David Ayers Trial 2006 by Mike Readings
Janet D is a very lovely lady but if she approaches
you at the start of a trial, she is not just enquiring
about your health, so run like hell. She wants you to
do a write-up! You have been warned!
What made this different is that she wanted it done
for the next trial not the one we were actually at. So
where were we? Sunny Cornwall of course. At my
favourite site, Roland Uglow’s fabulous farm. Alas it
is not for me to write about Saturday, but I get to
describe Sunday’s event, the David Ayers Trial at a
brand new site just up the road in the steep-sided
valleys above the village of Boscastle. The rumour
mill was working overtime. It was all steep fields
worse than the previous site at Trenault. Some
people were threatening to go home early. So what
would it be like, only Sunday would tell.
A late finish meant a dash to our B and B in
Camelford, where Mr (Demolition Derby)
Fullalove failed to apply the handbrake and
wrecked a road tyre and hotel drainpipe in one easy
move. Oh dear! Still, an excellent meal at the local
pub ended a good day.
Sunday started not quite so nice as Saturday but we
arrived at an excellent paddock, signing on and
scrutineering followed by the briefing, which
included the information that the farmer had laid on
lunch (more later).
So you all want to know what the site is like and all
I can say is “excellent”. A wonderful mix of
woodland, field, scrub and grass. What’s more, the
club tell me they have barely investigated the site,
with other areas just crying out to be used. We
were led down through the farmyard, full of broken
rusty tractors and other paraphernalia, to the trials
site – an anti-clockwise course from woodland
quarry through very rutted field and steep field
margin hills to scrubby hacked out through the
bramble and gorse sections in the next fields. All
along below us lay the innocuous stream that had
turned into the raging torrent that destroyed
Boscastle just a year or two ago.
At first there were cars in all directions as we
struggled to understand the layout of the hills (in
several fields all looking the same). Some direction
arrows with Numbers on might help next time. I’m
sure you didn’t get back to the paddock via
Camelford but it seemed like it!
Lunch at a reasonable time was taken by most in
one of the fields where the farmer’s wife and
friends laid on hot pastie, cakes and a drink for £2.
With proceeds going to the village hall (or
something like that). It was seriously good value.
Thanks very much.
A third round in the afternoon saw an earlier finish
than Saturday. Results announced promptly saw us
passing Exeter on the way home, just after 5 o
clock. The overhead sign telling us the M5 was
shut at Bristol was a trifle worrying but it wasn’t by
the time we got there. Home by 8pm after an
excellent weekend of trials. Thanks to the clubs,
now both with sites to be proud of.
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