Sidecarland

Sidecar Soiree Yarwell

by Roy and Chris, photos Roy, Skippy and Leg over

This is the first time that the Tri-Anglia Wheels Sidecar Club had held their rally at Yarwell Country Park in Northamptonshire, just a couple of miles from the A1. Chris and I had a dry ride down the A1; however I was watching the flashes of lightening strikes on the other side of the road, and soon after we turned off the A1 with only a couple of miles to go to the country park it started to rain fairly heavily and I got pretty damp by the time I reached the club tent. This was a complete change from the previous day’s weather, which had been logged as the hottest July day ever. The temperature went from 38 degrees to 18 degrees in a day!! The marquee certainly earned its keep over the next two days.

The campsite is very nice and the rally field was a decent size, flat and well-drained. This was also a first for me as my beloved outfit has gone to a new owner, and for the first time in 31 years I am sidecar-less. I now have one of the smaller Can-am models, a 600 cc version.

This change was made for health reasons. Luckily the rain eased off and several rallyists had a trial ride on my new mode of transport. Ann was the only lady rider to give it a spin around the rally field. I was told that the park owners only allow one rally on any one day. At the marquee I picked up a rally information sheet and a map which gave you details of the local pubs, shops and details about the Nene Valley Railway and its steam trains, all of which were within walking distance. There is a lake onsite, plus the River Nene and a canal with narrow boats as one border. With all this water about Dave Baker and Jim Dayton got their fishing rods out and enjoyed themselves. Friday evening saw people gathering under the marquee and at 8.30 pm there was an adult quiz. The answers to this were multiple choice, which was a also a new format for this year. Martyn was quiz master and did a brilliant job as usual. Chris and I surprised ourselves when we scored 11 out of 30, because all but one of our answers were pure guess work. The top score was over 20 points and Ian and Jan won the quiz.

Well done to them. As it was dull on Friday I did not bother to take any photos, thinking that I would get them on Saturday – well, it rained on Saturday too; however the forecast said that it would be dry by 4.00 pm. Luckily it was and I managed to get some snaps taken before the rain started again!! On Saturday evening the raffle took place with plenty of prizes to win, and this was followed by the “World Tank Racing Championships” – plenty of fun and ribald comments here. Karen was race scrutiner and Mark the race marshal.

Both Chris and I got through the first round but dropped out soon after that. The final was hotly contested and Tinny from Holland was the winner. The “Grand Prix Racing Tournament” followed, with Martyn running the event. 

There were plenty of tots of whiskey or home brewed fruit rum on offer, and there were many “pit stops” for a drink in the latter rounds. BMW Steve was the eventual winner.

Ray then organised an impromptu repeat race with Martyn driving one of the cars – again all good fun. Dickie took a bit of stick over the weekend about the amount of water that was around, but luckily the field held up well. On Sunday morning guess what – it was raining again!! Still, even with all this wet weather 39 units turned up. This is a very nice camp site with a small café that does decent breakfasts and with plenty of outside tables for alfresco dining, and there are lots of things locally to see and do. Well done to the club for a very nice new venue. An excellent rally – well done and many thanks to everybody.

Here is the owner of the Triumph outfit with the rubber bands that power it.
The fun boy five
You’ve be Tango’ed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhOeG-uTJxw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egBsTP0A-dY
Apparently, the police are looking for two men who fell out the back of a lorry trying to sneak out of the UK.
Bill, no one follows instructions.
Extremely good value.
Previous winner preparing her tank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQrLPtr_ikE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOLBn8GKBlA
Your reporter behind the camera.