Since 1969
The trial that started
with a complaint.
At an ARC National at Eastnor, Major Ben Hervey-Bathurst — owner of the castle and president of this club — watched the field come through and concluded the trial was too easy for the best drivers. So he issued a challenge.
1969 — The challenge
Clubs were to return in October with their best drivers. The Major laid out the course over his own ground himself — and then drove it, against the best Land Rover drivers in Britain. Proceeds went to the restoration of Eastnor Parish Church and to the village school.
The Rose Bowl
His son, James Hervey-Bathurst, donated the Rose Bowl that the winning team still takes home. The format settled into what it remains: a classless team trial over two days, with a shield for the best standard-vehicle team and, since 1998, a trophy for the best all-female team. It has run every year except 2001, lost to foot-and-mouth, and 2020, lost to Covid.
1997 — The memorial
When the Major died in 1997, the club renamed the event the Major's Memorial Trophy in his honour. The apostrophe matters — it has always been his trial.
2023 — Green Hall Farm
After the Eastnor Estate ended off-road trialling, the Majors moved to Green Hall Farm in Powys: room for twenty sections, more than a hundred drivers, and a camping field to hold them all.
