The Blue Bell Run **Event Report**

How about something different !!!!!

Saturday 3rd May 2008

We have been invited to attend a Non Competitive Road Rally.

It will be a scenic tour through the Forest of Dean, Picturesque Wye Valley and the Welsh Marches

Open to vehicles of twenty years old and over.

No Competition licence required

Easy to follow road book for the entire route

Rigid Rally plate supplied for you to keep

Start from the Heritage Centre deep in the Forest of Dean

Ploughmans Lunch at a Traditional Inn en route, included

Finish Ross-on-Wye for a meal at the finest hotel in Ross and Finishers Awards presentation.

Cost ?80 approx, 9.30 start. This looks a great classic event, only 60 cars take place.  Although it will be first come first serve bassis, Numbers and money will have to be confirmed 1st April.

Great day event for you and a co-driver required, If we get a good interest i can arrange a camp site / B&B for friday and or Saturday nights

Does this appeal to anyone

Names

Driver Ant
Co-driver Claire

Sounds brilliant!

Does the ?80 cover driver and co-driver, or is it ?80 each??

Of course I am in!  

Damm car is only 18 years old!

?80 per car
Route is about 100 - 120 miles
As we have been invited as part of the club,  I must stress that you have to be a paid member to attend, Insurance etc, etc……………

ant

Any more?  This is a trial run to guage interest in an annual rally!

1 st April sounds like a joke

Sounds fantastic but doubt my MK1 will be ready by then!  

sounds cool. i've always fancied a road rally, not actually racing, just getting from a-b.
although i'm not a paid up member of this club yet. i'll look into it.

and the mk1 might be in the garage by then?!?
hmmm…
maybe next year…

The Event: The Bluebell Run Historic Rally
The Time: 09:00, Saturday 3rd May 2008
The Place: Dean Heritage Centre, Soudley, Gloucs
The Car: 1982 Golf GTi
The Drivers: Rajan and Ant

Ant and I left my place around 4.30pm on the Friday and made our way through the rush hour traffic through Oxford, then down the A40 to Cheltenham and across to the small town of Coleford in Gloucestershire where we had a B&B booked for the night. We stayed at The Forest House Hotel, very reasonable rates though dinner a little up market and expensive for what we needed. More the kind of place to impress your other half!

A hearty breakfast saw my only accident of the day, a coffee plunger incident best forgotten. We headed for the Bluebell Run?s start location a few miles away at the Dean Heritage Centre in Soudley where we checked out the competition. A total of 48 cars with the general rule being they had to be over 20 years old, though some modern machinery graced the entry list by special permission.

The co-ordinator?s GTi, used as a support car



Our entry, my Lhasa 1.6



1974 Ferrari Daytona Spyder Replica



1966 Saab 850 Monte Carlo



Selection of MGs and 1970 NSU Prinz 4



1978 Dolly Sprint



1971 Escort Mexico, nice timing equipment!





1967 Triumph Vitesse



1973 Saab 96 V4



1986 911



Another Mexico, 1972



1968 E Type FHC




A short driver briefing confirmed this was not a timed event and some general advice given. We then had to hang around for a bit as cars were set off with 1 minute intervals and we were number 34. A chance to chat to some owners as we watched the cars queue up.

Soon it was our turn with me in the driving seat. While it was not a race, I didn?t want to get stuck behind granddad in his Mini and a few miles in we had overtaken several cars including the Mini. I did catch the occasional glimpse of the picturesque fields of bluebells in the forest but I was mostly concentrating on avoiding sheep. They had a tendency to fall asleep in the middle of the road!

Then came our only missed turn of the day. After a right turn I overtook a car while Mr Navigator shouted, ?Err, I think we were meant to take a left there!? Ooops! This mistake caused much frustration as I then got stuck behind a Sunbeam Rapier for a few miles after I had already overtaken it previously. Doh! We were not given a map, but instead turn symbols with directions and odometer readings to follow. This was quite easy to use except on the small road and tracks where you really needed to keep a close eye on the odometer. This is also where you find out how accurate your odometer is! The readings on the pace notes were taken with GPS, I had 1974 technology to work with! Generally my odometer was over reading by around 2% so we had to re-calculate the readings correcting for this. So remember your car has actually covered a few less miles than the speedo says!

There was a coffee stop in the morning with a nice slice of cake and then came Ant?s sheep incident. A few cars of the field were queued up on a single track road before we found the reason why. A little lamb had got lost and was running up and down the road causing havoc. Out jumped farmer Ant to the rescue! I hung back not to scare it, Ant was doing a good enough job of that on his own! I crept around the corner and was greeted with the sight of Ant?s little legs carrying him at a decent pace up the track but not up to the lamb?s! Sheepdog GTi to the rescue! I whizzed off, overtook the lamb and blocked off the road next to a field gate. Sadly the gap in the gate was too small for the lamb so we headed off watching the lamb bouncing off the gate in my mirror.

A much needed ploughman?s lunch was taken at a country pub and the chance to view the field and chat to the owner of a 1968 Mini Cooper who was a local veteran of the Bluebell.

Lunch stop:



1967 Healey BJ8 Mk3



We switched over driving duties and the chance for me to take some snaps

Following the Mexico



And a 1964 Singer Chamois (to break down later up the road), with the aforementioned Cooper in front overtaking tractor



Ant gave the GTi some stick too and it was good fun hurtling down the small B-roads and single tracks. A good chance to test the car and my navigation skills! Ideally we were supposed to note down some letter codes strategically placed at the side of the road but we only got around half of them.

The finish was at a posh hotel in Ross on Wye where a wedding was taking place. We finished around 4th place although this was not timed (although a few check in points were used) and did depend on how long you wanted to stop for lunch etc. We just wanted a brisk drive and needed to get home early to prepare for Stanford Hall the next day. All finishers were treated to a nice roast dinner and received a commemorative gift. The total cost was ?80 and that includes coffee/cake during the day, lunch, dinner, rally plaque, pace notes and the gift all for 2 people plus help in case of breakdowns (obviously not required for a Mk1!). Not bad value!

At the hotel finish line, the GTi drew glances from wedding goer with Alfa GTV V6:





Clan Crusader finishing



1968 Triumph TR5 had a run in with a deer



All in all a very enjoyable event, and a chance to do something completely different to the normal shows. Next year we want to take 2 or 3 cars, so look out for the entry details and get your name down! You get to enjoy driving your car on some interesting roads, and it also puts the Mk1 amongst its contemporary classics where it can be recognised by others outside the VW fraternity. Slap bang where it deserves to be.

That's a really good read   , some nice cars there too.

Watch out for a similar event next year  :wink: