laird387

For some years the Feldom Range has enjoyed world fame as a gathering point for motorcycles and riders intent on self harm. What many do not know is that it is also the scene of an annual Friday banquet for slaves of Richmond Motor Club who begin to serve their penances almost before dawn of the day before the Scott Trial, many leagues are walked, carrying signs, banners and a miscellany of flags. The pristine 'lawns' are trimmed before the big day. But you ask what of the banquet? A closely guarded secret entailing great planning and control. An arrangement with Squire Ken Wallis and a nameless Richmond chippy has furnished fish and chip meals for the workers, with, be it noted, all the condiments required and even knives and forks. The silk embroidered table clothes are on a promise for 2017. To slake the thirst of the slaves, ale and other medicinal drinks are procured. There is a formality of etiquette in as much as the very senior officials have pride of place at the large table and also the best seats in the house. There are Press individuals present hoping for any freebies thrown in their direction (and because the odour of that many fish and chips permeates as far as Orgate Falls). One should note that membership of the Feldom Range Social Club is strictly controlled and therefore the names of any of the participants not known to the Police Gazette are safeguarded by sworn secrecy - so keep it under your hat................

FIRST CHRISTMAS JOKE The Teacher asked young Patrick Murphy: "What do you do at Christmas time?" Patrick addressed the class: "Well Miss Jones, me and my twelve brothers and sisters go to midnight mass and we sing hymns; then we come home very late and we put mince pies by the back door and hang up our stockings. Then all excited, we go to bed and wait for Father Christmas to come with all our toys." "Very nice Patrick," she said. "Now Jimmy Brown, what do you do at Christmas?" "Well, Miss Jones, me and my sister also go to church with Mum and Dad and we sing carols and we get home ever so late. We put cookies and milk by the chimney and we hang up our stockings. We hardly sleep, waiting for Santa Claus to bring our presents." Realizing there was a Jewish boy in the class and not wanting to leave him out of the discussion, she asked, "Now, Isaac Cohen, what do you do at Christmas?" Isaac said, "Well, it's the same thing every year . . . Dad comes home from the office, we all pile into the Rolls Royce; then we drive to Dad's toy factory. When we get inside, we look at all the empty shelves . . . and begin to sing: 'What A Friend We Have in Jesus'. Then we all go to the Bahamas."

11. The more you complain, the longer God makes you live. 12. The older I get, the better I was. 13. Age is a high price to pay for maturity. 14. Everything I can’t find is in a totally secure place. 15. Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. 16. I have an impressive bank of knowledge. But I can’t remember the password to my account. 17. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want. 18. If you think there’s good in everybody, then you haven’t met everybody. 19. If you can’t say something nice…you’ve come to the right place. 20. No one is ever old enough to know better.

1. I talk to myself, because sometimes I need expert advice. 2. Sometimes I roll my eyes out loud.3. I don’t need anger management, I need people to stop p****** me off. 4. My people skills are fine. It’s my tolerance of idiots that needs work. 5. The biggest lie I tell myself is “I don’t need to write that down, I’ll remember it”. 6. When I was a child I thought naptime was punishment. Now it’s like a mini vacation. 7. The day the world runs out of wine is just too terrible to think about. 8. Even duct tape can’t fix stupid, but it can muffle the sound. 9. Wouldn’t it be great if we could put ourselves in the dryer for ten minutes; come out wrinkle-free and three sizes smaller? 10. “Getting Lucky” means walking into a room and remembering why I’m there

During a break-in and burglary various medals, cups and similar valuable items were stolen Amongst them was the Presidential Badge of Office, pictured below. If you see or hear of it being offered for sale, please warn the Police.

Look also at the type of ground the different types of machine are being used on - could be a jungle of vegetation or loose rocks in a trial, much more likely to be an open track for motocross..........

Hi rabie, Sorry, sorry, and sorry again.............. Please try dwylde423@gmail.com or offroadrevue@gmail.com and send a big bundle of images and I'll probably get them all in,,,,,,,,,,,, Thanks again, Deryk (There's no fool like an old fool) PS. Sorry, I don't have facebook on any of my computers or tablets (or any other social media sites)

How about this for Greeves enthusiasts - the start of a Greeves race at a classic scramble in 2016 - want to know more - look in our digital magazine, ORRe. Enjoy

Hi, And to add a little to the Elstar story, the lack of Elstar trials bikes is probably likely to their involvement in their prime sport, grasstrack. For example Chris Baybutt raced an Elstar........... The story of the photo, from the offroadarchive in ORRe is: "Pat McCann (Elstar) from Bromsgrove leads from Chris Baybutt in 1974. Pat’s five-hundred looks as though it has a Cole engine. He was one of the first to try a full face helmet, and Brian Evans thinks that is why he appears to be looking up. “The early helmets tended to slip down at times, so you had to hold your head back to see!” Cheers Deryk Wylde

Here are some details from our digital magazine archive (ORRe): "Talking to Bill Barley on the telephone before the show he stated that maybe we could have the Andy Ross 500cc Elstar JAP. To our great surprise, whilst travelling up the M1 to the show we saw ahead of us a familiar sight, the blue Austin A60 pickup complete with Elstar livery carrying the Andy Ross bike. The pickup turned out to be the original which was tracked down by Andy via the DVLC and found in Newcastle in a dilapidated state. In its refurbished state it was the star attraction, including Andy’s old Bush radio and Harrod’s picnic basket (surely not).You could almost picture the scene as this vehicle entered the paddock at a grass track. Andy’s 500cc Elstar JAP likewise is the original, having been found rotting away in a hedge and was given the full treatment to bring it back to near original as possible. Andy Ross these days travels the UK with his shire horses and carriages, which is his new hobby." The photograph included by Charlie Prescott in his BSA-Otter page is there simply because it was on the page alongside the Andy Ross story, I have included it to show it is actually my very dear friend, good ole '22', Lew Coffin - just as an afterthought how many knew Arthur Pulman started his sporting motorcycling accompanying Lew? I have included the photo to show you. Also bear in mind the above quotation was written over twenty years back........ There is Elstar information in the ORRe archive - but it will take time to reach it, there is so much that has never been published before that meeds to be released to t'Interweb........... Enjoy.

Hi, Here is one example, a virtually totally correct bike (the silencer is an improvement sound-wise) of the James rigid competition model, similar to which I had myself many years back! The photograph was taken more than twenty years ago. The colour, steel tank and front forks arrangement are also correct on Harry Stanistreet's bike, which I believe is still in the family; There are other examples in our digital magazine, Enjoy.

Remember - the 'aitch' is silent - like the 'pee' in bath............

HI rabie, Thanks for that info - get your photographer to drop me an email on dwyle423@gmail.com and we'll get it sorted. Thanks again Deryk - ORRe

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment. The woman apologized to the young girl and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days." The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." The older lady said that she was right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day. The older lady went on to explain: Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then. We walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day. Back then we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a r azor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the "green thing" back then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the"green thing." We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then? Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to p*** us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.

Hi, Anyone attending the Jack Thompson trial at Canada Heights next Sunday with a modern digital camera (sorry not a phone or tablet - quality not up to scratch) willing to let me have as many images as possible of as many bikes I will very happily publish them in our non-commercial digital magazine in a comprehensive photoreport. There are already 49 issues of between 55 and 85 pages each, totally devoid of all advertising so no commercial bias, including, for example the serialised version of the book that Max King wrote but sadly died before it could be ready to be published, plus the full history of the Scottish and the Pre-65 Scottish - plus comprehensive photoreports of many current classic events. The Jack Thompson was always covered for me by my old friend 'Nick' Nicholls, sadly no longer with us, so if I can get up-to-date photos of this year's event we can make a feature with a good number of supporting details of the history of the event........... Please, drop me an email at offroadrevue@gmail.com if you would like to help.

For anyone interested in all things Greeves, there is an old film showing the insides of the Greeves factory at Thundersley, with Bert Greeves hinself in action as well as Competition Manager Bill Brooker and Sales Director Derry Preston-Cobb it is posted in these 'tc' forums today under the heading "Look At Life 1960's Scrambling" Enjoy.

Hot on the heels of Richmond Motor Club friend, and rival Will Reynolds who is now in Australia. Jack Stones departed from Arkengarthdale on October 25th, three days after Scott Trial ride, under number 181. A fully qualified agricultural machine engineer by profession the six foot plus tall trials rider has four Scott trial spoons from four starts plus SSDT special first class awards He rode his first Scott Trial at seventeen and will be twenty two at his next birthday. Jack leapfrogs Will flying from Melbourne then onto New Zealand and Repora which is a three hour drive from Auckland. He is contracted to Miers Contracting driving silage and harvesting tractors for four months. He is making the trip with three friends. Says Jack “I am going to try and get a ride in a trial while I am there. I hear they are pretty big on trialling on the North Island.” The photographs of Jack and riding in the 2016 Scott across Orgate are ©ORRe

Excellent use of an old coal pit spoil heap - been running the event for many years.

In the current issue of our digital magazine, available solely from 'Trialscentral' we included a photofeature of the 1986 British Round with thirteen photos that have never been published before. The article seems to have been popular, since we have so far responded to more than twenty emails to the ORRe office requesting details or copies of the photographs (which are free to subscribers). As a result we have delved into the archive and realised that we covered more than a dozen events in the series back in that period - so are pleased to announce that we shall be including similar features on world rounds in forthcoming editions of the digital magazine. The photograph used in the headline feature of the current 'tc' should give you some idea of the quality of the images. Enjoy.

For anybody interested in the background history of racing in issue 50 of our digital magazine 'ORRe' - due on line shortly - we continue our look at offroad motorcycle sport in the Midlands between 1930 and 1950 with a profusely illustrated account of the early days of Donington, using many photographs from our archive that have never been published before. The project is non-commercial and intended to provide a reference source of images and information - it is available ONLY from this trialscentral website. One word of warning - don't log in to the magazine on your computer at work - 'cos you won't be able to see it on your home pc.

The answer has no simple 'one size fits all' response - but it would certainly clarify the situation if more people understood the basic problems. In a nutshell, in my experience it boils down to the necessity to correctly ensure that all likely misdemeanours are adequately covered by insurance for the people willing to spend a lot of time and effort working to provide events for competitors to ride in and spectators to watch. The underwriters know they can't hope to understand all the risks they need to cover so they demand some responsible 'authority' to guide them. The 'authorities' that they have learned to trust are the A-CU and the AMCA. The A-CU consists of many, many people willing to be elected to committees, all divided into regional centres and even split further into an English A-CU and a Scottish A-CU, most of these elected members believe that they, personally, are governing the sport. It is fraught with problems of neighbouring centres in conflict over dates, land use, division of events into classes, etc. The AMCA is a very small band of totally dedicated personalities who spend their entire existence making sure all aspects of risk are covered, as far as humanely possible. But the A-CU existed first so was recognised by similar overseas bodies. So as Old Trials Fanatic so rightly said - it's up to you to chose which way you want to go................... Sorry I can't be of more help

"Being a BSA dealer at the time would mean that they would have probably had trials riders they would have been helping to,and the local clubs." As Charlie said,they were a local Yorkshire dealer - but don't forget back then Yorkshire was split on semi-tribal lines into the Ridings, Sheffield was in the South Riding (better known as the Soviet Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire under President Plunkett amd Emperor-in-waiting Scargill.....) Leeds was very much part of the West Riding (surely better known as the Centre of the Universe...) and Wraggs in Leeds seemed to have an unwritten allegiance with Jenkins, Triumph dealers. As I remember back then (my parents still living just north of Leeds) most BSA sales in Leeds were done by Watson-Cairns in Lower Briggate - directly opposite the Jenkins Triumph emporium. Complicating matters, Watson-Cairns were also the local AJS/Matchless specialists..........

Sadly the Richmond Motor Club's Eric Ridley Memorial Trial, due tomorrow, Sunday 20th Nov, has had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions.

Final good news on this stolen machine, the police have arrested a number of suspects, so the matter is now sub judice. From the family here is a photograph of the late Julian in action on his Matchless, kindly loaned by Alan Ford in recognition of the help afforded by trialscentral

The Motocross meeting planned for this coming Sunday, 20th November at Heygate, Pickering has had to be cancelled due to waterlogged course/land.