Classical Gas
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December 2000 - Part 2
The Exmoor Clouds
by Ian Davis
For as long as most people can remember the Clouds has been based at the Minehead Barbarians rugby club. This year, however, the event started and finished at the Ralegh's Cross Inn, high up on Exmoor. This new venue was chosen partly because it could offer hot food and drink and partly because for the last few years there has been a cycling event starting and finishing at the rugby club on the day of the trial. You can imagine the organisers' surprise when they found out that the Ralegh's Cross Inn was being used as the headquarters for a huge (1,000+ riders) mountain bike orienteering event on the same weekend as the trial!
When Dick Hutchings and other members of Minehead MC were marking the sections out on the day before the trial they discovered to their horror that not only were the mountain bikers using the pub but most of his sections as well. Luckily on the day of the trial the mountain bikers had moved on to other areas and we saw very little of them on the trial itself.
47 motorbikes and nearly 60 cars started the trial this year, more than in previous years when the trial's rough, tough reputation has probably kept entries down. Although this is deepest Troll country you wouldn’t have known it as the only one entered (that of fellow Falconer Dave Alderson) didn’t start. Where have they all gone? Instead, Class 8 looked like a meeting of the buggy owner’s club with 9 of the 19 vehicles in this class being VW based! With the exception of the escort boys in class 3 the saloon entries were pretty thin on the ground with only Nigel Allen turning out in class 6.
With a different start venue we also got a new route; although it featured mostly the same hills as in 1998 and 1999 they all appeared in a different order. The first hill for the bikes and classes 6, 7 & 8 was Steep Lane with a restart for class 8. The hill itself was fairly straightforward but the route to it down a steep grassy field was very slippery.
The next section for us was Port Lane. To my mind this is one of the best sections on the entire trials calendar; a long, sunken lane with deep mud, ruts and a huge rock slab near the top. Thanks to the heavy rain in the preceding weeks, much of the usual mud had been washed down the hill and into the village at the bottom. Although there was plenty of grip this year the resulting gullies meant that only solos and Class 8 were allowed to tackle the section.
Following an 'impossible' restart for classes 7 & 8 in 1998, Northmoor seems to have got progressively easier. The section itself was followed by the first special test which involved a quick blast round a corner to line B, a short reverse over line C and a longer forward section around a tree and over a bump to stop astride line D. I'm not sure if it was the mist or the reversing that caused confusion here but quite a few lost their way and failed to record a time. As the stop watch was giving the time-keeper some trouble the car in front of us got two attempts at the test. We thought we'd ask for another go if we didn't record a fast time but the timekeeper told us that we had done the best time so far so we didn't argue!
A few miles further on and we joined the queue for South Hill. Although not that steep, once away from the start (on tarmac), the section was very slippery with a deep rut on the right at about the 7 marker and a tight hairpin just before the restart. The rut seemed to attract quite a few cars and once in, it must have taken some effort to get out of again.
There was also quite a deep gully by the side of the road, as Thomas Bricknell found out when he parked his dad's Vincent in it, leaving the offside wheel at a very peculiar angle and the diff on the ground. Judging by the look on Roger's face as he ran back up the road it may be some time before we see Thomas behind the wheel of this trials car again...as the results show though, the Vincent seems to like this treatment as Roger finished a fine fourth overall. Charlie Shopland (first gear again – modification on its way) and Arthur Vowden were less fortunate and both retired here.
Ski Slope was next and only those who haven't seen it will be wondering why it is so named. Dead straight and formidably steep, this section was to take points off all but 3 car entrants although most bikes cleaned it OK. Classes 1-5 tackled the hill non-stop (in theory) whilst 6 & 7 had a restart on the steepest part of the track. We were lucky enough to see one of the few clears as Nigel Allen blasted the big Beetle off the restart to clear the hill impressively. The class 8 restart was situated on slippery grass to the side of the track and although a few heroes got out of the ruts, over the bank and onto the restart line, none managed to clear it and get back to the main track.
A bit downhearted at losing our first points of the day, we moved on to Pin Quarry which we usually manage to get up. Each year the hill takes a different route and this year after a blind start on a stony track the hill turned sharp left and up a steep muddy bank. We didn't give it quite enough right foot and ended up stuck at the 8 marker. Five other class 8 cars cleaned the section but for the rest of the field 9’s and 10’s were the order of the day.
If not enough right foot was the problem at Pin Quarry, too much was definitely our downfall on the 7th section, Allercott, and after fishtailing from side to side across the hill we ended up all crossed up at the 2 marker. Due to the heavy rain the muddy dip was bypassed this year and the section started fairly flat before turning left and becoming steeper and more rutted.
The classes divided after Allercott, with solo’s and class 8 going straight on to a new section called Muddlecombe and the rest heading off for Ewart’s Pickle (aka Slade Lane). When I first saw this in the route card it seemed odd as Ewart’s Pickle is usually one of the roughest sections on the trial but Dick Hutchings explained later on that the council had recently graded the section with loose chippings (it is a RUPP). We didn’t see the hill itself but the results show that this was the only hill not to claim a point from a single competitor.
All classes met up again for section 9, Muddlecombe. This section was a late substitute for Middlecombe woods as the woodland was hosting a motorcross event which had been postponed by the fuel crisis in late September, hence the name. Entry to the section required traversing a steep grassy field, which proved as much of a challenge to some as the section itself! Adrian Dommett and Dave Hazelden were just two who suffered punctures on the adverse camber. After a sharp right hairpin the section climbed steeply up the side of the hill behind Land’s End section Hindon, with a surface of slippery grass and bracken. Only two cleans were achieved, by Dudley Sterry and Roger Bricknell.
It was only a few yards down the lane to the next section, the aforementioned Hindon, with the usual slippery grass at the top and restart for classes 6, 7 & 8. Aville Ball followed shortly after and, although the route directions to it were more straightforward this year than last, someone had removed a direction marker within the woods. Very helpful! This is another very long hill, steep and slippery towards the end with a restart for solo’s and 8’s at the top under the trees. The bikes really struggled on this one with only eventual winners Michael Crocker and Trevor Griffiths getting up it on their Yamaha outfit. Although most 7’s and 8’s got up, only three saloons did so – the escorts of Tommy Kalber and Philip Roberts and Nigel Allen’s big-engined Beetle.
Vinegar Hill, another steep forestry section, also caused the bikes quite a few problems although most cars managed to get through OK.
With the night starting to draw in we moved on to the special test at Maddocks which must be one of the longest and most enjoyable around (especially for pretend rally drivers). We were determined to record a fast time here, as this is where Tony Young won the overall award from us last year. We got to the top in just over 29 seconds and were quite pleased with that (although it didn’t mean a lot as we had by now dropped more points than in the previous three years put together). The timekeeper told us that the fastest time was under 27 seconds and then added ‘he was flying’. He must have been! Not surprisingly, ‘he’ turned out to be Tony Young and fast special test times again won him the overall award from fellow ‘Big Wheeler’ Adrian Dommet.
Just down the road was Druids, which this year was for bikes and car classes 6, 7 & 8 only due to the deep, deep muddy ruts. Those with good ground clearance generally got to the restart at the 6 marker and then sank, those with less clearance grounded out further down at the 9 or 10 marker - so the other saloon drivers didn’t miss out on too much. I suspect Nigel Allen may agree as after a strong run he dropped 9 here and then 12 each on the final two sections suggesting the Beetle developed a problem somewhere nearby. First car Adrian Marfell, in his Fiat(?)/VW special, excelled here to reach the two marker, whilst the amazing outfit of Michael Crocker/Trevor Griffiths went two better to record the only clean of the day.
The penultimate section of the day was at Tarr Cott and was another very long section (you certainly get value for money on this event!). This section climbs up the side of a deep Exmoor valley and seems to finish right on the top of the moor but few competitors got that far and long delays built up. The problem was an adverse camber section with a deep gully on the left, which the start marshal described, to us in glorious Technicolor. This rather un-nerved Lesley in the passenger seat but before she could clamber out of the car we were off and she spent most of the time on the way up looking for the gully which had been described so dramatically to us! A handful in classes 7 & 8 made it to the top together with only 2 saloons – another great climb for Dave Hazleden in the GTI and a class winning effort for Harvey Waters in his Escort.
On to the final section Tim Wood, now in total darkness, which was a new find close to the start/finish pub. After a very muddy start, which stopped a high proportion of the entry, the section divided to the left for classes 6, 7 & 8 and to the right for the rest (or should that be for Giles Greenslade as his was the only saloon to pass the 9 marker). We couldn’t see very well here – I’m not sure if this was down to the pathetically low output of the buggy’s dynamo or because the headlights were liberally coated with mud. After a close encounter with a tree in the lower reaches we got to the 5 marker but Tony Young and Adrian Dommet must have much better electrics (or they must eat a lot more carrots) as they were the only two carrying enough speed to clean the section.
In conclusion, another a great Exmoor Clouds and, after the dry events of the last few years, one which was very challenging. Now with slicker organisation and slightly less rough sections than when I first started doing it (in the mid 1980s), it may be time for some of those who stayed away this year to consider putting the event in next year’s diary. Better make sure your lights are working though because it still finishes in the dark!
