........FODMC........ Club ........

Welcome to our Club Pages.

Our Club

We are based in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire amidst a breathaking landscape of rolling wooded valleys nestling betwixt the Rivers Severn and Wye.

Founded over 40 years ago, we have now grown to over 200 members.
We have some of the finest forests in the UK and each year run the Wyedean rally which is the first BTRDA round of the season.

We meet up every fortnight in the Parkend club which is located in an idyllic village in the heart of the forest, Map ref SO 616 080
We have a wide range of activities which keeps the club vibrant, if you would like to join or just pop in for a chat then check out the dates listed on the RHS of this page, you are assured of a warm welcome.

Club Night.

Wednesday Feb 8th.

In addition to the usual sorting out for the Wyedean, we will have a guest.

Fownhope artist David Cope painted a beautiful watercolour of Andy Burton,s legendary Peugeot-Cosworth on last years Woodpecker Stages.
What makes it all the more remarkable is that David is recovering from a stroke,and not picked up an artists brush for 15 years.
200 limited edition prints are on offer @£30 of which 15% is donated to the Richard Burns Foundation.
Already 70 prints have been sold,and this really is a collectors item.

He is trying to raise his profile and is looking to commission more work.

He also as a facebook page and can be contacted 01432 860435 for further details

To read a little more about Dave then just click here

The Dean Rallies.

Neil Henderson Writes.

Hi All,

The original plan for The History of Stage Rallying in The Forest of Dean was to produce a book - this will not happen.

I intend to use the website www.thedeanrallies.com to make available as much of the collected information as possible. The people who have visited "The Shed" will understand what a task this will be.

I will first list all the events that I have a file for and then revisit each to add the details.

Hopefully the limitations of time and my lack of website experience will eventually provide a work of interest to you.

Regards,
Neil

This has been an epic journey started many years ago and as Neil say's is still on-going.

Much of the material found for the website has been found in lofts and sheds and would, possibly, ultimately be lost forever. It is a credit to Neil that he has recovered so much and is now making it available to everyone on the website.

To visit The Dean Rallies Website, just click on the logo in the left column of this page.

A Wyedean stage in a snowy 2009

Our Club Activities.

We have a varied and active social calendar with club meetings every two weeks, navigational exercises, driving tests, Quizzes and for the more athletic, cycle rides. Many of these activities are rounded off with a superb BBQ laid on by Ernie our Equipment officer.

Club members enjoy a Skittles match.

Our main event of the year is the Wyedean rally, which has now celebrated its 30th birthday. This event has grown over the years and is now one of the premier events in the rallying calendar, regularly attracting the maximum of 180 entries.

The logistics of this event is staggering, running 8 or 9 stages, each with its complement of Marshals, medical and rescue staff, recovery crews and vehicles, timing crews and each with a stage commander and safety officer, not forgetting a small army of people in the HQ offices. The number we require for this single day is fast approaching 1,000.
The planning for this event starts in the autumn of the previous year.

We have very close ties with other motor clubs and often attend their venues to help in the organisation and provide marshals.
This help is reciprocated with the Wyedean Rally, which would not run without the help of all our friends from these other clubs.

We have about 150 members, half of which are fairly local, the rest are scattered around the country.Our meetings are held every fortnight in a local pub (see club page for details) and we would always welcome new faces.

Our Club.

The Forest of Dean Motor Club was formed in July 1967, and affiliated to the Royal Automobile Club later that year.
After a few busy years organising numerous Autocross meetings during the heyday of that branch of motorsport, the club organised a couple of small road rallies with a view to getting restricted status for future events.
Eventually the temptation of being based in the middle of some of the best forestry in the country proved too much and in 1975 the club organised it's first stage rally.
So the first Wyedean was held on the 12th October 1975 and offered entrants 54 stage miles for an entry fee of £27.00