Relationships rekindled

As the Villiers two-stroke crackled into life, I was transported back to the day in 1972 when, on a cold November morning, I made my trials debut on a similar Greeves Scottish in a Shepton Mallet open to centre event on the Mendip Hills in Somerset. After spending several weeks negotiating the humps and bumps of the building site near the rear of our family home, my expectations of setting the Wessex centre alight with my feet-up skills were sadly soon brought home to the harsh reality of how difficult proper trials really were.

In the Mendip mud, my well-used rear Dunlop tyre seemed to have no grip at all, and it seemed that I spent most of my time pushing the old Greeves through the sections. There were plenty of ‘fives, and before I fell off going across a steeply cambered field – which resulted in my nearside footrest being broken off and retirement – I only managed to achieve two cleans. It was my only trial on the 250cc 1960 Greeves – I soon moved on to more modern machines in the form of a MAR Ossa – but here I was 47 years on about to test ride a lovingly restored