Welcome to the September offering of your newsletter which puts us firmly back into the trialling season. The recent Testing trial at Cannaframe had a reasonable entry of 11 and the weather was kind to us, just as well as this venue doesn’t have much there to stop the wind and rain blowing straight across the moors from Bolventor, any lost hats land in New York. The Invitation Trophy was won by John Sandercock, the Motorcycle trophy by Steve Urell. There was serious competition in the “Ruby” household with Zak winning the Junior award and Ashley the Novice award. Thanks go to the marshals and to Nigel Cowling and Mike Wevill for putting on the event.
Coming up on the 15th of this month is the Davis Ayers Sporting Trial which is a championship round, a good entry is expected at Trevilla Farm, Marshgate by courtesy of David Langley, and a chance to see some top notch cars taking part. Yes Mike Wevill is waiting for your call to marshal 01566 784451, we need lots of marshals so please do call him, no marshals = no event !
The Tamar Classic road trial takes place on the 20th of October, Pete Cooper and the gang have a completely new route this year which is always refreshing to hear, I think there may be a few different hills being used so competitors won’t be able to be complacent.
Torbay Motor Club are running a charity “tour of the hills event” on the 22nd of September, it appears that this is a road event, entries are limited to 30 so don’t delay if you wish to enter e mail pr@torbaymotorclub.co.uk
And now it’s over to our club President Robin Moore.Historical Notes Part 1
With the advent of the internal combustion engine it was only a matter of time before the application became widely applied to the various forms of road transport. Incidently this led to feats of endurance and competition. It’s fair to say that the heyday of the participation and active support by the manufacturers , was the period between the two World Wars. Sales success being reflected by good showing in the various competitions on offer, none more so than Reliability Trials.
It followed that clubs were gradually formed all over the country in order to bring this form of competition to a burgeoning public appetite for the sport. For the most part, motor clubs were formed initially as motorcycle clubs before motor cars began to feature with a more affluent society. Even so, it was a small percentage who were able to indulge the sport, whilst for the multitudes it provided wonderful entertainment, and for the local inhabitants who resided near a ‘section’ it provided a free grandstand for several hours viewing for all ages.
For the major west country events it became a red letter day for many a young lad to sit atop the Castle wall to watch competitors toil up to Launceston town centre on the gradient from Newport. Armed with a pack of sandwiches and a bottle of lemonade the world was theirs for the day. For many it was the chance to record the many different makes of car or motorcycle, rather like a form of train spotting, such was the chance to see a much greater variety of manufacturers offering than on a normal day.
A number of those watching would themselves in the fullness of time become enthusiasts and competitors. One such person was the late Frank Martyr who became very much a Riley man. Some may recall him campaigning his red Riley 9 Special, at one time a regular on the M.C.C. Lands End. I believe this car survives, I don’t know, but would hope that it languishes somewhere safe and may be seen again in the future.
RHTM. (to be continued)
I spent a couple of pleasant days this week in the Malvern area, I didn’t have time to visit the Morgan factory but did manage to collect some spare parts for the Dellow from the Small Ford spares warehouse. The building also houses other familiar names to classic car enthusiasts such as Paul Beck, The Complete Automobilist, Vintage Supplies, etc. The stock there was surprisingly large and it occurred to me that whilst these places are not major employers they do contribute to the overall work/employment ethic and there must be hundreds more small enterprises just like this one, not necessarily for car spares but interests of all sorts, whether it be motorcycles, model train supplies, whatever. With sufficient following hobbies create jobs. (A bit deep really) All for this month.
J.T
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