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Don Barrow & Ian Whitworth 80 Gravel Lane Wilmslow - Cheshire - 1952

I suppose my first navigating job was when my school pal Ian Whitworth and I, who was also my 'best man' at my wedding, went on our summer holidays in 1952 to his sisters in Penzance, Cornwall, a one way trip of about 350 miles. We rode a tandem from my Home Village of Wilmslow, Cheshire, with me navigating on the back and boy was it hard work. I used a simple cycling map which covered the whole Country, a bit vague to say the least, but not knowing any better I made do with what I had. It certainly taught me not to 'wrong slot' because it was even harder back tracking to find the correct road. Camping by the roadside, we took seven days to reach our destination. However when making a big push one evening to attain our time schedule we rode well into the darkness down in the West Country, until we were fit to drop. Next morning we were awakened in the early hours to the sounds of car horns blaring past our tent. On casually taking a peek at what all the noise was about; can you imagine our embarrassment to find that we had pitched our tent in the middle of a dual carriageway. Within 5 minutes flat, we had hastily packed up and were on our way. Boy were we glad to see Penzance; needless to say we came back on the train.

Having taken an interest in following my cousins John & Geoff Whittaker of Knutsford,on various Rallies, I was persuaded to have a go myself. I first started Rallying in November 1956 on daylight events as a Driver, but finding a good Navigator was the hardest part (what's changed). By looking over my Navigators shoulder I could see which way we wanted to go long before I was half heartedly instructed to do so; some times I would simply ask him to hold the map facing me, so that I could Navigate myself. This eventually persuaded me to take up the map side of Rallying. And so in 1957 my next aim was to find a good Driver and I was cajoled by my cousins to approach a local chap George Hulme whom I knew. I knocked on his door one Sunday afternoon and enquired whether he was after a Navigator, "how good are you" he asked, "I don't know" was my answer. And so a suitable 20 Mile test run in his Renault Dauphine was arranged on a November night, after my compulsory night school. It had snowed during the day and froze in the early evening to provide a treacherous route on the by-roads; not forgetting that gritting machines were a rarity in those days and that the minor roads were usually ignored in the 1950's. However with these drastic conditions I soon developed a fairly safe system of calling distances and bends which I continued to use throughout my Rallying career with devastating results and I still use the same system today. This preparation and much more led us to entering our first Rally together.

John Porter, John Hamlett, Don Barrow, David Hulme, George Bentley & Harry Evans Knutsford & District Motor Club - 1957

George Hulme & Don Barrow - Renault Dauphine North Wales - R.A.F.A. Rally - 1958

During 1958, the Lancs & Cheshire Motor Club ran their Tri-colour Rallies; 50 Mile routes on the first Monday of January, February and March. Entered as novices in a field of 60 cars we won both the January and February events outright and picked up a 3rd overall on the R.A.F.A. North Wales Rally restricted event out of 120 starters. Unfortunately this elevated us straight into the experts class, I say unfortunately because the standard of competition was far higher. That said we ran in the expert`s class for the final Tri-colour event and tied for 1st place, not bad for beginners! We spent the remainder of 1958 picking up the odd win, team and class awards amongst our tougher opponents on restricted Rallies, but the main object was to beat our arch rivals and competitive friends Reg and Terry McBride.

One embarrassing event I half heartedly went on was arranged by my Father for me to navigate a card playing pal of his, Bill Harding. Bill worked for Reynolds Chains and it was their annual motor event which he reckoned he could easily win. He drove a 2 stroke Wartburg saloon and always appeared in large clouds of smoke with loads of noise, on maximum revs. It turned out that this prestigious event was nothing more than an all-day Sunday treasure hunt; these events were not my style, I hated them. I tried every excuse in the book, but Father said 'No Way' it was all arranged. Starting at 09.01hrs, one of the questions en-route was, what was the date and inscription on the front of a farmhouse headstone. Imagine this, we arrived at 09.30hrs on maximum revs in a cloud of smoke, parked in front of this roadside farmhouse which still had its curtains drawn. Bill dashed to the centre of the front lawn and with hands on his hips, started to shout out the answer. Before he had finished, the curtains were snatched apart, the window thrown open and an irate farmer still in his night gown wanted to know, "what the hell do you think your doing". Bill replied "we're on a Rally, I'll have you know", at which the farmer started to raise his shotgun. Meanwhile back in the car I had sunk well below the dashboard through embarrassment and urged Bill to "lets get the hell out of here, fast". Needless to say, we left with the rev counter well into the red, in even larger clouds of smoke and what's more to the point, he couldn't remember what the answer was.

Brian Harper, Ron Crellin, Julian Easton, Pam Haggie, Graham Robson & Don Barrow Capesthorne Hall, Macclesfield Mini Miglia Rally - 1959

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e Gill Barrow & Syd Lawton (Marshals) Greenhall Trophy Rally - 1960

I started to keep a logbook of all the Rallies that I had competed on, showing the Rally, Driver, Date, Car and Result. This was kept religiously until I retired from competition and unfortunately I accidentally burnt it when I was clearing out all my Rallying paraphernalia in 1976! Thus my autobiography is fairly sketchy. If any kind soul has an historical record of certain years of my Rallying, I would surely like to hear from them. (At this Time Control, my wife is just getting a 'polite' rocket for not hurrying up when Marshalling)

Unable to achieve top ten finishes on restricted Rallies and with the 'beat Reg McBride' objective in mind, this enabled us to climb to higher results as the year progressed. And by the time 1959 arrived we were both more experienced and our seeded starting order was getting better on every Rally. However at the end of the season cost got the better of my Driver, I then teamed up with a Macclesfield lady hairdresser, Pam Haggie, 105e Anglia. She needed a lot of encouraging, but with my system and her driving we put many a good all male crew in their place on numerous occasions. However on the 1960 Mini Miglia which finished at Capesthorne Hall, Near Macclesfield and with a lot of pressure from me, we finished a magnificent 3rd overall from an entry list of the Country's finest crews; there being only three cars without fails. This pressure was obviously too much, she entered few events afterwards. I was then asked by Reg McBride, whether I would do a few events with him? Needless to say I jumped at the chance!

Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e on the case of another win in Reg's famous 'Tent' Bernie Rally - 1961

Horace Beighnton, Julian Easton, Don Barrow, Mike Sutcliffe, George Humble & Graham Robson Breakfast Finish - Sunday Mercury Rally - 1961 Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e Just about to depart from a TC in Wales 12th - Bolton National Rally - 1961

Being a young lad of 23, I visited Reg at his Home and I remarked about the Birthday cards on display, yes it's my 50th. And although we worked extremely well as a team, it was difficult to make conversation going to and from events. As a Driver he was very forceful and once an event had started you could switch Reg on and off like a light with devastating results. Reg was totally committed to achieving the best possible result and although nothing was ever discussed prior to an event; I became similarly minded and found that preparation was the secret to any success.

Events were mainly 'Plot & Bash' where the unknown route was presented to you as you departed from a Start or Time Control. The secret to success on this type of event was, on Friday nights prior to Saturday's Rally, I would plot up Map References in a darkened room as fast as possible to polish up on the art of 'Plot & Bash'. Come Saturday night I was still all switched on and ready to go utilising Reg's famous plotting 'Tent', I consider I was one of the fastest plotters on the move and still am today? The events in this era were nothing short of 200-250 mile Grand Prix's, run at more like 40mph averages rather than the legal maximum of 30mph, using every narrow and roughish gated cart tracks the organisers could throw at you. Which when added to the 'to and from start' mileage could add up to a 500-600 mile trips. Fortunately 'office hours' Rallying had not yet been invented. And all credit must go to the Drivers who could drive in anger and yet drive that fine line of not pranging their cars, well most of the Drivers I Navigated for, slotted into that category. The modern luxury of service crews and trailored cars to and from events was unheard of. Most Rally Drivers competed simply because they could afford to and most Navigators like myself had to have a free ride, times were hard, I was very lucky if I could muster' ten shillings', (that's 50 pence in today`s money - mind you 50p would buy 6.5 pints of beer) to take as spends on a Rally.

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e trousers in socks for opening gates on muddy farm tracks. Speed was of the essence both in and out of the car - Refuel - Express & Star Rally - 1961

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e The old motor certainly earned it's corn to score this emphatic win - It was 'as new' for the following weekend London Rally - 1961

In the year of 1961, Gill and I were married and in the same year I competed on 42 events, OK some were small mid-week Clubbies, but needless to say I was extremely unpopular at Home. However Gill would sometimes spectate at various Time Controls on local events. 1961 was the inauguration year of the Motoring News Rally Championship of which we finished 3rd overall. One vivid memory was the London Motor Club's, National 'London Rally' which had 240 starters, they stipulated in the regulations that no seeding would take place; however there was no mention of 'handicapping'. And prior to the October event, Reg and I had been on a great winning streak. However when the entry list appeared, the first twenty starters read like a 'who's who' of Southern Rally crews, three pages later we found ourselves at 199, yes One Hundred and Ninety Nine! We left the start three hours and nineteen minutes after the first car and 350 miles later, we promptly 'stuffed it up em' with a clean sheet (on Marshal's clocks, at that!) and Ftd's on the Selective Sections, a brilliant win. November saw us retire from the RAC Rally with engine problems.

1962 saw some epic battles in the 'MN' series and by now Reg was on his third, Ford 105e Anglia suitable prepared for the job. With umpteen wins to our credit we finished 2nd overall in the 'MN' Championship and 1st in the BTRDA Silver Star Championships. Once again we retired from the RAC Rally when Pam Haggie & Sheila Taylor Anglia 105e hit our stationary car from behind at a great rate of knots, rendering our vehicle into an ultra 'short chassis' 105e. I suppose you could say she gave us a 'short back and sides'. In early November, Stockport Motor Club ran their Regent Rally in the Peak District of Derbyshire, and I competed with Derek Astle of 'Healey 3000' fame in his ex-works experimental Austin 1100. We were in scintillating form, until the gearbox cried enough and we retired at a TC in Staffordshire. We eventually cadged a lift to the Finish in the back of 'one of many' Austin Champ's which BAMA had entered. We were doubled up with laughing to ourselves, because we had to hang like two baboons from the steel hoop which supported the canvas covering. And with a Corporal on the maps and a Private doing the Driving - who answered every instruction by shouting, "SAH" (Yes Sir), the instructions went like this. "Driver turn Right at the T Junction", "SAH", "Driver turn Left at the next Junction", "SAH", eventually we came to a dead end, "Driver you've come down the wrong damn road", "SAH", "Hells Bells man, turn the bloody thing round", "SAH" "Yes SAH". A hilarious outing indeed, but as you can see from the photo, Derek is not using his seat belt. He hated them and always rallied in this fashion, unfortunately this led to him losing his life on the 1963 Tulip Rally when he went off in his Healey 3000 and side swiped a tree. Roy Fidler & I were the next car up the Hill Climb and we wondered why he was not at the Special Stage Finish area. Needless to say we were both gutted to learn of the outcome a few minutes later.

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e watched over by Bob Rigby Start of the RAC Rally - Blackpool - 1962 Derek Astle & Don Barrow - ex Works Austin 1100 Derbyshire - Regent Rally - 1962

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e Start in Wolverhampton Express & Star Rally - 1963

Starting in Wolverhampton on the Express & Star Rally always drew great crowds of spectators simply because the newspaper gave it plenty of publicity. As you can just see, Reg always smoked cigarettes and I had to endure the car being full of cigarette smoke, which when mixed with the smell of the engine oil made you feel pretty queasy. However when the sections started to get tighter it was out with the cigs and down to some hectic driving, especially on Michelin Cross Ply tyres. The 105e engines when bored out to their maximum size always used gallons of oil in competition and it was another of my duties to dash out and top up the engine, if and when we had a spare minute or so at Time Controls. Around this time, Reg picked me up enroute to a Rally Start and explained that he had managed to get round the 'emergency oil top ups' by using an SU fuel pump connected to an oil tank in the boot with a narrow tube running down the dip stick tube. Once the Rally was under way and after about 30 miles he would switch the pump on, which when pumping oil, ticked about every 10 seconds. Not realising that when the block was bored to it's maximum size and the cylinder head bolts were torqued down, the thin cylinder walls became distorted, the pistons being a perfect fit at both the top and bottom of the cylinder bore, but halfway up or down they were slightly slack, thus allowing engine oil to get past the pistons, hence the slight blue exhaust haze when on 'Max Attack' duties.

1963 was much the same as the previous year, but we triumphantly won the 'MN' and 'Silver Star' Championships convincingly; winning a Championship requires skill, determination and good teamwork. Attempting to retain your crown is even far harder to achieve.

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e Event stopped at the halfway halt due to snowstorms. With 'early type' spikes on the front and chains on the rear we trotted off Home with the Trophies Oslo Trophy Rally - 1963

Graham Robson & Don Barrow Plotting up prior to the epic Yorkshire Rally - 1963

The Yorkshire Rally, they were always long Rallies usually run on a Friday night and Saturday morning, 350 milers, using the most roughest rock strewn tracks that Mike Wilson (C of C) could find. The famous year, 1963, of the snow storms, the organisers altered the rules at the last minute with many roads being impassable. So what they did was to leave the TCs in their original positions and you could drive through them WD (wrong direction of approach), turn around just beyond and then return and book in using the correct approach with no penalty, this still caught a lot of folk out with WDs. Reg McBride & myself finished 2nd, much to our disgust! Approaching from the South around the Ripon / Thirsk area, we encountered a ferocious snow storm which blanketed the whole Cleveland Hills and blocked even the main roads. You had to make a major decision to get to the TCs in the Grosmont area, I returned back to Helmsley and across to (totally convinced I was doing the wrong thing) Scarborough and up to Whitby then back towards Grosmont. These roads were only just on, there was a TC in the village on the West side of Grosmont, with Grosmont (O.O.B.) 'Out Of Bounds', and another TC, East of Grosmont, we were meant to use the white road which skirted to the North of the village, but it was blocked with 10' high drifts. With cutting out a large section around the Cleveland Hills, we naturally arrived in the Grosmont area with 55 minutes in hand and with the white road being blocked I walked through the O.O.B.s and could see the Marshals in position to the West, not wanting to be accused of walking through an O.O.B.s I returned and reported to Reg. We decided to wait outside the flag at the TC, to the East, for our due time and booked in on schedule time and then proceeded through all TCs to the Finish. When the results came out, Geoff Allen & Barry Hughes were 1st, they got the TC, West of Grosmont and obviously drove through the unmanned O.O.B. in the village, we were furious and protested, but as there was no marshal on the O.O.B. there was no proof.

We also demolished the first Manx Trophy Rally in true Reg McBride - Don Barrow fashion. The Manx Trophy Rally being one of the events where we had a string of Seven Outright Wins, on Seven consecutive week-ends. This Rally was all on 'closed roads' and every junction was controlled by the island Police force, we were very proud to be the first winners of the Manx Trophy Rally which was organised by Ecurie Cod Fillet under the guidance of Roy Fidler, Graham Robson, John Brown and John Hopwood.

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e showing the grip of Dunlop SP3s, and NO we didn't roll! Manx Trophy Rally - 1963

Roy Fidler & Don Barrow - Works Triumph TR4 On the Start line - Hotel Huis ter Duin, Noordwijk - Tulip Rally - 1963

I got my first 'Works' Co-Drive with the Works Factory Triumph Team partnering Roy Fidler of 'Ecurie Cod Fillet' fame in a Works Team TR4 (Registration No 6 VC) on the Tulip Rally in Holland, finishing 3rd in Class and winning the team award. I flew Home from the Tulip on Saturday evening, arriving in Manchester Airport at 18.45hrs and quickly left Home with Reg McBride at 19.45hrs for the start of the Bernie Rally at Queensferry, a round of the 'MN' series, which we promptly won. The scoring system on the 'MN' series, was 10 points for a win and you could only count your best 15 scores of the season, out of a possibility of 20 events. And to give you some idea of the 'steam rolling' which we crushed the opposition with, we won the Championship on 145 points! With 10 Outright Wins and 5 Second Overall placings, beat that if you can 'Gonga Din' !

I also competed on the Welsh International Rally with my old pal Phil Simister (Main Ford dealer of Macclesfield), the event featured some Stages on the Eppynt Military ranges. Halfway through the event we were approaching the Finish of one Stage at a high rate of knots at about 03.00hrs, not realising our speed and wishing to be a 'smart Alec' I wound down the window and held out the Time Card to save those vital seconds when clocking in. To my amazement and total disbelief the force of the wind rushing by, snatched the Time Card from my grasp. We stopped at the Stage Finish and the Marshal assured us he would enter our Finish Time, if we could produce our Time Card. Well we searched with torches for 15 minutes or so, when I heard Phil shout, "hey come over here" he was shining his torch onto a RED sign displaying a 'Scull & Crossbones' with a caption saying 'DANGER KEEP OUT' 'MINED AREA'. I was a bit alarmed to say the least and casually mentioned, which way do you reckon is the safest way back, Phil replied, "your'e the Navigator mate, I'll follow you"! Needless to say with no Time Card we had to retire, most embarrassing. I finished out the year by competing on the RAC with Phil again in his Cortina GT. I think we finished about 12th overall.

Phil Simister & Don Barrow - Ford MK1 Cortina GT on the Start line at Loton Park being flagged away by Tom Romanis Welsh International - 1963

Don Barrow - Manx Trophy Rally 1963 Roger Willis, Castrol's Competition Manager presented me with this signed photo Reg McBride & Don Barrow Both proud members of 'Ecurie Cod Fillet' Triumphant victors of the very first Isle of Man - Manx Trophy Rally - 1963

Ecurie Cod Fillet appeared around the 1955 era and evolved around the Fidlers For Fish, Fish and Chip shop emporium in Stockport, Cheshire. Team entries on events were usually entered as ECF Team A, ECF Team B etc, needless to say that an Ecurie Cod Fillet Team would normally win the Team prize. During Stuart Turner's spell as the 'Verglas' Editor of Motoring News, (this was a sub-section devoted entirely to Rallying, which took up about half the news print in every publication) the MN Championship was launched in January 1961. The ECF powers of be, laid down that the criteria to become an elite member of ECF, was that you had to Win a Motoring News Rally outright in order to qualify. Naturally there were very few members during this initial period and those that qualified could buy and proudly display an ECF windscreen sticker - as per the example above. Both Reg and myself qualified ourselves many times in this first year and the ranks grew even bigger as years progressed. The powers that be were inundated with pleas and requests to be allowed into the ranks, but no chance, as Raymond Baxter once said, we are members of the most elitist club of motor sporting personnel in existence, however as the years rolled by, the rules were relaxed. It was all a case of asking at the right time, especially if one of the heirachy were stood at the bar about to buy a round of drinks; providing you picked up the tab, you were in. Over the years of course a few motor sporting celebrities were invited to become members, together with a string of personal friends who just happened to ask. About every 4-5 years there is a re-union where most folk attend, all trying damned hard to look their youngest and slimmest for the occasion. It was founded by Roy Fidler and John Hopwood, John was the main driving force and produced his witty bulletin about twice a year. A very special Club, with very special members. Sadly John Hopwood passed away on October 27th 2006, where about 300 members paid their last respects to a true Motorsport enthusiast at his service in his home Town of Hyde, Cheshire.

Just prior to the Start of the Welsh Marches Rally in Craven Arms, a local guy said it was snowing heavily on top of the Long Mynd, which is where the route went, so we took a gamble and fitted chains to the rear wheels, much to the delight of other competitors who were laughing their heads off. Well we left the Start and within 2 miles we encountered heavy snow which we ploughed through and left the others floundering. The accompanying picture appeared in Motoring News and when Reg saw it, he was most upset, he could not believe how big he looked.

Reg McBride & Don Barrow - Ford Anglia 105e Fitting chains - Start of the Welsh Marches 1963

We scored a total of 168 points and you could only score on ten events, therefore we had to drop some good points giving us a grand total of 139.

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Motoring News Rally Champion 1963 ~ 1964 ~ 1967 ~ 1970 • RAC Rally Champion 1967
BTRDA Gold Star Rally Champion 1970 • BTRDA Silver Star Rally Champion 1962 ~ 1963 ~ 1967

Don Barrow the 'King of the Navigators' [Eric Bailey - Motoring Correspondent - The Daily Telegraph 16/12/95]

© Copyright Don Barrow 1999 - 2008

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