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Prizewinners, both from the South-West, Steve Lovegrove (left) Master Class winner with his beautiful 1934 Standard 10 Saloon, with Chris Bowden, 2nd in Master Class and Winner of the Metcalf Trophy for the Best Flying 8 or 9, another stunning car, even if it won't start!

Another perspective on the International Rally comes from these shots supplied by Linda Bowden. Click on any thumbprint to see an enlargement:

Dear Phil and Lynda

Many thanks for a great weekend.  Here is a short article of our experiences travelling up and back from Devon:

Setting off bright and early, leaving Exeter on the A38 we passed through Bristol on our journey up to the International rally. It was very pleasant apart from losing sight of the A38 on the outskirts of Bristol and finding ourselves in a vast trading estate before deciding that the easiest route was to join the M5 for a few miles.

This wasn’t too bad although our car does not enjoy being hassled by the large lorries and those motorist who clearly misjudge the speed we are travelling at and find themselves almost in our boot, before they know it!!

Once we had left the M5 on the very next exit, the journey went without any further hitches and we were able to unload our cases at our B & B before arriving in good time for the evening run to the Blue Lias.

It was a lovely run to the pub and we enjoyed the company of Peter Starbuck and his son Stuart when having our "something in a basket" supper. We also took some time to admire the locks before setting off back to our respective beds for the night, just as dusk was falling.

Peter was leading the way in his lovely 1950’s Standard 10 saloon, when suddenly he pulled over, as we pulled up behind him we were surrounded by billowing steam. Peter had luckily noticed this escaping from under our car and stopped as soon as he could. The poor car had come all the way from Exeter without a top of water and she was gasping. We emptied in water from our flask and a bottle from the boot, Peter gave us what he was carrying, Mike and Val Wilkes and Ian Leggett kindly stopped to offer more water, but with Ian’s and what we had, seemed to do the trick and after allowing her to cool, we set off towards our B & B after thanking Peter for his prompt actions. No damage was done and Chris ensured the car had adequate water from then onwards.

The following day we joined Steve and Karen Lovegrove with their lovely 1934 Standard 10 who had arrived for the weekend, joining the assembled cars and left in age related order for a lovely day at the Evesham Country Park. The views were delightful, the hills were no problem to the Devon cars, who are all used to much worse every day, especially Peter who lives near Porlock Hill!!

After the run we returned to Charlcote House that evening for the meal in the Orangery and had a very pleasant evening.

On the Sunday Chris had arranged to meet Steve in the Polo field, with the intention of washing and polishing their cars, ready for the show.

After breakfast we went out, ready to make our way to the rally field, Chris turned the key in the ignition……….nothing…….. only a very dim red light was visible, she would not start.

We can only think he had left the lights on, but the result was he had to resort to the starting handle, not something he is familiar with, as our car is very reliable (This type of work is definitely not recommended after a fried breakfast). After many attempts it was obvious she was not going to turn over, the starting handle was worn and it didn’t help that it kept slipping off the dogs. We didn’t feel we could bother our host for jump leads as she was busy cooking breakfast for the other guests, so the only option was a push.

Well that proved interesting. We were parked on a downward facing slope on a gravel drive, it was not going to be easy. But eventually after a joint effort and lots of rests we managed to push the car into the road. Fortunately we’d chosen to stay at Hill Cottage, which meant we stood a good chance of bump starting her and she started first time.

We set off for the rally field, over an hour later than planned and Chris had to settle for giving the car a quick rub over before the show started.

The weather was kind, there was a lot of interest from the visiting public and we all had a lovely day catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

When we were awarded 2^nd prize in the Masters class, Chris tried the ignition again, but it was obvious that she wasn’t going to start, the run to the rally field hadn’t really charged the battery sufficiently. Chris’s name was being announced so there was no time to try his new starting handle he had purchased earlier and as we were right opposite the judges tent he decided to walk across for his award, repeating the process again when also awarded the Metcalf cup, presented by the sons of Mr and Mrs Metcalf, a delightful couple, who he had met at previous events.

Then sadly it was all over for another year. Using the starting handle purchased earlier, the car started first time. Before saying our goodbyes, Chris and Steve posed in front of the house, with their cups (Steve having deservedly won first prize in the Masters section). On leaving we decided on a short drive to ensure the battery was fully charged.

It was a lovely evening and we set out towards the village of Broadway, after driving up and down through the village we made the accent of Frog Hill to Broadway Tower, which was no mean feat, to admire the views of 13 counties, returning by another route to our B & B. We really didn’t fancy coming back down Frog Hill again in low gear!!

Monday was a leisurely return to Devon, stopping off on whatever caught our fancy along the way, spending some time at the Docks in Gloucester, following the A38 back to Exeter and arriving back home in the evening after the best fish and chips supper ever, in Bridgewater.

All in all we did 550 miles over the weekend, all the problems we had experienced were more the fault of the owner, than the car, who didn’t really let us down at all, it was more a case of us not taking care of her, after all, she is in her 61st year and deserves a bit of TLC!!

Thank you to everyone involved in the weekend, for making us welcome and to friends old and new for your company. We look forward to seeing you again at next years show.

Linda Bowden

Take care, have a great holiday and see you at the West of England Show

If you would like your photos of the rally or an article to appear here, do as Chris has done, just send them to webmaster@standardmotorclub.org.uk reading your material is much more interesting than my own. 

Phil Homer