BEAMISH TROPHY TRIAL

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 30   

November 2013

 Well, the Beamish Trophy Trial Awards Night took place at the Middleton St George Cricket Club on 21 November 2014.  The room at the Cricket Club was virtually full with entrants coming from far and wide and many marshals and helpers present as well.

The trophies were presented by Gerry Beer. Most VMCC members will know Gerry but for those who do not, Gerry has been a member of South Durham Section since the very early days, first becoming Chairman in 1977.  He was a regular BTT entrant for many years and in recent times, ably assisted by his fellow members from the BSA Owners Club, he has run the Studdon Hairpins checkpoint and observed section.

After the presentation of trophies we had another important part of the evening - the Marshal's Draw.  The Beamish requires some 50 Marshals, Observers and helpers on the day to allow it to run smoothly.  We owe a huge debt of thanks to these people who happily give up their Sunday to spend it stood on a windy hillside somewhere in Weardale.  Even more surprising is that whatever the weather, they all seem to remain resolutely cheerful.

In appreciation, some entrants have donated prizes which are presented by drawing names from a hat (my hat on this occasion!).  The prizes this year were:

·         A fine bottle of malt whiskey presented by Dave Moffatt

·         Four bottles of wine presented by Dick Hobart

·         A year’s subscription to Classic Bike magazine as well as 3 x Classic Bike T- shirts, presented by Hugo Wilson.

 Many thanks guys, it was much appreciated.

 With the formalities out of the way, the buffet was demolished with extraordinary speed although everybody seemed to get something.  The evening then reverted to form with much talking going on.

During the evening we showed some video kindly shot by Roy Sturgeon on the day.  We plan to put this on a DVD together with most of the still photographs that many have provided, mentioning especially Ian Lamb and Phil Model. I don’t think Phil is even interested in motorcycles!

I was recently given a copy of OTL.  What is OTL? - merely the organ of the Velocatte LE Owners Club. OTL = 'On the Level' - presumably a reference to horizontally opposed cylinders rather than falling off on the Beamish. This edition contained a report written by Marcus Allard describing his first BTT on an LE. We felt this was such a sterling effort that he was awarded the newly-minted Robert Atkinson Trophy.  Anyway here is Marcus' article reproduced with the kind permission of Marcus and OTL.

Tom

 Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 29   

 October 2013

24 October 2013

As you know we collected on behalf of MacMillan Cancer Support again this year.  You will see from the letter we managed to raise £103 for this very worthwhile cause.  Many thanks to all for your generosity.

Note - Final Results and Trophy Winners list. The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that the draft Trophy Winners list had made no mention of the Connaughton Contractors Shield for the 'Vehicle travelling the greatest distance to the Trial under its own power'.

I had omitted this result deliberately because on first looking at the results I didn’t believe it and thought I had better check that I hadn't made a mistake.  I am delighted (and very impressed!) to be able to tell you that Paul Bromley is the clear winner this year, having travelled all the way from the Wirral to the Trial, competed, then road home again - on a Vespa!  Puts a lot of motorcycles with several times his engine capacity to shame!  Well done Paul.

On a  sadder note but still on the scooter theme, the Northern Echo published a nice obituary for long-time Beamish entrant John Taylor.  I did ask them for permission to reprint it but as they haven’t bothered to reply I have gone ahead anyway.

Just a reminder - the official ‘Beamish Awards Night’ will be held at our regular venue: Middleton St George Cricket & Social Club, Water View, Middleton St. George, Darlington, DL2 1JQ starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 21 November 2013. There will be a buffet, distribution of goodies for the marshals, a video and still photograph display and the presentation of trophies. We are also inviting all the marshals, observers and helpers so it is an opportunity to thank them. We really hope you can make it and it would be a big help in planning the catering if you could drop me an email or phone call to let me know you are coming.

The Regulations and Entry Form for the 42nd Beamish Trophy Trial to be held on 21 September 2014 will be issued by the end of February. 

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 28   

 September 2013

27 September 2013

Well the Trial has been and gone since last I wrote.  In total there were 143 starters on the day from a total entry of 160, There were 134 finishers, 9 non-finishers, most off whom broke down & many had to be recovered back to the start .  Many thanks to Mike and Brian for providing the recovery.    

The weather was brilliant with bright sunshine most of the day.  The wind was cool and was a factor for the marshals in the more exposed spots. 

Thanks to all our many helpers including: North Durham Motor Club, The Friends of Killhope Lead Mine, North East Classic Motorcycle Club, BSA Owners Club, Northumbria VMCC who marshalled Westgate Ford and High House Lonnen. Thanks also to the many members, partners and friends of South Durham VMCC who worked so hard prior to and on the day to enable all of the sections to be open & the event to be completed successfully.

We are also indebted to the Mark and the team at The New Board Inn, who allowed us to use the pub site for the start/finish again and the facilities at the pub for tea/coffee/meals/toilets. We would also like to thank all of our trophy sponsors. A massive ‘thank you’ to all the landowners and users who allowed us access to their land and property once again.

Attached to this newsletter you will find the draft results and trophy winners list.  These are draft because they may still contain errors I havent spotted! If you do spot an error please let me know.  They are in PDF format and I hope you will be able to open them ok.  If you can't the don't worry because the final printed copies together with date bars and badges where appropriate will be sent out next week.

A word on trophies.  Many of the classes in the Beamish Trophy Trial are over-lapping so it is possible for one person to win a considerable number of trophies.  While one likes to recognise achievement it makes things a bit boring and discourages everyone else if one person wins too many.  So we have defined two groups - Trophy awards (the upper one) and Class awards (the lower one).  No individual can win more than one trophy in either group. If an entrant has already won an award in that group the next trophy in that group will go to the entrant with the next highest number of points.  I hope thats clear - at least I think I understand it!

There will be an official ‘Beamish Awards Night’ at our regular venue: Middleton St George Cricket & Social Club, Water View, Middleton St. George, Darlington, DL2 1JQ starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 21 November 2013. There will be a buffet, distribution of goodies for the marshals, a video and still photograph display and the presentation of trophies.  We are also inviting all the marshals, observers and helpers so it is an opportunity to thank them. We really hope you can make it and it would be a big help in planning the catering if you could drop me an email or phonecall to let me know you are coming.

The Regulations and Entry Form for the 42nd Beamish Trophy Trial to be held on 21 September 2014 will be issued by the end of February. 

        Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 27 

 August 2013

18 August 2013

As usual, apologies for the long silence, but it has been a busy summer

Final Instructions and start times will be issued in the first week in September.

The event is once again over-subscribed and we are running a waiting list. If you know that you will be unable to ride it would be helpful if you let me know as this will allow someone else to ride.

Accommodation Options

The Bunkhouse at the foot of Haggs Bank has accommodation available.  They are also planning a ride out on the Saturday before the trial.  Take a look at http://haggsbank.com/1st-hu-mini-meet/

I also have some reserved rooms at the Premier Inn in Durham. If you would like to use one of these reservations please let me know. However as we don't clash with the Great North Run this year they are probably not necessary and you should be able to book directly.

TYRES

Tyres used on the Beamish Trophy Trial must be suitable for On Road use and road legal. The Section wishes competitors to join in the spirit of the event by choosing tyres that are non-aggressive in appearance or destructive in use.

For the purposes of the Beamish Trophy Trial :

Road Tyres are defined as having a gap between the tread blocks NOT exceeding 6 mm, and a maximum tread depth of 10 mm.

Trials tyres are defined as having a gap between the tread block exceeding 6mm but not exceeding 17mm.

The only tyres which are unacceptable are those with a distance between blocks greater than 17mm

These measures are needed to limit tyre damage to the tracks used in the event which are mostly private land and so retain the goodwill of the landowners thus ensuring the continuation of the event.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 24   

 November 2012

Well, the Trial has been and gone since last I wrote. In total there were 129 starters on the day from a total entry of 160, There were 118 finishers, 11 non-finishers, most of whom broke down & many had to be recovered back to the start. Many thanks to Mike and Bobby for providing the recovery.    

The weather was generally good on the day with even some sunshine. The ground was, however, still wet and High House Lonnen proved especially challenging. The following Monday’s weather was horrendous and we were very fortunate to avoid it.

Thanks to all our many helpers including: North Durham Motor Club, The Friends of Killhope Lead Mine, North East Classic Motorcycle Club, BSA Owners Club, Northumbria VMCC (who marshaled Westgate Ford and High House Lonnen). Thanks also to the many members, partners and friends of South Durham VMCC who worked so hard prior to & on the day to enable all of the sections to be open & the event to be completed successfully.

We are also indebted to Dianne and Adrian at The New Board Inn, who allowed us to use the pub site for the start/finish again and the facilities at the pub for tea/coffee/meals/toilets. We would also like to thank all of our trophy sponsors. A massive ‘thank you’ to all the landowners and users who allowed us access to their land and property, once again.

The off-site parking arrangements seemed to work. As you know the farmer makes no charge for this facility but we collect for a charity of his choice. Thanks to your generosity we have been able to present MacMillan Cancer Support with £197, an increase on last year.

There will be an official ‘Beamish Awards Night’ at our regular venue: Middleton-St- George Cricket & Social Club, Water View, Middleton-St-George, Darlington, DL2 1JQ, starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 22 November 2012. There will be a buffet, distribution of goodies for the marshals, a video and still photograph display and the presentation of trophies. We are also inviting all the marshals, observers and helpers, so it is an opportunity to thank them. We really hope you can make it and it would be a big help in planning the catering if you could drop me an e-mail or phone call to let me know you are coming.

The Regulations and Entry Form for the 41^st Beamish Trophy Trial to be held on 22^nd September 2013 will be issued by the end of February 2013. If you have received this newsletter you are on the mailing list!

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.23   

 February 2012

2012 Beamish Trophy Trial Sunday 23^rd September 2012

The Regulations and Entry Form for the 2012 40^th Beamish Trophy Trial are now available.

2012 is something of a landmark year - the 40^th time the event has run. I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Atkinson recently. Robert started the Beamish way back in 1970. He tells me that he was hospitalised for a while in 1970 and being very bored started to think of possible trials-type events and so the Beamish Trophy Trial was born. In those far-off days with no computer assistance at all, Robert and his team used to get the results out on Sunday night - an achievement I intend to ignore!

The intention is that 2012 will see few changes from 2011, so the key points are:

• Route unchanged
• Off-site parking at the start to allow 150 entries
• A fuel dump arranged in the mineyard at Cowshill
• Young riders free entry
• Tyre restrictions

Free Entry

In common with many organisations in the old bike movement we have become concerned at the small number of entries from younger riders, although given the hurdles young riders face in terms of insurance alone, it is understandable. Our contribution to encouraging younger riders is for this year's event to waive the £13 entry fee for riders under the age of 21 that is, born on or after 23 September 1991. Non-VMCC members will, however, still require Day Membership at £3.

Tyre restrictions

Many of the off-road sections of the Beamish Trophy Trial are private land which we ride with the landowner’s permission. More extreme tyre tread patterns can cut up the surface quite badly and this also causes significant problems for following riders on road tyres. Please ensure your machine is equipped with road or trials pattern tyres. Motocross and aggressive enduro pattern tyres are not permitted. If in any doubt, please ask.

Accomodation

There is overnight camping for tents, caravans and motor-homes on the start field at The Board Inn itself. This is free and the food in The Board is excellent. The down- side is that the only facilities are the toilets in the pub (which are unavailable between midnight and 06:00). You must also be prepared to clear the field by 08:00 on the Sunday morning.

In the past many entrants have stayed at The Allenheads Inn but this is 30 miles from the start.

The Bay Horse at Brandon has good rooms at a reasonable price and is less than 5 miles from the start.

Start Venue

The start will be from:

The New Board Inn, Hilltop, nr. Langley Park, County Durham,  DH7 9RL

Parking for cars, vans and trailers is in a field about 1/4 mile away. This will be signposted and a plan will be supplied with the Final Instructions in early September. Fuel can collection will be in this field up to 8:45. The support vehicle has to leave at this time to be at the drop-off point in good time for the first riders. 

There are no longer any open filling stations on the route of some 120 miles.

There is no charge for parking but we will once again be collecting on behalf MacMillan Cancer Support. Many of you were very generous last year.

Please do not try and park at The Board Inn. The pub has a thriving Sunday lunch trade and leaving entrants vehicles in the car park at The Board risks losing the venue.

Start times will be allocated and the first machine will start at 09:00 with the rest following at 30 second intervals. Presenting yourself at the start gate before your allotted start time will lose 10 points.

Lunchstop

As has become traditional Allenheads will be the lunchstop. Our good friends Anne and Phil at Allenheads Inn will be offering a wider range of lunches this year so we will not be offering pre-booked lunch tickets.

Finish

The finish will be back at The Board Inn from about 16:00. 

Please try and submit your entry as soon as possible.

If we are again over-subscribed we will allocate entries with preference to older machines so try entering the oldest machine you have. If we are over-subscribed and cannot accept your entry we will let you know within 2 x weeks of receiving your entry. If you don’t hear from us your entry is secure.

Postal Regulations and Entry Forms will be sent out to those who don’t have e-mail addresses by the middle of March.

Final Instructions with Start Times will be sent out by post at the beginning of September.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.22   

 December 2011

23 December 2011

Hello  

The Beamish awards night on Thursday 10-November 2011 at  Middleton St George Cricket Club passed off successfully. Entrants travelled from far and wide to see the trophies presented by well-known local rider, Grant Sellars. The Cricket Club was virtually full and the buffet disappeared rapidly!

As in previous years a draw was made for the gifts donated for the marshals and helpers. 

Long-time entrant and regular trophy winner, Dave Moffat (Rider No. 17 this year) donated a very nice bottle of whiskey which was won by Mark Leigh.

Another regular entrant, Hugo Wilson of Classic Bike once again donated a year's subscription to his excellent publication which was won by a delighted Anne McCullough. The Classic Bike T-shirts were won by regular marshals Trevor Parrott and Rob Lowe of the North East Classic Bike Club.

You are probably aware that this year we were able to accomodate a larger entry by using off-field parking for vans and trailers.  This parking was provided by a local farmer who asked for no payment but a donation to charity. We chose MacMillan Cancer Support as we knew this was charity close to his heart. I am very pleased to tell you that we were able to present Macmillan Cancer Support with a cheque for £157. A special thanks to Alistair Moffat (Rider No.82) , who, after the event sent me a letter of thanks and included a further £10 donation.

The Regulations and Entry Form for the 40th Beamish Trophy Trial on Sunday 23 September 2012 will be published by the end of February 2012. If you are receiving this newsletter electronically you are on the mail list anyway and will be sent the Regs. automatically.  

It remains only to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe, prosperous 2012.

Tom

 Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 21   

 October 2011

!! STOP PRESS !!

Beamish Awards Night change of date - 10 November 2011

Hello

The Final Results and Trophy Winners for the 2011 Beamish Trophy Trial are now available. Hard copies and badges are now in the post to all starters.

A quick word about trophies - we award these in descending order. For example if a rider is the overall winner he/she will be awarded The Richard Hore Memorial Trophy. If he was riding a 1968 Bantam he will not be awarded the trophies for best performance under 200cc and best performance 1961-70 under 450cc.  Instead these trophies will be awarded to the highest scoring rider in that class who has not already won a trophy. This spreads the joy about a bit!

If you are holding a trophy from last year can you arrange to get it back to me (cleaned!) as soon as possible to allow for engraving.  

Beamish awards night has had to be re-arranged to Thursday 10 November at 7:30pm at Middleton St George Cricket Club due to catering problems outside of our control. There will still be photos, some videos and the presentation of donated gifts to the marshals - these include Classic Bike magazine subscription, Classic Bike T-shirts (thanks Hugo) and a rather fine bottle of whiskey (thanks Dave). Finally, before we tuck into the free buffet there will be the presentation of trophies to the award winners. I know it can be a long way to come to accept a trophy but can I suggest if you have won a trophy and can't make it why not nominate somebody else to accept your trophy? If you don't know of anybody who will be there let me know and we'll co-opt a volunteer!

I still have a considerable number of fuel cans some containing petrol.  If you don't claim yours soon I will use the contents!

Alec Birkbeck's professional-quality video of this year’s event is now finished. I have seen a copy and can highly recommend it. You can watch a trailer at http://vimeo.com/29451460.  

There are lots of still pictures on the Beamish website www.beamishtt.com and more are being posted as they become available.

The 40th Beamish Trophy Trial will be held on Sunday 23 September 2012. This is the weekend after the Arbuthnott Trial in Wiltshire. If you haven’t tried the Arbuthnott it's an excellent event. We will post more details when their Regs are issued.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No. 20   

 September 2011

Hello

While it would be innaccurate to claim we had good weather this year it was a lot drier than last year (it couldnt have been any wetter!).  Most of the softer sections were very soft and I understand that parts of the new off-road section at Oxenlaw proved challenging.  The Fords were all high but had dropped significantly from the previous day when Westgate was quite impassable and we thought we would have to use the by-pass.

There were new arrangements at the start at The Board Inn this year which seemed to work well.  Last year the field wwas virtually grid-locked and it would have been impossible this year with an increased number of entrants. As I explained previously the farmer made no charge for the use of his field but we offered to collect on behalf of Macmillan Carers.  This seemed to come as a surprise to some people but others were very generous indeed and we raised a total of £157 which we will formally present at the Awards Evening on 24 November.

The new fuel arrangements also seemed to work well except that I have been left with rather a lot of fuel cans not all of which have numbers written on them - you would be surprised how many people believe that tieing a Tesco bag round the handle will make their can immediately recongnisable!

This year I have decided not to inflict you with my attempts at amateur video production.  You may have noticed a modern Triumph Tiger laden with all sorts of camera gizmos whizzing about the route.  This was Alec Birkbeck the son of long-time entrant Trevor Birkbeck.  Alec is producing a proffessional-quality video of this years event.  Although it is still in production you can watch a trailer at http://vimeo.com/29451460.  We'll keep you posted when the finished version is available.

There are lots of still pictures on the Beamish website www.beamishtt.com and more are being posted as they become available.

On a less happy note a couple of entrants decided to go and have a 'play' in the mineyard at Cowshill. This is private land (as are many of the off-road sections) and we can only use it with the permission of the landowner who on this occasion was understandably upset.  Their actions have now put the future use of Raise Head at risk.  They will not be riding in future Beamish Trophy Trials.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.19   

 August 2011

9 August 2011

Hello

Let me start with the usual apologies for the long silence.  However some things have been going on behind the scenes.

1. The Start. Sunday 18 September.  First bike away 09:00

Last year, with 120 entries the start field at the Board Inn was at bursting point.  This year we have been generously offered off-field parking for cars, vans and trailers at the farm at the top of Hairey Hill about 1/4 mile away. This parking is free but we will be collecting on behalf of Macmillan Nurses at the entrance. I'm sure you will all be generous.

Vehicles, other than entered bikes, outfits or 3 wheelers will not be allowed on the start field after 7.30am. If you are camping or caravanning please be prepared to move early!

These changes have allowed us to increase the entry to 150 starters.

2. The Route.

Henderson's garage in Alston has finally closed and indeed been demolished.  I gather a supermarket is being built on the site.  This has forced us to alter the route which was already becoming a little long.  We will now be going direct from Killhope to Haggs Bank. This was the route for many years until the filling station in Westgate closed forcing the diversion to Alston for fuel.

The mileages this year will be:

Morning - 69 miles

Afternoon - 49 miles

Total - 118 miles   this compares to about 129 miles last year.

If your tank capacity is inadequate we will carry your plastic fuel can to a fuelling dump in the mineyard at Cowshill. This fuel dump is 37 miles from the start in the morning and 4 miles after the lunch stop (in other words about 73 miles from the start).  Don't forget once you have been given your start number to mark it clearly on your fuel can - there may be quite a lot there!

There are some other route changes but I'll keep those as a surprise - hopefully a pleasant, or at least, challenging one.

3. What happens next.

Final instruction with allocated entry numbers and start times will be issued in early September.

4. Entry List.

This is always a rather changeable feast as there are always a few retirements, but this is accurate as of NOW.  Entry List

See you in a field, very soon

Tom

     Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.18   

 March 2011

2 March 2011

As usual we are running late but better late than never.

2011 Beamish Trophy Trial

We have had to increase the entry fee this year by £1 to cover increased postage and printing charges.

Please try and submit your entry as soon as possible.

If we are again over-subscribed we will allocate entries with preference to older machines so try entering the oldest machine you have. If we are over-subscribed and cannot accept your entry we will let you know within 2 weeks of receiving your entry.  If you don’t hear from us your entry is secure.

Unfortunately we once again clash with The Great North Run so that hotel rooms in the North-East are hard to come by. Camping/Caravanning is available at the start venue - The Board Inn, Esh, please drop me an e-mail to confirm if you wish to camp or park your camper - [email protected].  Another accomodation possibility previous entrants have used is at the lunch-stop - the Allenheads Inn

.

Postal Regulations and Entry Forms will be sent out to those who don’t have e-mail address by the middle of March.

Final Instructions will be sent out by post at the beginning of September.

Beamish Trophy Trial DVD

We have still got copies of the 2010 DVD which includes movie footage of Haggs and the approach to Studdon. There are some excellent still pictures kindly supplied by Alan Stocker and Ian Lamb.

Copies are available for £5 including post and packing. Cheques payable to 'South Durham Section' to:

Tom Norman, BTT, 16 South Crescent, Hartlepool, TS24 0QD.

Sunday 18th September 2011 is the date for this years Beamish Trophy Trial. Hope to see you then.

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.17   

 December 2010

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.16     

 November 2010

Why do I always seem to start these newsletters with apologies? Too late now to spoil the habit of a lifetime - so apologies this is so late.

Attached you should find the Results and Trophy Winners in PDF format. The Results are slightly changed from the hard copies posted earlier to entrants as I have corrected some of the more glaring errors which have been pointed out to me.

Review of the day

After 2 years with wonderful weather I suppose we had it coming and it certainly came.

The forecast was not too bad, rain in the morning, easing my midday with sunny periods in the afternoon. I heard rain falling on my tent behind the Board Inn at 4am. By 7 it was a steady persistent drizzle.

Periodically, throughout the day the rain eased creating the illusion that things were improving only to return a few minutes later with greater weight. Route cards disintegrated, number cards became harder to read, marshals and riders became more bedraggled. The sun finally put in an appearance at 5 by which time most people had finished.

However, many things continued as usual - everybody complained about the questions, some people got lost, several had to make use of the recovery service generously provided by Frack's Transport. Thankfully nobody hurt themselves seriously.

At the finish everybody seemed cheerful including the soggy marshals.  

Dates

Thursday November 25th 7:30 pm is the Beamish Awards Night at the Middleton St George Cricket Club, Water View, DARLINGTON, DL2 1JQ. Trophies will be presented by Stan Bartle, North East Rep for the VMCC. There will be a raffle, a buffet and hopefully some video, although some of the cameras got rather soggy so please don’t expect a masterpiece! Entrant, marshal or landowner, you will be very welcome, but if you could give me a call or drop me an email it would be much appreciated - it makes the catering easier.

Sunday 18th September 2011 is the date for next year’s Beamish Trophy Trial. 

Phone number change

If you need to speak to me you can call me on 07951 746362.  This is a mobile number and if it's during the working day I may be a little brief - its not personal!

Tom

 Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.15     

 September 2010

20 September 

Well, What a day that was!  After 2 years with wonderful weather I suppose we had it coming and it certainly came.

The forecast was not too bad, rain in the morning, easing my midday with sunny periods in the afternoon. I heard rain falling on my tent behind the Board Inn at 4am. By 7 it was a steady persistent drizzle.

Periodically, throughout the day the rain eased creating the illusion that things were improving only to return a few minutes later with greater weight.  Route cards disintegrated, number cards became harder to read, marshals and riders became more bedraggled. The sun finally put in an appearance at 5 by which time most people had finished.

However many things continued as usual - everybody complained about the questions, some people got lost, several had to make use of the recovery service generously provided by Frack's Transport.  Thankfully nobody hurt themselves seriously.

At the finish everybody seemed cheerful including the soggy marshals.  My thanks to all, without you it wouldn’t have happened.

I now have to translate several dozen pieces of damp paper into the final scores.  I hope to do that within the next 2 weeks and will then issue a further newsletter with the results.  Badges will follow in the post.

Trophies

Many people returned trophies on the day.  I haven’t yet had time to work out what is still out there, but if you do have a Beamish trophy still in your possession can you please return it ASAP so we can arrange the engraving of this years winners.

Suggestions

As always it has been a learning exercise. Among the points I have picked up for next year are:

1. Names and addresses of more local residents who may be affected by our passing.  They will be notified by letter in advance of the trial.  The more we can keep local people on our side, the easier it will be to keep the trial going.

2. New entrants (and some not-so-new) got a bit lost on Haggs Bank - we will flag the path next year.

3. A stock of safety pins at the start would be useful for those that forget to bring them to attach numbers to the back of jackets.

If you have any (constructive!) comments to make I would really like to hear them.  Sadly it is now 4 years since I was last able to ride myself in the Beamish and I may be getting a little out of touch.  email me at [email protected].

Some dates for your diary:

Thursday November 25th Beamish Awards Night at the Middleton St George Cricket Club.

Sunday 18th September 2011 is the provisional date for next years Beamish Trophy Trial. 

Phone number change

If you need to speak to me you can call me on 07951 746362.  This is a mobile number and if its during the working day I may be a little brief - its not personal!

Found

Found at High House Lonnen - one Rayven glove. Let me know if it's yours.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.14     

 August 2010

25 August 2010

Greetings from Tom

Firstly my apologies for the long silence - I have been having rather too good a summer rushing about all over the place. 

Preparation for this year's Beamish Trophy Trial has, however, gone ahead. All is under control and everything should be in place on the big day. I have ordered good weather but I don't have any guarantees!

Final Instructions 

The Final Instructions with start times and everything you need to know will be issued within the next 2 weeks. Vouchers for breakfast/lunch will be issued with route cards and numbers at the start on 19th.

Waiting List

A number of entrants have had to drop out for various reasons and have kindly let me know.  This has allowed would-be entrants on the waiting list a chance to ride.  If you are unfortunately unable to ride for whatever reason please let me know - you may make somebody's day!

Camping

Camping and caravans are welcome at The Board Inn on both Saturday and Sunday nights.  We can make use of the pub's toilet facilities during opening hours but they will be unavailable  from 11:30pm to 7am.  We are trying to organise temporary outside toilets but are not able to confirm at this time. 

Saturday night at The Board Inn is usually good with a selection of entrants from all over the country enjoying a pint, some tall tales and probably a meal as well.

Be aware that if you camp or park on the main field you may have to move early on Sunday morning!  Please drop me an email or phone me on 07951 746362  if you wish to camp or caravan at The Board.

Trophies

 If you were skilled (fortunate?) enough to win a trophy in last year's event you can return it at the start this year.

Newsletters

No, you haven’t missed one - I just couldn't bring myself to number one as 13!

Tom

 Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.12     

 April 2010

29/04/10  Good morning.

It's been a busy time since I last wrote.  The level of entries has been even greater than last year and we are now fully subscribed for the 38th Beamish Trophy Trial on Sunday 19 September 2010.  From this point on we can only accept entries onto the waiting list.  The list of accepted entries (sorted by surname) follows below.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.11     

 March 2010

Well here they are - only slightly late - amazing how time slips by!

The Regulations and Entry Form for the 2010 Beamish Trophy Trial are now available. The trial is to be held on Sunday 19 September 2010. 

Planning is still at an early stage for this year's event but I expect things to be largely unchanged - I just hope we can replicate last year's weather!

The 2009 event was over-subscribed so please do not delay submitting your entry.

Printed forms will be sent out by post to those without e-mail within the next couple of weeks.

Tom

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.10     

December 2009

As I sit here writing this the snow outside lies deep and crisp and even.  The balmy days of September and the Beamish all seem a long time ago. However, on the bright side, we are past the shortest day and however unlikely it seems, the evenings are drawing out and the 38th Beamish Trophy Trial is coming! It remains for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous and safe New Year.

38th Beamish Trophy Trial

The 38th Beamish Trophy Trial will be held on Sunday 19th September 2010. Entry Forms and Regulations will be sent out by e-mail initially before the end of February. If you have received the newsletter you're on the mailing list and will receive them.

Dennis' Tale

One of the entrants on the 2009 Beamish Trophy Trial was Dennis Skilton from Craven Arms in Shropshire.  Dennis had.... an eventful journey to and from Shropshire. Dennis' tale was published in an edited form in the VMCC Journal, but in this newsletter you can read the full unexpurgated version.

Bike for Sale

Pops Hinde has a SS250cc Gold Star, rare oil-in-frame model, Boyer ignition, matching no’s, etc, For Sale £2450 ovno. Contact Pops by email at: [email protected]

Tom Norman

Event Secretary

Dennis' Tale

Beamish Trophy Trial 2009

Have you ever entered the Beamish Trial? If not you don’t know what you’re missing. This is the best event in the calendar, bar none. Plenty of riding, great off road sections, a wide range of different bikes, challenging questions and great people, all in spectacular Northern Pennine scenery, in glorious Weardale. A fantastic event every year, and this year was no exception, even the weather was superb. Oh yes, riding bikes doesn’t come better than this…..or does it ?

Having waited with mounting excitement for the event, and gaining a second class award last year, I was very eager to improve my result in 2009. Plenty of preparation needed I thought. Starting a few days before the event, I began to prepare.

All the usual chores to finish before I left Shropshire on Saturday 19^th September, the day before the event. Bike to prepare, kit to assemble, tools to find, fuel can to fill, van to check, all finished in record time for a departure after lunch.

As I had an hour or so to spare, I thought I would attempt to remove the battery from the van to check the distilled water level and to give it a top up charge, even though there was nothing wrong with it. What’s that saying ? “If it’s not broken don’t fix it“

The battery cannot be topped up in situ, so has to be removed, a feat not attempted in the seven years of ownership. Accompanied by a string of expletives and missing the odd knuckle, I finally extracted it, which surprisingly only needed a very small amount of distillate. I have since learned that batteries these days do not need topping up! In due course, I replaced it, got ready, and finally jumped into the van to leave. Spirits were as expected, very high.

The immobilizer on the van had been brought out of a seven-year deep slumber by the removal of the battery, which disturbed the electronics apparently, a feature which had escaped me, so the engine would not start. No problem I thought, I had a special electronic key given to me when I bought the vehicle, and I knew exactly where I kept it. This key made no difference at all, the handbook was no help either, it was by now after 2.00 pm on Saturday so no dealers would be open. I ranted and raved for a few minutes – more expletives I’m afraid – and then stubbornness prevailed. I would get the bike – a Cheney Triumph - out of the van and ride it to the event. Quite irrational as the journey there would be about 260 miles. By this time the red mist had descended, I just wanted to set off, so I abandoned any idea of taking toilet kit or changes of clothing, I just put on the riding gear and went.

An enjoyable run up to Ossett in West Yorkshire, where I planned to stay overnight anyway, was completed, with the bike receiving many accolades throughout. Was there a slight slipping of the clutch during hard acceleration I wondered ? If so it didn’t seem to make any difference to the performance, or to the enjoyment.

I had to leave early on the Sunday morning to be at the starting point in Esh, County Durham, for 9.00 am. I soon discovered that the rear light on the bike had failed. which meant setting off had to be delayed until day break. I left just before seven o’clock, filled the tank at an all night garage, and joined the M1 motorway, junction 40.

The bike purred along nicely at 65 to 70 miles an hour. I marvelled at the willingness of the little engine, and was oblivious to the rattling from the valve gear, courtesy of my ear plugs. I carried a 5-litre petrol container strapped behind the seat as the main tank only holds one gallon.  Nevertheless we made it to the slip road on the A1M where I peeled off for Durham, before the fuel ran out. I emptied the contents of the can into the tank, and proceeded to the nearest fuel stop, then arrived at the starting point in Esh village about 9.00 am. 

One compensation for arriving on the bike is that I didn’t have to go through the mad rush of getting the kit on and trying to remember everything I had to take with me. I just had to stick the numbers on and we were ready to go. 

We were waved off around 9.15 am for what turned out to be a fantastic day, as ever. I lost odd marks on the questions, but all in all it was truly memorable. Was the clutch slipping or not, I gave myself the benefit of the doubt, and caned the bike even harder.

The off-road sections on this trial are fabulous, and can be attempted with almost any kind of bike, even scooters take part. Neither do the sections demand the usual death or glory mentality, all too common with modern day events.  Extreme in length, all kinds of ground from wet and slippery to hard and rocky strewn with boulders, and everything in between. The names themselves added a particular magic – Hagg’s Mine, Velvet Path, Westgate Ford, High House Lonnen, Studdon Hairpins and several others. Except for an infuriating and careless loss of five marks on Hagg’s Mine, I cleaned the rest.

The lunch stop in Allenheads is one of the highlights in itself, bikes from both the trial and the legions of spectators providing an opportunity to drool, and to chat with the other riders.

At the end of the trial, about 4.30 pm, I started to look for somewhere to stay the night. This was unsuccessful, and as it was still before 5.00 pm, I decided to head for my overnight stop in Ossett. I joined the heavy traffic on the A1M and ran straight into a strong head wind and facing the evening sun, which was particularly unpleasant. The bike continued to run sweetly, I had enjoyed the day enormously, all was going well, even the clutch seemed fine, and even though I could detect some slippage at times, it was still very minor.

In no time at all, the traffic stopped, though I was able to keep going in between the vehicles.  I hadn’t noticed the massive road building programme on the A1 on the way up, too bothered with the early morning cold air although on reflection the traffic then was heavier than normal.  Going back after 5.00 pm the traffic was horrendous, and I learned later that it was due to the Great North Run in Newcastle which attracted some 100,000 people, 60% runners and the rest watching. For me, watching 60,000 runners taking part in a half marathon would not create too much excitement, but each to his own as they say.

The traffic began to move, only to stop again a few miles further on, and so on and so on all the way back. At the new services near Wetherby, I decided I needed to stop to stretch the legs which were beginning to ache a bit. When I set off again - you’ve guessed it - the clutch started to slip quite badly, a marked deterioration to the situation before the stop, and I proceeded with growing concern as the revs started to rise and the speed diminish. I drew across to the slow lane, by this time down to about 25 mph, then on to the hard shoulder, now 10 mph, then down to walking pace as the clutch lost it’s grip altogether. I started to leg it along, but eventually despair, aching muscles, and rising heat coming up from the engine brought us to a halt. By walking alongside the bike I could just detect a bit of forward impulse but this too eventually disappeared. I realised that if the engine stopped I would be unable to re-start it. Mercifully, by this time and after about ten miles of these frantic efforts, I could just see the spire of Ossett church, and thought I might just  make it, even if I had to push the bike for final three miles. I considered ringing the emergency services, but knew that my phone battery was flat, and not mentioned before, I had somehow hurt my right ankle, which had caused me to change gear with my heel all afternoon.

So, in the fading light, stopped on the M1, Sunday night, with only one leg and no phone, I started to wonder if it was all worth it, as a suicidal feeling of despair swept over me. My feet were on fire, like a Fakir on overtime, a funny headache was developing as was double vision, and my mouth and throat were both parched, dryer than a lime burners cap. 

The struggle along the hard shoulder at least gave me time to think about things. The speed of motorway traffic for a start, did I really travel at these mind- boggling speeds when I used the motorways? I realised that the lemming syndrome is still alive and well, as I sweated along the carriageway, observing the maniacal antics of the passing traffic. 

As body heat climbed, off came the gloves, then the helmet, then I unzipped the jacket, and progressively disrobed in direct proportion to the rise in temperature, as I hopped along towards the exit in the growing darkness. At this point the ground started to rise, which made things more difficult, but then as I was almost there and nearly crying, a Toyota people carrier stopped, reversed down the slip road, and the driver got out to ask if he could help. I think I will be alright I said, stifling a sob, but he insisted on helping me to push the bike up the incline, a very welcome bit of assistance. At the top I was able to roll down the pathway and cross the road, to be greeted by a young motor cyclist who had stopped to ask if I needed any help. Good humour started to return, tears were avoided and, the black mood began to lift.

The road where I was staying started off with a fairly steep downgrade, so I jumped on the bike and let it hurtle down the hill, throwing all caution to the wind as it gathered speed in the darkness.  I held on firmly to all my loose items of clothing, and let the cool night air wash over me, pure ecstasy, as I swerved periodically to miss the concrete lamp posts.  All too soon, I came to a halt and started to push, now uphill for the half mile or so to home.  As I crossed the last junction, a red van stopped and the driver jumped out to ask if he could help, him being a biker himself, he explained.  Again, I had to politely refuse, but again I was much heartened by the numerous offers all in about half a mile.

The bike was quickly and unceremoniously relegated to the garage, I arranged for a mate to cart it away and repair it the next day, and I continued to my Shropshire home by train, a journey which was very pleasant, but not cheap. I have since heard that the clutch components had all turned blue, the cush drive had melted, all the oil had gone from the chaincase even though I filled it before leaving  Shropshire, and, same with the engine, only half a pint left.  The clutch failure may have been a blessing in disguise after all.

Although I didn’t get the coveted first class award, I did gain second class one again, so must try even harder next year.

Am I going to enter the Beamish next year? Yes. Am I going to try for a better result? Definitely, yes. Am I going to ride to the event and back, some 600 and odd miles for the full journey ? Definitely not. Was it all worth it, not withstanding the exceptional bad luck, lack of foresight and plain stupidity? Definitely, yes. Is it still the best event in the calendar?  Absolutely.

The Beamish Trophy Trial is now one of the jewels in the VMCC crown.  For me, it is one of the best events ever, having competed in quite a number in Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Tasmania and Finland, in addition to various ones in the U.K. There is so much content packed into this one-day event, I could well see it expanding to become at least a two day gathering in due course.

Latest news on the Cheney, still not right, looking as though the motor will have to come out!

Dennis Skilton

Membership 14752

Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.9

November 2009

Awards Night 

The Beamish Trophy Trial Awards Night was held on 12 November at Middleton St George Cricket Club. Trophies were presented by His Worship, the Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Jim Ruck. Pictures of the award presentation are at click on this link

The evening seemed to go well from where I was standing. The room was full, the chatter incessant and the buffet disappeared in double-quick time!

As you know the Beamish Trophy Trial is loosely based on the Travers Trophy Trial of the 20's and 30's. Dave Moffatt kindly provided me with photocopies of contemporary reports of the Travers from this period.  These made a nice display at the Awards Night.

Wally Holmes very generously donated a silver medal won by J. Edmundson in the 1924 Travers. A call to the excellent VMCC library produced a copy of the Motorcycling report of the 1924 event and there was J.Edmundson riding his 248cc OK Blackburne - presumably quite a rare beast even then!

I am keen to obtain more material like this about either the pre-war Travers or the Beamish Trophy Trial itself - as the first Beamish was held in 1970 there must be some old photographs or cine film out there. If you have something we could copy, please do get in touch.

Hugo Wilson of Classic Bike once again kindly donated two Classic Bike T shirts and a year's subscription to the magazine. This year the T-shirts were won by Darren Elliott of Ferryhill and Ted Robinson of Byers Green. Ted Robinson turned out to be our Chairman's dog - a result which caused some hilarity! The subscription was won by Dave Brentley of Stockton.

Trophies

Obviously it was impractical to expect all trophy winners to be present at the Awards Night - some people would have had to travel very significant distances indeed. We do not automatically post trophies to those who cannot collect them, but I am happy to do so if you request it.  Do remember that you need to return it (cleaned, please!) by or at, next year's event.

DVD

Once again we have prepared a simple DVD containing movie footage and stills from this year's event. We showed this at the Awards Night and it seemed to be well received. Copies are available by post for £6 including P&P. Cheques payable to 'South Durham Section' please.

Badges

Finally, all the badges and date bars have arrived and been dispatched. These were ordered in early August but obviously we will need to place our order even earlier next year. 

Beamish Trophy Trial 2010

The 2010 Beamish Trophy Trial will be held on Sunday 19 September 2010. Entries and Regs. will be sent out by e-mail by the end of February 2010. If you have received a copy of this newsletter you are on the mailing list! Paper copies will be posted out to the luddites a little later. If we are over-subscribed preference will be given to older machines - so get those old bikes dug out!

Tom Norman

Trial Secretary  

Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.8

October 2009

Tom Norman writes........Perhaps I can start off this newsletter with a series of apologies.

Firstly, some of you have not yet received badges and/or date bars. I was promised these by the end of this month but with the current postal dispute I fear that could be even more delayed. Please rest assured I will send them on just as quickly as possible.

Secondly, some of you who have received badges will have discovered that the packages did not have enough postage on them. I have been trying hard to think of a suitable excuse, but have failed dismally. My apologies - my fault entirely - won't happen again.

Finally, I am sure you are aware that Pops Hinde has donated a new trophy for the best performance by a rider aged 65 or over. I appear to have consistently mis-spelled his name at every possible opportunity. It is HINDE!

Awards Night

The Beamish Awards Night will be held at our regular venue: Middleton St George Cricket & Social Club, Water View, Middleton St. George, Darlington, DL2 1JQ starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 12^th November 2009.  There will be:

• a buffet,
• a video and still photograph display
• the presentation of trophies by his Worship, the Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Jim Ruck. 
•  Classic Bike magazine have once again kindly donated a year's subscription to Classic Bike and two Classic Bike T shirts  for the marshals.  These will be drawn and awarded on the night.

We really hope you can make it and it would be a big help in planning the catering if you could drop me an email or phone call to let me know you are coming.

Trophies

All trophies are engraved with the winners names and will be presented at the Awards Night. However it’s a long way to come for some people and it is a weekday night so not all winners can attend. If you have won a trophy but cannot attend the awards night but would still like the trophy for the year, you need to ask me to post it to you. I don't automatically send them out for a number of reasons:

• Some people aren't very bothered about trophies
• It takes time, effort and postage to send them out
• If sent out, the recipient must return them (cleaned, nay polished!) no later than next year's event to allow for engraving 

So, If you are a trophy winner and want me to send you the trophy - TELL ME!

Photographs

There are lots of photographs on the Beamish Trophy Trial website -link - Thanks Pete R 

You can find a lot more at this link - Thanks Pete C

Beamish Trophy Trial 2010

The 2010 Beamish Trophy Trial will be held on Sunday 19 September 2010. Entries and Regs. will be sent out by email by the end of February 2010. If you have received this newsletter you are on the mailing list! Paper copies will be posted out to the luddites a little later. If we are over-subscribed, preference will be given to older machines - so get those old bikes dug out!

Yours sincerely                                            

Tom Norman, Trial Secretary  

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.7

September 2009

Results

30 September 2009

The results of the 37^th Beamish Trophy Trial held on 20^th September 2009 are available results

For entrants, your badge and date bar (where applicable) will follow within the next 7 days for all but the recipients of 1^st Class Awards. They will be sent out as soon as we’ve received them from the supplier, probably early November. The badges will be accompanied by a printed copy of the results.

In total there were 110 starters on the day from a total entry of 120. There were 104 finishers, 6 non-finishers, most of whom broke down & had to be recovered back to the start courtesy of Fracks Transport.

The weather was extraordinary. I watched the sun rise at The Board Inn and watched it set again in the evening. I don’t think I saw a cloud in between!

Once again this year we made some changes to the route.

·  Gold Hill and Coombe Bank were open again after bridge repairs.

·  the new section of green lane over Raise Head was part of the  original 1920’s Travers Trial and appeared to be popular.  We are very grateful to the landowners concerned for their permission to use the land.

·  Pasture Bank was added on the descent to Garrigal.

·  We considered that the shorter route back from Derwent Reservoir to the Board Inn both avoided the main road and was more scenic.

Thanks to North Durham Motor Club, The Friends of Killhope Lead Mine, the North East Classic Motorcycle Club and the Durham Classic Motorcycle Club who provided marshals at Killhope, Haggs Bank, Velvet Path and many of the checkpoints and did a fine job, yet again. Thanks also to the many members, partners and friends of South Durham VMCC who worked so hard prior to & on the day to enable all of the sections to be open & the event to be completed successfully. If you know anyone who wants to be a marshal, just let me know, we may well find many of this year’s marshals would like to ride next year.

We are also indebted to the Dianne and Adrian at The New Board Inn at Hilltop, Esh, who allowed us to use the pub site for the start/finish again, the rear field for parking & the facilities at the pub for tea/coffee/meals/toilets. Overnight camping was possible for the first time this year. Saturday night was quite lively! Thanks also to Ann and Phil at The Allenheads Inn who have donated a handsome shield to add to the trophies. A massive ‘thank you’ to all the landowners and users who allowed us access to their land and property once again.

Photographs are available elsewhere on this website photos and Peter Chan has uploaded a good selection at peterchanphotos

There will be an official ‘Beamish Night’ at our regular venue: Middleton St George Cricket & Social Club, Water View, Middleton St. George, Darlington, DL2 1JQ starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 12^th November 2009. There will be a buffet, a video and still photograph display and the presentation of trophies by the Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Jim Ruck. We are also inviting all the marshals, observers and helpers so it is an opportunity to thank them. We really hope you can make it and it would be a big help in planning the catering if you could drop me an email or phone call to let me know you are coming.

Yours sincerely

Tom    

Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.6

September 2009

Trial date: Sunday 20^th September 2009

Six days to go! All entrants should by now have received the Final Instructions but in case you haven’t they are included at the end of this newsletter.

Route Alterations

There has been some misunderstanding with Durham County Council regarding Stanhope Ford.  Sadly it appears that the Ford is closed for the foreseeable future and so we have had to amend the route back to the original.

Trophies

My recent request for replacement trophies has had a wonderful response.  Ann and Phil Homer, landlords of the Allenheads Inn have presented a handsome shield and ‘Pops’ Hinde, an entrant for many years, has presented a cup, ‘The Pop Hinde Cup’ for the best performance by an entrant over 65.  I am sure I speak for all of us in saying how much we appreciate these fine gestures.

Breakdown Service

While on the subject of fine gestures I do have to mention Stan Fraquet of Frack’s Transport.  Stan and virtually his entire family provided the breakdown service last year.  They are repeating their feat this year although Stan was so impressed with the reliability of your machines last year that he is considering providing three vans!

Stan has also very generously donated high-viz waistcoats for all the marshals and observers.  I am sure they will all look very smart and will happily give you a twirl on request.

Marshals and Observers

Just a quick mention also for all the many Marshals and Observers without whom the Beamish Trophy Trial wouldn’t exist.  It takes a very special sort of person to give up their Sunday to spend it sat on a windy hillside in Weardale so that other people can have a good day out.  Thanks to you all.

 Weather.

As I write this on Monday the forecast looks quite good. Fingers crossed for Sunday.

Vintage Motorcycle Club Ltd

South Durham Section

37^th BEAMISH TROPHY TRIAL FINAL INSTRUCTIONS.

Introduction

Thank you for entering the 37^th Beamish Trophy Trial. Here are your final instructions for the trial on Sunday 20^th September 2009. The start/finish will be at The New Board Inn, Hilltop, Esh, near Langley Park, Co. Durham, in the field above the pub (access on main road, look for our banners). Langley Park is just of the A691 between Durham and Consett. The New Board Inn is situated above Langley Park, to the south, overlooking the village. There is a sign indicating the pub on the main road as you leave Langley Park. If, on the other hand, you are into satnav use the navigate to Latitude/Longtitude and enter N54.79382, W1.66817 (simple really!)

We have increased the entry to 120 this year so parking will be tight.  Please follow the instructions of the Marshals to ensure that everybody can get onto the field. The first vehicle will leave at 09:00am.

Safety

Your safety and the safety of Marshals and spectators is paramount.  Please ensure that your machine is both road-legal and road-worthy.  We strongly recommend that you wear proper motorcycle protective clothing including stout footwear. All off-road sections have tarmac alternatives – if in doubt, stick to the tarmac! Please obey the instructions of the Marshals at all times. We reserve the right to exclude any entrant on safety grounds at our discretion.

Signing-on

Signing On (and breakfast) will be available from 08:00am inside the pub. If you are a VMCC member please bring your VMCC membership card with you and sign-on at the table marked ‘VMCC’. All other entrants please bring the completed Day Membership Form (enclosed with this letter) and sign-on at the table marked ‘DAY’. Route sheets will be issued when signing on together with numbers and breakfast/lunch vouchers (if pre-ordered). Please display your number prominently fore & aft as this number identifies you to the observers. There are two number checks & five points will be lost for each missing or obscured number. Please be ready in good time for the start.

On the road

It is essential for good public relations that you keep strictly to the route. We cannot stress this point too highly. No spectators following the route will be allowed through any sections. Your driving will be observed at a number of points on the route. These will consist of selected sections of the Test Hills and will be identified by Marshals. You will be stopped at Check Points on the route where you will be asked questions on road safety and motorcycling history. Observed sections will remain open for two hours, or until closed by the Rear Marshal, whichever is sooner. Times are marked on the route sheet. Please be patient at the checkpoints & sections if there is a queue to go through. Remember, it is not a race, take your time & enjoy the company of other like-minded riders/entrants.

Petrol is available in Alston at Henderson’s Garage - we strongly advise you to fill up here. Please do not ask event officials to carry petrol for you & if you do access your own petrol supplies, at Allenheads for example or en-route, you do so entirely at your own risk. Please be advised that we cannot give our consent to you decanting petrol within the mineyard.

Lunchstop

Lunch stop will be at Allenheads, in the mineyard, park as directed. One of last year’s entrants had occasion to make use of the services of the Great North Air Ambulance during the 2008 event.  While we sincerely hope we will not have need to call on them this year we would like to do our little bit to support this excellent cause so collectors will be circulating at the lunchstop. Please give generously (and ride safely!). After lunch the Marshals will start you at intervals from 01:30pm. This is to enable the afternoon checkpoints to be manned & prepared.

Signing-off

At the end of the trial don’t forget to sign off at the Official Point in the pub. Failure to do so will exclude you from award eligibility. If you drop out of the trial during the day, please try and inform a Marshal so that we can account for you at the end. This is important as we do worry when entrants don’t appear at the finish & don’t let us know they have retired! A breakdown vehicle is provided and the contact number will be at the bottom of the route sheet. Mobile phone coverage is not at its best in the North Pennines but if you do have problems you can try calling me on my mobile - 07951 746362.

Results and Trophies

The results sheets will be sent to all entrants soon after the trial. The BTT website will show the results also, as will The Northern Echo newspaper (local paper). Trophy winners from last year are requested to return them now or at the start of the event to allow engraving before the Awards Night which will be at Middleton St George Cricket & Social Club, Water View, Middleton St. George, Darlington, DL2 1JQ starting at 7:30pm on Thursday 12 November.

Appeals

If you feel that the results are incorrect for any reason you have the right to appeal. All appeals should be sent to the Trial Secretary at the address below accompanied by the £20 fee. The appeal will be disregarded and the £20 donated to a charity of our choice.

And finally….

I hope we are once again blessed with fine weather (or at least no rain!) as the route takes us through some fine countryside and affords some magnificent views. I look forward to meeting you on the 20^th and hope you have an enjoyable day. If you require any other information, please contact me.

Good luck

Tom Norman         [email protected]        Tel. (01429) 280820

Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.5

                                             August 2009

                     Trial date: Sunday 20th September 2009

A very quick note to everybody to let you know that all 120 entries are now taken. If you are still to send an entry or if you know somebody who is about to enter please only send the entry form. DO NOT SEND CHEQUES. I have started a waiting list and will add names to that in strict order.

If for any reason you are unable to ride please let me know and it will allow somebody else to do so.

I will be away for a couple of weeks but should still be able to answer emails.

Thank you all for your support Tom [email protected]

Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.4

                                             July 2009

Trial date: Sunday 20th September 2009.

My apologies for the long silence. For weeks there has been nothing very much to report. Lots of things in preparation but nothing finalized.  Suddenly everything starts to drop into place and I have something I can tell you.

Entries

At the time of writing we have 93 confirmed entries. You will remember that we have decided to accept 120 entries this year, so there are still some spaces left but as it is 2 months yet till the event, if you are thinking of entering I would suggest you don't hesitate. 

The Route

We are quite excited at some of the new off-road bits we plan to include in this year's event. These are:

• Stanhope Ford (well, a ford is off-road, isn’t it?)
• More than 1.5 miles of bridleway from Middlehope over Raise Head to Cowshill. This is part of the original Travers Trial from the 20's.
• A new rocky descent into Garrigil

Camping

The New Board Inn where we start and finish have offered camping on site. Facilities will be limited - basically the toilets during opening hours but the best bit is - it's free! This really is a most generous offer and we are very grateful to Adrian and Dianne.

However the space is somewhat limited, so if you would like to take advantage of this offer can you let me know either by email at [email protected] or call me on my mobile 07951 746362 or leave a message on 01429 280820.

There is absolutely no charge for camping but if you choose to eat in the Board Inn it would be appreciated.  From my own experience the food is really good. 

I intend to camp myself the night before so look forward to seeing you there.

Entrants

Looking at our 93 entrants so far, the youngest is 34 and the oldest 76 which is quite a spread. However I do notice a total lack of ladies. Surely this event is not too tough for the gentler sex?

Trophies

At the risk of repeating myself - some of the Beamish Trophy Trial trophies have gone missing and others are in poor condition, so if any kind soul wishes to donate a trophy we will be very grateful.

2008 DVD’s

We still have a handful left at £5 each incl. Post and Packing. Cheques payable to ‘South Durham Section’. Send to me, Tom Norman, 16 South Crescent, Hartlepool, TS24 0QD

Tom Norman

[email protected]

(01429) 280820

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial E-newsletter No.3

April 2009

Entry Forms and Regulations

Entry Forms and Regulations for the 38^th Beamish Trophy Trial are avaialble now for the event which is to run on Sunday 20^thSeptember 2009.

I have been increasingly concerned that we may be over-subscribed for this year’s event.  We have therefore taken two steps – the first is to increase the number of entries accepted to 120.  This should be ok but parking at The Board Inn will be tight so please be guided by the marshals on the day to make sure we can squeeze everybody in.  The second step has been to issue the Regs and invite entries rather earlier than usual.  We have done this so that if we are over-subscribed we can let people know in good time that we cannot accept their entry.  Entry forms and Regulations will be posted out to previous entrants who do not have email in the next week or so.

Costs

We have reluctantly had to increase the standard entry fee by £1 to £11 this year.  However we have decided not to ask for stamps to be enclosed with the entry which goes a long way to offset the increase.  Another factor in containing costs is the increased use of email (it also reduces my workload significantly!).  One of the advantages of email for entrants is that we send out entries earlier than those by post.  So if you know entrants who have internet access and are not registered for email updates please encourage them to do so.

Anybody can subscribe to the Beamish TT newsletter. Click here to subscribe

Meals

As an experiment this year we have arranged with The Board Inn and The Allenheads Inn to offer meal vouchers.  All should be explained on the entry form.  We are offering the vouchers at cost.  It has the advantage that both pubs know the numbers they will be catering for. You never know, next year we might even have a healthy option!

Light Cars

Historically the Beamish Trophy Trial has accepted entries from light cars.  Over the years there has been a small band of brave 4-wheel entrants.  Many of these were disappointed in 2008 when we felt we could not accept 4-wheeler entries.  I undertook to investigate the possibility of accepting car entries.  As you are probably aware although organised as a VMCC event we actually run on an AMCA permit which provides the insurance cover.  After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the AMCA and their underwriter the answer came back quite definitely that accepting car entries would void our insurance cover.  This is disappointing as I believe the cars always added colour to the event but at this time I don’t see any simple way round it.  Sorry chaps.

Trophies

Some of the Beamish Trophy Trial trophies have gone missing and others are in poor condition, so if any kind soul wishes to donate a trophy we will be very grateful.  Relatively small period ones preferred.

Awards Night

For your diary, the Beamish TT awards night has been provisionally set for Thursday   November 2009.

2008 DVDs

We still have some left at £5 each incl Post and Packing.  Cheques payable to ‘South Durham Section’.  Send to me, Tom Norman, 16 South Crescent, Hartlepool TS24 0QD

If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, receive information or entry details via e-mail, please use this link Click here to subscribe

Welcome to the Beamish Trophy Trial Newsletter No.2 February 2009.

Awards Night
The awards night at Middleton St George Cricket Club went well. In total some 80 souls attended and helped consume the buffet.

Understandably many could not travel the distance involved but others made heroic efforts to attend.

Hugo Wilson of Classic Bike magazine donated two Classic Bike T shirts and a year’s subscription for the marshals and helpers.  All the marshals who attended were given raffle tickets and the subscription winner was Dennis Marwood of Darlington. This generous gesture by Hugo was very much appreciated by all present.

DVD
We  have prepared a DVD of the 36th (2008) BTT. This contains some 25 minutes of video shot on Haggs Mine together with a lot of still photos of Haggs and the Velvet Path. It should be stressed that this is an amateur production but it seemed to be well received at the Awards Night. Copies are available for the princely sum of £6 post paid with all proceeds to the event.

Welcome to this, the very first Beamish Trophy Trial E-Newsletter. This is intended to be the first of a series of updates during the coming year.

It is our intention to move as far as possible to electronic communications wherever possible in the future. This saves effort and saves money. Regulations and Entry Forms will be sent out electronically as soon as they are available in early July. We will continue to send out Regs and Entries by post to those who do not have internet access. If you know somebody who would like to be added to this list please ask them to email us at [email protected]

37^th Beamish Trophy Trial 2009
The 2009 37^th Beamish Trophy Trial will be held on Sunday September 20^th 2009. If you are intending to stay overnight you should be aware that this is the same weekend as the Great North Run and thus accommodation in the area is likely to be at a premium. The moral is to book early!

Awards Night
The 2008 Beamish Trophy Trial Awards Night is on Thursday 22nd January 2009 at our regular South Durham VMCC Club Night at Middleton St George Cricket Club, Water View, Middleton St. George, Darlington DL2 1JQ, at 8pm. During the evening we will present trophies to the winners and show the 2008 Beamish Trophy Trial Video. A buffet will be provided. We hope that BTT Marshals and Observers will also attend which will give us all the opportunity to thank them for their efforts. 

To allow us to plan the catering it would be much appreciated if you could confirm your intention to attend the Awards night either by email to [email protected] or by a call to 01429 280820 preferably by Saturday 15th January.

Sponsorship
We are keen to issue all the Marshals and Observers with proper Hi-viz tabards badged Beamish TT. Obviously with the numbers involved this is not without cost. It seems however to be an excellent sponsorship opportunity as the tabards could also carry a company name or message. If you know anybody or any organisation which might be interested please ask them to get in touch.

Tom Norman