The Continental Rally was held at Llanfelte Farm in Wales at the instigation of the Germans and organised by Mary and Tim Stevens. Regula Rüttimann, from Switzerland, wrote: After about 1200 km we reach Bwlch in Wales. Saturday in France: the weather is shining! Sunday in England: pouring rain, but Mary Stevens welcomes us with coffee! In the evening the sun shines and we set up our fabric houses.
WIMA GB member Bea Hawkins remembered: The campsite was a farmer’s field just off the A40 at Bwlch. One combined shower/toilet for everyone. Rather different to what we expect these days … We incorporated the Rally into our family holiday. Helen and Phillip were 10 and 8 respectively. However, we had two bikes there, my Ariel VH 500 and Ralph’s BSA B33 500. The children were into riding pillion, so although I think we took the car and trailed one bike, we could join in with some of it on the bikes. We rented a cottage a few miles away.
GB member Sheila Whittingham related: The English WIMA women were not allowed to compete in the Trials. It was said by some because there wouldn’t be enough prizes to go round. Despite this, GB member Jean Cox came 10th overall, taking part in every competition!
Mary Stevens reported on the rally activities for WIMA News.
Monday sees the start of the competitions with the Gymkhana held in the afternoon. The course must be laid out to provide a challenge for those on small machines as well as the big BMWs.
Afterwards we have a Welsh tea. We have devised a card game to encourage everyone to communicate with each other and get to know one another. It seems to work and soon all the girls are chatting away merrily.
Tuesday, and with the sun shining we go into the forest for the hill climb. There are 30 participants, and they all enjoy blasting up the hill which consists of two hairpin bends joined together by a decent straight in which to wind the power on. In the evening after everyone had eaten, we go into the barn for the mystery bags competition.
Wednesday is a free day with no competitions, and those who wish, go off to explore this strange country called Wales. Again, the weather has been kind to those going for a ride, but there was some rain in the afternoon – that’s Wales!
Thursday we are up early as it is the road trial today and everyone must start leaving at 10 o’clock sharp. I go straight to the Sutton’s house with the van full of pasties and rolls for the picnic lunch at the end of the Trial. Everyone finds their way to the end of the road trial, even if some didn’t arrive for lunch.
Friday dawned sunny and bright; the men went off to set up the trials course. The trial started later than we wanted and was only just over in time to have a quick wash and down to the Restaurant for dinner and the prize giving. The results list went to 55 places, and thanks to the generosity of motorcycle accessory firms and people like Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Champion, Duckhams etc., we found a prize of sorts for everyone on the list. The overall winner and girl who gains the title ‘Madam WIMA 1978’ is Iris Bach of Germany.
Mary Stevens concluded her report: I was very pleasantly surprised at the turnout for this year’s Rally. In previous years the number of girls attending a Continental Rally is something like 30. This year we had 77 girls attend and 55 entered at least one event. The countries represented were Germany, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and Great Britain.
