4th November 2026
In October 2026, Route Coordinator Iain Tullie set off to check out the route for the 2027 running of our popular Generations Rally, accompanied by Anthony Preston. You can find out more about what Iain has planned for the event next year in the route report below.
Day 1
On Friday afternoon we head north across the Tyne and Hadrian’s Wall into the heart of Northumberland and the lesser-known Wansbeck and Font Valleys. After the first regularity, which is the usual short ‘warm up’ to get everyone into the swing of things, we take in two tests, one at a venue new to us, on our way to the afternoon coffee stop and the most northerly point on this weekend’s route. On the return south, the second regularity will be a little longer, before the PC section introduces map navigation for the first time on the event, with a series of Passage Controls to visit along the way.
Hopefully by the time everyone returns to Slaley Hall, those who have competed before will have blown the cobwebs away since the last time, while any first-timers should have found their feet. We have not set any tricks to catch participants out, so hopefully penalties will be low – but no doubt there will still be some stories and ‘what if’s at the bar before dinner.
Day 2
On Saturday we head South and cross the Rivers Derwent, Wear and Tees on our way to lunch in the Eden Valley. It will be a busy morning, with two regularities and tests at three venues that our regular Generations Rally competitors may remember from previous editions. After lunch we briefly visit the Yorkshire Dales National Park en route to the day’s final test, before heading north for the longest regularity of the event. We then climb back onto the North Pennines and across Tynedale and Allendale via the afternoon coffee stop and the day’s final regularity, before a glorious drive over the moors back to Slaley Hall. We originally had another regularity planned for the afternoon, but the roads are so fantastic that we decided competitors would enjoy driving them far more without the pressure of average speeds and secret timing points to worry about. There will be plenty of those in the rest of the day’s competitive sections to keep crews busy!
Day 3
A different direction today as we venture into the lower Derwent and Wear valleys, where we get a stronger taste of the industrial heritage that the North East is rightly so proud of. The venues we visit today will all be new to Generations Rally competitors, but we will finish the day and the event on familiar territory, back on the moors of County Durham. There will be plenty of opportunities for crews to make their way up (or down…) the results table, with the final two regularities and three tests giving ample chances to secure family honour over humiliation. The finish line celebrations will take place back at Slaley Hall, where lunch will be accompanied by the all important prize-giving.
