12 Sunday Oct 2014
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STT editor recently had a trip out to Valasian Alps on the Southern Swiss border with Italy. Arriving at Genéve was followed by a train ride along the northern shore of Lake Genéve through Lausanne, Montreaux, Aigle and at Martigny I realised this was more or less the reverse of the final closing stages of the ISDT 1929 which had begun in Munich and finished in Genéve.
image – scanned copy of route map ISDT 1929
24 Wednesday Sep 2014
The following blog is in two parts featuring two articles, one the editorial and the other jottings and commentary from the Motor Cycling journalist ‘Cyclops’ that appeared in the 13th July 1938 issue of ‘Motor Cycling‘ which covered the initial few days of the ISDT 1938 held in Llandrindod Wells which was the 20th edition of the event.
Photo – GB Trophy Team on 350’s GE Rowley (AJS) #120 J Williams and #167 VN Brittain (Nortons) and #84 WS Waycott (598 Velocette sc) with V Munday – ISDT 1938 (image courtesy Morton Media)
The initial article discusses the strategy of the British and German entries in the wildly different choice of bikes for the event, the benefits and disadvantages and ends reming the reader of the importance of winning the event for the British home motorcycle industry in supporting its export market.
01 Monday Sep 2014
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A quick update to reward you patience for the usual summer sparsity of speed track tales lately. STT has just acquired an original copy of the 13 July 1938 issue of Motor Cycling covering the opening of the ISDT that precedes the issue of the 20th July covering the events and results that can be found in our issuu library.
Image – cover of ‘Motor Cycling‘ 13 July 1938 featuring A ‘report on the early stages of the International Six Days’ Trial taking place in Wales. The illustration shows the wild Tregaron Pass, which is typical of the rough country traversed’ ISDT 1938 (Courtesy Mortons Mediagroup)
The cover images is taken of two riders a few miles to the west of Abergwesyn on the old Tregaron – Abergwesyn Mountain Road, as they come from Tregaron. The old road, which was a regular favourite of the ISDT, is now a popular tourist route having been given tarmac surface in the past. This picture was taken at the previous years Llandrindod Wells based ISDT 1937. The riders are #181 A Fritsch of Germany on a BMW 730cc s/car who finished with a Gold Medal and is followed by #206 FC Perks on a privately entered BSA 496cc solo who also finished with a Gold medal, riding in 1938 on a BSA 496cc and retiring on the 5th day.
03 Sunday Aug 2014
Posted in Enduro, Europe, International Six Day Trial, International Six Days Enduro, Media, Motorcycling, Photography, UK, Video, Wales
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I have today been proud again to step into the shoes of the Clerk of the Course for the Powys Enduro which ran today for the 40th time since 1974. This event remains an almost unique classic unequalled in the UK Enduro Scene not just by its age but that it rides in one big 120 mile loop which features some of the greatest typical Enduro suited terrain that is found in Wales and possibly Europe. The event started back in the day of the ISDT and parts of it still follow or cross sections of the old route of past ISDT’s. Entry numbers are limited to the 180 max set by UK Law that controls Motor Sports events on highways and entries still sell out in a matter of days. Most of the UK’s great Enduro riders can trace this event as part of their early career and it still attracts many riders who keep this as one of the events they have to fit in a years calendar. Now sponsored by National Logistics company Cadwallader Limited a company whose directors regularly ride in the event and pick up trophies as well as medals. I hope this event can find a way to steer itself through the increasing constraints of legislative change to give future riders a chance to test their skill against often the worse that nature can throw at them.
Photo – A rider competing in the Powys Enduro crosses the road from Llanwrin to Mallwyd at Aberangell, part of the route past ISDT’s took to reach the Bwlch y Groes which is a couple of miles away
25 Wednesday Jun 2014
I have been slowly sifting through the images found over xmas on the Stilltime Collection website having built a database so I can collect all the details the images allow and then linking those facts to information we hold across the site on the people bikes and places. The image below of a group of men taken around two of their motorbikes including a Matchless and Triumph with a UK Vehicle Registration MX 621 makes it is likely these are part of the British contingent at the event and has been identified as being taken at the ISDT 1935.
British riders with Matchless and Triumph 500 [BMX 621] with Irish racer and owner Robert Cecil Yeates at ISDT 1935
I am very grateful to the great granddaughter of RC Yeates, Jessica Fraser who helped with the identification of the rider and the bike’s owner. RC Yeates rode under a Motorcycle Union of Ireland license for Ireland on a Triumph 495. His race number was #223. Although loosing only 2 points on day 1 and 1 on day 3, Robert retired at the end of day 4 despite loosing no points that day. Robert appeared for the Irish Vase team in the Welsh based events of the ISDT 1937 and ISDT 1938 where further images can be found of him.
24 Saturday May 2014
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The 31 August issue of ‘the Motor Cycle’ carried a 12 page article on the ISDT that never was. Possibly heralded as being the best ISDT of all time, on paper the potential obsessive stage management by the German Nazi regime looking to impress foreign powers of its greatness could well have put on the best event ever. The grant finale of the event rather than a speed test was to be a scramble and surviving vide owe have seen shows it to be a quite remarkable event in its severity of technicl difficulty for the tie. However from arrival at the venue the event was beset with problems, firstly to all it appeared the Germans had been expecting the event not to happen at all, so preparations had been rushed and not complete. Despite a lot of man power being committed there were at times fuel shortages and the German officials tried modifying the traditional rules as the event progressed. The going on the other hand was not far off the most extreme the riders had ever seen, not just because of the Alpine setting in North Austria but also the extensive use of unmade tracks across pine forests that had in cases been cleared just for the event. The event withered for many competitors to a dead stop before the final day after Germany declared a pact with Russia that resulted in the division of Poland and was going to lead to the beginning of the second world war. Even though the Germans finished the six days it was a result devoid of competition and so after the end of the war the FIM annulled the results so the Trophies were never awarded.
photo – top left Miss Marjorie Cottle (249 Triumph) follows K Pogner (248 Puch) through a village typical of the area. Bottom left- Fuscher Törl, a check amid the summer snows high up the Grossglockner pass. Right – A loose narrow winding track where time is easily lost: Sgt JT Dalby (490 Norton) kust behind Forstner (490 BMW) ISDT 1939 ( Speedtracktales Archive)
read the full event report in ‘the Motor Cycle’ at our issuu.com library here
The greatest of all International Six Days Trials, that held in Germany last week, was virtually brought to an end last Friday. The cause, needless to state, was the European situation. In Salzburg information as to what was really happening was scrappy in the extreme. The German papers revealed little; those British papers available were two days old; wireless reception of the English news bulletins was next to hopeless.
21 Wednesday May 2014
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Berlin, Bregenz, British Army, Germany, ISDT 1939, marjorie cottle, Munich, Salzburg
In the 7th September 1939 issue of the Motor Cycle, the editor of the magazine A. B. Bourne who had been in Germany covering the ISDT 1939 event published an article titles ‘My Week in Germany’ giving his impressions of the events that occurred shaping the history of this notorious sporting occaision.
See the original article in our issuu.com library here
To review the International Six Days after all that was written in last Thursday’s issue would be superfluous. Everyone knows what happened and how on Friday, the fifth day, the British contingent withdrew from the trial, left Salzburg and hurried to the Swiss frontier and home.
Photo – Miss Marjorie Cottle (249 Triumph), chatting with Obergruppenfuhrer Kraus, president of the International Jury, at the check at the top of the Grossglockner. Miss Cottle made a magnificent performance in the trial ISDT 1939 (Speedtracktales Collection)
It is probably difficult for anyone not among the party to realise how cut off the British contingent was from knowledge of what was going on between the capitals of Europe. All at Salzburg sensed that there was a crisis, but how grave it was none knew. As we said in our description of the trial, the German papers revealed little, those British papers available were two days old, and wireless reception of the English news bulletins was next to hopeless.
Of course, there were many who started in the trial with little idea of what a modern International means. Somehow or other the impression that these trials are merely high-speed tours in glorious country still seems to exist. The facts are, as we have tried to convey in describing the event, that the modern trial as held in Germany is an Alpine Grand Prix with sections just about as bad as any included in British sporting trials.
18 Sunday May 2014
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Recently arrived at the Speedtracktales Checkpoint central was the two issues of ‘the Motor Cycle’ of 16th and 23rd September 1948 with a full report on the opening of the ISDT 1948, which was held at San Remo, Italy.
The British Trophy Team. Left to right: C.N. Rogers (346 Royal Enfield); Allan Jefferies (498 Triumph), captain; J Williams (499 Norton); B.H.M. Viney (498 AJS); Vic Brittain (346 Royal Enfield) ISDT 1948
You can read both of the articles by following this link to our issuu.com library.
16th September 1948 – ‘the Motor Cycle‘
23rd September 1948 – ‘the Motor Cycle‘
The following summary of the event appeared in the editorial of ‘the Motor Cycle‘ 23rd September 1948
25 Friday Apr 2014
Posted in Media, Motorcycling, Photography, Trials, UK, Wales
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In this post to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of Speedtracktales V2, I’m going to admit that I promised the site would not just cover its core topic of the International Six Days Trial (ISDT) but would delve into the history of the ‘Reliability Trial’ which for the english riders was the origin of events was later re-named ‘Enduro’. ‘Observed Trials’ developed from another discipline the ‘Sporting Trial’
I am in particular keen to ensure the history of Welsh based Reliability Trials such as the Liverpool MC organised ‘Reliance Trial’ survives as a public record. These events were often the means by how the going for the ISDT was discovered and brought together the skilled teams of route markers and travelling marshalls.
During May I will be featuring in the STT Blog full original magazine reports on both the 1934 ((to come) and the 1935 (here) edition of the Reliance Trial, as well as a number of articles written from the period about the development of both branches of the trials sport.
This will also include a long forgotten road test of the 1934 Model 5/5 500cc ohv and Model 6/1 Twin ohv Triumphs which was undertaken over much of the North Wales section of the ISDT 1933 route including Allt y Badi, Hirnant, Eunant Pass and the Bwlch y Groes and other classic mountain roads of the time which can be read here.
Photo – Riders with spectators on the final section of the Reliance Trial 1934 on ‘Blonde Ethel’
The winner of the 1934 Reliance Cup was none less than ISDT stalwart George Rowley riding a 560cc AJS, with the BSA team of Perrigo, Povey and Ashworth picking up the team award.
22 Tuesday Apr 2014
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So read the title of the editorial in ‘Motor Cycling‘ in the issue of 25 September 1952 in a report covering the ISDT 1952 that had recently taken place at Bad Aussee in Austria. You can read a copy of the Cyril Quantrills report on the event at our issuu.com library of old ISDT magazine reports and programmes here.
“Bad News From Bad Aussee:
THOUGH these words are being written while we still await the final confirmed results of the International Six Days Trial it seems evident that things have by no means gone as planned by Great Britain. Until our representatives return home it will not be possible to establish a clear picture of what went wrong and, In any case, this is not the moment to conduct a post-mortem. Rather is it one to congratulate the winners on their success, to compliment the organisers on what seems to have been a difficult yet fair trial and to commiserate with those who found that their luck was Out.”
Photo – Conditions at the start of Saturday’s run are depicted above. Reflected in the waterlogged ground, spectators and officials see the riders off on their third day’s journey ISDT 1952 (Speedtracktales Collection)
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