Leaving home at 0600hrs there were just a few spots of rain, but within a few minutes it started to come down quite persistently for the next 15 miles. Then somebody up there decided to open the flood gates, with raindrops the size of golf balls, but at least it stopped by the time we hit the M4.

I had spent the previous week checking over the Buggy, making sure that all the protruding exhaust pipes and pulleys were suitably covered, and fabricating a solid anti sex bar! Only to be pulled up by the scrutineer who thought that my front recovery eye was too far back and inaccessible.

The first section, TOG HILL, was cleaned by all and the hardest part of HENRY'S HITCH was getting back out of the section. BITTON LANE managed to claim 7 scalps on the restart before we all found where last night's rain had got to.

Number Plate askew John and Dot tackle Big Uplands in this picture by Dave Cook

Approaching the lake leading to LITTLE & BIG UPLANDS I chose to go thru the middle of the lake. In one of the “puddles” the water came over the running boards, I picked up a lump of mud the size of a football on the front torsion bars, which popped the number plate half off. Classes 6,7&8 tackled BIG UPLANDS with a number of fails on the restart, whilst classes 1 to5 all cleaned LITTLE UPLANDS. The organisers had to do some thinking on their feet, marking up a re-route in Keynsham, which was further compounded by a large van becoming firmly stuck under a low railway bridge. It's very hard driving into the sun in a busily high street, looking for inch red, white or blue markers which could be on either side of the roadside, depending where there was a suitable post to attack it to. There were cars going in all directions Dot & JP included.

Next up was the infamous GUYS HILL. I have never got past the restart, and this time was no exception, failing together with 30 others. TRAVERS HILL followed, a bit of a bogey hill for me, having broken the gearbox in Jago, the rear suspension on the Westfield and failed the restart at least twice on previous attempts. 22 failed the restart this year, but luckily, I was not one of them.

This is the first time that I have seen the next section, UBLEY WOODS, which I can only describe as Falcon’s Great Brickhill PCT venue, only steeper longer and much slippier. We encountered our first queue of the trial. This was caused partly by some competitors getting stuck and having two or three tries to get out, and partly due to a mix up with regards to the tyre pressure limits imposed on classes 6,7, 8 after some had already done section seven. Consequently, Pete Hart had to cancel the section for those classes.

We now moved to the bottom of the hill to section 8, which had been cancelled for classes 1 to 5. Out of the 40 cars to attempt this section only 12 managed to clean it, JP being one of them, with Dot laughing and shouting encouragement as we powered up, flat out in second, mostly sideways across the section.

The next challenge was following the arrows to get to special test two, a steep muddy climb up a bank, to stop all 4 wheels over line B on the crest, reverse back with all wheels over line B, and go forwards to stop astride line C. I never managed to get to line C so got my first fail! After a short pee stop at the Chew Valley Lake picnic area came BURLEDGE where we cleaned the hill.

We then returned to the UPLANDS complex, this time to tackle the LITTLE one. First, we had to swim through those puddles. This time I decide to drive to the right hand side, with two wheels on the bank. Half way thru there is a loud bang but we are still ok so carry on up to the start of the section. We jump out to check there are no punctures etc. to hear Mike Pearson say “your front wheels are pointing in opposite directions”. I had bent the steering drag link about 45 degrees, there was no way to do anything before the section so we struggled up, missing out the restart. At the top I removed one end and with the aid of a large brick and the jack handle and got it nearly straight before electronically resetting the tracking (shone a light on it) put a replacement wheel, and continued.

The last section was JOHN WALKER. Here there was quite a delay, with about 15 cars waiting. However, only three failed to clean the section.

Once again a great Allen Trial. Thanks to all the organisers and marshals for their hard work.

Page added 7 December 2006