This year celebrating the Centenary of The Horsforth Motor Club
Letter from Margaret Carter, ACU Ben Fund Treasurer
“On behalf of the Trustees and Administrative Committee of The Auto Cycle Union Benevolent Fund I am acknowledging receipt of the donation from Horsforth & DMC, paid into our bank today in the sum of £2,320.00. This being from your recent Annual Bob Owen Trial at Parkwood.
As you know (I tell you every year) the ACU Benevolent Fund was set up as a Registered Charity in April 1950 and we are celebrating our 100th Anniversary this year. The aim was, and still is, to support those within the sport who find themselves in financial difficulty, howsoever caused. Anyone who, at any time has been a member of an Affiliated Club or who is the dependent of a member, can apply for assistance. All money donated goes entirely to the Fund and there are no deductions for administrative costs as we all work on a voluntary basis. The Trustees and Committee rely very heavily upon donations, and we are extremely grateful for everything we receive.
We paid out just short of £59,000 in 2024 to those asking for help and I estimate that for 2025 it will be approx £100,000.00. This is a steep increase and I am sure you can appreciate, looking at these figures, every single penny counts.
The continued support from Horsforth is very much appreciated and never taken for granted. Please pass on to all your members the sincere thanks of our Trustees and Administrative Committee. I am proud to say that we help many people from all over the UK in times of need and often in very distressing circumstances. You can be assured that our aim is to go on to help many more in the coming years and your donation will enable us to do so.
Mike and I thoroughly enjoyed our time at Parkwood on the 8th November. Your team worked so hard, it was a fantastic event.
I trust that this Email will suffice as an “Official Receipt” for your records.
All the best and thank you once again.
Margaret Carter
The ACU Benevolent Fund – Treasurer”
Horsforth Trials Club – Bob Owen (Centenary) Conducted Report
It is always the hot topic of any trials conversation: how entries to trials are low. Yet on Saturday 8th November 2025, Horsforth and District Trials Club celebrated their 100 years, and we were humbled — blown away even — by the 29 entries in the Conducted Trial.
Thankfully, the rain held off on the day, but the rain leading up to it certainly made Parkwood Off-Road Centre rather muddy. Kids are like pigs — they love mud — so this made for an even more special day.
The Horsforth Conducted team had planned for an extra special event. Not only did they book the mud, but they also planned a Team Trial and then the Little Grippers Arena Trial (Kick Start for anyone old enough!).
With plenty to go at, the marking-out team were able to utilise a wide range of obstacles to test the youngsters’ skills and confidence, from rock slabs and muddy banking’s to tricky, deep 4×4 tyre track crossings.
With 14 entries, the White Route was certainly the most competitive of the day, and it was great to see so many first-timers coming to have a go. Every single one of them was fantastic to watch. But how did they get on?
White:
1st Place: Jax Nicholson, dropping only 2 marks all day — an outstanding ride.
2nd Place: With only 4 marks, all dropped on Section 6, was Huddersfield Falcons rider Max Greenwood.
3rd Place: On 10 marks, Horsforth rider Emma Mitchell.
Yellow Route riders certainly looked to have had the trickiest day in the mud, with scores across all entries higher than either of the other routes.
Yellow:
1st Place: Henry Coldwell, riding for Horsforth and making huge improvements each ride. He’ll not be long off the Red Route. Dropping 21 marks, with 2 sporadic 5s on sections he had cleaned — did Parkwood bite back?
2nd Place: Also riding for Horsforth, Oliver Clark finished with 26 marks. A superb ride from Oliver and another rider progressing upwards with every event.
3rd Place: Riding for the neighbors at Yeadon & Guiseley, Adam Carter finished on an impressive 31 marks. This is Adam’s first season competing and only his 5th-ish trial — yet another great rider making massive leaps forward every ride. Adam has the best commitment, pushing himself out of his comfort zone, and to see his face with disbelief — almost shock — that he achieved what he set out to do is golden. Well done, Adam, keep at it!
50/50 Route
Riders ride Yellow (Middle) routes unless the start card says to ride Red (Hard). A great category for those who want to transition up to Red Route full time.
1st Place: Someone delighted this category exists — Mason Baxter. Yellow was becoming not so challenging, but confidence wasn’t quite ready for full-time Red. Well, Mason, your ability and determination are indeed there in abundance. Believe in yourself. Finishing on 23 marks is a great achievement.
2nd Place: Alfie Dykes, finishing on 29 marks, with Section 6’s difficult muddy hill climb — and a turn around a tree — taking the majority of his marks. Great ride, Alfie.
3rd Place: Making it a 1–2–3 for Horsforth, Theodore Jepson dropped 40 marks on the day.
Red Route
Surprisingly low scores on the Red Route. The marking-out team thought they weren’t going to give them such an easy day, yet these mini pros certainly proved them wrong.
1st Place: Maisie Danes, who is quickly getting up to British Round level on the Beta after dropping the OSET, dropped just 15 marks all day.
2nd Place: Tom Mitchell, only 1 mark behind Danes — a great ride from Tom.
3rd Place: Also making it a Horsforth 1–2–3, Benjamin Swainson dropped 19 marks, with an out-of-character 5 on Section 1’s slanted rock slab costing him the top spot.
This has certainly been a very close class over the past few years, with these riders always great to watch and report on. A special mention to Joshua Bancroft and Wilf Fawcett, both taking on the Red Route riders and showing they have the ability to put the cat amongst the pigeons, finishing close behind them.
But that’s not all — the day was packed with more.
Within the trial, riders were split into two teams. Although not riding physically together, they had an extra competition running.
2nd Place – Red Team (343 marks dropped)
Tom Mitchell / Benjamin Swainson / Wilf Fawcett / Theo Jepson / Mason Baxter / Henry Coldwell / Freddie Moore / Jude Horner / Ivy Inman / Oliver Stocks / William MacAlister / Harrison Cockshott / Nate Nicholson / Alfie Fitzpatrick
1st Place – Green Team (329 marks dropped)
Josh Bancroft / Maisie Danes / Buddy Carrington / Alfie Dykes / Adam Carter / Oliver Clark / Ned Fawcett / Toby Milburn / Max Greenwood / Emma Mitchell / Oliver Bunting / Franky Devine / Harlow Barker / Jax Nicolson
And it still doesn’t end there! After a short lunch break to fuel up, we headed into the Little Grippers Arena Trial.
The course was set out on the field at Parkwood Off-Road Centre, and the rain leading up to the day certainly made it entertaining for all.
Heading out of the start gate, riders flew down into the roundabout where their cornering skills came into play. From the roundabout, it was up the hill through the slalom poles, testing their ability to change direction quickly multiple times.
Out of the slalom, riders headed over a see-saw — although some misunderstood the concept, and the only “see/saw” they saw was a ramp!
From the see-saw, riders had to test their ability to traverse a slim obstacle — the bridge. The Red Route bridge went over an air-conditioning unit (sponsored by TMG Air Solutions), Yellow riders crossed a lower bridge (loaned by Si Armstrong at OSET), and White riders used a loading ramp (loaned by Chris Mitchell from the back of his van).
Once off the bridges, riders blasted downhill where they were tested on their stopping skills on slippery grass — stopping to burst a balloon — before heading off over the oil drums and into what became a very muddy hairpin corner, then a final sprint to the finish.
Lots to contend with, yet lots of fun and great skills shown by all riders. But how did they get on?
RED:
Tom Mitchell – 1 – 40s
Benjamin Swainson – 2 – 41s
Mason Baxter – 3 – 46s
Josh Bancroft – 4 – 52.36
Theo Jepson – 5 – 52.37
Wilf Fawcett – 6 – 55s
Maisie Danes – 7 – 56s
Alfie Dykes – 8 – 58s
YELLOW:
Henry Coldwell – 1 – 45s
Ned Fawcett – 2 – 49.12
Buddy Carrington – 3 – 49.47
Oliver Clark – 4 – 50s
Adam Carter – 5 – 1:01
Toby Milburn – 6 – 1:05
Freddie Moore – 7 – 1:10
WHITE:
Emma Mitchell – 1 – 43s
Jax Nicholson – 2 – 44s
Jude Horner – 3 – 48.32
William MacAlister – 4 – 48.94
Max Greenwood – 5 – 51.19
Oliver Bunting – 6 – 51.44
Nate Nicholson – 7 – 56s
Alfie Fitzpatrick – 8 – 58s
Franky Devine – 9 – 1:11
Ivy Inman – 10 – 1:14
Harrison Cockshott – 11 – 1:26
Oliver Stocks – 12 – 1:38
To end, thank you to Chris Bancroft, Tom Danes, Chris Mitchell, Faye Mitchell, Joe Dykes, Jo Dykes, and Tom Green for setting up and running the Little Grippers.
Thank you to all the observers — having all six made the day much smoother:
Simon Moore / George Fyfe / Gordon Jackson / Jo Dykes / Tom (Mia) Green / Harriet Swainson
Thank you to our sponsors who made the awards and goodie bags possible:
Trials UK / Tom Green (TMG Air Solutions) / Trials Print (formerly KUDU) / Danny Cockshott (Trials GP Great Britain) / Neil Gaunt at Riverside Quarry
Please feel free to share videos and pictures.
More will come in Due Course from Nige Pearson And Emilie Bancroft
Report: Chris Bancroft
An ‘Open’ event so open to all ACU members, stop allowed, 11am start
The Parkwood cafe will be open – please support the cafe to make it worthwhile for them
to open at future events
| 3 Laps of 14 sections (final number of sections and laps to be decided on the day) |
| An enjoyable days ride for all rider levels – Bob Owen 4 route sections pdf |
plus kids conducted course subject to minimum entry numbers,
There are classes for all with ages and capabilities with 4 routes for both the main and conducted riders plus for the small wheels there will be a fun Little Grippers Arena type event after their main one.
To commemorate the day all riders and officials will receive a memento and there will be a few extra awards for the conducted riders so please get your entries in early as this will help us with the organisation.
NB THIS EVENT IS ON A SATURDAY
Please bring a few extra quid to throw in the charity box
and observers please note this is the one trial in the year where time is given freely
Who’s Bob Owen and why do we have a long standing trial named after him?
The Bob Owen memorial trial is now in its 37th year, so I was interested to find out more about Bob and why we are so dedicated to his name.
Bob was a Horsforth member, but a member with a difference. He had fingers in lots of pies!
Mr Owen not only rode Grass track and Scrambles but by all accounts was a well respected Speedway referee.
Did this get the respect for a trial to be named after him?
Nope, Bob not only was a very active HDMC member but also heavily involved in the ACU, The Centre and a delegate to National Council.
Did all this get the respect? Hmmm, getting there, certainly gave a lot back to our sport.
ACU Benevolent Fund! As an ACU member do you know about this Charity? Bob did.
Bob Owen amongst all the other aspects he gave back to our sport, took it upon himself to raise money to gift to the Ben Fund. He did this mainly by car boot sales selling all sorts of items and memorabilia.
That is why the Bob Owen memorial trial is named what it is, as he gave so much to our sport, and that’s why proceeds raised from this trial are still gifted to this amazing charity.
To date, HDMC has raised £69,203 towards its chosen charities with majority going towards Ben Fund. Other charities did include Children in need.
I have first hand gratitude to the Ben Fund charity, who came to the support of someone extremely close to me after a serious motorcycle incident. So I am personally thankfully it’s there. But it is only there by donations and fund raising activities from its members.
1988 was the first ever Bob Owen trial.
Pre 65 was won by our very own Graham Wilson
There were 119 entries, with some names you may know.
> Hemingway brothers in the B class
> Martin Crosswaite riding C class with dad Neil Crosswaite losing out to Graham by 1 mark in Pre 65
> J Liddamore on his 175 Yamaha loosing out to Ben Hemingway by…. Well a fair bit to be honest.
So, make the time, get your entires in, support your clubs ‘it’s an open trial’ and support this great charity whilst having a great day out.
Entries open Monday 21st October.
Let’s look to beat the entries of 119 from 1988.
Same format as our club trials, so Main course has 4 options of routes.
Easy / Middle / 50:50 / Hard and a separate Kids Conducted.
Hope to see you all there.
Please note, it is Remembrance Sunday weekend. A 2 minute silence is held before the start horn sounds at 11:00
Please consider the time and ensure no engines are running, and we invite you to remember all those Human and Animal who we have lost through conflict.
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