Members of the Vintage Motor Cycle Club have created a 75 mile commemorative route between Salisbury and Cheddar, which follows as faithfully as possible the middle section of the first day of the 1925 International Six Days Trial.
The intention in creating this event, besides enjoyment of the great outdoors for the participants, is to remind the authorities and the public that motorcyclists were using these roads, as of right, 100 years ago; and as such contributing to the area’s cultural heritage.
The International Six Days Trial (ISDT), first held in 1913 at Carlisle, had by the 1920s become the epitome of the many reliability trials, through which the motorcycle industry sought to demonstrate the capability and reliability of their machines over the toughest and often steepest of the roads to be found; frequently through countryside which, because of its very ruggedness, has latterly become designated as National Parks or National Landscapes.
These were not clandestine affairs held on private land or circuits but frequently used 80 or 100 miles of the public road network, or in the case of the ISDT more than 800 miles, and were followed by hundreds of spectators as photographs of the day show. The photo (above) was taken on Draycott Hill, near Cheddar on the first day of the actual event and clearly illustrates both the stone surface of the road at the time (now tar-macadam) and the number of spectators.
In the ISDT, competition was based on maintaining a proscribed (legal) average speed over this tough terrain and on the reliability of crucial components, which were sealed, so that they could not be replaced during the course of the event.
In 1925, one hundred competitors from six nations left Southampton to tackle the South West of England before moving into Wales. The winning nation earning the right to host the following years event: in the subsequent three years larger numbers started from respectively Buxton, Ambleside and Harrogate.
The date set for the VMCC commemorative run is Sunday 10 August 2025 with preference being given to older machines to replicate the feel for the times. Similarly, the route will follow as closely as possible the original line, using fully surfaced country byways plus the option of two sections, totalling fourteen miles, of the authentic stone road of the time.
The event is still open for entries – contact the Clerk of the Course: keith.johnston55@hotmail.co.uk or telephone 07836 376107.
