Rest and Be Thankful Hillclimb (1949-1970)

[Adam43]

Your starter for ten...

Last year I visited this old hill climb and since then have been meaning to start this thread to discuss the venue. However I also have a question, where is the start? And the end?

Racingcircuits.net had a map on this hillclimb, but it doesn't give exact details of the start and the finish. Can anyone nail it down with decent accuracy?

A mirror is currently hosted at http://www.the-fastlane.co.uk/racingcircuits/

I've also referenced Classic Motorsport Routes Richard Meadon (ISBN0749552255). Which is very good read, but lacks solid facts in its maps. The map of Rest And Be Thankful shows the location not the hill climb route.

Racingcircuits.net says that the length is 0.810 mile and Classic Motorsport Routes says 1 mile (IIRC Father has borrow the book so I can't check). I believe it had two lengths during its active years. I've used 1 mile for my guess below.

I also have some piccies. First a couple showing most of the climb.

2266	2248
From the end looking back down.	From A83 approximately above the start.

Is the start on any of these (all looking up the hill climb in the direction of travel)?

2283	2285	2289
Was it on this straight?	It has weathered a little!	A tricky corner

What about the finish? How far out of the hairpin was it?

This is the final hairpin.	The final blast to the line, but where is it?

For my guess click here for a link to google maps.
How wrong am I?

[Adam43]

For reference there are a few threads where Rest and Be Thankful has been mentioned before. mainly in passing.

From the Hillclimb and Sprint forum
What happens to old hillclimb venues
Your favourite Hill Climb
From this Motorsport History forum.
Abandoned race circuits

[Adam43]

Here are a couple of web notes of Rest and Be Thankful
sevenoaksmotorclub.com: Rest and Be Thakful- A Step Backwards
Scotland from the Roadside (ourscotland.co.uk): Rest & be Thankful

And then I came across the Friends of the Rest site. Which amongst other things included this video on youtube. Which allowed me to get the start and end point. Oh and the tunes are great!

The finish is clearly not far out of the last corner at least in the year with the best shot in the video (see 49s into the video).
The start is clearly and expectedly on the long straight (again at least in the year of the clearest photo in the video). Here is my refined guess, although I wonder if the start is further up the straight. Confirming the length will probably really nail it down.

[Steve Wilkinson]

1950 and the Rest was a meagre 1388 yards. The Finish being have way between the apex of the hairpin and the fork in the road. The Start was 50 odd yards up the course from the Paddock exit.

1951 to 1969 the Rest grew to 1425 yards; the Finish remained the same but the Start moved back to adjacent to the Paddock exit.

I think that the Paddock exit is on the left next to the big rock in Picture 2283.

The hill record stood at 50.09 seconds set in 1964 by Peter Boshier-Jones in his 1.3s Lotus-Climax FWB 22.

I believe that there is a group trying to get the finance together to re-open the Rest. I understand that initially the course will be a lot shorter and then when additional monies become available the plan is to extend back to the full length.

[MGDavid]

sounds a v worthy cause - is there an appeal site or justgiving page or contact for donations?

[Bodysnatcher]

Somewhere in the attic I have photos (at the finish area) that I took when the "Rest" was used as a stage for the Scottish rally. I would guess that it might have been 81?
Mikkola in a Quattro, Jimmy McRae in a Manta?
Stunning place to watch the cars coming through the glen and then up the climb.

here's the sort of thing
http://www.scottish-rallying-archives.co.uk/wood_79.htm
http://www.scottish-rallying-archive.../fisher_79.htm
http://www.scottish-rallying-archive.../wilson_79.htm

BTW - my late father would tell me stories of when he was a boy and that was the main road from Glasgow to the west coast. In order to get the coach up that final steep bit, passengers had to get out and walk.*

*NB as with any story told from father to son this may not be true.

[Bodysnatcher]

it was 82 I was there - this video has a few seconds right at the end, but it really does not do the place justice
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ6lG1...e=channel_page

found my photos too,
off on a nostalgia trip now

[Adam43]

Steve Wilkinson, thanks for the information. It was difficult to tell, but when I think you might be right about the picture 2283. It seemed significant when we were there.

Bodysnatcher, those pictures are good and shows them going down the hill! I presume the stage took in more of the road than the hill climb. Share the photos if you like I have an old postcard that shows teh final hairpin and the rest. It isn't of any action just of the view. My scanner is broken, but I'll get it scanned at work tomorrow.

MGDavid. I agree a good cause. I read that the guy who owns the land is a fan too. I'd certainly like to have a go, assuming they repave it; there is no way may MG would get up there at any speed at the moment.

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

MGDavid. I agree a good cause. I read that the guy who owns the land is a fan too. I'd certainly like to have a go, assuming they repave it; there is no way may MG would get up there at any speed at the moment.

The plan is to resurface the top part of the hill and then run events. Once up & running it is hoped to raise more money to resurface the lower portion.

http://www.friendsrest.freeuk.com/

Follow the above link for more details.

[Adam43]

Pants photo of postcard alert!

I'm not sure of the year. '50s? (based on practically nothing).

[Bodysnatcher]

You're right Adam, i must have been mixing the rally up with other historic footage of the rest. Looking at my photos the cars are going down the climb.

[Adam43]

It would be boring if everyone went the same way

[Bodysnatcher]

downhill!

and close

bit faded too
As far as I remember the stage was the old course. Made sense really, with a "paddock" top and bottom.

[Adam43]

A little faded, but cool!

[Bodysnatcher]

[Adam43]

I like this photo (because it is no. 43), also because it jsut looks like it isn't a good line.
Whereas #54 seemed to be alright, but just messed up the power on exit (?)
This one of #17 shows fencing that isn't there now.

I've started this page on the site. At the moment they are in chronological order, but I plan to put it in the order of driving up he hill.
http://www.adamashmore.co.uk/racing/...bethankful.htm

[Adam43]

The rest and be thankful photos I've taken have been updated. Click Here
There are links to bigger versions and, I think, are in order of the the hill climb. There is a better scan of the postcard.

[KA]

Originally Posted by Bodysnatcher

Somewhere in the attic I have photos (at the finish area) that I took when the "Rest" was used as a stage for the Scottish rally. I would guess that it might have been 81?
Mikkola in a Quattro, Jimmy McRae in a Manta?
Stunning place to watch the cars coming through the glen and then up the climb.

I originally posted a few of these on the Group A Rover thread, but they're probably worth a repeat here- found this collection of 1985 Scottish Rally pics on Flickr, and quite a lot of them are taken at the hairpin. I'll link straight to the second page which has most of the 'Rest' pics, though there are a few more either side
http://flickr.com/photos/31797155@N02/page2/

Interesting to see the different approaches taken....

It was also used on the RAC from time to time- I've got a video at home of a film (think it was originally produced for Castrol?) of the 1960 RAC which features several sequences filmed there- haven't watched it for a while, but as I recall the stage start and hairpin feature fairly prominently

[Adam43]

Thanks for the photos. I like this one:

The road looks patched up in this photo and those patches haven't lasted that well in the 2008 picture:

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

And then I came across the Friends of the Rest site. Which amongst other things included this video on youtube.

That Jowett Javelin at 33 seconds is amazing! A novel approach to lightening a car...

[Adam43]

...or for keeping the driver cool?

[Cameron Winton]

If you are at the top and look at the road surface really closely, you can see the remains of the paint marking the finish line.
Both parents were there back in the days of the hillclimb. Mum seems to remember my grandfather sharing a car with Joe Potts when she was quite small.
There was an article in Motorsport a few years ago that was pretty reasonable.

Don't know where the start was but I thought there was a concrete plinth for the timing equipment.

I can remember watching the Scottish at the hairpin back the Eighties. Argyll Stages also used it.
Wild place sometimes. Climbed the peak above it (beinn an lochann) It is something like 3 feet short of being a Munro

Remember this place was a round of the British Hillclimb Championship.

[Angus Theape]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

Thanks for the photos. I like this one:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3189/...fe6646e05e.jpg
The road looks patched up in this photo and those patches haven't lasted that well in the 2008 picture:

http://www.adamashmore.co.uk/racing/Archive/2008/rest%20and%20be%20thankful/Copy%20of%20DSCF2272.jpg

I am sure the patches run from the 60s when used as a hillclimb. I shall have to remember who showed me their copy of the book on the last event run there , 1970, and check the photos.

Any time I saw the Rest being used as a stage, the start/finish was always close to the main road at the Arrocher end. The most impressive story is of the rally car at the start at the top with no brakes, the spectators apparently holding the car from running down the hill. The question was "how did he mke it through stone bridge"?

[Steve Wilkinson]

Originally Posted by Cameron Winton

Remember this place was a round of the British Hillclimb Championship.

From 1950 to 1969 in fact.

[Adam43]

From http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/
http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/...adbook_web.pdf

It puts the finish line just out of the last hairpin as suggested above. The start has moved over the years, but this is a good indication of the '49 start.