CELEBRATION 1984-2014 30 Years of the Pre-65 SSDT
On my travels with Classic Trial Magazine I come across many interesting tales, of the trials rider who was maybe never the ‘Superstar’ rider but who made an impact on the sport. The Lampkin family carry many memories of riders they made friends with over the years and one name which usually comes up from the three famous brothers is Blackie Holden Snr. He passed away in October 2013 but in this article we remember Blackburn Holden Snr – Yorkshire born and bred.
Words: John Hulme and Blackie Holden Jnr Pictures: Colin Bullock, Barry Robinson, Eric Kitchen, The Holden Family Collection
Blackie Holden Snr was born on the 25th March 1938 at the family home, 263 Gisburn Road, Barnoldswick, before his brother Michael came along. They then moved to Carr Beck between Barnoldswick and Bracewell in 1947 and it was at this address that his motorcycle career would begin.
It all started on an old Brockhouse Corgi, which was a little motorcycle like the World War Two Wellbike the army used to use as they could be folded up and parachuted from aeroplanes for the troops to use. It was not that good but was ridden into the ground and returned hours of endless fun, as it was used from dusk until dawn day after day.
Unfortunately the family was then hit by a huge tragedy as they lost their treasured mother when Blackie was just twelve years old; he was devastated. As a result of this the brothers went off to Ashville College boarding school at Harrogate for the remainder of their education.
Time for Work
When he left school he served his time at Schofield’s Motorcycles in Colne, Lancashire and studied engineering at night school as part of his apprenticeship. It would be at ‘Schoey’s’ that he honed his skills as an ace mechanic. He soon acquired his first proper trials motorcycle which was a 197cc Villiers powered Francis Barnett, purchased through Schoey’s when he was aged just sixteen.
In later years Blackie often said how much he owed to Jeff Brown — JG Brown — of Nelson as he took him under his wing when he was just starting out on his life’s adventures.
Jeff invited him along on the ‘laking trips’ which were when a gang got together on their motorcycles and set off up the Dales, or anywhere for that matter. It wasn’t an organised trial but just a gang of them meeting up and riding the tracks and making sections as they went. It was common-place back then, just a bunch of them meeting up after work on a Saturday and riding their machines. He learnt so much from Jeff, not only how to ride a motorcycle well but also how to mend things on them quickly and effectively, which would stand him in good stead in later years.
It wasn’t long before he was climbing the results sheet on the little ‘Barnett’ with some excellent results in trials and soon he was a force to be reckoned with in and around the North Western centre events.
Eventually he swapped the Francis Barnett for a Triumph Tiger Cub; it wasn’t a ‘pucker’ trials machine but it was all that was available to the general public at that time. With help from Allan Jefferies he managed to make it more rideable by modifying it and fitting parts that Allan managed to get for him. It was very generous of him, and it helped him on his way to a more competitive machine on which he had much success not only in the North West Centre but also in the tough Yorkshire Centre. Eventually the factory recognised this and he received a small amount of support from the Triumph factory.
National Service
National service called in 1958 and he was enlisted into the Royal Signals, where he had some of his best times travelling the world as a member of the display team, or White Helmets as they are well known. He would recall, many years later, to his son on one of their many journeys together: “We were on the A1 heading south when he suddenly sang a little tune, it was something along the lines of....’Tearing down the A1 at 60 miles an hour, we are the Royal Signals and what a bloody shower!’ There was much mischief went on from all accounts and a popular one was to hang back when they were in convoy on the motorcycles so they could go like hell to catch up again... ‘machine troubles’ was their excuse. He and Bealy (Phil Beale) were apparently notorious for it.
During this happy period friendships were made that would last a lifetime, much to his delight. His trips on his old Velocette from Barlick to Catterick Camp, where he was stationed, were often very wet and bitterly cold but he had good friends along the journey up the Dales who took him in and shared their home comforts; very generous people who remain friends to this day.”
It was during his time in the Signals that he broke both his wrists, and he thought he never rode a trials machine as well ever again although he was still very handy on a motorcycle right up to his illness.
When he finished his National Service he and Michael took over the petrol station at Gisburn, which became known as the 77 Garage. It became a very popular ‘stopping-off shop’ for many people, including his motorcycling friends who used the A59 to travel to and from their trials and scrambles. It was a great place to be, with never a dull moment and a host of local characters helping out.
It was during his time at the 77 Garage that he met his future wife. They got married and settled in Barnoldswick where a daughter, Sam, was born. A couple of years later they bought ‘Deepdale’ at Gisburn and subsequently moved in after some hasty renovation work to make it habitable.
Deepdale
It was here that Blackie Jnr was born, and where he and Sam grew up enjoying one of the most idyllic childhoods imaginable... it was heaven for them and their friends.
Gisburn was very lively back then, with at least four Public Houses on the go, and people used to come from far and wide to gather for a night out in the village; he remained there right up to his stroke.
On his discharge from hospital he moved to Fence with his son to convalesce... unfortunately the events that followed meant he never moved back. He loved Deepdale more than anywhere in the world – apart from his other favourite place, which was Scotland.
In 1976 a campervan was purchased for the family to go on holiday in. Blackie soon immersed himself in his workshop day and night, working on their new purchase, and a few days later his new creation came to life — a rack on the front to carry a motorcycle! He demonstrated his new toy with an ex-army BSA B40 mounted in the rack. Complete with said machine in place the adventures began with a trip to Morar on the West Coast of Scotland.
It was the beautiful summer of 1976 and they had the most fantastic holiday imaginable. It was a place they would visit year after year and the family still have fond memories of it, especially the silver sands.
Over the years many people visited Deepdale to get their machines repaired and their problems solved. His skills were not just limited to motorcycles as many people also brought lawn mowers, tractors, cars, chainsaws; in fact anything with an engine got fettled at Deepdale, but motorcycles were his thing. His knowledge of suspension, carburettors and ignition systems was second to none; he could set the ignition points and timing with his eyes shut.
The funny thing was though that he never managed to grasp the workings of a 24 hour clock…fashionably late had nothing on him…he was infuriatingly late on a regular basis. Many a breakfast became lunch, lunches became tea and tea became late supper at their house!
The Pool Table
There was a period when all fettling went quiet at Deepdale; this was due to the arrival of a Pool table... bought during a late night out in the New Inn, as many will remember. Sundays suddenly became very popular as various cars — and Land Rovers — would turn up and Pool tournaments would begin, often continuing into the small hours... you all know who you are!
He finished his working days as a mechanic at ‘Watsons Garage’ in Barnoldswick. Tuesday lunchtimes at the Fosters Arms with Jim and Margaret Broadhead soon became a regular meeting for many of the old gang over the years, where they would reminisce about old times over a pint and ‘pie n peas’, which were happy days for them all.
In the latter years of his life he loved his Mondays out on the motorcycle with his pals but the trips seemed to get shorter and shorter although they still managed to take in two or three of their favourite Dales hostelries for a pint and a sandwich, but he would always come back ready for a nap. Their Scottish trips were legendary and carried some very fond memories for him.
In the summer of 2013 Blackies Snr and Jnr enjoyed a trip to the their old stomping ground in the Yorkshire Dales for the famous Allan Jefferies Trial. It was the Yorkshire Dales at its best with a lovely pub lunch to boot. They met up with daughter Sam, son-in-law Ian and Grandson Jack in the afternoon and sat by the sections in ‘Willkie’s field’ to watch the riders through. They saw a lot of old friends and it was a day to remember.
Blackie Snr was very fortunate in his seventy-five years as he never suffered from anything serious health wise but was very brave when faced with his illness at the very end, a very brave man indeed. He liked good food, not fancy stuff just good home cooking. One of his favourite meals was egg and chips – but it had to be one of Jack’s eggs. He was a good man as all who knew him will know; and motorcycling was always his passion right to the end.