Day one started bright and blustery, the first cars lined up ready a little before the eight o clock start time. First away was the Shoosmith/Harley 1924 Bentley. They were followed by cars ordered in their entry list classes. After about twenty road miles, competitors reachd Plas Cefn and the first of two tests at this fine eighteenth century house which retains many original features and outbuildings. The first followed the drive up to the house and the second, immediately after this, took cars past it and back to the highway. The day’s third test was at Bodrhyddan Hall, home to the Langford family for five hundred years. The Grade 1 listed house is renowned for its gardens but competitors were focused on navigating the slaloms and a single cone to be circled at the head of the drive, which then provided a tree lined exit route. They ran straight into the first regularity section of the day, via Rhuddlan and Rhuallt before turning north once more towards Dyserth but with no time to admire the spectacular waterfall.
A few miles further on, the day’s fourth test was at Golden Grove, another Grade 1 listed Elizabethan house. New to the Three Castles or any involvement with motorsport, running the test here was a tribute to several years of gentle persuasion by Three Castles Clerk of the Course, Barry Green.Another short road section took the rally from the new to the more familiar. Mostyn Hall is well known by regular entrants. Brit Assist addressed a variety of problems including overheating brakes on Austin Healeys; even helping to unstick a boot lock that would make refuelling a challenge for car 48, Michael Bayliss’ Ford Anglia. Navigator Mike Rands was grateful for the sunshine that graced most of the day because in wet weather, the car’s windscreen seal occasionally leaks just above the passenger’s footwell. Some problems, like the mysterious misfires experienced by Malcolm Davies’ Alvis and John Lomas’s Riley were resolved, but the issue did lead the Riley driver to remark, “I don’t think we’ll be troubling the trophy engravers this time.”
Lord Mostyn, the current president of the club was eager to see how things worked ‘on the ground’ and joined event director Ian Crammond for the afternoon, touring several points along the route. After a busy morning, the Mostyn Hall coffee halt allowed brakes to cool and spark plugs to be cleaned but the exit route marking the start of the second regularity section, broke new ground. Cars were directed out along the lime walk, only previously utilised for carriage driving competitions. The gate house and road beyond it were originally constructed by a former Lord Mostyn to shorten his journey to church services. In 2025 it marked the beginning of the day’s second regularity section that zig-zagged west, south and east for some sixteen miles and eight controls to Rhys y Caes.