Cheddar Weekend and Trial (April 2025)

VMCC Somerset Section / Galleries / Cheddar Weekend and Trial (April 2025)

This year’s Cheddar Trial took place in perfect weather conditions, dry warm and sunny! It was a shame the roads were not as favourable with multiple overrunning road closures making planning for this year’s routes a little challenging!

Saturday 

Saturday’s Social Run of 81 miles left the Football Ground in Cheddar, taking riders up through the spectacular Cheddar Gorge and briefly across the top of the Mendips towards Blagdon Lake before turning back towards Burnham-on Sea stopping at Swallows Jaguar at Rooksbridge. There we met Gary and his brother Max who travelling from Buckinghamshire to see our bikes. Together they run a classic Jaguar Racing Team.
From there riders rode out towards Bridgwater and the village of Cossington where they enjoyed a lunch of baked potatoes, tea and cakes served in the local village hall.
After a leisurely lunch, the return trip to Cheddar saw riders head through Bridgwater before taking a circular return route over the levels.

Sunday

Whilst the weather was kind to us on Sunday, another overnight emergency road closure to the main A38 resulted in the shorter route of 30 miles for older bikes being abandoned and replaced with a “follow the leader” route led by the Club’s Chairman and a coffee stop at Sweets Tea Rooms.
The longer route of 54 miles took riders out across the Somerset levels to the T&K Training Facility at Olivers Road Westonzoyland. There, Charlie & Jill Ollis sent solo riders up a slalom course of cones with a turn at the end and a return. Riders were not timed but points deducted for footing. Jill Friendship then observed the riders who were required to do a restart following a stop with the rear driving wheeler positioned over a given line. Section Marshalls took care of parking and traffic control.
Both routes returned to the Cheddar Football Ground for Highway Code questions, Quiz and Feeley bags before tucking into a lovely Ploughman’s Lunch courtesy of the local Football Ground.
The Section would like to extend their thanks to Swallow Jaguar for our visit and T&K for the use of their facilities.

(Thanks to Pat for the words and James for the pics from the Sunday start line)

 

Saturday Gallery

A red motorcycle with 'springer' forks, footboards and a big flat single seat parked on the gravel in front of a green hedge.
Very shiny flathead Harley
Two parked Suzuki motorcycles, a yellow 'Van Van Bushmaster' and behind an older red TU250X with a big light brown seat.
Contrasting pair of Suzukis
Three similar-looking red motorcycles parked in front of a green hedge with two of the riders (one taking his helmet off) talking behind them
A trio of late Ariels
Two black motorcycles parked in the sun, the green grass of the playing ground behind them (and some advertising hoardings!)
Another contrasting pair, with 45 years between them (’98 NX650 ’53 MAC 350)
A short line up of varied motorbikes parked between two cars, a couple of riders, green grass (and advertising hoardings!) in the background, in bright sunshine and under a beautiful blue sky.
Looks like a grand day for it!
Half a dozen motorbikes parked in front of a green hedge (in the sunshine and under a blue sky), three riders in (fluorescent green bibs) are talking and attending to the machines,, another in a white full-face helmet and with hands in pockets stands looking.
Preparations…and contemplations?
Three bikes of quite different ages parked up with a green hedge in the background - in the foreground a modern Royal Enfield with a blue tank and a tall flyscreen.
Another mixed bunch…
Two BMW 'boxer' twin motorbikes parked in the sun in front of a green hedge, an older black one with a sidecar on the continental side and th eold-design engine and a much later white solo with the newer design engine.
One ‘right way up’ BM and one ‘upside down’ BM!
A white BMW sidecar outfit parked in front of a line of motorcycles, the lady passenger has just got in (the front of the single-seater open sidecar is still raised up to allow access); the black-suited male rider stands behind packing his pockets!
And a BM combo!
Four parked motorcycles, (in front of the grass and advertising hoardings), a small single-cylinder at left, then a bigger single, a big twin and at right an even bigger (750cc) Norton twin.
And another mixed bunch – increasingly bigger, left to right.
Three very modern machines! (Norton, Yamaha and a red scooter) parked together.
Future classics?!
Three 'off road' style motorcycles, a red 370cc Suxuki trail bike with big (and comparatively cumbersome) BMW GS machines on either side
Three ‘trailies’?!
Several motorcycles parked in a line in front of the grass with hoardings, the football ground floodlight posts and clubhouse behind - two gents in riding gear (one in a sun hat and one with a green bib) stand talking halfway down the line...
A couple of dudes chilling in the sun?!!
A rear view of a motorcycle, a three-quarter rear view of a green three-wheeler, three gentlemen in black riding gear (but two with green bibs) face the camera with big grins on their faces, in the sun.
Happy folk!
A close-up shot of a black motorbike, with low bars, aluminium mudguards, a gold-lined tank and a blue open-face helmet placed on the black dualseat.
Interesting Velo, KSS in MAC frame? (Understood to have been an ‘in period’ build)
A front-on view of four parked motorbikes but the two central ones are prominent and their two riders stand behind them with their attention on preparing their machines.
Time to get serious?!
A black Jaguar XJS with tinted glass and 5-spoke alloy wheels is parked in front of some low white buildings with its bonnet open.
Swallow Jaguars – XJS shows off something special
The engine bay of a car crammed with shiny black engine parts and clean aluminium fittings ; in the foreground a shiny black item with a big tubular duct attached and on its top the words (in red) 'XJR6 supercharged'
A closer look at what’s under the bonnet.
Interior of a big room with a concrete floor and a low-ish ceiling with strip lights. On the wall opposite a big poster of a black Jaguar XJ6 saloon, on the left a small group of people (mostly with backs to camera) inspecting things, on the right the noses of three cars in green and white race livery
Some of the competition hardware
Front view of windscreen and black engine bay of a (white) car (the bonnet has been taken off) showing the black ribbed cam-cover, prominent aluminium inlet pipework and red electrical accessories of a big six-cylinder engine.
A big lump…
A side view of the previous photo showing some very big and very wriggly exhaust pipes!
…with some very fancy pipework!
A group of motorbikes parked in the middle of a car park, with a low white office building behind at right and a background of a fence, tall trees and a few cars . Several people stand in small groups, in the sun, under a blue sky.
Swallow Jaguar – taking in the day so far…
A big car park, tarmacked, parking bays delineated with white lines in front of a tall brick wall separating it from the houses behind - in front of the wall (stretching into the distance) is a line of parked motorbikes with riders standing, attending to the machines or talking between themselves.
Lunch stop – parking up
Several bikes in the parking bays in front of the brick wall (with pink-washed houses directly behind). Four riders 'adjust' their machines!
Lunch stop, setting up for part 2.
At the far end of the carpark, with houses behind the brick wall, several parked machines and riders - a small group in the centre in front of some bikes and on the wall behind them a big notice 'Fire Assembly Point' .
Not a fire assembly!
At the end of the car park, three machines in the sun in front of the wall, a black and chrome twin-cylinder BSA 650cc, a black BMW horizontally opposed twin with a low sports sidecar and behind that a green and chrome twin-cylinder Triumph.
Lunch stop – three twins!
A white BMW with an open single-seater sidecar parked in the sun, in front of some bushes (with a modern low white building behind), in splendid isolation!
An outcast!

 

Sunday Gallery: 

A very low three-quarter rear view of a flat-tank single cylinder bike, showing part of the rear wheel, the black tank with hand change lever and linkage and very prominently the rear chain enclosure emblazoned with the words 'The Sunbeam Little Oil Bath Chain Case'
The Sunbeam – I wonder what their big one looks like!
A sunny side view (against the grass) of a silver and black machine from the 1930s with girder forks and a big chrome fishtail silencer
Norton Inter (with racing heritage!)
A black-framed machine with a red and silver tank in the forground with a line of machines stretching away behind, a group of riders in discussion over one of them and running across the background two hedges, trees and distant hillsides.
’46 Ariel NH
The Norton International from the other side, this time with more bikes and cars, some riders, a big hedge and a chruch tower as a backdrop.
Inter again, with various others.
In the car park, a row of bikes facing away and then another longer row of machines further back, along the hedge. In between and around stand people, some in small groups, some with green bibs with their entry numbers, some attending to their bikes.
Gathering – bikes, riders..and thoughts?
Three gentlemen (two with riding bibs, the one in the centre with a dark grey fleece) in a serious discussion, in front of a blue Lomax 3-wheeler and a dark green DRK 3-wheeler parked against the hedge.
All very earnest!
Half a dozen bikes parked in a line, in front of a big hedge with blue sky, trees, a church tower and two flag poles behind. Two men are in a discussion at the right-hand end of the line-up.
A variety of ‘less old’ machines
A side view of a black-framed motorcycle with a forward slanted red engine and a white-panelled back tank. It has a wicker hamper on a rear rack. Immediately behind are a trailer and two cars.
Very clean Scott, with wickerwork.
A side view of a red BSA with a black seat and also with a wicker hamper on a back rack. again a car and the nose of a trailer immediately behind.
And a very clean C15 with wickerwork!
Two men standing in front of some bikes parked at the side of the ground, one in a blue top (with hands in pockets) looks at the camera, the other is in full riding gear and is just removing the helmet which is concealing his face.
Are you guessing who….
The same two figures an instant later, the rider has taken off his helmet and grins, the blue-topped friend holds an arm straight out with the forefinger pointing right at the riders head.
yes, him!
Two bikes parked at the side of the ground, grass and hoardings behind (a 3-cylinder BMW K75 and a 4-cylinder Honda 400-4)
A three and a four
Three pre-war machines, the middle one has an acetylene headlight and a teddy-bear on the rear rack, the one nearest the camera has a teddy bear in place of a headlight!
Some oldies! (And some Teds!!)
Several parked bikes with people in riding gear; nearest the camera a well-laden 1937 Red PAnther, behind that some more modern bikes, one with the rider sitting
Ready to go?
A short line-up of parked bikes, the three in the foreground are an elderly black Enfield with a big headlight, a more modern Ariel twin with a red tank and a tan dualseat and an Ariel single with a red and silver tank very much in the pre-war style of the Enfield.
’38 Royal Enfield 500cc Model J, ’55 Ariel FH 650, ’46 Ariel NH 350
A side view of a big old Norton single, with silver-grey petrol and oil tanks, a big bulb horn on the handlebars along with a speedometer (driven from a shiny gear on the front hub) and a very shiny big chrome-plated fishtail silencer.
’27 Norton Model 18….
Close up of the back end of the Norton with the sun gleaming from the big fishtail silencer
…with very shiny fishtail!
Parked in the sun in front of the hedge, a silver BSA with high-ish handlebars, a slightly upswept silencer, shiney aluminium mudguards and knobbly tyres; alongside it a more modern red Suzuki, very much a lightweight with long-travel suspension (a big gap between the front tyre and the mudguard mounted right up under the headlight) and lots of ground clearance.
Trailie Suzuki and trailie-style B31
The cockpit of the open DRK three-wheeler, black seats, red trim (the seats with red piping) and the steering wheel removed and placed on the driver's seat!
Inside a DRK!
A front view of the two three-wheelers parked next to each other in front of the hedge
Blue Lomax and green DRK
Another view of the other side of the old Sunbeam motorcycle, this one a close up of the engine, the big silver carburettor and Bosch magneto and another fully-enclosed chaincase announcing itself as 'The Sunbeam Little Oil Bath Chain Case'.
The Sunbeam – its other little oil bath!
Inside the Clubhouse, a long table with a 'wall' of neatly stacked clean cups and saucers in the foreground and in the background some earns and someone stirring a cup.
Cups waiting to go!
Two figures stooped over a table, on the left a man in a green bib and motorcycle gear and in the centre a lady in a red fleece, both have pens in their hands and are writing on sheets of white paper on the table.
Signing on
A long table with plates, cups and crash helmets on it, with people stand and sitting around it; the room seems quite dark and the camera flash has picked out the reflective strips on clothing quite dazzlingly.
Tea, biscuits (and very reflective bike gear!)
Side view of a shiny black and chrome Norton Commando, parked beside a big black car, with two almost identical stripy crash helmets on the ground beside the bike.
Commando ready for two-up action.
A very original and well-used looking motorcycle, with black tanks and big black mudguards. It has a black tank-bag and there is a white open-face crash helmet on the seat.
Late Matchless 350 (AMC gearbox, alternator, points and patina!)
Looking down on the front of a bike with a piece of very large diameter pipe strapped to the handlebars and a route sheet wrapped around the pipe.
The proper way to deal with a route sheet!
Two motorcycles parked side by side between cars and with two pairs of people in conversation.
Scott Flying Squirrel from 1927, BMW R100GS from 1989
Looking down on a red Honda 400-4, from the front, showing the four black exhaust pipes coming across the front of the transverse engine and grouping together along the side before joining into one at the silencer.
Honda 4 – with pipework!
View of a large open tarmac area behind a bank and a gate, with green fields in the background. There are a lot of cones arranged in various lines on tarmac, and there are also riders in green bibs (one or two on bikes and some in a group). A rider with bib no. 6 is just exiting from the gateway.
The site for the tests at T&K (all those cones are just the ones to show the way round!)
A small group of men and machines stationary, in line, a coned-off area on the left. In the distance a single rider is receiving instructions from a marshal standing alongside.
Waiting to be tested!
A big area of tarmac arranged with cones but otherwise empty except for (in the distance) a single stationary rider and machine, with a seated judge one one side and a standing judge on the other.
Did that machine successfully stop with the rear wheel right on the line?
Under a bright blue sky three motorcycles and a bright blue three-wheeler are parked against the hedge. The two figures of the Lomax crew are standing behind it.
BSA, Norton, Triumph and Lomax at the finish.
Several motorcycles parked in a line, a single competitor stands behind, crash helmet in hand, looking contemplative.
More finishers (and some wishful thinking?!)
Four parked motorcycles, two BMWs (R100GS and K75) in the middle, flanked by a 370cc Suzuki and a Honda 400-4 (both with red petrol tanks)
Big BMs (and smaller red machines!) at the finish.
A black Velocette motorcycle strapped to a trailer behind a white van.
Going home! (1)
A V-twin Yamaha cruiser-style bike, with shiny chrome, a purple and white tank and a plush black 'buttoned' 'king and queen' seat parked by the green hedge
Shiny Yamaha cruiser enjoying the sun.
A blue Suzuki 185 from the 1970s on a trailer, behind a white campervan with green stripes.
Going Home! (2)
Side close-up of red Scott engine, white-panelled black tank, black frame tubes, gearbox and ancillaries with quite a few connecting pipes and unions.
Scott (with pipework?!) still looking very clean
Black and silver Norton International, and red Norton Commando parked among a few other machines, in the sun.
And finally a pair of Norton finishers!

 

Sunday Start-line:

A different view of the car park with the football ground Clubhouse in the distance and cars and motorcycles parked on either side. The sky is bright blue and sunny, riders are wearing green bibs with numbers, some are walking towards their machines, some are standing next to them.
Competitors prepare
Motorcycles and riders along the edge of a l.rage car park, under an azure blue sky. The riders are wearing green bibs with numbers on them, two are rolling towards the camera, the leading one is no 18...
No 18 (1960 BSA C15) rolls forward…
Rider and pillion (pillion with a green number 19 bib), from the back, wait next to the starter, who wears a green gilet and grey baseball cap and has an arm outstretched towards the bike, holding it at the ready...
No 19 (Norton Commando substituting for BSA A50?), ready…
The same rider and pillion from the front, the starter now waving them away with a flag and the rider smiling cheerfully
..and away!
Against a backdrop of parked cars and motorcycles, and the Clubhouse, an old black and silver motorcycle advances - the rider wearing green bib no. 6 and looking very serious
1927 Norton Model 18 (these need a bit of concentration to get to be ‘best veteran’!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles two motorcyclists (green bib nos. 15 and 16) advance towards the camera
Unit Triumph 500 leads out a BSA B31
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a grinning motorcyclist (green bib no. 18) on a red bike approaches the camera
1960 C15 – obviously with something to look forward to in the hamper!
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a motorcyclist (green bib no. 26) advances, on a black single-cylinder bike.
Velo MSS gets underway…
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a more modern BMW with rider and pillion draws up to the starter, who stands with back to camera and flag out horizontally to draw the bike to a stop.
K75 BM (with another couple on board)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a motorcyclists (green bib no. 27) on a red machine and looking somewhat concerned leans towards the starter, who faces him with flag on shoulder
’82 Guzzi (cause for consternation?!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a bearded motorcyclist (green bib no. 9) on an old red and chrome machine advances towards the camera
The extremely well-travelled 1937 350cc Red Panther!
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings, parked vehicles and people a motorcyclist (green bib no. 33) waits next to the starer, both are looking pensively at something behind and to the right of the camera...
1998 Honda NX 650 (joint youngest bike!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings, parked vehicles and people a motorcyclist (green bib no. 10) on an old black machine with a big headlight advances towards the camera
1938 500cc Royal Enfield Model J (finished ‘best post-vintage’)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings, parked vehicles and people a motorcyclist (green bib no. 13), on a black machine, waits next to the starter. Both are looking hard at something 'off screen' to the right of the camera
1953 350cc Velocette MAC
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles two motorcyclists the bright blue Lomax three-wheeler advances towards the camera. Its two occupants have blue scarves pulled right up to their eyes and baseball caps pulled well down!
The masked Lomax-ers!
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles two motorcyclists (green bib nos. 14 and 11) advance towards the camera, no 14 leading on a machine with a bright red petrol tank.
1955 Ariel Huntmaster 650 (with very soft front forks!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a motorcyclist (green bib no. 11 ) advances towards the camera on a old single cylinder machine with a red and silver tank. The rider is sitting very upright looks directly at the camera through a full-face helmet that only reveals his dark sunglasses!
1946 Ariel NH 350 (is that one half of ‘Daft Punk’ in the saddle?!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a motorcyclist (green bib no. obscured) advances with towards the starter (who stands at left ) with a dangling foot for support
1989 BMW R100GS (looking a bit of a handful!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles three motorcyclists (green bib nos. 2, 4 and 8) advance towards the camera
Some proper bikes – 1913 2.75hp Sunbeam in the lead (and finished ‘best veteran’)…
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles two motorcyclists (green bib nos. 4 and 8) advance towards the camera with broad grins!
…a pair of BSAs following up (1926 526cc and 1930 Sloper behind – both obviously great fun to ride!)
Against a backdrop of football ground buildings and parked vehicles a motorcyclist with blue jeans, white full-face helmet and green gilet (and apparently without a green bib) advances towards the camera on a dark green and black machine
1957 Francis Barnett (another extremely well-travelled machine)
Against a backdrop of two tiled-roof buildings and a hedge a motorcyclist (green bib no. obscured) on a black machine waits with foot down.
1959 Matchless G3LS ready to go!
Against a backdrop of two tiled-roof buildings, a hedge and the side of a large white van are two motorcyclists (green bib nos. obscured). The one furthest from the camera, on a black machine waits with both feet down. The one nearest the camera, with scarf pulled p over nose, is astride his silver-tanked machine kick-starting it.
1950 Norton 500T (finishing with ‘best post war’)