Knights Rally

Deep in the dark depths of Surrey, something stirred. It was the 4th Knights rally, of course!

I missed the 3rd, but from the photos I have seen, it could have been the same field. I dare say there was no way they were going to be allowed to use the field the 1979 rally had been in, after the burning of the owner's wood supply.

Following the tent collapses at the Norman Rally the week before, those of us that needed to had replaced the unsuitable items from our temporary domiciles with much stronger items. Nine inch nails with cross bars welded on should provide a bit more resistance to wind & mud than the original equipment bits of bent wire, not that this weekend was very windy, just wet.

Many were having problems with the rain and some were seen wringing out their clothes or sleeping bags in the morning.

Despite the bad weather, many examples of vintage machinery were present, in amongst quite a few customised bikes.

By the Sunday morning, the field had soaked up quite a bit and getting fully loaded bikes all the way across the field to the exit proved to be a bit of an 'experience'.

- Phil (the Spill) Drackley


Start of quotation Those days I rode a Honda CB250RS.

Omigosh, that year was WET! As I recall the field was wheat stubble on clay, so there was very little to hold it together and it became a quagmire.

Being locals from South Croydon, we abandoned the field late Saturday night, biked home & returned the next day to collect our tents from what was an almost empty field.

I remember the local kids with their own crash helmets congregating on the A22 to scrounge rides. There was also a dinky humped-back bridge nearby that gave opportunities to get airborne if approached with enough speed. I also remember the Honda Goldwing contingent who were the most comprehensively equipped ralliers I've ever seen, but experienced the greatest difficulty in getting through the mud.

I remember Phil the Spill and have some photos, which I'll post when I get round to it. End of quotation

- Linda Pryke

Please scan those precious photos for us Linda. I hope you caught Phil the Spill in an em-bare-arsing position.