Dick Mayo

The first event took place on 8th May 1976. It came about as the result of an invitation from ASWMC’s then Championship Secretary, Frank McKenna, to Charles Lambton to come to ASWMC’s AGM on 12th October 1975. Charles, with his great friend Richard Chichester the owner of Wiscombe, had been responsible for the introduction of hillclimbing there in 1950.

Charles Lambton explained that the future of the venue was uncertain as, of the various clubs who had run events there over the years, only AMOC and MGCC were committed for 1976. Unless other clubs came forward to take up the additional two, or possibly three weekends on offer, it was likely the venue would close. Just two events per year could not generate sufficient income to cover the costs of preparation and upkeep to the necessary standard.

By the time the AGM had closed there were two proposals on the table, both from consortia of clubs. One was from a group originally comprising Bristol, Plymouth & Taunton. The other from what was then the Bournemouth Sub Centre of ASWMC.

Chris Bigwood and yours truly were the permanent Bristol delegates to ASWMC at the time and we seized the opportunity of a possible return to hillclimbing, which we had been out of since the demise of Dyrham Park some years previously, so we put the Bristol name forward. Neither Plymouth nor ourselves however were in a position to ‘go it alone’, because of the distances involved between the venue and our respective areas of operation. Taunton were close enough, but had irons in other fires at the time, principally Cricket St Thomas. A consortium therefore looked the most viable proposition.

We stayed behind after the meeting to discuss the idea further and were joined by delegates from Burnham and Haldon. Within another half an hour we had agreed to endeavour to set up a consortium of five clubs to run in 1976.

Meanwhile the other grouping quickly fell apart. Woolbridge were very keen, but the anticipated support from other clubs in the Bournemouth Sub Centre failed to materialise and so they were left to go it alone, or for the enterprise to fail. They elected, bravely, to go for the former and have never looked back. Neither have the Five Clubs either for that matter.

Before leaving Ilminster we all agreed to lobby our respective clubs to back the idea, and set a date for proper meeting the following month. That meeting duly took place and responsibility for the various aspects of the organisation were divided up between the five.

Plymouth’s Frank McKenna, who has sadly recently passed on, chaired that inaugural meeting, where we were represented by Maurice Chivers, our chairman at the time, and myself. Maurice became the first Secretary of the Meeting and the others bullied me into being Clerk of the Course. Of all those present at that meeting, I have to confess to being the sole remaining survivor.

We agreed with Woolbridge that, to allow them the maximum time to get themselves together for a solo effort, we would take the May slot and they would run in September. So on 8th May 1976 the first "5 Clubs Wiscombe" took place.

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PART TWO

So the first ‘5 Clubs’ weekend passed into history. It was a great success and set the scene for a long-term future. For that first weekend we had managed to secure a round in ASWMC’s hillclimb championship for the Sunday, with Saturday as a ‘Club’ day. Just in case any of you are wondering there was no connivance on my part for championship status as, at that time I had yet to take my place within ASWMC’s hierarchy.

The next year, 1977, we were very pleased to go one step further and welcome on board, the Guyson-BARC Championship. At the time this was the second most important hillclimb championship in the country, behind the RAC’s. We switched the ASWMC round to the Saturday, in order to accommodate BARC on the Sunday. The two championships gave us an expanded competitor base and we had a full entry both days.

BARC continued with us for 1978 and also, a little speculatively and tongue in cheek perhaps, we applied for the event to be observed for possible future inclusion in the country’s premier hillclimb championship, that of the RAC. In order to accomplish this we knew we would have to move the date, as May was already chock-a-block.

Somewhat to our surprise we were accepted at the first attempt, provided we could offer an acceptable date. This meant we had to approach Wiscombe for an alternative. Their response was that there were no dates available, we would have to see if we could swap. We approached Woolbridge, who by this time had run three successful weekends of their own, for a swap with their September slot, and I am very pleased to record that the Woolbridge hierarchy were very helpful and co-operative, readily agreeing to our request.

For 1979 then, we moved to September, with Woolbridge taking over our May slot. Although Woolbridge have moved back and forth between April and May, we have both remained in these positions ever since. In some ways I think maybe some of Woolbridge’s senior people may have had a few regrets over this swap over the years, for there is little doubt we have enjoyed by far the best of the somewhat capricious Wiscombe weather. Rain has blighted Woolbridge’s sterling efforts on many an occasion, whereas, although we have had our share, we have suffered far less than they have. We haven’t had it all our own way though for, as recently as 1995, our Sunday British Championship round was abandoned after practice, with several streams running along the course and standing water on the bridge after the start.

So began in 1979 nineteen years of British Championship status. It is fair to say that our tenure was not always as happy as it might have been. For some reason, (probably at times simply a concerted effort to wind me up) we experienced more than our fair share of the syndrome.

I am aware, although not in the practical sense of having done it, that driving a ‘championship car’, is just a little bit different from your average road saloon. This does not however excuse the excesses and time wasting rituals practised by a small but very conspicuous minority. More particularly, their blatant refusal to comply with organisers’ requirements and officials’ instructions was becoming unacceptable. The whole run-off procedure thereby tended to descend into a pantomime, which in turn gave rise to the Prima Donna appellation. This problem incidentally was not confined to me, or Wiscombe either, come to that.

The situation had reached such a state that in the late 1980’s, early 1990’s, that the Five Clubs showed its first, and so far only, creak in the structure. The representatives of two of the Five Clubs said their respective clubs were unwilling to accept the antics and attitudes displayed by championship contenders any more, and called on the organising committee to withdraw from the British Championship. Through much discussion, and production of evidence projecting a critical loss of finance, to say nothing of possible withdrawal of the date by Wiscombe Ltd., I. and the other three clubs, managed to paper over the cracks, which I am very happy to say have not re-opened.

In 1996 we did have a bit of a set back when Haldon MC ceased to exist, thus reducing the number of clubs to four. Although this reduced the potential numbers available to assist in organisation, we decided to continue with our original format and title. The level of input from Haldon had fallen as the club went into decline, so the impact was not as bad as it might have been, particularly as we retained the services of the results team, who were from that club.

At the same time we decided against looking for another club to fill the forced vacancy, even though there were approaches from more than one well-known West Country club. So the ‘5 Clubs Wiscombe’ carried on serenely until 1997 when, after a particularly acrimonious British Championship meeting, things came to head.

There had been adverse comment for some years from the top echelon of competitors, about the general state of Wiscombe, with a number of prominent drivers boycotting the British Championship rounds there. Not just 5 Clubs events either, but Woolbridge’s as well, who had taken over from AMOC in 1988. Those that didn’t go so far as to join the boycott were pressing for the removal of Wiscombe from the British Championship scene.

To combat the declining entry levels, both organisations, whilst maintaining the unconventional one day championship format, were forced to introduce classes for Road cars to supplement the entry lists and prevent wholesale loss of revenue and resultant crises.

It was not altogether surprising therefore that the ‘elite’ were listened to, and 5 Clubs was excluded from the 1998 British Championship. This was not totally ‘5 Clubs’ fault, but we were caught in the crossfire and the 1997 kerfuffle was our downfall.

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PART THREE

So came 1998, with a serious rethink on the set up and how to fill the vacant day. We decided to leave ASWMC on the Saturday and search for an alternative championship for Sunday. There were several possibilities, from which we chose that of the CCC/BARC, which had proved so successful at our Castle Combe Sprint. We also picked up the Caterham Graduates, a spin off from the very successful Caterham Scholarship, again via Castle Combe contacts.

The result was two successful days. Sunday was a bit short on numbers, but it wasn't far below the levels achieved in the latter days of British rounds, and proved we had got the format about right, or so we thought. In hindsight CCC was probably not the best option. Entry numbers were a little below expectations the first year but in 1999, rather than going up, they fell off, causing CCC to withdraw for this year.

At the time though things appeared to be getting better and better. The Caterham Graduates were about in greater numbers in 1999 and the Caterham Scholarship, a guaranteed 30 entries, had also been recruited. The result was an even more successful 1999 weekend than 1998, which boded well for the millennium meeting, which would also celebrate 25 years of 5 Clubs.

Unfortunately the house was proving to be built on shifting sand. The aforementioned withdrawal of CCC was a blow, the fact that we were not made aware until after the de-brief meeting in October, didn't help either. However the potential loss of not more than 25 entries, didn't seem the end of the world.

That came in early December, when we were informed by both Caterham Scholarship and Graduate that they would not be at 5 Clubs Wiscombe in 2000. The Scholarship would in fact be visiting Woolbridge at Wiscombe twice, and the Graduates would be concentrating on circuit racing.

Before anyone thinks that Woolbridge did the dirty on us, let me disabuse them of these thoughts. The Scholarship had approached Woolbridge in late 1998 for inclusion in 1999, but there was no room for them, so they switched to us. Meanwhile Woolbridge were already engaged in putting together two weekends for 2000 and the Scholarship accepted their invitation.

So, what in November had looked like the surmountable loss of 20+ entries, suddenly became the potentially catastrophic loss of 70+ instead. In other words almost a complete meeting. By the time we could meet and discuss any form of strategy, it was January and by then all the worthwhile championships had completed their calendars.

Some hard thinking was therefore required and all options examined, even the unthinkable, of reducing our presence to just one day, with ASWMC championship only. The eventual decision made was to move ASWMC to Sunday, thereby increasing their potential numbers, and recruiting One-Make Clubs with, or without, their own championships, to make up Saturday. The impact of the loss of the massive Caterham Kit Car entry has also been offset by a substantial increase in the potential numbers from their rivals the Westfields. After much hard work we believe we have put together a full weekend of hillclimbing to celebrate our silver jubilee. We shall see.

So there you have it. 25 years of 5 Clubs at Wiscombe. In terms of publicity and profile for our club it has worked wonders. It has also served to help keep our financial coffers from running dry. Another thing - it has proved to the many doubting clubs outside the five involved that, given the will and the involvement of the right people, multi-club promotions can be successful and long lasting.

From my point of view, as long as the venue remains available (and that is another story which I may regale you with another time) there is no reason why "5 Clubs" should not celebrate its Golden Jubilee in 2025. I doubt I shall be there though, but I hope our club will be.

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