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#1
10-12-11, 10:14
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High Auldgirth is back!
I am led to believe High Auldgirth in Dumfries and Galloway is once again back in use and is one of the venues I will (hopefully!) be going to next year in the Wigton Cross Border championship. I have googled it and found very little out. Does anyone have any old plans, photos or knowledge of the place? It fell out of use sometime in the early 90s.
__________________
Diesel - just say no 
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#2
10-12-11, 10:29
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Details on www.scottish.sprinting.co.uk in flatchat
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#4
10-12-11, 13:00
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This is the history copied from the South of Scotland Car Club website.
High Auldgirth Hill Climb This ran twice a year for a good few years and while at the first event on July 5th 1992, it attracted only 14 entries comprising: Ian Paterson, Geoffrey Harkness, Richard Dobson, Fraser Kinnear, Nigel Harkness, David Reid, Graeme Forrester, David McKeown, Donald Graham, John Moffat, Kevin Guthrie, Stewart Marshall, Ian Wright and William Struthers, it quickly gathered strength, often attracting in excess of 60 entries, including anything from a Morris 1000 to a 2.8 litre open-wheeled racing car, which we were quickly advised was illegal on this width of track!!!. The entry list for the May 1984 event included: Ian Wright and Liam Patterson in Civics, Finley Vance in an Escort, Irene McKay in a Sierra, Ian Biagi in a Mini, Geoffrey Harkness in a Ray 78, Willie Nelson in an Escort, Murray Grierson in an MG Metro, David McKeown in an Ascona and, George Myatt and Scott Bell in a Lotus, but by far the most awesome of all, was David Seaton from Edinburgh in his 2.8 Pilbeam (mentioned above) which took BTDBTDBTD on his second competitive run with 49.19 despite recording a 45.31 on an earlier practice run. Records arent sufficiently detailed to confirm whether the weather had deteriorated during the day, but one can safely assume it did!. As the road is, in some parts, only about eight feet wide and not over eleven feet wide, which would have allowed us to permit open-wheeled cars over 1600cc to continue to compete, development of this venue was stifled, as widening the track would have proved a financial impossibility. Interest in the event finally waned, as even the routine upkeep of the track was an expensive, time consuming and never-ending task but this doesn`t stop many people constantly requesting to this day, that the hillclimb should run again, as it was a genuine hillclimb in the truest sense of the word and a real challenge, including no less than three hairpin corners, as it climbed 90 metres along its 1066 metre length. It seems pretty certain that Malcolm Wishart from Glasgow, a retired regional manager with the Clydesdale Bank, will therefore always hold the record at High Auldgirth. His best time of 43.44 seconds set on July 6th 1997, in perfect sunny, warm and dry conditions, was achieved in his immaculate 2 litre Mallock. Ideal conditions were never to be taken for granted on this site which, due to its elevated position, overlooking large swathes of the beautiful surrounding Dumfriesshire countryside, seemed all too willing to attract any passing rain shower. The last hillclimb event took place here on June 14th 1998. This the track map from the last event in 1998  It can be found on Google maps here. The first couple of corners are actually covered by streetview.
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#9
12-12-11, 11:08
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As mentioned above, I did the event (which was actually 1994, not 1984 as it says) with a Pilbeam MP53 with 2.8 Hart Turbo.
Being rally country down there I was quickly informed that I would never win, as John Gray with an RS 500 Sierra rally car, and Murray Grierson with his rally Metro (fitted with a 2.5 Hart engine ! ) would show me how it was done ! They were the local heroes. As history will show it didn't quite work out as they had thought. I remember the day well - it was a damp day with rain showers - the top of the hill dried out with the breeze as it was exposed, but a lot of the bottom remained greasy under the trees and never really dried out completely. As the day wore on, the showers became more frequent - hence the slower times later in the day. I put wets on the front and slicks on the back, swallowed a bravery pill and got going. I was much younger and more foolish then. It was either the first or second event I had ever done with this car. Nothing had ever scared me quite as much as a track that wide, in the wet, and with 100 foot drops down the left, with virtually no barriers. A lot of the journey from bottom to top was accomplished in a sideways trajectory. I do remember thinking that a 40 second run should be on if it was a hot day. Unfortunately the MSA discovered I had been there, realised their mistake in not showing the restriction on the Track Licence, and quickly amended it. I never did get another shot at it with that car, which with hindsight and the wisdom of age, was probably a very good thing ! Nonetheless, it is a great venue, and I really hope it runs again. Hopefully a big Sports Libre car will be allowed this time ! Hopefully I am still brave enough !
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