Tamar Trial 2024

Just a part of my trialling family. Look at our steely determined gazes! No rabbits in headlamps here. L to R Pat Shaw, Bob Blackman, Michael Brooks, Gillane Sanders, Adrian Booth and Ross Sanders

After the debacle of last month’s Edinburgh Trial, in which I “lost” a triple award – although I never really had one – and then the clutch cable snapping at the top of Corkscrew, I entered the 77^th 2024 Tamar Trial as a late entrant.

A rare choice for trialling is Jon Cox's Lotus Elan

It really was just a snapped cable and Uncle Adrian had an old school go at adjusting my tracking. The new front tyres had been scrubbing out atrociously on the inner edge. Despite trying various tyre fitting bays using laser equipment, the car was still scrubbing off brand new covers all over the Peak District. Age used a long, graduated pole with pointers at each end to set toe in at 1/8^th of an inch.

What I needed next was a shake down run to check there no underlying probs to the cable snapping and to see if the tracking was ok. Oh, look entries to the Tamar were still open.

The queue for scrutineering at Maunder's yard in Launceston with Paul Watson's VW Imp at the front.

I was lucky – the entry list was bigger than ever with 96 entries, 38 bikes and 58 cars. Neither Graham Beddoe nor Sally were available at the time so my scratch bouncer and navigator was Michael Brooks, who’d never tried this sort of thing before.

Mad Max? The Toecutter's gang? Nope, just the Husaberg outfit for Chris Barnicoat and Mark Bowden's Sunday drive in the country

Observed Test 1 moved as a late amendment to the route. “Somewhere in Cornwall” we met John Turner with a line across the road and a flag. It looked like the traditional MCC-style timed tests – start with our front wheels on Line A, go forward to stop with all wheels over line B, reverse back over line B and then going forward again to stop astride Line C, all against the clock. 

However, the L&NCMC had introduced some subtleties of their own. Their instructions were to stop astride ‘B’ line, roll or reversing with all wheels back over Line B and then proceed forward to stop astride Line C in the target time of 25 seconds. Anything over or under that target time would be added to the second special test time later in the trial i.e. 27 seconds meant plus 2 seconds added. 2 seconds would be added if you posted 23 seconds.

No timing aids were allowed.

Many people nodded politely when asked if they understood the requirement but then the red haze came up as the flag went down and they nailed it!

We managed it in 30 seconds, despite me counting out twenty-five elephants (“One elephant, two elephants”), a technique I learnt from the film Gregory’s Girl.

Next time I’ll use smaller elephants.

Ray Ferguson and his supercharged Liege

First observed section was Barrett’s Mill, a long sunken lane with the start on a right angle bend just after a storm drainage channel and a restart for all classes. Running as number 71, we got away alright on 14psi but later heard that a wasps’ nest had caused problems for some of the earlier cars - especially if they stopped. Pat and Gill had a veritable swarm of them in their MX5 and found themselves almost captive. Gill was stung all around her head, fortunately without too much ill effect.

OS3 Danescombe, near Cotehele, was a similar sunken lane with the entrance to the section at right angles to a steep metalled lane. Another restart for us but we got away ok on 14psi. 

This is the sort of environment and company in which we find ourselves pumping up our tyres. This gold Singer Chamois of Nick Symons packs a punch.

A route split for bikes and cars kept Michael on his directional toes. Bikes did Tanks Meadow (sounding suspiciously like Tanks Terror of old). Cars went on to three sections in quick succession at an off-roading centre at Combedown woods.

Possibly as a result of what happened to us last year (2023 Tamar Trial), the route card was full of dire warnings about deep ruts if we strayed from the path of righteousness but it was well sign posted so there were no lost souls or sinners to be redeemed from the mire with a long rope.

On our way to The Firs (Photo : Michael Brooks)

The Firs had some twists at the bottom through some fir trees and then needed a straight blast up. Ahead of us, Ray and Hannah Ferguson in their Liege got up alright and it felt like we might, too, but we ran out of grip and got a four I think, within sight of the section end boards. I’d gone down to 12psi but should have gone lower. We had a long descent backwards then which either a) motivates us to get out the top or b) makes us wish we hadn’t got so far up if we have to come back down again backwards. 

The Twister was a sweeping left hander then a sharp right where Class 8s had their restart. We didn’t get as far as their restart line and had to finnigle a multi-point turn in the mud without falling down the bank behind us. Third section was a right/left/right wriggle around The Quarry. We had a restart on tree roots on a righthand bend climbing up the left side of the quarry face and didn’t get away. Ray and Hannah had shown us how to do it although they had to work at it. With a longer run up, my little car fought its way out.

Posing for our fans to take a snap on The Twister (Photo : Mike Jones)

OS 7 & 8 were in Cory Plantation. Wayne Grimshaw was on the start line for part one. Apparently, he’s rebuilding his Nova’s rear suspension over the winter. Of course, I recall him speed hillclimbing an Imp. OS7 featured a left hand bend after a steep initial ramp and then swung up into the woods to a sharp right hand bend. On top of the bank, who should we see but Ray Goodright, who actually did get a Triple with this car when he owned it backalong. The second section had a lot of sticky clay mud so I dropped the tyres to 10psi. The section soon opened up into a long straight with a cross track through the woods and then a difficult bit beyond for Classes 7 & 8. This was a good climb although our wheels were spinning just a bit too much to my mind. The car dug in though and we bounced over the cross track and attacked the top.

Cory Plantation 2 was dark and muddy

Scoring relief for classes up to 7 & 8 was in place here i.e. score a 12 for an 8 with 4 equating to a clear (0). We didn’t get to the top but the slither back down to the cross track seemed surprisingly long. I don’t like these dead end ones. Getting up really high only means you have to descend carefully on the handbrake by degrees and they always feel like a failure.

Only a short queue for The Firs (Photo : Michael Brooks)

Lee Quarry was scratched so we went on to Angel Steps, where we made it up to the restart line! Hooray! that made a change. This was on 12psi, a minimum tyre pressure introduced but then abandoned as the day emerged. When it came to getting away as the flag dropped that was a forlorn hope. Previous competitors had already dug the rock out but had thoughtfully lined them with rubber for those of us who followed. Despite trying to lay down our own rubber road to freedom we couldn’t get going again and had to slither our way back down.

At the rest stop with Simon Woodall and Barbara Selkirk

We were ready for the rest stop at the Fox & Grapes. In the carpark I was able to thank Simon Woodall properly for towing me out of Tipley with his beach buggy back in 2019. Trialling is like that. The faces and cars come and go and sometimes we only get to exchange a few words, in between great excitement.

By now it was 1415hrs and it felt like we were running late although the marshals said we were almost on time for our start number. Somebody at the rest stop had a very swollen hand from a wasp sting earlier and after a pasty, cuppa and thirty minutes breather we were off again.

Harts was for motorcycles only, which meant we did OS 12 Park Impossible next. Minimum tyre pressures of 10 psi were in operation here and a very fit marshal had to run down the section with his gauge to the start line before going back up to officiate on the difficult bit. We had the lower restart so didn’t have so far to slither back down again (smiley face). Last year we managed a 2.

Observed test 2 Scarsick was a quick splash through a ford and around some cones. Joe Caudle said we weren’t the slowest. Not the fastest either but definitely not the slowest. He didn’t mention technical merit or artistic interpretation.

Crackington featured a restart on 14psi. In 2022, we couldn’t get away. With MCC restarts, you get a box and a degree of choice where you stop. The L&NCMC give you just a line so put it right where your wheels fall into holes. However, we got away this year so I was pleased with that.

Trehole 1 was scratched. I get the impression this was sacrificed to keep us running to time.

Trehole 2 had with a slithery straight after the start but the car turned right almost by itself. We went up the bank a bit and I wished I’d taken more air out of the fronts for better grip. Or should I have kept them harder to dig in better? Answers on a postcard, please. It could be the temporary springs are too stiff. Anyway, we got out of trouble and made it to the tree we were supposed to turn around but it was too slippery for us to go any further.

Trehole 3 was another slithery start with a tight right hand turn through a gate to the restart lines, which were just out of sight. Just like the first special test, the route book stressed that there were three restart lines and Class 7s were to do the middle one.

The start line marshal re-iterated this to us and asked us to confirm we understood what was expected of us. 

“You’re Class 7 so it’s the middle one, the middle one, okay?” 

So of course I stopped at the first line I saw. That proverb about horses and water springs to mind.  We were directed out of the section by the bemused marshals and then set off on an exit route all of our own until loud whistling from them alerted us to going “off-piste”.

In the queue for New Langleys, Ian Facey chats with Simon Woodall

Back on the roads for a little way and then we entered OS 17 New Langleys through a gate into field. Underlined in the route book it read, “Continue across field with care not tear up the ground as we have just re-gained access.” It was getting a little cut up so I hope we still get to do this one. This year we approached it from the other side of the stream. It started off rocky with a left hand turn, right hand turn, then blast up a hill to our restart.

Uncle Adrian was marshalling here and he gave us some grief for not having had any punctures so far.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I would have thought that indicated a sensible approach and a degree of pneumatic, if not mechanical, sympathy. As Ian Facey had said to me earlier after descending (not climbing) Angel Steps, “I want to finish the trial!”

There was a short queue here and crews gathered on the bridge across the stream until another marshal called down to us to keep off it. “It’s rotten and someone has already fallen through it today,” she said and looked at Adrian for some reason, can’t think why.

I managed to stop on the correct, lower restart line and we successfully got away but the tree roots at the top were just too slippery and we had a short tow up the hill on the tractor.

That was one of our better climbs.

Final section was OS 18 Trevilla, featuring a very narrow sharp right on a sunken lane, then a sharp left, right, left again and an impossible right turn up the hill – no need for a restart here to increase the challenge. I trickled round the tight bends letting the car do its work but failed to proceed beyond that final bend. I was really pleased with our approach up to then, though.

We then finished and signed off at Wilsey Down, familiar to many as a rest stop on the Land’s End. By now it was getting dark, with many Class 7 & 8s still to come home.

Michael did very well, guiding me round despite a few early wrong slots. Nigel Dell and Matthew Cleave were following us at one point in their blue Marlin and were shouting out “Left, left, left turn, turn left, for chrissake! Turn LEFT!” in a Gregory Warren style at one point but we didn’t hear them and realised our mistake as soon as we saw them go the opposite way in our mirrors.

Nigel and Matthew's blue Marlin

Learning points were that I could have gone even lower on tyre pressures especially on the front end where the cleats of the tyres were full clay soil and the steering often washed out. Also, the car trickles round the narrow bumpy bits beautifully. What I need to do I is know when to use that ability and when to floor it and build up speed.

We had a great day out and the 77^th Tamar Trial was extremely well organised and a very worthy test for everyone we spoke to. Considering the massive entry, it ran to time well and I doff my claret L&NCMC beanie at the team behind this year’s event.