laird387 Posted January 10, 2014 Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) Hi, Lady riders have actually had quite an impact on trials riding - and rightly deserve credit for taking on the men in what was oft regarded as very much a man's world. Some of the one's that spring to mind are Jill Savage, a very competent trials rider and not afraid of having a go at scrambling in the summer, who, when she retired from active riding, became a very efficient and active organiser for the Association of Pioneer Motor Cyclists - but she was by then known by her married name, Jill McBeath. Another was very influential as the Secretary of the Auto-Cycle Union, Mary Driver, who was a competent trials rider and made sure that trials representation within the A-CU was kept fair. I'm attaching an image from my offroadarchive of Pam Barwick, riding through a real mud-plug of an event in Wiltshire in the late 1950s on her 'Bitsa' built up by her husband to be, Cliff Bean. Enjoy Edited January 12, 2014 by laird387 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2014 (edited) Hi, Another interesting lady, Irene Draper, sister of works BSA rider Johnny Draper (the only rider ever to win all the solo capacity classes in the SSDT) used to ride, very skilfully, a Bantam trials machine. Later she met and eventually married Jeff Smith (BSA all-rounder and World Champion scrambler). For Irene's sixtieth birthday Jeff, with a little help from his friends, recreated a little trials Bantam exactly like the one Irene used to ride. Irene on the original Bantam, an offroadarchive image. Enjoy Edited January 11, 2014 by laird387 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2014 Hi, I trawled the offroadarchive and, lo and behold, the lady herself, Mary Driver. Seen here on her Greeves, pressing on with feet firmly on the rests on a climb which is one of the unfortunate ones where the camera 'hides' the steepness. Enjoy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Hi, Another well known, in her day, lady rider was Olga Kevelos. A doughty lady with a lot of resolve who, in her CV could enter such interesting facts as being the skipper of a two-man barge that spent several wartime years delivering vital goods between London docks and the midlands and vice versa - when the roads and railways were largely decimated by bomb damage. Here she is seen in a midlands trial in the late 1960s on her works James. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tltel Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 So.. Where did the Joan Westbrook fit in to this scene, As in the the SSDT Trophy. TLTEL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2014 Hi, TLTEL, More of Joan Westbrook later - in the meantime, bear with! This time another shot of Irene Draper, with her Bantam trials bike, riding in the Harold Draper trial on 9th January 1955. As Johnny Draper told us: "That's my Dad (Harold) in the sports jacket and hat." And where was this event - why on Draper's Farm, no less - where BSA works riders could come on a hush hush visit and try out 'improvements' away from prying eyes - one of the scramblers was Jeff Smith - met Irene - married Irene - lived happily ever after! There are other spectators to trouble the memory cells. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Hi, I promised images of Joan Westbrook - and I'm not known for forgetting promises! Here is Joan on her BSA riding in the Three Musketeers trial, but, sadly I can't give you the year. Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tltel Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 The reason I asked about Joan Westbrook is that she still rides that BSA in our local events and she is in her 70's. She has been ill for a while and Sidcup club recently had a fundraising event at their British bike trial for her ( cancer charity) and she still managed to take part on her BSA. TLTEL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Hi tltel, That's marvellous - I'm closer to eighty than seventy and I find typing away on this confuser hard enough, let alone riding a bike. I sold my last AMC - the actual very last competition model assembled in Woolwich when I moved here to sunny Scotland. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Hi, Another of our sporting ladies - this time one who has contributed not only as a rider but in many organising roles throughout the years - Jill McBeath (Jill Savage as was), seen at one of the Stoneleigh Classic Shows reunited with the Cotton on which she won a Bronze medal riding in the ISDT in 1961. With Jill is Peter Turner - the owner of the Cotton. Enjoy Edited January 18, 2014 by laird387 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattylad Posted January 20, 2014 Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 Is Jill Savage any relation to Harvey Savage (ex works rider of RE I think) from Barnsley? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted January 20, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2014 (edited) Hi mattylad,Nay mattylad - the Savages were a motorcycling dynasty all of their own in the 'Soviet Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire' (i.e. When Arthur Scargill was attempting his coup of trying to become Supreme President of the area) they were very successful with variants of the Tiger Cubs - I'll put some images up when I spot them.Jill was born into a Surrey/Hampshire dynasty of pioneer motorcyclists, mother and father both rode pre-1920 models regularly - until very recently so did Jill - but we haven't been in touch recently.Cheers. Edited February 21, 2014 by laird387 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motard66 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hi Deryk, long time no see.Thanks for the great pictures,have only just found this site.Irene Draper seems to have had much work done between the 2 Bantam pics,same registration plate though mmmme.Any Velo pictures coming?Regards Chris Scott(not a Cheltenham Cheat) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattylad Posted January 30, 2014 Report Share Posted January 30, 2014 Hi mattylad, Nay mattylad - the Savages were a motorcycling dynasty all of their own in the 'Soviet Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire' (i.e. When Arthur Skargill was attempting his coup of trying to become Supreme President of the area) they were very successful with variants of the Tiger Cubs - I'll put some images up when I spot them. Jill was born into a Surrey/Hampshire dynasty of pioneer motorcyclists, mother and father both rode pre-1920 models regularly - until very recently so did Jill - but we haven't been in touch recently. Cheers. Sorry Deryk, Only just seen your reply. I grew up in the "Peoples republic of South Yorkshire" if you please! I bought a Montesa UKR from Terry Savage, son of Harvey in around '76/77. I would love to see pictures of a "Savage Cub" which has to be the most fantatic name for a Cub ever. I just missed out on obtaining the frame jigs as they were scrapped recently so would be interested to see what I missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laird387 Posted February 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 (edited) Hi, Not the ladies in our sport this time - but thoughts from our enviromentalist friends. During the nineteenth century the Birmingham area was the expanding home of British manufacturing industry, from major manufacturers down through the whole gamut of companies and workshops to the small man working away all day in his own machine shop built in the back bedroom. They had a major need for water, and won legislation through parliament to flood the welsh valleys to the west of Rhayader and create the Elan valley reservoirs. It was a major engineering feat, not least for the fact that they managed to store enough water not only to cope with the needs of Birmingham, but also to get it all the way to Birmingham by creating a route that was gravity fed all the way - no pumps, no maintenance costs, just free gravity. Not everyone was a winner, it was necessary to flood several villages, so all those families had to be rehoused. In one case they flooded the local church and graveyard, so a replacement chapel was built at Nant Gwyllt and where requested, bodies from the graveyard reinterred above the water level. Alongside the new little chapel was an old drover's track up the hillside, which had ancient stones laid in rough steps to help the pack animals, mainly donkeys, keep their footing up the climb. Long after the drovers had been replaced by road transport, that ancient track made an excellent trials section, and 'Nant Gwyllt' featured in various British Experts and other trials. Here, for example we see Bill Faulkner in the 1958 Welsh Trophy trial, at the foot of the Nant Gwyllt section. Then in the 1970's the environmentalists saw this 'hazardous to the health of our landscape' activity by witless motorcyclists and promptly had access banned - the old section which had lasted safely for hundreds of years could no longer be used. Some fifteen years later the local farmers needed extra electricity and it was decided to instal a new power cable up that self same hillside. They didn't 'damage the track with their trials tyres' - they removed it completely with a JCB............ They replaced the old track with a footpath, finished it with gravel chippings. In the following winters they washed down on to the road leaving an ugly scar. And that is progress???????? Enjoy. Edited February 21, 2014 by laird387 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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