RtG The Daily Dispatch - Generations 2022 - web single pages - Flipbook - Page 10
Day 3: Durham Dales, 26 March 2023
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Another short shower, courtesy of pre-war winners Michael Birch and Emily Anderson in their 1934 Talbot AV105
Capri. Last year they’d been standing by the side of the
road watching the rally and decided it looked like a great
way to spend a weekend. Channelling their inner Bodie and
Doyle they had rushed out to prepare a Capri and one year
later arrived on the start line.
The Against All Odds trophy went to Cathie and Maxwell
Clarke in the little blue MG Midget. This car wasn’t even
supposed to be here, the crew had originally entered in
a similarly diminutive Mini, but the cruel hand of fate
intervened and it didn’t make it. Determined to take part
the crew found a suitable replacement, rushed it to Slaley
and, after a few minor teething troubles, gave a thoroughly
good account of themselves.
Fred Gallagher, the Rally Director, was once again a happy
man. “The weather might not have been as kind to us as
last year, but everything else slotted into place beautifully,
and it’s great to see that so many people from such a wide
age range had such a great time.”
“We’ve already started planning for next year and from
the responses we’ve had today i think there are a few entries
on their way.”
Mark Appleton who, along with Martyn Taylor had
brought the event to life was, as usual after such a rally,
tired but happy. “The idea was to put together something
which was a good introduction to endurance rallying but
also gave the crews a real sense of achievement. We needed
to be ambitious with our planning and, with the help we
got on the ground, we made it work. The route has been
brilliant, we’ve had some great venues and it’s obvious that
everybody has had a really good time.”
Finally we can’t sign off without thanking the dozens
of marshals who gave up their time to make this second
Generations Rally such a success. Chief Marshal Bob
Hargreaves put out the call and they responded in droves:
father and sons, fathers and daughters, husbands and wives
and even grandparents and grandchildren. They grabbed
their clipboards, wound up their clocks and beat a path to
the nearest layby. Without them we couldn’t have done it!
www.rallytheglobe.com
