwall I’d never visited before. The section was a straight
track with gullies and a cunningly placed and very narrow restart box, similar
to the restart line that the local clubs use on their one day trials. In the
dusty conditions I don’t think anyone had any trouble but if it had been wet –
like it was the following day – this innocuous little hill could have been a
real stopper. The route was rather spectacular and we took our time enjoying
the view.
After that, Withielgoose was something about nothing really,
with a restart only for front wheel drive cars and those from before 1941.
It was beginning to dawn on us that we might be in reach of
any award. Our focus is typically to get up each section and improve on our
last performance, which shouldn’t have been difficult. I was still fantasizing about a Finisher’s Certificate.
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| Waiting to attempt Hackmarsh |
I was glad to have filled up before we got to Perranporth. There
was no petrol available! Diesel has been the problem in previous weeks. I spoke
to a Marlin driver who reckoned he had just enough fuel to do Blue Hills 1
and 2. After that he didn’t know what to do. As I was wondering about siphoning
some out of our tank, we were told we could go.
Incredibly we had made up time and were barely half an hour
behind our scheduled time for Blue Hills. Reducing our rest stop at Wilsey Down
was a very good call and slick operation on all the other hills also helped us
on our way
Despite trialling for years, I have never attempted Blue
Hills before. This would be the first time for me although the car was no stranger
to it, having served Ray Goodwright so well for so many years.
I’d spectated here for years do new the sections fairly.
After a water splash we had a restart on a cobbled slope for BH1 in between
tight turns. We also had a minimum tyre pressure limit of 12psi for Class 7.
We’d been discussing what to do along the way. Binky said to
keep low and left. Our tyres would be wet from the puddles and the mud so
wheelspin would be inevitable.
We watched as the green Marlin with a nearly empty tank attempted the hill but he couldn’t
get away from the restart. The engine died and we thought he’d run out of fuel.
The marshals couldn’t pull him out by themselves so asked those of us in the
queue for help pull him out on a tow rope. They gave us a special
dispensation to do this for this would be “walking the section” which is not
allowed in MCC classic trials.
We hauled him out, the people on the end of the rope bumping
into the side of the hill and cheerfully falling over rocks and deck chairs. It turned out he had no transmission. Dick Feather went through in his Peugeot
206 and then we were on.
“Keep low and left in the restart box,” became Binky’s
mantra as we approached and tried to point the nose of the car where we needed
to go. Binky’s next piece of good advice was steer down the hill to get the car
moving once the restart marshal dropped his flag. This seemed
counter-intuitive. We had a sharp right hand bend to contend with but turning
down the hill helped a little bit. Once the plot was moving, I steered right
again. We slithered slowly forward but more gas lit up the rear tyres and we
laid down a rubber road to freedom as the night rider used to say. We remember
him when we look at the night sky. Slowly, the Arkley-MG inched forward and out
we popped. I turned the corner and stopped astride the stop line and waited to
be waved on to Blue Hills 2.
I’d already had a great trial so my first attempt at Blue
Hills 2 would be another learning point at least. But why have that attitude
when we hadn’t before?
Because the setting sun was right in my eyes, that’s why.
I couldn’t even see the start line and marshals were just silhouettes. Dick in the 206 got so
far but stopped before the left turn. While he was being towed up I tried different
peaked caps and Binky showed me the diagram we’d got for failures! This wasn’t
to plan for failure – this was to get a better understanding of where the section
went.
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| Lovely Moto Guzzi Stornello at Blue Hills |
“Tell ya what,” said Binks, “let’s just wait until the sun
goes down!”
I suppose it was an option but the marshals have to go home
some time.
I could make out the lefthand bank so steered by that. Doing the trickle up the approach road thing had shown how much grip there was in the dry conditions. The silhouette of the start line marshal cast a brief shadow over us so I guessed where we should stop and we saw a thumbs up and he dropped his flag for us to go.
We got away from the start okay and succeeded to proceed. At one point the track reared up before us, seeming by 3 or 4 feet, but we bumped up that and the car kept digging in even if we went up the back a little. I still couldn’t see where we were going. According to the diagram Binky had shown me there were two little wriggles into and out of the cliff with a straight in between.
Most of the time, I think it was my car that knew which way to go.
“Turn, turn, turn,” said Binks, and we came out of the sun
and looked south at the restart. This time I could see the marshal properly. Binky advised me to keep low and left in the restart box and
we pulled away alright. If it had been wet it might’ve been different but it
wasn’t and we bumped up and out of the section. Clean all the way!
Other competitors came up behind us, and they all looked so
nonchalant. I was euphoric.
Our time was recorded at BH1 so we had to look sharp at
re-inflating our tyres. If our time to the final time control at Loggans Moor
Inn at Hayle was deemed to be excessive, we could lose an award or even be
excluded. I know we’re just in if for the crack but it seemed silly to not make
an effort and do the best we could.
We signed off about half an hour after our official time, which considering we were nearly two hours behind after Cutliffe Lane was bleddy good.
That was another indicator of how well organised the trial was and what an experienced team of volunteers the MCC relies upon. I doth my cap to them. Professionals couldn't do better.
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| Binky does the tyre pressures at the top of Blue Hills 2 |
Dave Middleditch was at the finish having retired at Panters Bridge where the gearbox on his Dutton had cried enough. He’d cadged a lift off a marshal to Bodmin railway station and then made his way west by train.
“The recovery team is due tomorrow,” he told us but he
seemed well sorted for lifts.
There was some ribaldry about Lee Peck’s Beetle needing to
have a lie down at Blue Hills. What happened was, he went up the bank trying to
keep momentum to climb the slab on BH1 and ended up on his side. Fortunately,
he and his passenger were okay with only dents to Daphne's wings.
When we signed off, we were all asked what award we thought
we could claim. Along with many others, I said Gold. There will probably be a close
scrutiny by the MCC of our timings and whether we hit any markers or overshot
any lines but we had some hard climbs and came out of all of them. That’s why the
98th Land’s End trial will be memorable to me.
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