An interesting article written by club President, Alan Birkett, in 1986 for the Clubs 10 Year Anniversary.

As you know, the Crowthorne Schoolboy Trials Club will be 10 Years old in November 1986, and I would like to celebrate it by writing a short history of this.

Following are some of the Clubs achievements:-

We have had one of the best committees and members any club could wish for, and may I say, still has. In my opinion Crowthorne Schoolboy Trials Club is one of the best schoolboy trials clubs today. The club was formed by a few Mums and Dads in the Berkshire area, as the only club that would take 'C' & 'D' riders was Waltham Chase, 60 miles away.

Surrey Schoolboys in those days only catered for A and B class riders. In fact after just a few months Surrey would phone us when a new rider wanted to join them, to see if we had trained him or her. If we had trained them then they were accepted immediately. Our reputation for correct riding procedures were being noticed by other clubs also. Eventually Surrey would take C riders ONLY if trained by Crowthorne . I must say that one of our boys, Mark Culvin, became a Surrey Schoolboy Expert on a standard Yamaha 80, beating all the A's and B's  in the club, a great feat indeed.

Our very first attempt at 'C' & 'D' Nationals showed us we had the right formula. We took 7 riders to Yorkshire and riding as a team, as all Crowthorne National riders do, we took first and second with our other 5 lads in top twenty. This was particularly encouraging as the entry that day was over 60 riders. From that day on, the Crowthorne name was the name to beat.

We took on the Yorkshire Moors at the Time & Observation trials with laps over 13 miles long, our riders stayed with the local lads. We were learning very fast. We had the riding skill, stamina, aggression bike preparation and most important, sportsmanship. Whenever our club took on the country at National events our lads always rode as a team. Mums and Dads were stationed at strategic positions carrying spares, not just for their rider but for the whole team. Of course nobody has seen our National riders ride properly unless they themselves have ridden at a National Trial. At club trials they just let their hair down.

Our first pieces of land were very flat, in fact they were just fields and were named after the land owner. This was because if we put it in the papers where they were located, the cowboys would soon be there. So there was TIMS, SANDYS, BRIANS, JOHNS, land was gold dust. We catered in the early days for Home Made Specials, that is bikes made from road bikes. I must say some were very weird and I remember one had a bigger rear wheel than the front one (I rode it). Another had rag tied around the rear wheel for grip, and also one had a huge kick-start that had to be carried around by Dad. At scrutineering time you had to close your eyes, just as long as the wheels did not fall off and the throttle snapped shut they passed.

Watching these riders pushing and heaving these monsters through sections was unbelievable, and for  determination and sheer guts these riders could not be beaten, great days!!!.

Unfortunately like all sports, progress kills off these early classes. As the years went by we took on British Championships. In fact we held two C and D riders only rounds, and what a success they were. Ken Aylett was The Clerk of The Course for the first and Derek Stalker for the second. The Secretaries were Sue Birkett and Gill Peberdy, and what fantastic jobs they all did. But work wise it was very hard, and even though we abided by the ACU rules, as we always did anyway, we had some nasty things said about our club.

In the early days sections were made very long, and all were done with orange tape which looked quite nice when arriving at a trial. Today we use wire stakes which I must say is much easier for our Clerk of The Course, and saves so much time. Even so, to this day our sections are made for our top riders in their class to clean, yet our up and coming riders to fight for a three and eventually obtain a clean. This is most important, if all sections are cleanable

even for the beginner, then nothing is learnt. To Mums and Dads who's sons and daughters are just starting, please don't moan if they cant do it. If they get a three in their first trial, they are doing well.