We asked the question: “What Made You Take Up Trials Riding?”

It all had to start somewhere, and for this particular rider, Joan Westbrook the seeds of a lifelong love affair with motorcycles were sown in the back garden of her parents’ house in Lewisham, London sitting astride her Dad’s old Coventry Eagle. It didn’t run, of course, but that was no obstacle to a youngster of around six years of age, who was quite content to sit there making all the appropriate noises that a motorcycle makes!

Words: Trials Guru and Joan Westbrook

Photos: Iain Lawrie; Mike Davis; Jean Caillou

Four years older, brother Mick Holloway was already tinkering with an NSU ‘Quickly’ moped, which actually ran. Once big enough, the young Joan couldn’t resist having a go herself, learning to wobble around the back garden on Mick’s machine. The attraction of two wheels was already firmly established.

Born in June 1943, during the second world war, at the age of sixteen, Joan’s Mum bought Joan her first motorcycle, a BSA Bantam, but there was one condition attached: she was to keep off Mick’s bikes. What her Mum, Ruth and Dad, Joe, apparently knew was that she had already been sneaking out on them!

Mick subsequently acquired a DOT, while his younger sister moved on to a Triumph Tiger Cub. Before long, the pair decided it was time to put their enthusiasm to the test in competition. Their first competitive outing together came in 1961, riding a trials outfit. It was the beginning of a sporting journey that would continue, in one form or another, for more than six decades.

The Holloways then turned their attention to scrambling with an outfit, with the younger sibling in the passenger’s chair. There was, however, a slight problem: Mick was going too quickly for his passenger to remain comfortably in the chair! Something had to change, and the answer was to buy a machine of her own. A 197cc Greeves was duly acquired, and at eighteen years of age, she had found her calling – Trials Riding.

Finding Her Feet on Two Wheels:

Going solo did not immediately come easily. In fact, it took three events before Joan managed to finish her first trial! But perseverance, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn soon began to pay dividends.

Most of Joan’s early competition took place in the South-Eastern Centre, particularly in Essex, although she also ventured into the South Midland Centre.

Joan: “I still belong to the Ilford Motorcycle and Light Car Club; Erith and Dist, Sidcup and Dist, and GEST Trials clubs. In the distant past I was Birchington Motor Club, Grove Park, Barham, Grasshopper, Ilford Amateur, and Sunbeam clubs.“

In 1967, Joan treated herself to a brand new E registered Greeves Anglian, from the well-known emporium that was Comerford’s in Portsmouth Road, Thames Ditton.

Along the way, Joan, or ‘Joanie’ as some trials folk refer to her, benefited from some excellent tuition from experienced riders, including Murray Brush, Mary Driver and Renee Bennett, as well as plenty of helpful advice from fellow club members.

Joan Westbrook: “I met Mary Driver at one of the South Midland trials. I think it was the Grasshopper Chingford club that was running that trial. She was so helpful, giving me loads of encouragement.”

“I then met Renee Bennett, at Pirbright. She wasn’t that friendly towards me to start with, but she mellowed when I got better at the trials game. I used to pop into her shop, the East London Sportsman Centre occasionally, just for a chat, after Peter and I married in 1972, as we then lived in Hainault, as it wasn’t too far from the shop.”

“One lady that I met up with in Fort William, and we had some great natters, was Gwen White, she was Gwen Wickham when she rode trials and married Ariel works rider Jack White. She was such a lovely lady, and I had admired her for many years previously.”

Joan: “I have always been in awe of Emma Bristow and what she has achieved on the world stage, she has inspired many girls to take up trials, and of course getting her MBE in 2023.“

The Day Job:

We also asked Joan what she did for a living.

Joan: “I horribly slaved in an office. Hated every minute of that. Then went bumming around from then on, driving for the motor trade at first, then got into being a parts person. That was more to my liking. I finished up running their parts feeder stores with the Allard Motor Co. That was great, sadly never met Sid Allard, as he died the year before I started there. Then Peter and I got married, and we moved to Essex. I worked at a few Ford and Volkswagen dealerships, even did a stint at ‘parking enforcement’ which although was an awful job, it did help keep both of us in funds to continue our respective hobbies. I retired from working in late 2007, so have been a lady of leisure since then.“

Joan may not have possessed the skills to compete at National level, something she always wished that she could have achieved, but that never diminished her enjoyment. Joan was a club rider at heart, and a very happy one at that. The simple pleasure of riding a trials motorcycle off-road was enough for her. Put simply, Joan Westbrook was part of the back-bone of club and centre trial riders and others were encouraged to take up the sport as a result.

There is something rather wonderful about that attitude. Not everyone enters the sport with aspirations of becoming a British Champion or a household name. For many, the real attraction lies in the camaraderie, the countryside, the machinery and the sheer enjoyment of attempting sections with friends. That was very much her philosophy: she simply loved her off-road adventures.

Joan quipped: “One thing that did annoy me, when I first started riding, someone, I can’t remember who now, told me that I was only riding, as I was on the hunt for a man – this really riled me no end I must admit. I was absolutely seething. He obviously didn’t realise my passion for trials did he?“

The Fantic That Nearly Ended It All!

By 1989, however, Joan’s enthusiasm was in danger of being extinguished by a new motorcycle. She had purchased a brand-new Fantic 243, but the machine failed to win her over. In fact, she hated it!

Fortunately, Mick was still on hand, and by this time he had also taken up trials riding. He lent his sister a 343cc BSA B40, and the effect was immediate. The spark was reignited, the unwanted Fantic was sold, and a 250cc BSA C15 became the next purchase.

The C15 proved to be just what was needed, and it was during this period that her path  crossed at Kinlochleven with Trials Guru’s John Moffat in 1992 when he was riding a 350cc Matchless.

Trials Guru’s John Moffat: “I took to Joan straight away, she has a cockney accent and a great sense of humour, I rode near her a couple of times at the Pre’65 Scottish and of course was on hand in the evening ceremony when she picked up her finisher’s award and best lady award. She sent me a really nice personalised bound notebook a couple of years ago, thanking me for what I do for the sport. When sending me an e-mail, she refers to me as Young John.”

Six Decades of Trials:

The years rolled by, bringing countless events, familiar faces and memories that only those who have spent a lifetime in the sport can truly appreciate. Eventually, though, the time came for Joan to consider hanging up the riding boots.

Joan’s last Pre’65 Scottish Trial at Kinlochleven was in 2005 at the age of 61 years.

Joan: “The 2005 event, which as you know was a ‘slightly damp‘ one, it was the best one I had ridden over any of them. It broke my heart the following year, when the regulations came out and I wouldn’t enter. I love coming back to Kinlochleven though, just one more time.“

Joan Westbrook: “I just wished I had been skilled and wealthy enough to have been able to have ridden the Scottish Six Days, when I was young and virile. My one regret.“

Joan Westbrook: “I met a lot of girl riders over the years, some who rarely got a mention in the motorcycle press. Some that I knew, but have stopped ‘wobbling’. Michelle Pearson, the wife of Don Bean. She sadly passed with breast cancer at an early age, and was a great friend of Mary Driver. Michelle used to chatter so much about Scotland whenever we met. Sue Blanchard, wife of Dave, she is still around and riding her Triumph Speed Twin. Karen Clarke, daughter of the late great George Greenland – she’s still riding very well these days. Jill Driffield, daughter of Mick. She’s still wobbling I think. Karen Beazant wife of the late Dave Shave, Karen has ridden the SSDT. Sheena Wake, who still rides and has ridden the SSDT. I think around 1991. Sarah Chambers, from Totnes – she was a complete nutter on a trials iron. Deena Blakemore, daughter of Norman, the shock absorber guy. Sarah Bell, who has moved up north, riding regularly and teaching now as well.”

Joan’s final competitive outing was the 2023 Jack Thompson Trial. A rather substantial five-mark score prompted a moment of reflection and the realisation that perhaps the time had come to call it a day. There was also a promise to husband Peter that riding would cease once the age of eighty had been reached. The decision was made, not through any loss of affection for the sport, but through the sensible recognition that it was time to step back before becoming a liability to oneself or others.

Sadly, husband Peter passed away in 2025, having been diagnosed with Vascular Alzheimer’s in 2024, leaving a huge gap in Joan’s life. Yet the connection with trials has never entirely disappeared and it never will.

There have been a few gentle outings on the four-stroke Montesa 4RT since then, although no sections are being attempted. Instead, the enjoyment comes from riding some trails and byways, including those at Patsy Quick’s land. There has also been some observing, ensuring that involvement in this wonderful sport continues even if competitive riding is now a thing of the past. Joan is one of the sport’s enthusiasts who puts something back into the sport after ceasing competition.

The Montesa 4RT is now the sole motorcycle in the garage, but the beloved C15 lives on. It has passed into the hands of a local youngster of forty-five, who has become just as hooked on Pre’65 machinery and is already enjoying success on it. There is surely no better fate for an old trials motorcycle than to be kept active by another enthusiast.

One More Time in the Chair:

Just when it seemed that the riding days were firmly behind her, an opportunity arose at the Sunbeam Romney Marsh Road Run.

Young Dick, aged eighty-eight, found himself without a passenger for his 1919 Triumph outfit. He didn’t need to ask twice. Our former trials rider was in like a shot!

It must have brought back memories of that first competitive outing with brother Mick in 1961, more than sixty years earlier. The enthusiasm was clearly still there, even if the practicalities of getting aboard and, more importantly, climbing out of the chair had changed somewhat. Getting in was easier than getting out, much to the amusement of those gathered at the museum!

And why not? A little laughter, a vintage motorcycle and the chance to revisit an old passion are surely among the finer pleasures in life.

So, there you have it: the story of a rider whose journey began with imaginary engine noises on a non-running Coventry Eagle, progressed through a Bantam, a Tiger Cub, a Greeves and a succession of much-loved trials machines, and continued through more than sixty years of participation in the sport.

There were no National Championship ambitions fulfilled, nor was that ever the measure of success. Instead, there was a lifetime of enjoyment, friendship, family memories and the enduring pleasure of being part of the trials community. Plus an award annually at the Pre’65 Scottish Trial in Joan’s honour for the ‘Best Woman’, the 2018 through to 2026 winner being Donna Fox from Doncaster.

From those first tentative ‘wobbles’ as Joan calls them, in the back garden to the final competitive ride in 2023, the enthusiasm never really went away. Even now, with the sections left behind, the trails, the observing and the occasional passenger’s seat provide a welcome connection to the sport.

Joan Westbrook gained the respect of many connected to the sport of motorcycle trials across the country, she is highly thought of, both as a trials rider and a person. She is now living quietly in Rye, East Sussex and enjoys her garden.

And perhaps that is the real answer to the question, “What made Joan Westbrook take up trials riding?”

Quite simply, it was a love of motorcycling that started in childhood and didn’t let go.

And what was Joan’s advice for those concerned about getting old? It was quite simple: “Keep on biking.”

Long may those ‘wobbles’ continue!

‘Just Joan – A Trials Lady’ – the story of Joan Westbrook – is the copyright of Trials Guru and Joan Westbrook

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