Motoring Club: R E Gillies Rally
From 1971, the BMB Motoring Club entered teams in the TSB national motor rallying competition for the R E Gillies Trophy. The BMB
team of three cars comprised Steve Pink & Derek Horner (Triumph Spitfire); Brian & Freda Godwin (Vauxhall Cresta); and David
& Jeanette Parkes (Ford Cortina 1600E). Individual entries included Maureen Saunders (BMLC 1100) and Bob Timmins (MG). After
completing a route of five stages based on the North Staffordshire area, BMB results were:
David & Jeanette
Parkes - 10th
Maureen Saunders - 37th
Bob Timmins - 45th
Brian & Freda Godwin
- 54th
Steve Pink & Derek Horner - did not finish
September 3rd 1972 saw the BMB's second
attempt in the rally, this time on a route through North Wales. The team of three cars finished 6th with individual results being:
David & Jeanette Parkes (Ford Cortina 1600E) - 12th
Steve Pink & Brian Godwin (Triumph Spitfire) -
23rd
Bob Timmins & John Curtis (MG) - 36th
On October 20th 1974 the rally started at Neston on
The Wirral, followed a route through Wales, and finished at Runcorn in Cheshire. The Bank's team equalled its 1972 result, achieving
6th place out of 13 teams, and won its first trophy with Steve Pink being awarded the Best Navigator Trophy. Individual results were:
Chris Houghton & Steve Pink (Vauxhall Viva) - 17th
Brian Godwin & Paul Burrows (Austin Allegro 1500 Special)
- 21st
David & Jeanette Parkes (Ford Cortina XL) - 29th
May 4th 1975 saw the rally being held in the Yorkshire
Dales. The BMB team was placed 7th with individual results as follows:
David & Jeanette Parkes
(Ford Cortina 1600GXL) - 12th
Steve Pink & Chris Houghton (BMLC Mini Clubman) - 32nd
Brian Godwin & Keith Higgins (Austin Allegro 1500 Special) - 38th
Gordon Hancock and John Rogers achieved
success in 1977 (when the rally was based on Mold) and 1978, when the competition started from the TSB College in Solihull. Driving
a Vauxhall Viva, they finished 2nd in the first of these two years and won the L&N Trophy for Best Vauxhall the following year.
That year the Bank's team gained 3rd place.
No further major successes were achieved until after the Bank's
amalgamation with TSB of the Midlands in 1979. The following images from this post-November 20th 1979 period are outside the timescale
of this website, but they reflect typical aspects of rallies up to 1979.
The first photograph shows the car of David Parkes (driver)
and Brian Godwin (navigator) in the 1980 Rally that started from Edgar Street, the ground of Hereford United Football Club (then
in Division 4 of the Football League). The back seats of the car were occupied by Jeanette Parkes and Freda Godwin. The 1980 (April
20th) Rally was the first time that entrants were given a subsidy towards their hotel and travel expenses - thanks to the recent formation
of the TSB National Sports Council.
The Lord Mayor of Hereford (sporting a TSB cap) flagged off the entrants, and later in the evening
presented the prizes at the Green Dragon Hotel in Hereford, after the competitors had navigated a route through the Vale of Evesham,
the Cotswolds, and the Wye Valley. The Ford Cortina GL Automatic in the photograph was a Bank company car, which may be the reason
that the TSB of Birmingham and the Midlands' Regional General Manager - Joe Hoccom - is looking slightly concerned for the welfare
of one of the Bank's assets; or it may be because it was a very cold morning. Mr Hoccom was Chairman of the TSB National Sports Council,
and is at the rear of the car, talking to Ray Morris of Liverpool TSB - Chairman of the TSB Group Motoring Association, and the main
driving force behind the success of the R E Gillies Rally. David Parkes was Treasurer of the TSB Group Motoring Association.
The 1980
Rally was won by TSB Lancashire & Cumbria, but the following year's event (based on Harrogate) was won by TSB Birmingham &
The Midlands. The 1981 event was slightly unusual in that the teams comprised four cars instead of the usual three - with the best
three cars in each team scoring. Ex-BMB staff in this winning team were Richard Snow, Jeanette Parkes, David Parkes, and Brian Godwin.
The colour photograph shows David and Jeanette Parkes, and Brian and Freda Godwin at the Harrogate starting point.
(Tragically,
some years later, Richard Snow - Chairman of the BMB's Staff Association from 1971 - was drowned whilst on holiday in Spain. A trophy
for the best Vauxhall driver in the Rally was named after Richard in 1989.)
The 1982 Rally was based at Oxford, with the Cotswolds
again featuring in the route. The third and fourth photographs were taken on this event, and show the same car and crew as the
first two photographs. David Parkes and Brian Godwin are seen receiving the Trust Company Cup for the Best Ford. David and Brian were
the only members of BMB staff who competed in every R E Gillies Rally from 1971 to 1992.
Further success for TSB Birmingham &
The Midlands was achieved in 1983 when the Bank's two teams finished 2nd and 7th. Yorkshire & Lincoln TSB took the team award
with a score of 83 penalties;
Birmingham's 'A' team had 0 Sections failed plus 107 penalties for its second place:
- Peter
Bickley & Mark Johnson (3rd place) 18 penalties
- John Lucas & Alan Roberts (13th place & winners of the Mercantile
Credit Company Trophy for leading Talbot entry) 34 penalties
- David Parkes & Brian Godwin (23rd place) 55 penalties
The
'B' team scored 2 Sections failed plus 103 penalties:
- R S Smith & R M Rea (7th place & winners of the Altrincham
Cup for leading BL entry) 23 penalties
- G J Davies & Ron Cridge (9th place) 27 penalties
- P Caddick & M Craddock
(56th place) 2 Sections failed plus 53 penalties
Competing as an individual entry, Richard Snow & B Stokes finished 30th with
1 Section failed plus 15 penalties.
After 1983, the competing teams represented Administrative Regions rather than individual
TSBs. In 1990, Birmingham Region entered two teams:
Team 'A': Peter Bickley & Mark Johnson; John Lucas & Alan Roberts; Gethin
Jones & Andrew Jones
Team 'B': David & Diane Goring; David Parkes & Brian Godwin; Roy Brotherton & Susan Cumberledge
"R E GILLIES TROPHY" WINNERS
|
Year
|
Area
|
Winners
|
Finish
|
| 1964 |
Peak District |
Liverpool |
Chester |
| 1965 |
North
Wales |
Chester |
Chester |
| 1966 & 1967 |
No events held |
|
|
| 1968 |
South West Lancashire |
Liverpool |
Maghull |
| 1969 |
North
Wales |
Ormskirk |
Chester |
| 1970 |
Lake District |
MADCAP |
Southport |
| 1971 |
Peak District |
Altrincham
Computer Services |
Stoke-on-Trent |
| 1972 |
Cheshire Plain |
Altrincham Computer Services |
Chester |
| 1973 |
Lake
District |
Altrincham Computer Services |
Blackburn |
| 1974 |
North Wales |
Altrincham Computer Services |
Warrington |
| 1975 |
Yorkshire
Dales |
Leeds Skyrac |
Bolton |
| 1976 |
Mid-Wales |
Computer Services |
Shrewsbury |
| 1977 |
North Wales |
Wales
& Border Counties |
Mold |
| 1978 |
Cotswolds |
Lancs & Cumbria |
Stoke-on-Trent |
| 1979 |
Snowdonia |
Lancs
& Cumbria |
Llangollen |
| 1980 |
Wye Valley |
Lancs & Cumbria |
Hereford |
| 1981 |
North Yorkshire |
Birmingham
& Midlands |
Harrogate |
| 1982 |
Cotswolds |
Group Computers |
Oxford |
| 1983 |
Midlands |
Yorkshire &
Lincoln |
Leicester |
| 1984 |
Border Counties |
Computer Services |
Carlisle |
| 1985 |
Mendips & Avon |
Central
Organisations |
Bristol |
| 1986 |
North Yorkshire |
York |
Stockton-on-Tees |
| 1987 |
South Wales |
Peterborough |
Swansea |
| 1988 |
Bedfordshire |
Manchester |
Peterborough |
| 1989 |
Somerset |
Peterborough |
Taunton |
| 1990 |
North
Wales |
|
Liverpool |
HOW IT ALL BEGAN or WHO WAS 'R E GILLIES' ?
(An article written by Ray Morris in 1990, on the occasion of the 25th Annual TSB
R E Gillies Trophy Rally)
RICHARD GILLIES (Dick to his friends) was a Branch Manager in the former Liverpool Savings Bank, finishing
his days at the North Branch, or better known as the 'Scottie' Road Branch - the road with a pub on every corner. In fact, when it
closed, North Branch was also opened as a public house. Dick Gillies was also chairman of the Savings Banks Institute (Liverpool Branch),
which included - Liverpool, Ormskirk & Warrington Savings Banks.
During 1963 the 'Institute', at the request of some of the
younger members, included a Treasure Hunt on the programme. This took place on 31st August 1963, arranged by Bob & Audrey Cummings,
and Ray & Doreen Murphy, under the watchful eye of the father figure of Dick Gillies. The winners were - myself (Ray Morris) with
Miss Joan Dennis in an Austin Mini 848KD. I was then asked to assist with the planning of the next event, when invitations would again
be extended to our neighbours in Chester, Wrexham & North Wales Savings Bank. Lesley Witchell (now Morris) was also asked to join
the team of organisers. In 1964, Dick Gillies was due to retire, to Devon, and after much cajoling, he was persuaded to donate a trophy
for annual presentation, to the winning bank team from those taking part - now known as the 'R E GILLIES TROPHY'.
For the next
2 years events continued under the auspices of the SBI (Liverpool Branch), then in 1966 the government introduced legislation requesting
all rallies to be authorised by the Royal Automobile Club. This was to try to reduce the number of complaints from the general public,
mainly due to night time disturbances. The SBI Committee decided that the RAC Rules before authorisation could be granted, were too
complex to understand, and withdrew their support for future rallies. The Liverpool TSB Motor Club was formed, with the main objective
of running the inter-bank rallies as before, plus the addition of a Christmas Event for the local bank. The committee included myself
(Ray Morris) and Doug Pritchard, plus the assistance of anyone else who happened to pass through the Neston Branch where we both worked.
From
1966 until 1979 the rallies (which soon gained support from most of the country) were run on a shoestring, with prizes and trophies
'scrounged' from local garages and tradespeople, - plus the occasional donation from the actuaries of the participating banks (usually
two guineas? £2.10 in today's money!). Towards the end of 1979, the TSB National Sports Council was formed, and Motor Rallies were
chosen as one of the six National Sports, along with - cricket, golf, football, netball and table tennis. Each sport was to receive
an annual grant, and for the first year we received £2,500. The Sports Council was made up of - Chairman, Philip Charlton, Secretary,
the late Ian Taylor, Joe Hoccom (Birmingham), 'Jock' Thomson (Edinburgh) plus the chairmen of each of the six chosen sports. I was
privileged to represent the Motor Rallies on the committee for the next 3 or 4 years. After this time the sports were considered to
be properly organised, to an acceptable standard and the Council was disbanded, with the overall control being passed to a nominated
person from the Personnel Division at Head Office. This was initially, Ian Taylor, then Stuart Crewe and now Graham Doughty.
The
'R E GILLIES' Events have now flourished for 25 years with the addition of Ian Robson (Back Office, York) as Secretary, David Parkes
(Birmingham) as Treasurer, Doug Pritchard (Western) as Competitions Secretary, Mike Breaks (Group Technology) and George Ware (Pensioner)
and myself (now retired) as Chairman, plus a team of Correspondents in each section of the Group. In addition there has been
a willing team of Marshals, mainly from the Merseyside area, without whom the rallies could not take place.
1990 is the end of
my reign as Chairman, and I would like to thank everyone who has contributed in any way, either as competitor or on the organisational
side during the past 25 years, to make this, the only true family sport in the TSB, so successful for so long.
I trust that the
rallies will continue to prosper for many more years to come.
Ray Morris
Chairman