The Barrow and District Motorcycle Club held the final round of their Multiclass Trials Championship in and around the Woodland and Torver area last Sunday.

Club stalwarts Norman Cooper and Dave Postlethwaite had again marked out two courses for competitors to choose from; the Green and the slightly easier Clubmans course.

Surprisingly, the event did not attract as many competitors as usual ,but those that did compete had a good day's sport in cold but clear conditions.

Despite one or two of the more experienced riders being missing, the competition was still tough, but it did open up the opportunity for some fresh names to feature in the results.

Sam Metcalfe from Carnforth, riding his Beta, and Owen Gilchrist from Millom, on a Gas Gas, slogged it out for honours on the Green course.

It finished up a close thing, with both riders losing 26 marks each. Metcalfe eventually took the win, having cleaned more sections than the Millom man.

Father and son duo Stephen and Jack Dixon from Grasmere were the masters on the Clubmans course, finishing first and second, respectively.

Dad Stephen took the win on his Twinshock Yamaha with a loss of just one mark, with son Jack not too far astern in the runner-up spot with just six marks lost. Ulverston's Angus Jenkinson was in third place on his Vertigo having lost just 11.

Further down the field, just one mark separated Ulverston riders Matthew Britton and Andrew Mawson, who finished 11th and 12th, Britton losing 96 with Mawson on 97. I can imagine there were some discussions in the bar that night.

Results

Green course:1. Sam Metcalfe (Beta, Carnforth, 26 (most cleans)), 2) Owen Gilchrist (Gas Gas, Millom, 26), 3. John Gornall (Vertigo, Lancaster, 34).

Clubmans Course: 1. Stephen Dixon (Yamaha Twinshock, Grasmere, 1), 2) Jack Dixon (Scorpa, Grasmere, 6), 3) Angus Jenkinson (Vertigo, Ulverston, 11).

As always, the club would like to thank all the landowners, observers, and officials etc who gave up their time to make the event possible.

*Ulverston ex-pat Sid Ormrod, who now lives in Silverdale, has been harassing the three-wheeler brigade all season with wins and records at Speed Hill climbs and Historic racing events in the Uk this year.

His Mini Cooper-powered three-wheeler comes under motorcycle racing regulations, allowing him to compete against Vintage sidecar outfits and Morgan three-wheelers etc.

Following his success at Cadwell Park recently, he competed in the Middlesbrough and District Motor Club's Speed Hill Climb at Catterick . Using his 1965 'Curley Trike', he recorded the fastest time of the day of 36.09 seconds to win his class on the three-quarter-mile course on MoD land.

He followed that with another quick run in the Vintage class on his 1938 Rudge, with a winning run of 45.27secs and setting the fastest time of the day in that class too. Well done Sid.

*Many Furness classic and vintage machine owners will have by now heard of the untimely death of vintage enthusiast Peter Foster from Wray, who was a regular visitor at the Wray Bike Nights.

Peter was fatally injured in a road accident recently when out riding with some of his colleagues.

His funeral takes place on Tuesday at 2:30pm at Wray Parish Church, followed by a get-together at the nearby George & Dragon Hotel.

If you do intend going along, a tribute cavalcade around the local villages will be leaving Wray Tea Rooms at 1pm, returning in plenty of time to attend the service.

At the internment, instead of the usual tradition of throwing a handful of earth onto his casket, the family have had permission for fellow motorcyclists to scatter a few nuts and bolts instead, a nice touch. RIP Peter.

*After spending millions of pounds creating them to ease traffic congestion, Highways England boss Jim O'Sullivan announced recently he did not think they would be building any more when the present schemes are completed.

Despite concerns from many of the motoring and motorcycle associations before they were built, over 400 miles of them were constructed on the M6, M62 and M1, with many more miles yet to be completed.

Several deaths have already occurred - one tragedy involving two motorists who'd had a minor bump on the hard shoulder and were exchanging names etc when they were hit by a lorry and killed.

On several occasions, emergency services have been unable to attend incidents as the hard shoulder is now clogged with traffic. The sooner it is returned to what it was originally designed for, the better.