AGM honours the winners
The Annual General Meeting of the Northern Centre of the ACU took place on Remembrance Sunday at the Villa Hotel with a small attendance who heard a brief welcoming speech for Keith Quinn, the Centre President followed by the Chairman’s speech from Angus Jenkinson who said :
“This is now my second year as Chairman of the Northern Centre and my overwhelming appreciation is towards all those who organise our events and also to the riders who take part.
As is so often the case, the organisation of events falls upon a very small number of people in comparison to those who ride and enjoy the competition, so to those persons in particular, I thank them all for their efforts.
However it also has to be noted that very many of those organisers are rarely under the age of 50 and frequently are of pensionable age, so I particularly ask that younger riders consider stepping forwards and offer their services to the clubs, which will go a long way to ensuring our sport continues.
I believe that those organisers do enjoy what they are doing, so to them I say a massive thank you, but I also know that in many cases they would appreciate offers to assist.
One aspect of our sport in the Northern Centre which does concern me is the loss of other disciplines from the annual calendar which is totally full of trials, which is fine, but off-road sport should be more than trials and I do question why motocross seems to have folded and also, at one time there were some enduro events and it would be great to see both these disciplines make a limited return if that is at all possible.
We have many successful riders from Cumbria and once again our centre was well represented in the Scottish Six Days Trial, the Pre 65 event and also in both the Manx Two Day trials. Tom Swindlehurst had a very good ride in Scotland and in the Scott Trial moved up about a dozen places from 2023 to finish 28th this time, whilst Wilf Shuttleworth and Jack Dixon finished on the same number of marks in the Scott to take 42nd and 43rd places.
We had 15 riders in the SSDT, 12 in the Pre 65 event and numerous competitors went over to the Isle of Man where Tom was again the overall winner of the main modern bike trial.
Another Scottish trial well supported by our local riders is the Leven Valley two Day Trial at Kinlochleven. Stuart Gaskell was the overall winner in 2023 and now in 2024, it’s the turn of Will Brockbank to uphold Northern Centre honours. He along with Irishman Andy Perry and Scotsman Gary Macdonald went clean to share the overall best performance. Another great result.
And on the enduro scene, Burts Crayston finished third overall in the FIM Junior Hard Enduro World Championship. A great season of results for so many of our top riders.
All told, I have been very impressed with the results and efforts riders from Cumbria have put into the big events.
As Chairman, I rely very much on the efforts of my colleagues who attend the Centre Board Meetings. Quite frankly, without Maxine as Secretary we would be lost as she is excellent at the job and her understanding of what is required makes my life so much easier. Sheila Murphy our treasurer ensures that the Centre’s finances remain in good order and since Mike has developed the Centre’s website, all the results and information about events and news is readily available since the demise of newspapers that we relied on so heavily is no longer available. And of course Keith Quinn, the Centre’s President is always keen to keep us all in line in whatever we do.
Finally, there is one rider who I think deserves a special mention, even though he is no longer resident here and no longer rides in the Centre, and that is Jonny Walker.
Jonny as a youth trials rider regularly rode our trials under the tutelage of his dad Ronnie and older brothers and is now one of the very best Super enduro riders on the world stage. He was recently announced as Triumph’s works rider in the indoor sports of endurocross and super enduro and has already, after just three outings, won the most recent event in America, before the 2025 indoor and outdoor season begins. Which shows that if you have the talent and the drive, it is possible to make it to the top from a Cumbrian starting point.
I thank all those who have attended the meeting today and I wish all riders, and organisers a successful 2025.”
Sheila Murphy, the Centre Treasurer reported that again the Centre had suffered a financial loss as the costs of administering the Centre outweigh the income which is now only available from the 50p per rider Centre Levy paid by clubs following events. Following Covid, permits are now issued by Rugby HQ and the ACU no longer pay a percentage back to Centres.
An election of all the current officers went ahead en-bloc with the exception of the Benevolent Fund Officer position which is open now for a replacement.
The presentation of awards took place to those in attendance followed by tea and cream scones.
The lead picture shows the award winners from left to right: Angus Jenkinson (Best over 60), Stuart Gaskell (Green Course), Jack Dixon (Novice Hard), Lewis Gaskell (Youth A Hard), Cameron Batty (Youth B), Tom Swindlehurst (Centre Trials Champion) Tom Joel (Youth C), Wilf Shuttleworth (Intermediate Hard), Anthony Hayhurst (Over 50).