CTC Eastern Area Road Run 2004

We went out the gate at twenty past ten and headed down hill to turn left at the first junction which set our course up the Tamar valley towards Boynton. Just before the village we ran into a snag namely three horses, the first one refused to come past my tractor and only came past when another horse was led through the gap. I don’t think these riders were impressed at the thought of passing nearly 30 more tractors following mine!!
North Tamerton was the next stop where I pulled over to make two calls, one to my nephew Jimmy jump leads to find out how far behind the back of the convoy was and the other to tell the dinner cooks we would arrive in about an hour. At this time a good number of people made calls of a very different nature!! John Hobbs, that intrepid reporter and photographer from Tavistock was waiting on the bridge across the River Tamar in the valley below North Tamerton along with two others who seemed equally keen to get some good shots. John has since informed me that he has very good pictures and hopes to produce a good write up
Heading uphill towards Clawton we turned left to start the off road section across Affakan Moor which is a very large area 3/400 acres of unimproved rough ground with a rough stone track going through the middle. This proved to be a little more exciting than I had planned as after heavy rain on Saturday the slightly submerged section turned out to be a very submerged section!! Some passengers in small car trailers found themselves riding in small boats. I must confess at this point to a misjudgement as to how far in to the track some of the bushes protruded and wish to apologise to anyone who may have been concerned about their paintwork. It seemed to look ok when I walked this section in February! Thank you’s this time go to the farmer Mr May for his kind permission to allow us to go across the moor which incidentally I am told was used by American troops during the last war. When I saw how bleak this moor is I couldn’t help but wonder how those young G.I.’s must have felt landing up here thousands of miles from home in the middle of nowhere. It certainly made me think just how lucky we are to enjoy the levels of freedom that we all take for granted.

Holsworthy was the next stop where we invaded the memorial hall car park giving the few people waiting to board a bus quite a surprise! The car park looked much better with about 45 spaces covered with tractors, trailers and various agriculturally orientated vehicles! Dinnertime (proper people don’t call it lunch) was also eventful when the lights suddenly went out. I don’t know who to blame but if it wasn’t John Tryner then it must have been Bernard Lobb! Cant speak for anyone else but my gang of seven thought the roast was very good, hot and cheap at £4.75. Everyone left happy and the management simply couldn’t apologise enough for the lights going out (Tryner’s getting the electricians bill) At this time a scat of rain decided to offload on the town and for a few minutes I thought we would have a very uncomfortable ride home but lady luck intervened and it soon tuned dry again albeit very windy. Turning out of the car park I spotted a police car up the street and wondered what he (or she) would make of our procession. However drawing up level with it revealed it to be empty which was something of a relief. Just on the outskirts of town we turned left at Whimble Cross to head towards Hollowcombe, then turned right to head south towards Ashwater on roads that run roughly parallel to the A388 Launceston to Holsworthy road. Along this road just outside Ashwater we spotted a group of Alpacas which caused a lot of interest amongst my ten passengers on the trailer.
A little further on a halt was made to allow our passengers from Helston to take photos of a tractor graveyard. Shortly after this my phone rang with the news that some tractors had got left behind and some had gone the wrong way. I decided it would be best to continue on to the next junction and wait for an update fro drivers back in the convoy. News soon came that all the tractors had caught us up except two who had headed off home so we set off again. Driving onto the high ground to Thornemoor Chapel the wind became a bit keener making everyone tighten anything that was letting in a draught! Nobody seemed to mind though as the view towards Dartmoor here really is superb. Just after passing the Chapel I made a quick stop when my hat blew off (is blew a proper word?) (it was to blow off once more before we got back).

Going up the hill from Boldford Bridge I was able to look back and see the tractors coming down the hill on the other side of the valley. They really did look a wonderful sight each and everyone of them a credit to their owners, a true testament to the sheer hard graft and dedication devoted to the preservation of these old machines. Many folk struggle to understand our passion for tractors and most fail to realise that tractors are the most important machines on the planet, without them we would all be very hungry.
Heading down the main road to Launceston at Netherbridge I chose to go over the now mainly disused old river bridge as it somehow didn’t seem right to take old tractors over the new bridge and everyone else followed suit. Then it was just a quick blast up the hill and we were back once again at the garden centre where loading up was either very hurried or seemingly very leisurely. Much discussion took place here on a wide variety of subjects with everyone seeming to be in a very relaxed state of mind.

And so now to the final paragraph. Firstly, may I thank you all for the magnificent support for this run. To see such a fine turnout makes all the work that has to be done to put on a run worthwhile. No one person has had an individual mention in this write up (Tryner/Lobb excepted!) because there are simply too many to pick out anyone in particular. However without names given I take my hat off to the man who brought his family on a Dexta from Torrington, the two chaps who drove a John Deere with another on a trailer from Exeter and to the 5000 driver who took part in his first road run driving from Poundstock and back again. Also notable was the number of lady drivers, well done girls, maybe next year you can get some of your mates on the run (will you accept the challenge?)
My last comment is on the legalities of running a tractor on the road. Our hobby is one of a very few whereby doing it legally is far cheaper than getting caught – I will say no more.
God willing I will put on another next year and once again may I thank you all for your support and encouragement

Bob Ball

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