RtG Cloverleaf West Country - Daily Dispatch - www - Flipbook - Page 2
Day 1: Taunton to Tamar, 24 October 2022
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Charles and Kit Graves, 1958 Jaguar XK150
Mike and Lorna Harrison, 1959 Triumph TR3A
The roads were sodden, thanks to heavy, but sporadic
showers. Through the sunken lanes some of the cars
struggled for grip as they fought to maintain the required
speed to keep themselves on schedule before presenting
themselves, and their timecard, to Paul Heal manning the
control at the end of the section.
For the day’s first Test we were guests of Tony Rowe at
the Exeter Chiefs Sandy Park ground. RtG member, Tony,
did us proud with this venue and, rather than playing with
their odd-shaped balls, the crews were left dizzy after
negotiating a tricky set of cones and a lamppost.
Shortly afterwards the second two Tests were run
through Bowhay Farm. As well as sprints, chicanes and a
hill climb, the crews had to negotiate the delicate art - and
cultural minefield - of cream tea making over two-timed
laps of an agricultural loop. One way Cornish and the other
Devonian. Cream on top, or jam on top?
After brushing away the crumbs and wiping their sticky
fingers, a climb up onto Dartmoor was next, stopping
briefly to enjoy the view from Haytor. Again the wet roads
had the cars scrabbling for traction as the tarmac rose and
fell along with the broken landscape. By now the crews
were due a break - and maybe the chance to enjoy a ‘proper’
cream tea that hadn’t been thrown around the cockpit of
a rally car. The Time Control at the Old Inn in Widecombe
in the Moor provided both, before the last Regularity over
Plaster Down.
From here the pull of the night halt became irresistible.
Within half an hour the cars were rolling through the
autumnal parkland of Hotel Endsleigh, the former seat of
the Duke of Bedford, which the rally has taken exclusively
for the next three days.
Whatever stresses and strains the crews may have
encountered over the last few hours they soon melted away
over the various refreshments on offer in the parlours
and drawing rooms of this ancient pile, before a dinner of
crab salad, beef wellington and lemon and passion fruit
cheesecake. It was a shame to bring the day to an end, but
tomorrow’s another day and the crews will need all of their
energy to get the best out of it.
Alan and Tina Beardshaw, 1965 Aston Martin DB5
www.rallytheglobe.com