Category Archives: Newsletters

April 2020 Newsletter

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As I sit here typing this I have my camera unit running watching the Sparrows embroiled in making a new nest totally oblivious to the Pandemic that has swept the world causing the human population to make drastic changes to how we go about our daily lives. I briefly mentioned in last month’s offering that the virus could have an effect on our sport, I think that was a bit of an understatement.

The club were very lucky in that it managed to run the Launceston Trial on the 15th of March, the weather was good on the day, the marshals turned out in force, to which we are extremely grateful, all in all it was a bit of a mud bath, but judging by the looks on the competitors faces they were loving it. Marshals were given a Club Beanie hat and a Coaster as a token of our thanks.

Well done to Nigel , Pete and the rest of the team for all the hard work they put in.

Results summary : The Cycle Bowl was won by Graham Airey.

Novice Award Josh Knight. The Newman Cup Alan Keat.

The Fulford Cup Craig Allen. The full results will be on the club website.

This photo doesn’t do it justice but this is what you end up with after an event, the plan was to meet up a few days later to clean it all up and neatly sort it, ah well, won’t be using it for a while, have to have a word with the “mud fairies”.

And now it’s over to our Club President Robin Moore.

Historical Notes Part 7

Although we are celebrating the Centenary of the LNCMC this year (2020) and everything is geared up for a big celebration in Launceston on the 1st of August, together with a major exhibition of archive material at the Lawrence House Museum, it is established that the club formally came into existence on the 20th of August 1919 (see part 2).

The youngest motor club in the Duchy is the Camel Vale Motor Club, and I mention this for two reasons. First, because CVMC is our nearest motor club neighbour, and second, because there are certain similarities in the developments and working practices. Camel Vale was originally a well established motor cycle club. It was on the demise of the old Wadebridge & District Light Car Club in the late 1950’s that a void and a need for the four wheel brigade to be catered for in mid Cornwall. Camel Vale echoed the North Cornwall club, expanding to cater for cars, but each section having its own competition secretary etc.

The late Evan Holman became Camel Vale’s competition secretary and became very active in promoting all kinds of events. I myself became very involved with Evan as he was lodging in Camelford at the time and became a frequent visitor to Trefrew. Our many escapades are stories in themselves. Evan, having studied navigation during his National Service in the R.A.F. was particularly keen on rallying and even set up small evening classes on map reading and the various equipment required.

I recall this because it led to co-operation and competition between us, co-promoting many events and ultimately expanding with the advent of Cornish Capers, a major interclub timed driving test event held for a number of years at the old W.W2 airfield, – R.A.F Davidstow Moor, 1942-1945.

My original navigator on events was ex navy Peter Stedman of Boscastle who became treasurer for Camel Vale M.C. There were a number of ties that brought our two club together. I was a member of Camel Vale at the time and attended their annual meetings. Likewise Camel Vale would be represented at Lanson’s A.G.M. As today, many were members of both clubs, I well remember

Evan Holman with his Singer Roadster taking me to the North Cornwall M.C. annual meeting on a January night, with snow showers adding to the excitement of the journey from Camelford in the Singer. The meeting that year was held in the Ambulance Hall, – another person present on that night was the late Graham Brazier who at that time had recently purchased the ex- Syd Broad Lotus MG . I have a vivid memory of Graham roaring away into the night to drive home in the deteriorating weather conditions.

To be continued RHTM

So now that we are all confined to barracks it’s a matter of keeping one’s self occupied, I’ve painted a couple of doors that were otherwise well down the list, chopped a load of wood ready for next Winter, brushed the flue, and if I’m not careful I will be catching up with things in the garage, now there’s worrying. For those of you who enjoy a good read there’s a couple of books I can recommend.

The first is “Rice & Dirt, Across Africa on a Vespa by Alexandra Fefopoupou & Stergios Gogos. Don’t worry there isn’t that much talk of the scooter its more of a travel book and the things that happen when you are trying to travel from top to bottom of a huge continent. The corruption at border controls is mind boggling, but balanced by the kindness of strangers on the journey, even the offer of a bride!!

The second book Frank & Stan’s Bucket List, the TT Races. Frank’s had better days….. The doctor gave him the news he didn’t want and Frank’s discovered the worst kept secret in Liverpool ; that his wife’s fitness instructor is providing her services that extend beyond the gym. Fans of the I.O.Man TT will love it, so will those who aren’t. You can get either book from that well known online bookstore so no need to even go outside.

All for this month J.T. email billjan299@gmail.com

LNCMC March 2020 Newsletter

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Life seems to be going by at quite a pace at the moment, first, we had Brexit which seemed to go on forever we then moved into the storm season, each consecutive one seems to have a more indecipherable name than the last one, then before you know it we have a virus sweeping the world, I’m finding it a bit difficult to keep up. So what’s all this got to do with motorsport? Well the Launceston trial and a few others became victim of the storms and unless the current virus is containable it too will possibly have an effect, it’s a case of keep your fingers crossed and be prepared to adapt, I’m supposedly going on a two wheeled foray to Belgium at the beginning of June but to be honest it’s not looking good, it may end up with a tour of the Southwest, not all bad, we have pasties the Belgian’s don’t.
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Friday the 28th of February saw the club and supporters converging on Trethorne Leisure Centre for our annual sit down buffet and presentation of awards, thanks go to Nigel in particular for the organising of the event which went very well and the meal seemed to be very good value for money. We seemed to have more than the usual amount of speeches this year but that’s probably because as we are celebrating our centenary we feel we have something to shout about.

Lots of awards were given out, in particular it was good to see a couple of junior awards being presented to Ashley and Zak Ruby, always good to encourage youngsters into the sport. After the formalities footage was shown of club events gone by in the fifties and sixties, it was interesting to see the dress code of that period, with the ladies wearing a good variety of head scarves, many of the men in flat caps and wearing a tie, one of my favourite bits of the film was seeing a Messerschmit “Bubble Car” attempting Sims hill, not something you are likely to see again.
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And now it’s time to hand over to our Club President Robin Moore
Historical notes part 6

I’m sure that in the fullness of time the complete history of Cornish Motor Clubs will be chronicled, for it’s a story that needs recording for posterity. The fact that our Lanson club is now involved with celebrating it’s centenary has rather galvanised the mind on these matters. Our Launceston Club has always been to the fore in promoting a variety of motorsport competition and has produced some outstanding drivers wearing the club colours, competing nationally as well as in local events. Before the second World War , mainly as a form of advertising car manufacturers were keen for their products to do well in competition, especially so as a team,- sometimes formally entered as a works team, whilst others had generous works support. There was great rivalry between teams such as Austin, MG and Singer. To a lesser extent this practice continued post war. Entering as a team adds a new dimension with the team captain requiring a certain discipline & tact at times to keep things together, but also the determination to do well. I personally found myself in a different “mindset” when team effort was required and a greater determination to succeed. It adds another dimension, for one doesn’t want to let team mates down.

The “Shades of Crackers” team that I was involved with for a number of years was always a mixed team of different makes of car, but one constant was Norman McKee’s ex Toulmin Cream Cracker car, the MGTA reg ABL 962, it was always part of the team. Norman was the “joker” in the team and could do a wonderful impersonation of Benny Hill. On the MCC Norman was always “ hell bent” on our team beating the Morgan works team on Times in the Special tests . I seem to recall we usually did come out on top!
From time to time some of our club members formed teams of one make cars. In the early 1930’s it was Phil Uglow and the Biscombe brothers of Callington who ran a team of Hillman Aero Minx, whilst post war the team of Dellows ,- George Edwards, Bob and Mary Parsons were very successful. The team who called themselves the “ Union Jacks” was the formidable Morgans of George Edwards, Alin Penhale and Ted Dennis. Painted Red, White and Blue respectively. Ted’s car – the Blue one, was a four seater, a plus 4 with the

Standard Vanguard 2 Litre engine and with his 16 stone ex Navy mechanic and navigator astern they would take some stopping. Happy days and a lot of fun with many wonderful memories.
(to be continued) RHTM

Club Regalia. At the awards evening, the committee members were all wearing the new club Regalia in colours to reflect our centenary.

Items available :

Beanie Hat  – £4.95 + vat
Tee Shirt  – £8.95 = vat
Polo Shirt  – £12.95 + vat
Sweatshirt – £13.95 + vat

These are all available from the suppliers, Protekt Safety Wear.

Telephone 07894 057498 Speak to Mark Doey

Email protect_safetywear@gmail.com

Once ordered you can either collect from their premises at Callington, or delivered by courier for £7.95 (this fee might possibly include more than one item) speak to Mark.

Forthcoming Events

Launceston Trial 15th of March As mentioned in last month’s edition, the team will be out there next week ensuring all is well for the event, if you haven’t entered you really need to get in quick.

The Northgate Sporting Trial is on the 29th of March at Ashleigh Lifton.

Both of these events need Marshals or they will not run so please contact Mike Wevill on 01566 784451 or email j.wevill@btconnect.com

On the 2nd of April, we have our club AGM which will be held at the Blue Lion, Lewdown at 8.00pm. Please make an effort to attend, you never know it might actually be interesting especially if our 3 months of centenary plans are divulged.
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I have often wondered what is the first thing that people see when they arrive at a motorsport event. Most probably it’s an interesting vehicle, or maybe they see someone they haven’t seen for a while and a chance to catch up. How many of you see the Motorsport is Dangerous sign, let alone give it a second thought, after all it isn’t for you is it! Very few people taking part in our chosen sport give it much thought, most thoughts are either achieving fastest time of the day, or being the only one to clear a particular hill.

Unfortunately, accidents do actually happen and it’s at that particular moment the mind is suddenly focused on the less attractive side of the sport. Over the years that I have been involved I have been close to or even witnessed an incident when someone has been injured (ok so you are now making a mental
note to avoid me), I know accidents happen in all sports but most likely few people consider it, if they did there would probably be less of us taking part.

This leads me on to wondering how many of you are blood donors, yes the dreaded needle, I can see some of you fainting now. Be honest lots of us need an extra drop of it at some time in our lives, yes the head is burying deeper in the sand. Some people not only donate blood, but platelets and plasma, you know the sort of thing that is sometimes required during transplants, or when blue babies are born. Dare I even mention carrying a donor card, yes morbid isn’t it, but real ! I would love to get some feedback but probably I won’t, but if you managed to read this to the end it might just set you thinking.

All for this month J.T. e mail billjan299@gmail.com
 

LNCMC December 2019 Newsletter

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It’s a bit like history repeating itself, I started last month’s newsletter complaining about the weather and what a surprise it’s still raining, even my ducks look a little fed up with it now.

Our dear governing body MSUK or what ever they call themselves this week have managed to put a bit of a spanner in the works by decreeing that all competitors and passengers have to have a competition licence, this means that after January 1st 2020 no matter what event you wish to compete in, even closed to club, the driver and passenger/navigator will have to have a RS Clubman licence, this will mean you are fully insured if your vehicle is involved in an incident. Motorcycle competitors are not affected by this new ruling. The new ruling has caused lots of reaction on social media with its implications to drivers trying to find passengers at short notice, and then making sure that person has a licence. Irrespective of whether they ever take an active role in motorsport or even drive a vehicle after that particular event, ah well MSUK will be able to gather lots of new data from it.

The Ron Beer sporting trial held at Ashley Farm, Lifton in November had an entry of 12 cars which is a good entry considering it was brought forward at short notice from its original date at the end of December. Overall winner of the Ron Beer Trophy was John Cole, 2nd place was George Watson, and 3rd place with a First Class award was Andy Prosser. Andy’s placing was very commendable given that his is one of a small number of home built cars competing on the trials circuit, and actually built by Andy.

February the 9th is the date for the Launceston Trial as usual this will be held in Lee/Lew Woods by kind permission of Mr Peter Newman, it is a single venue event but with such a large area of woods to use it’s almost like entering a full road event, regulations for the event should be out soon.

And now its time for me to pass you over to our club President Robin Moore.

Historical Notes Part 3.

My own involvement with our club commenced in the 1950’s when having witnessed the MCC Lands End at the historic section of New Mills, Boscastle. I knew that I wanted to take part myself , but it had to be a pre-war sports car.

I initially sought the advice of a very dear friend, Ted Dennis, who gave loyal support to our club over many years, He started competing very soon after the 2nd World War and went on to serve as President in the period immediately before myself. His advice to me was to buy a “blown” MG PB, but this never happened, and it was fate that led me to purchasing the complete wreck of a 1932 Wolseley Hornet. I started to write the story of MV 2713 for the M.C.C. Triple magazine, but since writing the introduction I have not progressed the article.

However to continue with these historic notes, it was early 1958 before my Wolseley project was ready to take to the road once more. When I first became involved with North Cornwall Motor Club, as it was then called, the President was Mr Leslie Major of Polapit Tamar, a fine country house near Lady Cross. Mr & Mrs Major on occasions would extend hospitality to club members by inviting us to their lovely home for a social evening, precluded by an unofficial speed test on the drive in front of the house. This was always great fun, and one just used whatever you had driven to Polapit, no comp. numbers or anything like that. It was all good light hearted fun. I have a lasting memory of watching Llewellyn Sandercock with his very smart grey MGTC . Llewellyn was usually to be seen accompanied by his sister driving a Ford Pop in local trials. He was a regular competitor at the time and lived in Week St Mary.

After having fun with our motors we tramped indoors to the ballroom, where light refreshments were provided, the gramophone wound up, a record placed on the turntable and you could take your partner for a dance. Serendipity !

RHTM to be continued ……

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Britain’s ISDE Heroines!

British women surprised the world at the 2019 International Six Days Enduro. Club member Richard Simpson reports from Portugal

The nominations for BBC Sports Personality have closed, and it’s unlikely that the names Jane Daniels, Rosie Rowett or Nieve Holmes will feature among the front-runners.

Which is a shame. These three motorcycle racers made up the GB Women’s Trophy Team in the recent International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Portimao, Portugal. Not only was it the first time any of them had entered the event, which is known as the Olympics of Motorcycling, it was also the first time that there has been a British Women’s team in the ISDE, which dates back to 1913. Their entry was so late they were not even included in the event programme, and they were scratching around for funding until the last minute.

In spite of that, they finished third!

The ISDE fully deserves its reputation as one of the toughest sporting events in any discipline. Riders are expected to cover distances of up to 280 km a day, mostly cross-country, in periods of seven-and-a-half hours for five consecutive days. These marathon stints are conducted to a strict time schedule. Arrive at a checkpoint a minute early, and you are out of the competition. Arrive more than a minute late, and the penalties start. If the penalties total more than an hour over the event, you are out!

If that’s not tough enough, during the day you ride four special tests against the clock, with total times counting against you.

Jane Daniels cleared a part of the course that defeated all the other women and most of the men, only to see it struck from the results as being ‘too hard’!

And Nieve Holmes aggravated an early injury on day four, dislocating a shoulder… twice. Knowing that her retirement would put the British Women out of the competition, she battled on to finish.

Further down the field, riders from club teams from all over the world struggle with the terrain, fitness and mechanical defects. There was a standout British runner in this class, too. Bradley Mair of Witley MCC finished the event, riding a 1981 Maico 490.

Some rider, some bike!

Enjoy watching the Sports Personality of the Year, but bear in mind that those featured are not the only ones who excelled themselves in 2019.

At the end of each day you get just 15 minutes to change tyres and carry out any work required on the bike, with a further 10 minutes before you start the next day. No one else is allowed to touch your bike!

So, what happens on day six?

Well, you have a nice restful motocross race, bar-to-bar against 39 other racers!

How did the British riders do?

The much-fancied British Men’s Trophy team was cursed with bad luck and injury, but the British women rode beyond all expectations, coming from nowhere to hold second place in their class at one point against semi-professional opposition from Australia, Germany and the USA.

In the end, they were overtaken by the German team, while no one ever seriously challenged the American women. However, there were some standout performances from British bronze medallists.

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Joe Caudle our Membership Secretary says that no-one responded to the call of paying their subs as per last month’s reminder. Please send your £10.00 to PM Wevill, The Manor House, Lifton, Devon, PL16 0BJ. Please make any cheques out to Launceston and North Cornwall Motor Club Ltd. Pay now whilst prices are still held at last years low price, There is no special offers or Black Friday bargains to be had. Those of you wishing to renew online can do so at https://www.lncmc.co.uk/online-entry/membership-application-form/ and yes we can relieve you of your money this way, it doesn’t get much easier.

Camel Vale Motor Club are hosting a meeting on Tuesday the 3rd of December at the Victory Hall, Roche at 8.00pm. Topics for discussion include forestry, working parties and other topics to do with motor sport. I shall be travelling down with Andy Prosser, Andy has a six seater van so if anyone would like a lift get in touch with him on 01566 777122.

Things in the garage have been relatively quiet with my main objective being to get miles on the Dellow to run in the rebuilt engine in time for the Exeter Trial in January, it may seem a little way off but it will come around all too quick, especially as in my case I am what’s known as “date challenged” ( I don’t think it’s a true medical term) I just struggle to know what’s happening and when. Even my scooter jobs have been a little slow, mainly because I don’t get too excited at taking to two wheels when the weather has been throwing it down as it has been for the last month or more, must be getting soft in my old age.

All for now other than on behalf of the club to wish everyone a merry Christmas and Happy new year, enjoy.

J.T. for contributions please send to billjan299@gmail.com

Views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the club, don’t shoot the committee, the editor is open to verbal written targets though.

July 2019 Newsletter

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So we are into the second half of the year and as I write this the sun is shining so I am wondering what on earth am I doing indoors sat at the keyboard, but the reality is that if I don’t apply myself to this task it’ll never get done, and I realize everyone out there would be incredibly disappointed at not getting their monthly fix! Perhaps not.
 
On Saturday the 7th of June we ran the Summer Sporting Trial at Ashleigh, this was a very pleasant low key event and although the turn out wasn’t big it remained competitive, I was passenger for Andy Prosser and managed to avoid any bruises, Andy came a very creditable 4th the event being won by George Watson on just 2 points.
 
At our recent committee meeting Mike Wevill brought along the awards that he managed to secure at auction in Liskeard. Whilst these are replicas and quite small they are still an important part of the jig saw in the club’s history.
 
This coming Sunday the 7th we have the Motor Traders Trial at Waterloo Farm, North Petherwin, the weather forecast looks OK so as I said last month bring the sun bloc. We already have a handful of entries and if you intend to enter on the day please arrive in plenty of time to get the necessary paperwork sorted, it just makes it that little bit easier for the organizers.
 
The Testing Production Trial follows next on the 11th of August, the venue is all booked at Cannaframe , this is between Plusha and Bolventor, just off the A30.
 
On the 15th of September we have the David Ayers Sporting Trial, in the sporting trial calendar this is one of our big events so marshals will be needed please, and Yes I will be reminding you again next month!
 
You may remember that in last month’s offering I mentioned a couple of club outings, the first to the Prescott Hillclimb Championship on the 8th of September and a possible trip to the Morgan factory for a guided tour. Well Andy has booked the minibus for the Prescott outing, the bus will leave at 7.00am with a view to arriving at around 10.00am so that we don’t miss too much of the action. There are still some seats available so if you were thinking of going get in touch with Andy, tel, 07511 072724 or e mail probilt2005@yahoo.co.uk. Prescott is a superb venue and it’s a great chance to see some of the top hillclimb drivers in action.
 
Invitation, Tresmeer Village Hall PL15 8QT are running a navigational scatter for anything with two or more wheels. The event is on Saturday the 13th of July starting at 5.00pm. There is no set route, you just follow clues with a time limit of approximately two hours, finish back at the hall around 7.00pm . There will be cheesy chips and hot dogs available on your return along with the bar being open. Entry is just £2.00 per crew.
 
Having now got the Dellow up and running with a whole twelve miles on it I just need to try and get out and use it more. Having done all the work on it I feel I should make some attempt to run it in properly which is easier said than done. I have to say though it’s a long time since I heard a sidevalve sounding quite so sweet, just hope it lasts.
 
All for now
 
J.T. billjan299@gmail.com

June 2019 Newsletter

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Here we are in June, not sure where the last month went, all a bit of a blurr, must have been enjoying myself but the trouble is as you get older you forget what you did yesterday let alone last month, look on the bright side, if you’ve forgotten it then it doesn’t matter if you do it again.

The Reg’s are out for the Motor Traders Trial on the 7th of July at Waterloo Farm, North Petherwin, by kind permission of John Werring. These can be downloaded from the website. In the past we have had cracking weather for this event so bring the sun tan lotion, yes I realise that if it rains I will probably get the blame.

Motor Traders Regs – https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7806/

Motor Traders Entry Form – https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7803/

This coming Saturday the 8th we are planning to run an afternoon Sporting Trial at Ashleigh, Lifton, if you have a bit of free time on your hands and able to marshal it would be very much appreciated.

Summer Trial Regs – https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7791/

Summer Trial  Entry Form – https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7794/

The 11th of August is the date set for the Testing Production Trial at Cannaframe, this usually caters for cars and bikes and is a very relaxed day out whilst competitive there is an emphasis on enjoying the event and socialising.

Our club secretary Andy Prosser is looking to organise some club outings.

Prescott, British Hillclimb Championship, 8th September, Cost approximately £30.00 per head

Morgan Car Factory, Factory tour, Date tba, costs approximately £40.00 per head. The costs will depend on the amount of people wanting to go as this affects the size of bus, the more that wish to go the cheaper it becomes. Please contact Andy on 07511 072724 or email probilt2005@yahoo.co.uk

A recent auction at Liskeard included some historical club items, namely three NCDMC annual awards dating back to 1935, 1938 and 1953. Fortunately Mike Wevill was able to attend the auction and bought the lot for £24.20, I can only assume that Silver is at a low scrap value as I thought they would have been worth more. Well done Mike, a little bit more of the club’s history preserved.

Things in the garage have been going at a bit of a snail’s pace but I have now rebuilt a spare 100E engine ready to drop into the Dellow, but on taking out the old engine I decided several things in the engine bay needed altering. These things always take longer than planned, hopefully the next couple of weeks will see it all up and running again, back to the running in, oh joy of joys.

I know it’s got nothing to do with motoring or motorsport but it was good to see the Cornwall Rugby team at Twickenham win the County championship Bill Beaumont Cup, unfortunately I was only there in spirit.

All for now but do please send in anything that might be of interest.

J.T.

E mail billjan299@gmail.com

 

April 2019 Newsletter

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It’s April and here we go again with another action packed newsletter, or just my usual drivel!

On the 29th of March we held our Annual Awards Presentation at Trethorne, there was a good attendance and awards officer Nigel managed to off load a quantity of the club’s silverware including a new award in the form of the LNCMC “Triple”. This was awarded to Ben Tonkin for class wins on 2, 3, and 4 wheels, well done Ben, I can’t imagine we will be giving out too many of these for such a notable achievement.

On Sunday the 31st of March we held the Northgate Sporting Trial at Ashleigh Farm, Lifton. There was a good entry of 13 competitors on what is a fairly new venue for us, it is a superb site and we have by no means used this to its full potential with a lot of unexplored ground available. Conditions for the event were dry and with sunshine virtually all day it made for a very enjoyable event. Unfortunately almost at the end of the day Jon Fack sustained a very unpleasant injury to his hand needing hospital treatment, this is a reminder that as the signs say “motorsport is dangerous” and whilst we see the signs it is only when something goes wrong that we really take heed of it. On behalf of the Club we wish Jon a speedy recovery.

The event was won by Alan Baker from Gloucester, a full view of the results can be seen on the club website here https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7640/

Next up is the Club Annual General Meeting to be held on April the 4th at Tresmeer Village Hall, PL15 8QT at 8.00pm. There will be the usual election of officers and most important two very long standing committee members wish to stand down, so we need two candidates for the role of Chairman and Secretary. These are both fundamental positions for the general running of the club, please give it serious consideration.

The bar in the hall will be open and there will be nibbles.

The next event on the calendar is the Motor Traders Trial on the 7th of July, regs for this will be posted on the website a little nearer to the time of the event.

As we approach Summer there are thoughts of rallies etc, if you know of or are involved in one please get in touch with me and I can give it a mention to demonstrate motoring experiences in the round. I spent last Saturday giving the Lammie a run out to the Teignmouth Scooter rally, with a round trip of just under 150 miles it was a very enjoyable ride, with one exception, the padding on my seat is no longer sufficient so I am now shopping for a more comfortable saddle.

I have been back in the garage doing battle with the supercharger on the Dellow, it is now all up and running I merely have to get in some road miles to do the last bit fettling which mainly comes down to which carburettor spring works best. Looking back at the project the bit that was the most challenging was getting a belt tensioning wheel in place which was easy enough to adjust without fouling up other workings around the engine. On the third attempt I think I have it sorted (for now) but we shall see.

With just over two weeks to go before the Land’s End Trial I would like to think I can be confident in getting to the finish, but it’s tricky driving with your fingers crossed.

Cheers

J.T.

E mail billjan299@gmail.com

March 2019 Newsletter

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Yet another month whizzes by and I find myself back at the keyboard trying to think of interesting things to tell you of what’s been happening in the club and wider. February the 10th saw the annual Launceston Trial ably put on by Nigel and team.  Myself and Andy Prosser went out to marshal and somehow managed to do three hills with only one minor incident (well minor to us as it wasn’t Andy or me who collided with a tree) fortunately the unlucky rider wasn’t too badly hurt but it will probably a couple of weeks before he is back on the hot seat again. The event had a very good entry of 48, with a nice mix of 2, 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles. The Club is very lucky in having such a large area of woods to use and as always are very grateful to Mr Newman for allowing us the use of it. Well done to all the organising committee for putting on a first class event, and allowing me to get home in time to watch the second half of the England rugby match : enough said.

Launceston Trial 2019 Final Resuls – https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7599/

On the 28th of last month we held the Special Meeting at Trethorne with a very good turnout of 46 people from far and wide. It was encouraging to see such a turn out with delegates from various clubs and organisations, all sharing a common concern for grass roots motorsports, I will leave it to our chairman Warin Kelly to give you the full overview.

On the 29th of this month we will be holding our Annual Presentation of Awards and (free) buffet at Trethorne. This is a very sociable evening and hopefully award winners will make the effort to attend which all helps to make the evening more enjoyable for the organisers as well as the winners of various coveted trophies.

The club AGM will take place on the 4th of April , this is your chance to come along and voice your opinion on how the club is run, someone could even take over the job of writing the monthly newsletter  if they so desire,(caution : pigs flying) or maybe stand for a job on the committee.

Meanwhile in the garage things have not been moving at the planned pace, the engine is still out of the Dellow, and whilst the supercharger is actually bolted to the engine after much faffing at making brackets etc. that’s about as far as it has got due to a series of unplanned absences from the garage, but I am now hoping to get back in there and get things moving.  My entry for the Lands End Trial is in so by hook or by crook I have to get the project finished and maybe even tested, could be a bit of an eleventh hour job mate.

Cheers
J.T.

Points Raised in the Open Meeting on 28th Feb 2019
The meeting was well attended by nearly 50 people,from at least 10 clubs as well as representatives from Motorsport UK, ASWMC,and ACTC. Discussions covered a wide range as the notes below indicate

Current Concerns
It was agreed that entry numbers are dropping except in a few areas such as Autocross and Quads.
Financially entry fees are not a problem but vehicle upkeep and repairs are.
More clashes of dates with different disciplines and clubs.
The sport is not seen as P C.
There are more people working at weekends.
 
Cooperation between Clubs and Associations
ASWMC are no longer holding their dates meeting as there had been such poor attendance.
 There is no control over what dates clubs use.
 Clubs and Disciplines need to work together on this to reduce clashes.
Time needs to be built into the Calendar to allow for repairs and rests between events.
Regs vary from Club to Club and Trial to Trial. This makes it difficult especially for new competitors.
Clubs could work together to co-organise events. This is common with hillclimbs and rallies.
 
General.
There are too many rules and regulation and they need updating and simplifying.  Class structure needs modernising e.g. for sidecars and quads.

MOTs should be necessary for all vehicles even in off road events.  This helps to take the onus off the club and onto the competitor to present the vehicle in a safe condition. Some insurance companies are now requiring exempt vehicles to be MOT’d.  A show of hands at the meeting indicated that this should be put to Motorsport UK.

There is a lack of marketing and profile of the sport.

We need to get youngsters attracted to the sport so they will become spectators and then competitors.

Competitors want to be able to make late entries to events as happens with bike events- this involves more paperwork being carried out at signing on.

Better deals are needed with Insurance Companies.

Make events more friendly for modern cars e.g. SUVs, traction, slip diffs and front wheel drives. 

It was not thought there was a future for electric cars in our sport at present due to expense of vehicles, and the cost and number of batteries required for a road event .

New Types of Events
Evening Events e.g. grass auto tests
Inter-club competitions
Camping Events.  Saturday afternoon, camping overnight, and continuing on Sunday
Touring Assemblies
Taster Events (I event per year per discipline)
Treasure Hunts.

 It was a useful meeting though there was little interest at the end in forming an informal group to take matters forward. However it was agreed hold an open follow up meeting on Thursday  23rd May 2019.  at Trethorne Leisure Centre  7.30pm.for 8.00 pm by which time people will have had the chance to report back to their own clubs and get further thoughts.
 
If you will be coming to the meeting please ring me Warin Kelly on 01822 870393, or Pat Gomm on 01566 784348,so that we can get an idea of numbers.
 
In the meantime please feel free to post any ideas on our club face book page.
Or send them to John Turner at billjan299@gmail.com who will be happy to include them in our monthly newsletter.
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Our AGM on the 4th of April will be held at Tresmeer Village Hall. At 8.00pm.

  • Having served in their respective posts for many years Warin Kelly and Pat Gomm here by give notice that they will not be standing for re-election.
  • Also needed is a Motor Cycle Rep as no one on the present committee is an expert on this part of our sport.

With the Club coming up to its 100th anniversary next year it will be good if younger members.

February 2019 Newsletter

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 Monthly Newsletter February 2019

Here we are already into the second month of the year and just to remind us all it’s Winter we as you will know have experienced significant snow fall but at least it isn’t on a weekend when we have an event planned.

From the club committee members point of view it has been a disappointing start to the year in that we had to cancel the Spry Sporting Trial due to lack of entries. This cancellation makes it even more important that members and non members attend the special meeting on the 28th of this month at Trethorne https://www.trethorneleisure.com/ to discuss the future of our club and the activities/events it puts on. The meeting starts at 8.00PM with tea and coffee being available from 7.30pm. For those travelling from afar there is a restaurant within the complex should you wish to indulge in something more substantial before the meeting.

On the 10th of this month is the Launceston Trial, held as a single venue classic trial for cars and bikes at the Eastcott Woods area not far from Lewdown, entries are due to close by the middle of the preceeding week so if you wish to enter you need to get a move on, the easiest way being the on line entry system via the club website. Those of you who are not entering and have some time to spare we are hoping you will volunteer to marshal, Warin Kelly is sat by the telephone awaiting your call on 01822 870393. Go on ring him, make his day !

2019 Calendar of Events

February 10th Launceston Trial Lewdown

March 29th Presentation of Awards with buffet at Trethorne, + Films

March 31st Northgate Sporting Trial, Ashleigh , Lifton

April 4th Club AGM, all welcome

July 7th Motor Traders Trial, Waterloo Farm, North Petherwin

August 11th Testing Production Trial, Cannaframe

September 15th David Ayers Sporting Trial, Trevilla Farm, Marshgate

October 20th Tamar Classic Road Trial

December 28th Ron Beer Sporting Trial, Harrowbarrow

As you can see the committee have a full range of events taking place throughout the year, but it has to be stressed that this is run by “that same old committee” in other words it would be great to have a few new faces joining us if only to keep us awake during some of the less interesting items in the meetings (not that there are many). Why not come along to the AGM , if only to voice your opinion on aspects of the club workings and maybe throw in a few fresh ideas.

In other news – after my mention in the last newsletter of possibly boosting the Dellow’s performance with a supercharger I was amazed at getting some responses which were much appreciated (even more proof that some of you read this minor offering) and I now have a Shorrock Supercharger on the garage workbench waiting to be fitted. It seemed such a harmless idea to fit a blower but as with all these things the job grows. It won’t fit on the side of the engine next to the inlet so it’s going the other side once I have finished mounting the alternator on the opposite side from where it has happily sat for the last six years. I am however very fortunate to have a small engineering company next door to me, neighbour Joe made me a lovely three belt pulley, all turned out of a single piece of steel bar, no going back now.

If you’ve got a specialist small engineering job that needs doing I can highly recommend these guys :- https://www.facebook.com/southweststeam/

Stay warm and don’t forget to send in contributions billjan299@gmail.com

J.T.

 

December 2018 Newsletter

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Welcome to the December edition of your newsletter which seems to be going from strength to strength. I have recently been musing about when I used to produce the newsletter for the club some 20 to 30 years ago, this was a particularly laborious affair. Once all the copy had been collected, then typed up (on a typewriter, thank you Viv) and put into a form where it made an even number of pages it was then photocopied, then collated into an actual newsletter, then Vivien and I would do all the stuffing of envelopes , then put all the stamps on ( that would be expensive now) and finally post. This is where I actually like modern technology, I can (and do as you are already aware of) type whatever, send it to Jonathan Kelly, he puts it into the electronic mailing system and it’s gone, bliss.

With the Tamar Trial all done and dusted apart from Brian Alexander’s excellent report it’s looking forward to the Ron Beer Sporting trial on the 27th of this month at Harrowbarrow near Callington, yes once again we need marshals so do phone Mike Wevill 01566 784451 and ease his load, and it will also help to clear the head after all those Christmas festivities.

Straight into the New year there is the MCC Exeter Trial. I have entered the Dellow and assuming it doesn’t throw another tantrum I hope to be competing , let’s face it two abandoned events in succession would be very embarrassing especially as passenger Phil journeys all the way from the Midlands down to Cornwall just to spend a soggy wet night in the car with me in the name of “motorsport”. Don’t feel too sorry for him , he’s a biker and the Dellow is as close to luxury as it gets.

Following on from our Chairman Warin Kelly’s article in the last newsletter there has been a positive move towards a number of people wanting to attend the special meeting to discuss the future of our club and motorsport in general, this obviously not only affects our club but all motor clubs. The date is set for February 28th , the venue will shortly be announced.

Don’t forget I need your contributions for this newsletter no matter how big or small, once I run out of things to say about the Dellow I shall start to talk about my other motoring passion, Scooters, Lammies RuleJ billjan299@gmail.com

Diary dates

December 27th Ron Beer Sporting Trial

January (2019) 17th Committee Meeting

January 27th Spry Sporting Trial

February 10th Launceston Classic Trial

February 28th Special Meeting

March 29th Presentation of Awards evening.

January 4th/5th M.C.C. Exeter Trial.

Before I hand you over to Brian and his excellent Tamar report I would like on behalf of the committee to wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy , healthy New Year, hopefully sparing more than a thought for those who may not be enjoying the festive season as much as we hope to.
J.T.

Launceston & North Cornwall Motor Club Tamar Trial

The increasing popularity of class 5 was again demonstrated in Launceston’s splendid Tamar Trial. 4 Suzuki X 90s were supplemented by 3 Reliant Scimitars, two Mazda MX5s and one each of MG, BMW, SAAB and Porsche (although John Cox’s 924 actually failed to make the start) With 12 of the 34 car entry in class 5 it also provided the top 3 overall positions, with remarkable performances by Dave & Aaron Haizelden and Steve Kingstone. Dave’s overall winning 2.5 litre Ford-powered white Scimitar SS dropping only 3 points all day, 6 less than Aarons 2 litre green example, with Steven’s beautifully prepared Blue MG Midget only a further 5 points behind.

Best of the Suzuki’s by a country mile, and surprisingly ahead of Ian Facey’s supercharged BMW (on 26), was Nick Deacon on 21 points which deservedly earned him the best Japanese car award, well ahead of the Mazda challengers.

The new Tresmeer start venue on the edge of Bodmin Moor proved an excellent choice, conveniently close to the finish venue at Wilsey down for trailers. The delicious all you can eat breakfast was a great improvement on bacon baps, and was superbly organised and cooked by the local villagers . Dawn saw a beautiful sunrise and the promise of a glorious day in lesser known parts of the Cornish countryside. Early morning mists soon developed in the valleys however and persisted well into the morning. Those like myself anticipating an easy trial due to the recent dry conditions were soon disillusioned, few sections were exactly a walk in the park, and the numerous restarts soon began to take their toll.

A new section, Tanks Terror certainly lived up to its name. This fiercely steep climb out of a river bank defeated all but Dan Keat’s Fugitive and Dave Haizelden’s Reliant. Here we encountered the only significant hold up in the trial but this was due to competitors being allowed to reccy the section, greatly appreciated as the sinuous route along the river bed would have otherwise confused most.

The notorious Angel Steps were as formidable as ever, stopping most of the entry. The exceptions were Dan Keat and Paul Merson in class 8, Peter Hart in class 7 and the Class 5 cars of Dave and Aaron Haizelden and the redoubtable Steve Kingston , the class not actually benefitting that much from not having to restart. The amazingly competitive X90 of Nick Deacon also looked as if it was going to make it but suddenly came to a halt after bouncing into the air on the vicious step after the restart. Apparently this was caused by the air cleaner falling off. This upset the management system which shut the engine down! Sometimes modern technology can be a minus. (maybe often in fact.)

Having lost the ability to change gear after attempting Lew Wood 1 due to a clutch which now refused to disengage, my navigator Tim Edwards wisely persuaded me to retire the X90 and proceed to the lunch stop, having found that progress was still feasible providing one stopped the engine to engage a gear! On our way we encountered the irrepressible and ever cheerful Simon Oates by the roadside with a broken diff. in his much campaigned Triumph based Torum. Thus we didn’t witness the conditions on most of the later sections but Trehole apparently stopped everybody and the restarts on Park Impossible , New Langleys and the last section Trevilla all defeated the whole of class 8. The all classes restart on the favourite Lands End section at Crackington, was responsible for destroying my diff on last years Tamar (and I suspect may have been the reason for the 3rd and last retirement of the day, that of Nick Symons in the green MX5) and was cleared by only 14 cars.

Class 7 and 8 were set some very difficult restarts, successfully intended to offset the expected dry conditions. Top of class 8, and 4th overall, was the UVA Fugitive of Dan Keat on 19, 5 points ahead of Paul Merson in the ex Charlie Shropland Special with Simon Woodall’s VW buggy in 3rd place.
Peter Hart put up an impressive performance in the Marlin to head class 7 on 22 points ahead of a very close battle between the revived ex Simon Riddle Arkley now campaigned by the promoting club’s Adrian Booth (32) and the very well sorted Liege of Ray and Hannah Ferguson (33) from Wantage.

Class 3 saw a very closely fought battle between Matt Facey’s BMW 318 and Phil Parkers Mk 1 Escort with Matt on 43 points eventually edging it by 1 point, mainly by virtue of his excellent climb on Angel steps. 3rd in class was the valiant Anglia estate driven by Paul Gillo.

The era of the all conquering VW Beetles seems to be on the decline these days, class 4 fielded just two 1300 examples although Craig Allen’s winning score of 34 was good enough for 13th position overall, while the only big-engined example was the sole class 6 entry, that of Mike Smith who had travelled down from Birmingham. 22nd overall on 53 points.

In class 1 James Shallcross, dominant in the awesome Peugeot 205 ever since Dave Haizelden moved to class 5, was 15th overall on 36 his only opposition coming from the venerable SAAB 96 of Nigel Martin Oakley adding historic interest to the entry.

Even more venerable was the single class 2 entry, the ever competitive green MG J2 of Bill & Liz Bennett (to say nothing of the crew) who, on 28 points, finished a meritorious 9th overall, earning them the Club Cup.

Our journey home was successfully accomplished sans clutch, the Suzuki quite happy in 3rd gear all the way. All in all a highly enjoyable day in the Cornish countryside at its best. Full marks and many thanks to the organising team and all the marshals for another challenging and splendidly organised trial which certainly sorted the men from the boys.

(Since writing this I have discovered that our problem was that the clutch pressure plate had actually snapped in half, so not surprising that it would not free, not an original Suzuki part I should add)

Brian Alexander

November Newsletter

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Well another month has flown by and here I am writing to you all again, I can say all as I have it on good authority that there is more than one reader!

Last month saw us hosting one of our biggest events of the year the Tamar Trial, with an entry of 60 it was all systems “go”, our new start venue at Tresmeer Village Hall seemed to go down well with many of the competitors and marshals taking advantage of the £6.00 all you can eat breakfast, much to the relief of the hall volunteers, some of whom turned up at 5.00 am to get the cooking under way, the Hall is now £300.00 better off so thanks to all.

The route covered approximately 75 miles with a good variety of sections to try and catch out the unwary but David Haizelden was on the ball (unlike his trailer) and only dropped 3 points all day to take the overall win in the car classes. Andrew Kearns took the solo motorcycle class and Alan Wear won the class for the motorcycle combinations. The event finished well within daylight which has always been a concern of the organising committee, so all good. Special thanks to Adrian Booth for lending me his Land Rover for the opening vehicle.

The ACTC are looking to restructure and are looking to meet with members of the trialling community to listen and hear what they have to contribute to this vital and ongoing process.

It has been suggested that if our club and its members would like to arrange a venue then they will arrange a mutually agreeable date and time to have an informal discussion and exchange of ideas, hopefully this can happen.

Anyone wanting to contact ACTC should do so by speaking to, or emailing Carl Talbot (Chairman), Pete Hart (Vice Chairman) or Bill Bennett (Secretary).

Forthcoming Events

The Ron Beer Sporting trial is on the 27th of December at Harrowbarrow. Regs for this are on the website and you can even do an online entry, no more putting forms and a cheque in the post, but if you are volunteering to marshal you will need to “ring” Mike Wevill 01566 784451 ( I’ll get his email address one day).

Spry Sporting Trial on the 27th of January 2019 at Trevilla Farm, Marshgate.

February 28th 2019 we are having a special meeting open to all club members to ascertain the future direction of the LNCMC, your support is needed. Chairman Warin Kelly has written a special piece on this, venue to be decided upon.

In my last newsletter I mentioned I was off to do the MCC Edinburgh trial safe in the knowledge that the Dellow was declared fit, what a mistake !! Son-in-law Matt and myself.set off at 1.00am from Darley Dale for the run down to Tamworth Services arriving at around 2.25 and was duly scrutineered and signed on. We left at 3.30 am as per our time and travelled about fifty yards when the gearbox jammed up, after a failed attempt to fix it, it was back in to the services for another cup of hot chocolate and at 4.00am call the recovery service. After much procrastinating on their part and waiting for them to find a driver (you know how hard it is finding a lorry driver in the Midlands) a vehicle finally turned up at 8.30 and we were loaded and on our way back to Darley Dale. So after breakfast it was off to watch competitors at Excelsior and what might have been, hey ho motorsport teaches you to be philosophic.

Don’t forget that if you would like to contribute to this epistle it would be most welcome.

J.T.

And now a word from our chairman regarding the future of the club;

In our committee meetings over the last year or so one concern has kept coming up, namely falling entries and the increasing difficulty of finding marshals and people to take on the key roles in events with their increasing bureaucratic demands.

That’s more than one concern you may say, but it comes down to one thing, what is the future of our grass roots sport? This is relevant to other clubs as well as ourselves and raises many questions.

Entries are falling in all our events.  Championship Classic Trials, BTRDA Trials formula events, ASWMC production car trials (no championship contender entered our round this year), and our closed to Club events (with the exception of the Launceston) get a very poor entry. Are we running events that present competitors want? What do the up and coming generation want? Is the expense of a competitive vehicle, entry costs etc getting too high for our competitors? Or is it just a blip at the moment?

Often we seem to clash with other clubs events. Not always the same type of event but nevertheless a clash divides the pool of competitors and marshals. Are we trying to run too many events? Do we need to make more effort to coordinate the whole calendar?

Is Sunday the best day for events? What about evening events in the summer? (As used to happen). Shorter more intensive events?

Marshalls generally are getting older, and less mobile. Where is the next generation? Actually not the next generation who are probably already in their 50s, but the following generation with all their enthusiasm of youth.

The same question can be asked about committee members and event organizers.

Are there too many Clubs? or should we work together more to run group or inter club events?

Have our events had their day? What sort of events do people want?  Is there a generational split? 

We cater for both bikes and cars. Is there a difference between what each would like?

With so many other things going on in our lives is our sport needed any longer?   Is it right to continue in these days of global warming?

In order to discuss such questions and look to our future we have decided to hold an open meeting on Thursday  28th February next year. It is clear that other clubs are experiencing similar problems so we will be extending an invitation to all the local clubs as well as ACTC and will welcome anyone with imaginative ideas for our sport.  People we have spoken to so far have responded positively and we hope this meeting will be the start of wider discussion.  The venue will be advised in due course.

If you have any comments on this matter please feel free to post them on our club face book page.

Or send  them to John Turner at billjan299@gmail.com who will be happy to include them in our newsletter.

If you will be coming to the meeting please ring me Warin Kelly on 01822 870393, or Pat Gomm on 01566 784348, so that we can get an idea of numbers and select a suitable venue.