brooklands bulletin
The archives are at the very heart of Brooklands, detailing to the last dot and ‘i’ the history of what happened here. It covers the racing and record breaking, but also much of the aircraft production, as you can see from the amazing cover image of the Hawker Hurricane that was manufactured on the site.
Having the chance to talk with the Volunteers who work so diligently in the archives to preserve and restore these important documents has been one of the highlights of my year. Their knowledge of the materials and skill at keeping these vital documents in usable condition leaves me in wonder. They are heroes of the Museum alongside everyone who contributes to running, restoring, and preserving the impressive collection.
A great example of this work can also be seen in the 1922 Rudge motorcycle, which was restored in time to mark the centenary of the firm’s last speed record of 1922 at Brooklands. After giving the Motorcycle Team some concerns, it burst into life and Brooklands once again reverberated to the sound of its 1000cc V-twin engine.
This is why Brooklands is a special place. Where else will you see historic machinery being used as intended and on the very track it originally ran? Fortunately, there are plenty of events coming up in 2023 that offer just this chance. In the meantime, Happy New Year when it comes!
Alisdair Suttie Editor Brooklands Bulletin
Become a Member
Brooklands Members is the official support organisation for Brooklands Museum and is dedicated to raising funds for the preservation of the historic Brooklands site.
Members receive the Bulletin six times per year and enjoy free admission to the Museum, except when major events are taking place, in which case additional charges may apply. Club Level Members have access to the Clubhouse Bar on Thursday, Friday and Sunday lunchtimes.
For full details of membership benefits, contact the Members Administrator, Sarah Dover 01932 857381 ext 226; or wwwbrooklandsmembers.co.uk where you can find the latest news on Brooklands.
Front Cover photo: Brooklands Museum Collection, Mike Venables
Start the New Year with a Gathering
What better way to see in the New Year than at Brooklands with more than 1000 classic vehicles of all ages, sizes, and types? This is what awaits thousands of entrants and visitors at the New Year’s Day Classic Gathering, which is back to its traditional 1 January slot for 2023.
There will be something for everyone at what is the UK’s largest New Year’s Day classic car meeting. As well as the vast array of vehicles, there will be live music throughout the day and a winter barbeque, plus other food outlets.
The gates open at 9am to allow in cars, and please check in advance which gate you should use for your type of vehicle. All vehicles registered up to 31 July 1993 are invited to park onsite. The event and Museum are then open to the public from 10am until 4pm.
Please check the website for up-to-date information for this hugely popular and enjoyable season-opener: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ whats-on/new-years-day-classic-gathering-2023
Victory for Julian Viking progress
Dave Cook at: www.hoits.smugmug.com/Motor-Sport-Photos
Members Vice Chairman Julian Grimwade has won the Vintage SportsCar Club Hill Climb Trophy in his Frazer Nash Norris Special.
As well as winning the Trophy, Julian enjoyed three outright wins and managed to beat no less than four ERAs at Prescott. There were also noncompetitive runs at Kop and Shere to support Brooklands.
The Vintage Sports-Car Club Hill Climb Trophy consists of seven qualifying events at five different venues around the UK: Wiscombe, Harewood, Shelsley Walsh, Prescott on the short course, two events at Loton Park, and finally the long course at Prescott. The Hill Climb Trophy is based on times at every event, and although you don’t need to win them all, you do need to be very near the top and complete every event.
Julian said: ‘The car looked very different this year on its taller, skinny wheels required for a Goodwood race at the start of the year. It handled very differently, which added to the fun, and I only had to replace one bolt during the entire season.’
Concorde vouchers now available
Concorde Signature Event Gift Vouchers are now available for 2023 dates. Among the popular packages is the Technical Flight, which includes an extended tour of the Flight Deck and Concorde Simulator.
Vouchers are available for the Deluxe Flight that comes with a glass of champagne, and the Silver and Gold Simulator Packages, which both come with time in the simulator. For a different
In the autumn of 2022, the Vickers Viking’s rudder was lifted back on to the aircraft. Along with the elevators and tail cone, the rudder was doped and painted by a third-party contractor. The DF loop has also been restored and re-fitted to the top of the fuselage.
Remedial work to deal with leaks in the passenger cabin and cockpit continues. The exterior of the aircraft is now largely complete although the BEA livery needs to be re-applied.
One original and five replica cabin seats have been returned from the upholsterer and will be fitted into the cabin in due course, alongside the new cabin ducting. In early 2023, electrical wiring is to be installed by a qualified electrician to power the original cabin lighting, new display lighting, and plug sockets for dehumidifiers. The Viking should be complete in its original BEA livery by the spring of 2023.
Bill Risbridger
experience, you could choose the Champagne Day that provides a three-course lunch and presentation about Concorde’s design and development.
All Concorde Signature Event Gift Vouchers are now available from: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/concorde/ concorde-events
Beatrice Meecham
Rudge back on Track for centenary
Members of the Motorcycle Team unveiled the Museum’s newly restored 1922 998cc Rudge in November to mark the centenary of Rudge’s last speed record of 1922. Team Engineer Gareth Pemberton rode the motorcycle on a demonstration run before it goes back on display from January.
Since the Museum acquired the bike in 2019, Gareth Pemberton, Ian Dabney, and Martin Gegg have carried out remedial work on the frame and forks. The engine was assessed before it was decided it would be possible to carry out a short demonstration ride. This paid tribute to Bert Mathers and Bob Dicker, who carried out several punishing long-distance runs during 1922. That year, on 25 November, the two riders rode for a total of 8 ½ hours in relay, setting new world records of 74.96mph over 500 miles and 71.27mph over 600 miles, and set a new overall speed record of 75.02mph (120.73 kph) over a six-hour period.
SATRO success
Gareth Pemberton said: ‘What an amazing experience. It was great to ride. It’s a fast bike but it was built to break records, so I didn’t get out of first gear, mainly because it was going fast enough in first and the brakes are barely existent, but the controllability was very good, and the result is exactly what we had hoped for.’
Project Manager Martin Gegg added: ‘We had given up any hope of it starting. However, once on The Railway Straight, the mighty V-twin engine burst into life.’
Martin Gegg
Message from Members’ Chairman
The Annual Dinner made a welcome return on 25 November, having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid. This year, David Brockington-Hill joined Angela Hume in organising the event, we sold tickets via Eventbrite for the first time, and they sold out so quickly we had to establish a waiting list a week before the event. Fortunately, the Clubhouse refurbishment programme was sufficiently advanced that we were able to hold the event in the Napier Room. We decided to host the welcome reception in the Motoring Village rather than the Bluebird room as an experiment, which appeared to be welcomed by Members and guests, and gave them an opportunity to chat with our President as he walked around.
The event was a great success, and as well as being highly enjoyable for those attending, it raised a substantial sum for the Museum. The after-dinner auction, conducted by Clive Emson, was a great success, raising more than £4000 on the night. The bidding for an original painting of Damon winning the 1996 Suzuka Grand Prix was especially entertaining, as for the first time we had remote bidding by telephone alongside bids from within the room.
Instead of a formal after dinner speaker, Harry Sherrard put Members questions to Damon in a very informal and enjoyable session, which like the rest of the evening was a winning formula.
At the conclusion of the evening, Damon presented a painting by artist John Whurr to Angela Hume, recognising her tremendous record of arranging events for more than a decade, including our Annual Dinner. Next year, David Brockington-Hill takes over
Educational charity SATRO held a free drop-in session at the Museum on 7 December. The event was held to inspire students not in mainstream education in years 5-9 and included a series of Christmas-themed activities, including looking at reindeer habitats, Christmas tree light circuits, redesigning Santa’s sleigh, and virtual reality sleigh rides. Through these activities, the students were also able to explore Museum exhibits about the history of aviation and motorsport.
the reins, and we wish him well. Hopefully, Angela will be able to relax as a guest and really enjoy her evening in future years! I want to add my thanks to all who made the event such a success, not just to those I have mentioned above.
The next major event will be the New Year’s Day Classic Gathering, and we look forward to seeing many of you there, as this hugely popular and well-attended event makes a welcome return. On behalf of your entire Committee, I wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Healthy and Happy New Year, and thank you again for maintaining your tremendous support throughout the year.
Neil Bailey
Members’ President Damon Hill presents Angela Hume with a painting by John Whurr to recognise Angela’s work in organising the Annual Dinner since 2010.
John Caton receives his Volunteer Long Service Award from Sir Gerald Acher for 35 years of volunteering at Brooklands. John is very proud of his membership, which is number 7. Others to receive Long Service Awards were John Woodhouse (25 years), and Alan Failey and Anthony Saunders (20 years).
Message from the Chairman of the Brooklands Museum Trustees
The month leading up to Christmas has been an extremely busy time for us all at the Museum and there are a number of aspects I wanted to share with you. First, I’d like to congratulate Neil Bailey and his committee for an excellent year on all fronts. Our Brooklands Membership stands at a record high, which is a clear endorsement that we are broadly doing the right thing. Although the ‘churn rate’ has increased in the last couple of months, this is not unexpected. I’m particularly pleased to see the growth in Family Members as this is so important to our future.
The Fast Track Team have been an invaluable help on event days, as has the Outreach Team in helping recruit a record number of new Members. Our Talks Programme has excelled, and excellent progress has been made by BM.tv in reaching audiences who otherwise would not have engaged. The icing on the cake was the successful Annual Dinner which returned after two years absence with Damon Hill, the Members’ President, in sparkling form.
We have had a successful year, primarily as a result of the extremely hard work put in by our CEO, Tamalie Newbery, and her team. Our new department heads are all in place and their presence is being felt as we progress in many areas. For the first time ever, we have a catering offer, particularly on event days, which meets the needs of our diverse visitor group. Undoubtedly this, together with an improved marketing approach and our wonderful and unique volunteer body, will lead us to record a better income than expected.
While talking of successes, I can’t underscore more heavily the importance of our Brooklands Innovation Academy which is reported on page 14. I have just returned from a most exciting day at Brooklands Museum, where 400 young students in groups of 10, guided by their teachers and one of our Volunteers, attended workshops in various parts of the Museum. They carried out diverse projects from building working models to designing sustainable packaging to protect an egg being dropped from a height! The workshop leaders, all successful engineers and scientists from a wide range of blue chip companies, universities, and colleges, all commented on how they found Brooklands inspiring to both them and the students, who retained their enthusiasm until the very end of an action-packed day. We have a real role to play in encouraging and inspiring young people through our structured schools programmes and now our Innovation Academy, and I am very pleased we are discharging this responsibility so effectively.
However, I don’t underestimate the challenges that lie ahead.
Despite the economic situation, we must find more ways of getting money into the Museum in order to balance our books, especially given the inflationary pressures which are heavily impacting Brooklands’ running costs. The state of some of our infrastructure acts as a ball and chain as we strive to move forward. Few museums inherited the level of backlog maintenance compared to us but my Trustees, Tamalie and I are determined to set a five-year plan that puts us on the right path.
In the coming weeks, the £1m project to refurbish and make safe the Clubhouse will be completed. At long, long last we shall have a lift to our entertaining spaces on the first floor and this will also give us an additional function room overlooking the paddock. As well as this, the pillars on the balcony, many of which had totally rotted away at the base, have now been replaced. Only the Cupola was in a worse state of repair, where steel girders under the floor were found to have rusted away in many parts. Despite this tale of woe, we hope to have completed this work broadly to time and to budget.
Our management team’s successful oversight of this work gives me great confidence as we move next year to launching the next stage of our development programme with the new entrance to the Museum over the Vickers Bridge which will see visitors coming into the middle of the site with aircraft on one side and cars and bikes on the other. We shall soon be announcing our multi-million pound bid to the Your Fund Surrey to cover this significant improvement to the visitor experience.
So, I’m much excited, yet realistic, at next year’s prospects and, in the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas season with your family and friends, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the New Year’s Day Classic Gathering. Thank you for all your support over the past, difficult couple of years – it has meant a lot to us.
Sir Gerald Acher
D-Series
Best and last of the series. Excellent condition with extensive history.
Only 6,700 miles with Bentley history, latterly with P & A Wood. Excellent condition.
One of less than 100 made for the UK market and considered as a future classic. Excellent condition.
Rolls-Royce Phantom I 1928 Sedanca de Ville by Hooper
Originally supplied to the Duchess of Westminster with many special features. Excellent, well maintained condition.
Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost 1924 Open Tourer by Hooper
One of the last of the Silver Ghost models and fitted with four wheel brakes. Excellent condition.
Rolls-Royce 20hp 1922 Open Tourer by The Clyde Automobile Co. Ltd of Glasgow (John Robertson coachwork) Exceptionally attractive. Ready to use and enjoy.
Bentley R-Type 1953 Standard Saloon Well maintained and in very good restored condition. Fitted with manual transmission.
Bentley R-Type Continental 1955
Fastback by H.J. Mulliner
Bentley S1 Continental 1957 Drophead Coupé by Park Ward
Very good well maintained condition. One of only 58 right hand drive examples made.
Bentley Continental GTC Speed. March 2016
Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé. October 2008
MUSEUM updates
Chief Executive’s Message
The highlight of the past two months, possibly even the highlight of the year, has been the first ever Brooklands Innovation Academy event, which you can read all about it on page 14. The day was a huge success, helping hundreds of young people to understand what a career in science, tech or engineering is really like. It inspired them through first hand experiences and interactions from people working for major companies like Haleon, Airbus, British Airways, McLaren F1, McLaren Applied, Bayer, NHS, Balfour Beatty, and many more.
The day was also a huge success for Brooklands Museum. In 2021, we defined our vision as ‘inspiring people to shape the future, through Brooklands history of innovation and endeavour.’ The Brooklands Innovation Academy is bringing this vision to life, showing how the approach, attitude, expertise, and determination of people in Brooklands’ past drove breakthroughs that solved the problems of the day, and how those are exactly the things that employers are looking for in order to overcome the challenges of
Celebrating Brooklands’ aviation history in 2023
Look out for some special events and talks celebrating Brooklands’ outstanding aviation history in 2023. We are creating a new exhibition about the life and work of Brooklands hero Barnes Wallis. It will open in time for the 80th anniversary of the Dambusters Raid in May 1943, accompanied by a special evening as part of the Members’ Talks programme.
We are also planning a very special celebration of the 20th anniversary of Concorde’s last flight in the autumn. Alongside these anniversaries, there will be light aircraft and rotary fly-ins throughout the year, keeping Brooklands’ history as an airfield alive, and work is continuing on the repainting of aircraft in the outdoor airliner exhibition.
today and tomorrow. Seeing leading employers delivering practical workshops using the latest technology, in the historic setting of our site and exhibitions, demonstrated more strongly than ever how powerful Brooklands’ history is in inspiring people to play their part in shaping our collective future.
The day took an enormous amount of logistical organisation and it could not have been delivered without weeks of hard work from our fantastic staff team, as well as the help on the day of more than 40 Volunteers who braved the cold to look after the students and their teachers.
It also required strong external partnerships, particularly with Bourne Education Trust who have seconded a secondary school science teacher to us part-time for the past year, which was instrumental in making the day, and our wider learning offer, exciting and inspiring for the students who came. Another key partner is Well North Enterprises who, with Lord Andrew Mawson and Professor Brian Cox, founded the Science Summer School idea 10 years ago and on which Brooklands Innovation Academy has been based.
The other key element was the people who funded this programme. Something with the reach and quality of this day does have a cost attached, but we were delighted to be able to raise enough money to cover this from business sponsors, led by Haleon, grant givers, and Surrey County Council, many of whom have already committed to supporting the programme again next year.
Of course, much else has gone on besides this, including a very successful half-term and several brilliant events, including the postponed Emergency Services Day. Our events programme for 2023 has been announced and includes old favourites as well as some exciting new options. Put the dates in your diary, and we look forward to seeing you for the return of the New Year’s Day Classic Gathering, as well as many, many other times throughout 2023.
Tamalie Newbery
2023 events
We are excited to launch our 2023 events programme, which is packed with fantastic days out for everyone. Key highlights include a new event which will appeal to families and the kid in us all, as we put on a show of all sorts of working vehicles, from tractors to mobile cranes and airfield vehicles to name a few. We will be showcasing some of the less frequently seen parts of Brooklands Museum’s collection, as well as lots of visiting vehicles.
We are also celebrating British cars and motorcycles on the Coronation weekend at our Best of British event, and Paddington Bear will be making a guest appearance at our Brooklands street party. There are opportunities to celebrate other countries’ marques with perennial favourites such as Italian Car Day and American Day, a bigger and better German Day, and a new French Day.
There will be a repeat of last year’s very successful Easter Classic Gathering plus all the normal favourites including Motorcycle Day, Mini Day, and Relived which will coincide with the Sunday of the Double 12 weekend this year. As ever, our school holidays will be packed with fun activities for families to enjoy and our costumed actors will be back in action recounting the stories of Brooklands’ legendary pioneers. See the full programme at the What’s On page of our website: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/whats-on
letters
Metcalfe memory
Dear Sir,
I live in a small village just south of Maidenhead in Berkshire. By chance, I got to know a neighbour, a certain ‘Dickie’ Metcalfe, who owned a Lotus 23B sports car which he raced and, subsequently, I spent many happy hours sort of tending to Dickie’s car and driving his transporter to various circuits.
After Dickie’s demise, I got to know a bit more about him than I ever did in all those years when I spent time with him. What a complex life he lived, but what prompts this note is I am given to believe that he, driving a Fiat Balilla, won the last race at Brooklands before the circuit was finally closed.
Fact or fiction? I would love to know, and I wonder whether there are any records to support or demolish this claim.
Best wishes, Alan Stanton
In praise of Concorde
Dear Sir,
As one who had worked on supplying systems on Concorde and met Captain Mike Bannister, I eagerly awaited his book. I could not have believed that at over 450 pages long, it turned out not to be long enough.
Captain Bannister’s in-depth knowledge and analytic brain yields an astonishingly detailed account of Concorde’s unique birth, life and death. His unequalled expertise as a Concorde pilot helped to get to the truth about the fatal Air France Paris crash. His innate humour and love of Concorde bring tales of her fantastic success before and after the crash in a warm and fascinating way. The obstacles and troubles she faced never diminished her sheer technical brilliance, deliciously superior status and indulgent luxury of flying with her. One of his final achievements ensured that all of BA’s retired Concordes have new homes for future generations to marvel at her.
Yours sincerely, David M Bernstein
Terror update
Dear Sir
I much enjoyed reading the article about RGJ Nash and The Terror. One fact not mentioned is that Dick Nash recorded a speed of 132mph with Terror. This is an astonishing figure for a 1500cc sidevalve engine in the 1930’s, even if it was supercharged to within an inch of its life. The only query I have is the statement that RGJ fitted Mowgli with a ‘slender new body’. I have attached a photo of Laurence Cushman and Mowgli in the paddock at Brooklands. The car is fitted with the ‘I Swear’ T-cam engine, which would date
Photo identities
Dear Sir,
Andy Lambert mentions in his Bulletin article, Belle of the Haul, that many of those in the team photo are no longer with us. Second from the left and turned away from the camera is retired Chief Test Pilot, Jock Bryce, and on his left is Geoffrey Montgomery. In 1952, they both had to bail out of the prototype Valiant when it caught fire. Jock used his ejection seat, becoming only the second civilian pilot on the Martin
Italian rarity
Dear Alisdair
the car as pre-Dick Nash, and the body is about as narrow as you could get. Not a major point.
Yours, Roger Richmond, Trustee, Frazer Nash Archives
Baker survivors list. Geoffrey was a flight test observer and, together with colleagues John Prothero Thomas and Roy Holland, had a much harder task of leaving the stricken Valiant. As they exited the side door, they found themselves sucked onto the side of the fuselage and had to push themselves firmly away. However, all three observers and Jock survived.
Fifth and sixth from the left in the photo are Norman (Spud) Boorer and Norman Barfield. Spud was assistant to Sir Barnes Wallis and also Sir George Edwards, and he helped with the formation of the Museum. Norman Barfield was the Weybridge Publicity Manager for many years.
Best wishes,
Colin Russell
During a recent visit to Italy, I went to the Modena area to visit the Ferrari museums but I also visited the Collezione Umberto Panini, a private collection centred on Maserati although there are other cars and some motorbikes. Some of the Maseratis are unique and include the 420M/58 Eldorado Special which was driven by former Brooklands Members President Stirling Moss in the Two Worlds Trophy at Monza in 1958. The collection is worth a visit if you are in the area but do make sure you have researched the location in advance (about 5 miles south east of Modena). The collection building is housed within a farm on a flat, featureless landscape and is poorly signposted. www.paninimotormuseum.it
Kind regards Gareth Tarr
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2023 Museum Events
The Events List is subject to change, so please check the website: www.brooklandsmuseum.com. Email events@brooklandsmuseum.com or telephone the Museum on: 01932 857381 for information. Test Hill, car rides and engine runs are subject to operational conditions.
January
1 New Year’s Day Classic Gathering. Bring in the New Year at Brooklands with more than 1000 classic cars, motorcycles, and other historic vehicles to get 2023 off to a great start.
29 Vintage Sports-Car Club New Year Driving Tests. Fantastic motor sport action from a wide variety of vintage cars.
March
26 Mini Day. Small cars make a big impression when hundreds of Minis of all ages and types gather at Brooklands to celebrate this iconic model.
29 January 1 January
VSCC New Year Driving Tests. One of the highlights of the year at Brooklands comes early in the year with the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s annual competitive driving event. There’s always an amazing variety of cars taking part in the closefought contest.
New Year’s Day Classic Vehicle Gathering. Brooklands’ traditional celebration of the New Year is a great way to welcome in 2023. There will be more than 1000 classic cars, motorcycles, and historic vehicles of all ages, shapes and sizes. There will be a winter barbeque and other food outlets, and there’s live music to keep everyone entertained. All pre-31 July 1993 cars are invited to park onsite and please contact the Museum for ticket and booking details.
April
8 Easter Gathering. Come and show your classic vehicle, or just mingle among hundreds of amazing machines.
16 London Bus Museum Spring Gathering. The biggest and best bus show in South East England.
23 Drive It Day. Get out in your classic wheels and make Brooklands your destination.
29 Italian Car Day. Come and celebrate all things Italian with an engine at Brooklands.
Brooklands Members Talks: update
The Talks programme gets 2023 off to a great start on 19 January with a talk from Mike Wilds, who won the 1986 Group C2 World Sportscar Championship with the famous Ecurie Ecosse team. With a racing career spanning Formula 1, Formula 3, Formula 5000, Le Mans, GT and Touring Cars, and with 12 British Championships to his name, Mike is a font of knowledge and stories about motorsport. This is a talk not to be missed.
Following this, we have our rescheduled talk from Andy Richardson about Britain’s V Bombers on 16 February With six years of experience as crew on an Avro Vulcan, few have better insight into these Cold War era aircraft, and Andy will discuss how crews were selected and trained. Then, on 30 March, author of At the Greatest Speed Patrick Lynch gives a talk on Gordon Bennett, the father of international motor racing. These Talks will all be on BM.tv Livestream for those who cannot attend in person. Previous talks can be viewed on our BM.tv channel. You can find a link on the BM.tv section of the Museum website. Talks can be booked online at: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/brooklandsmembers/Members-Area/member-events The Talks email address is: talks@brooklandsmembers.co.uk Harry Sherrard and The Talks Team
BROOKLANDS INNOVATION ACADEMY
Brooklands Museum
The first ever Brooklands Innovation Academy was a huge success, helping to inspire more than 400 students.
Photos:
Professor Brian Cox CBE FRS enthralled the students with his video lesson about the origins of the universe, cosmology, and blackholes.
There was a wide range of challenges for the students, including changing wheels in the Brooklands College pitstop challenge.
Kirsty Murphy MBE inspires the students as she talks about becoming the first female Red Arrows pilot.
Brooklands Innovation Academy is about as far from a normal classroom as students are ever going to get. For starters, among those ‘teaching’ at the Academy’s event on 29 November at the Museum were former Red Arrows pilot Kirsty Murphy MBE, World Land Speed Record holder Andy Green OBE, and not forgetting Professor Brian Cox CBE who delivered a video address entitled ‘The origins of the universe, cosmology and black holes.’
Along with engineers and scientists from organisations like McLaren F1, Airbus, the NHS, and Haleon, more than 400 students took part in this first ever Brooklands Innovation Academy event. It gave the students an opportunity to meet experts in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) and find out about the amazing opportunities and challenges in sectors such as medical technology, motorsport, aerospace, and robotics.
Professor Cox said: ‘It is a fantastic achievement to have presented this first Brooklands Innovation Academy, especially given recent and current challenges. I congratulate Brooklands Museum, Well North Enterprises, as well as the many project partners and people for making it a reality. They believe, as do I, that there is a wealth of young talent here in the UK who, given the right inspiration and support, will become the STEM innovators of tomorrow. We need more scientists and engineers in the UK and Brooklands Innovation Academy is an important step in the right direction. 2022 has been a brilliant launch now let’s bring on 2023.’
Brooklands Innovation Academy is part of the Science Summer School programme cofounded by Professor Cox and Lord Andrew Mawson OBE. This was an all-day event that celebrated innovation, human endeavour, and entrepreneurship, and it began with an exciting welcome from inventor Ruth Amos. She spoke about the drive for innovation and the wide range of careers and opportunities within STEM fields. Following on from this, Professor Brian Cox delivered his keynote address by video, helping to inspire the students before they divided into groups of 10 to try their hands at a variety of workshops.
With guest speakers on hand and 21 different workshops, it was a fantastic opportunity for many of the students to ‘learn by doing’ in an immersive environment. Each workshop was designed to give them a better understanding of working in a STEM field through first-hand experience, with all the requirements for problem-solving, teamwork, ingenuity, and tenacity. Engineers from McLaren F1 led a workshop about
aerodynamic design and materials while the team from Bloodhound Education looked at the physics behind the 1000mph land speed record car.
The NHS and Bayer hosted workshops around careers in health, including a giant inflatable heart that students could climb through. Airbus discussed lunar moon landers and aircraft design while Brooklands College got students to conduct a race car pitstop and solve a simulated forensic crime scene investigation. The day also provided students with an opportunity to learn more about the rich history of Brooklands within aviation and motor racing, understanding innovations of the past while actively learning about the challenges and technologies of today.
Lord Mawson, Chair of Well North Enterprises, said: ‘Our practical aim is to help connect the career pipeline between young people and the myriad of training and work opportunities across education, health, and business available within local communities. We believe this is the best way to create an enthusiastic workforce equipped with the right skills to help drive the UK forward which, in turn, makes this a better place for all to live. We know
that knowledge is power, and this first Brooklands Innovation Academy has ticked all the right boxes in practical, not paper, terms. We look forward to starting work with our brilliant partners as soon as possible on next year’s event.’
Brooklands Museum Director and CEO Tamalie Newbery added: ‘Our first-ever Brooklands Innovation Academy was an enormous success. The team did a fantastic job in bringing together industry personalities, companies, and educational organisations to provide a comprehensive and entertaining experience. It was non-stop action and engagement for the students, which was wonderful to see.
‘A huge thanks to the supporters and sponsors, it was so inspiring to see business leaders and companies working together to make this a reality. We are very much looking forward to building upon this year’s success with more Brooklands Innovation Academy events in 2023 and beyond. We established Brooklands Innovation Academy to inspire a new generation of innovative and entrepreneurial thinkers. Judging from their smiles and curiosity, I believe we have achieved just that.’
Construction company Balfour Beatty demonstrated how Spot, their robotic dog, helps them with their work.
A group of students gets hands-on as they learn how to make toothpaste with Haleon at Brooklands Innovation Academy.
Hilda Hewlett was fascinated with flying from the moment she first saw an aircraft in flight at a Blackpool demonstration in 1909.
HIGH FLYING HILDA
Words: Al Suttie Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection
Hilda Hewlett was as much a pioneer in business as she was in aircraft. We find out how the UK’s first female pilot’s licence holder went on to run an influential aircraft business.
Among the influential early aviators, few contributed more than Hilda Hewlett. Not only was she the first woman to qualify for a pilot’s licence in the UK, Hewlett set up the first flying school and ran a successful aircraft manufacturing business. Any one of those facts would be enough to earn her a place in the history books, so to achieve this and more besides makes Hewlett one of the most remarkable characters in the early part of Brooklands’ aviation history.
Born on 17 February, 1864, to the Reverend George William Herbert and Louisa, his wife, Hilda Beatrice Herbert was one of nine children. Nicknamed ‘Billy’, Hilda was a keen student and did well studying metalwork, woodwork, and needlework at the National Art Training School in South Kensington, London, which was not too far from her home in Vauxhall. At 19-years of age, Hilda travelled with her parents to Egypt, which she later said awakened her from a so-far conventional childhood and path into adulthood. By 21, she was studying nursing in Berlin before returning to home and marrying barrister and writer Maurice Hewlett in 1888.
The newly married couple settled into a life of London society, but Hilda’s natural affinity for speed and new ideas led her to an interest in early bicycles. This was followed by an interest in motor cars as they developed out of their infancy at the turn of the century. By 1906, she had competed in that year’s Land’s End to John O’Groats trial as passenger and mechanic to Muriel Hind, the only female driver in the event. This only served to fire up Hilda’s passion for cars further and she was often
seen around London at the wheel, with her Great Dane sitting alongside. Gail Hewlett, the wife of Hilda’s grandson, went on to write: ‘She was daring, dauntless in the face of authority, bursting with energy, fun loving, and single-minded in the pursuit of what interested her.’
That interest shifted to aviation and flying when, in 1909, Hilda attended a flying demonstration held at Blackpool. Hilda later described her feelings at seeing the display in dramatic terms and said: ‘A great white thing was slowly pushed out of a shed, so big and strange. Paulhan,
Hilda had to buy a Farman biplane in order to take lessons in France. Her company later built aircraft from the same maker under licence.
the French pilot of the aircraft, climbed up somehow, men twisted something round and round behind, when suddenly there was a roar which got louder and louder. The white thing moved slowly, then faster and faster, till as it passed in front of me I saw one foot of space between it and the dirty muddy grass. That one foot of space which grew more and more made everything within me stop still. I wanted to cry, or laugh, but I could not move or think, I could only look with all my other faculties dead and useless. Something inside me felt it must burst. I had seen a reality as big as a storm at sea or Vesuvius throwing up fire and rocks. It made more impression than either of these. There seemed to be no limit to its future. I was rooted to the spot in thick mud and wonder and did not want to move. I wanted to feel that power under my own hand and understand about why and how. The whole trend of life seemed altered, somehow, lots of important things were forgotten, a new future of vague wonder and power was opened.’
Hilda had gone to the air show with her husband, but Maurice was not much interested in women taking up flying and said: ‘Women will never be as successful in aviation as men. They have not the right kind of nerve.’ He couldn’t have been more wrong, but it also seems he did not attempt to stop Hilda from pursuing her interest as she went to France in a bid to gain her pilot’s licence. However, she same up against a resistance to women taking up flying and, even with an assumed name of Grace Bird to keep her plans from those back home, she was forced into buying a Farman III biplane as the only route to lessons. Farman included lessons for anyone who bought one of its planes and Hilda started her course at Mourmelon, France with the Farman School, learning to fly and maintain aircraft. While she did not earn her pilot’s licence then, this trip proved pivotal to Hilda and the world of aviation as it’s where she met Gustave Blondeau.
It’s said the pair only ever spoke to each other in French, which did not
This cutting claims Hewlett was not intending to make any exhibition flights. By 1911, Hilda was keenly showing off her abilities and that of the aircraft she flew
impede them from setting up the UK’s first school at Brooklands in September 1910. Naturally, they used a Farman aircraft, which was named Blue Bird. This name was chosen after a popular play of the time by Maurice Maeterlinck that also seems to have inspired Malcolm Campbell and Mrs Eardely Billing, who started the café at Brooklands of the same name.
Gustave Blondeau and Hilda became firm friends when they met at the Farman flying school in France. Together, they set up the UK’s first flying school.
Flying lessons at the Hewlett-Blondeau Flying School cost £75, and the company found no shortage of willing students. Some budding pilots were so keen that it’s said some slept in packing crates next to the hangar so they could be ready to fly early in the morning when conditions were at their best. Hilda noted: ‘One boy in the Navy walked from Walton, 8 miles or so, at 4 am for his lessons. He threw stones at my window.’ Among those who signed up
for the Hewlett-Blondeau Flying School was Thomas Sopwith, who qualified in October 1910 and went on to become a hugely important figure in aviation in his own right. Others to go through the school were Geoffrey de Havilland, Maurice Ducrocq, Spender Douglas Adair Grey, and Hilda’s own son Francis Hewlett, who was a SubLieutenant in the Royal Navy and went on to have a distinguished flying career in the First and Second World Wars. Francis Hewlett
also had the distinction of being the first pilot to be taught to fly by his own mother.
As other flying schools quickly appeared following the establishment of the Hewlett-Blondeau Flying School, there was a key selling point for Hilda’s company. It advertised itself as ‘The only school which has never had a crash nor damaged an aeroplane.’ Given the basic nature of flying lessons at the time and fragility of the aircraft, this was quite a claim.
Wrapped up against the elements, Hilda was a dedicated pilot. She went on to found a flying club in New Zealand after she retired there.
Almost exactly a year after founding the flying school, 46-year old Hilda Hewlett qualified as a pilot on 29 August, 1911 at Brooklands, becoming the first woman in the UK to achieve this. A mark of how pioneering Hilda was is that her licence from the Royal Aero Club was Number 122. Her test had been on 18 August and she later said of the exam: ‘I did not feel a bit nervous then, only very happy. I did the simple necessary turns, altitude, and landing tests. Everyone was so glad and happy, my dream was fulfilled.’ However, just as Hilda had experienced resistance to a woman learning to fly in France, she found the Royal Aero Club only allowed woman into a single room at its London headquarters. As a result, she gave up her membership after two years.
Shortly after qualifying as a pilot, Hilda took part in several demonstrations, but the school’s time in business was coming to an end. It had successfully trained 13 pilots to gain their tickets to fly, including Hilda and her son, but by late 1911 she and Gustave had set up Hewlett & Blondeau
to manufacture and repair aircraft. Forever a pioneer, Hilda was instrumental in the company buying the first oxy-acetylene welding equipment in the UK, which gave the firm a jump when it came to fixing damaged machinery. As well as aircraft, they were quickly fixing a wide range of metal frames to bring in much-need money.
In 1912, the company had grown too large for its modest base at Brooklands and moved to Vardens Roads, Battersea, London where there is now a plaque to commemorate the site. Here, Hewlett & Blondeau built Caudron, Farman, and Hanriot aircraft under licence. Further expansion due to demand from the government because of the First World War saw the company move again, this time to large premises at Leagrave, Bedfordshire. Also in 1914, Hilda was divorced from her husband Maurice. By the end of the war, the company had also produced the Avro 504K and Armstrong Whitworth FK3 under licence, and more than 850 aircraft had left the Omnia factory gates by late 1918.
Old Bird – The Irrepressible Mrs Hewlett by Gail Hewlett
Hilda Hewlett compiled her own memoir but did not publish it. Given her contribution to aviation and zest for life, it would have been a great loss if her story was not told. Fortunately, Gail Hewlett, the wife of Hilda’s grandson Tony Hewlett, has written a biography using Hilda’s memoir and family stories. It vividly recounts the life and work of Hilda, and also goes into some detail about her importance at the time to women’s suffrage. Hilda herself was sympathetic to this cause, but she was also cautious about being too political.
Copies of Old Bird – The Irrepressible Mrs Hewlett by Gail Hewlett cost from £11.99 from good book shops. It’s published by Troubador Publishing, ISBN: 978 1 8487 63371
However, the end of the conflict also meant an end to orders for Hewlett and Blondeau’s business. As a result, it diversified into making farm machinery, but it struggled to recapture the success of its aircraftproducing period and the site was eventually sold in 1926. By this stage, Hilda was 62 and decided to do some travelling before retiring to New Zealand where her daughter Pia now lived. When she settled in, the family gave her the new nickname of ‘Old Bird’, but Hilda was far from taking life easy. Instead, she was a key member in founding the Tauranga Aero and Gliding Club, which held its first meeting in 1932. Hilda was its first President and the club flew from land that she had bought, again demonstrating her forward-looking attitude and keen eye for business as this was the area’s only airstrip up to the outbreak of the Second World War. Hilda Hewlett remained in Tauranga for the rest of her life, where she greatly enjoyed the outdoor lifestyle. She died on 21 August, 1943 and
After moving from Brooklands to Battersea, London, Hewlett & Blondeau was the first company in the UK to offer oxy-acetylene welding.
This newspaper cutting from 1911 shows how able the licence-built Farman aircraft were from Hewlett & Blondeau.
IN THE ARCHIVES
A team of skilled Volunteers makes sure the Archive at Brooklands is methodically catalogued and preserved. We take peek behind scenes at their important work.
Words: Al Suttie Photos: Mike Venables, Noonans
The Brooklands Archive runs to hundreds of thousands of artefacts, many of them dating back to the opening of the Track. While as much of this material is put on display as possible in the Museum, there are always documents and items to be catalogued, preserved, and restored. This work is done by a team of around 20 Volunteers working with Andrew Lewis, Head of Curatorial and Archive, to make sure everything is kept for future reference and research. There are also new documents being added, so the Bulletin was privileged to have a glimpse behind the scenes and find out how this important work is completed by these skilled people.
The recent addition of a large number of documents and material from the late
Hilary Henning with a blueprint that she is working on. The plan is for an electric petrol gauge fuel tank attachment for one of Malcolm Campbell’s cars.
Rolls of blueprints awaiting inspection, cataloguing and further preservation by the team of Volunteers who work in the Archive.
The Brooklands Archive is huge and includes many donated items. Here Mike Cane is assessing some aviation note books.
Bill Boddy’s collection gives a good idea of how the process works in the archives. Lewis Jenkins is one of the Volunteers and explains: ‘My main role is cataloguing artefacts that are donated to the Museum. We have to decide what’s appropriate for the Museum’s collection including the late
journalist Bill Boddy’s documents. When we have been through the documents, they will be assigned a a permanent storage location in the Archive.’
Fellow Volunteer Doug Hollingsworth adds: ‘There were 16 boxes of assorted documents from the Bill Boddy collection
that had not been bought at an auction. You need to enjoy being methodical in this work. Recently, we’ve been registering a lot of film and VHS video tapes of work in the aircraft factories. Lewis and I listed all of the films so we know what we’ve got and then it’s a case of sorting which ones are of relevance to Brooklands.’
This work takes time, partly as the Volunteers are usually only in the Archive one or two days per week, and also because much of the Archive has been in storage at Bicester Heritage. As documents and artefacts are returned to the Brooklands site, they have to be correctly put in their place. Doug says: ‘You get to know where things go and where they are. As the Clubhouse reopens, this will help in our work. It also helps that I worked in research in the Clubhouse from the end of 2000, and I’d already been a Member and began volunteering from November 1999. I got to know the Library and Archive well.’ As more items come back to Brooklands from offsite storage, they are being digitally recorded, too. Lewis says: ‘Part of my role is to establish a record of the collection from our old archive as it’s moved into new store. This is done through our latest digital record, which I use to document an item’s number, type, condition, and location.’
Should the item in question be in need of repair, Hilary Henning’s skills come to the fore. Although Hilary had no professional experience of this work before she started as a Volunteer 13 years ago, she is now an expert book and paper conservator. Her interest was sparked by seeing items in the library display cases that needed repairing, so she joined as a Library Volunteer, which is when Hilary discovered the Archive also needed help.
‘I have taken courses in book and paper repair,’ says Hilary. ‘I also have a degree in Bookbinding. Prior to this work at Brooklands, I bound and repaired books for myself and friends, and I worked in the V&A Museum as a volunteer one day a week. Now, I really enjoy working in the
A great deal of care and delicate work is required to make sure old documents do not deteriorate further and to preserve them for future reference.
Lewis Jenkins in the Archive with some of the many cannisters of film that he’s working to catalogue and organise. The painstaking work takes time but is very worthwhile.
Many of Brooklands’ most important and famous aircraft are documented in the Archive, including the Vickers Viking. This is an overhead view of the aircraft.
The Volunteers bring many skills to the Archive, including bookbinding. Here’s Hilary Henning checking an item.
‘Dog House’ as we call our room with the other Volunteers and learning about the history of Brooklands. It’s fascinating to be hands-on with such fragile items and conserving them so they don’t deteriorate. What we do is helping to protect the items so the Museum can keep them for the future for everyone.’
All of the Volunteers have their own particular interests, which come together to form an impressive all-round knowledge of their work and the story of Brooklands. Lewis has a keen interest in Brooklands’ role in the wider history of the country and says: ‘What I enjoy the most is exploring the vast and important legacy of Brooklands and its impact on both the world and motor sport. There are many unexpected surprises we come across when sorting through our old archive or when inspecting the latest donation. One of the
most amazing was a commemorative letter of the recovery of the Loch Ness Wellington ‘R’ for Robert, including a piece of fabric from its fuselage. It makes me happy knowing that these important artifacts of our motor, aviation and wartime history have been acknowledged and safely stored for future generations to study.’
For Doug, the thrill is in tracking the full story of items and he says: ‘I really enjoy chasing up information, especially on the aviation side as this is
massed start cycle race held at Brooklands in 1907 has recently been acquired and is now being catalogued.
my personal interest. When you do have the details, it adds to the life that these items have lived. The next challenge is then keeping the collection in order. That includes some unusual items like the aircraft instruments that I’ve been working with since 2010. This work has to be spread out as some of the instruments have luminescent dials so they could be read at night and they require careful handling. However, the Museum has helped here with sending me on an aircraft preservation course at Imperial War Museum Duxford.’
One of the latest items acquired by the Museum brings to life one of the key events in the history of the site which is often forgotten. On 7 September, 1907, the first massed start cycle race in Britain was held at Brooklands, less than three months after the first car race, and well before the first motorcycle race the following April. The silver medal recently acquired was awarded to F Smith for being one of the few riders to finish within the time limit behind the winner, JH Bishop, at the end of the 100-mile race. Look out for an article on this first cycle race in a future issue of the Bulletin.
Smith’s cycling medal perfectly demonstrates the wide-ranging nature of the Archive at Brooklands, and Hilary Henning concludes: ‘The best bit of this work is we don’t know what we’ll be brought next.’
Hilary Henning and Mike Cane discuss the best way to preserve a document before work begins to preserve it.
By carefully cataloguing the Archive, it is easier to find items in the Library, which is set to reopen later in 2023.
RACING DISPATCHES
When Martin Gegg spotted a picture of a 1915 event on the front page of Old Bike Mart described simply as a Brooklands Hill Climb, he was able to provide the backstory to the photograph. Here is that tale.
In August 1915, the First World War was becoming quite literally bogged down in Europe, with both sides locked in a stalemate. The mobile Royal Enfield and Clyno Motorcycle Machine Gun Carrier riders were being redeployed to trench duty, but back in England Lieutenant Frank Houghton, of the 25th Divisional Cyclist Company, suggested a meeting at Brooklands. Houghton had the idea of running the
Words: Martin Gegg Photos Brooklands Museum Collection, Hartley Collection
Lieutenant Frank Houghton on his Rudge complete with signal lamp headlight as there were no blackouts in the First World War.
motorcycle event to lift morale for those on leave or posted nearby.
Brooklands had closed and been taken over by the Royal Flying Corps and The Royal Aircraft Factory in August 1914, and the track was in a very poor state. Undeterred, Houghton wrote to the authorities and with a bit of help from The Motor Cycle magazine persuaded the AutoCycle Union and Brooklands authorities to put on an ‘All Khaki’ meeting on 7 August. Pictures of the time showed the state of the track. Despite work being undertaken to fill holes and reinstate the surface, only the Railway Straight was suitable. It was decided, for a reason which is not clear from the reports, to run the sprints the wrong way down the straight towards the Members Bridge.
In addition to the Sprints and Hill Climbs, there were Gymkhana events such as the Serpentine Race. This was a sort of slow-bicycle obstacle race in which riders would weave their way through the tuning sheds as slowly as possible, the winner being the last over the line. Another was the Quick-change Spark Plug Race. This was a half mile sprint from a standing start with no outside assistance, interrupted by a stop at the quarter mile mark to change spark plugs that had been placed in envelopes on the track before racing to the line. Hot plugs and finding the correct replacement plugs were challenges, but it proved to be a very popular event.
Assistant Paymaster CP Marcel RNR takes it slowly through the tuning sheds at the first 1915 meeting.
Some of the spectators in their hospital uniforms watch the final event of the day on Test Hill.
Sergeant Milner of the Royal Engineers on 4 September and winner of the Under 270cc Half Mile sprint. He also won the Under 350cc Half Mile sprint and the Under 350cc Hill Climb.
The meeting was not officially open to the public but was well attended by members of the military, as well as their friends and family. At 2pm on 7 August, crowds gathered in the sunshine to watch the first events for more than a year at Brooklands. The lack of marshals proved a challenge as there were no barriers to keep spectators off the track. However, six sergeants of Lt Houghton’s 25th Divisional Cyclist Company managed to keep order and we are told ‘they were obeyed with alacrity.’
Among those taking part was Gordon McMinnies, winner of the first ever ‘unofficial’ motorcycle race at Brooklands in February 1908 and now in the Royal Naval Air Service together with John Alcock, also of the RNAS and later to become famous with Arthur Brown for being the first to fly the Atlantic in a Vickers Vimy. Driving a Morgan, McMinnies came second in the ‘Passenger’ race for sidecars and cyclecars, while Alcock riding a 349cc Douglas finished 4th in the under-550cc Half Mile Sprint.
The day was a great success and, although there was some concern about military personnel being seen having fun while others were fighting in France, another event did go ahead on
Riders and spectators, some in their blue hospital uniforms, outside the Clubhouse at Brooklands.
The Quick-change Spark Plug Race on the Railway straight on 7 August 1915. In the foreground is LA Fedden on a Douglas. The number 26 bike is a mystery as it is listed as a Douglas but clearly has a V-twin engine. Houghton can just be seen bending down with his signal light visible behind the man walking on the track, who could be a judge or a rider who had lost his spark plug!
4 September billed as the United Services Meeting to reflect the Naval participants. This time, sprints took place on the Finishing Straight but the Serpentine Race now became a first past the post slalom. Contemporary pictures show the Test Hill crowded with spectators, many still in their blue military hospital uniforms, who had come from the Weybridge Hospital run by Ethel Locke King, who was Assistant Director of the Surrey Red Cross and wife of Brooklands owner Hugh Locke King. Little is known of a further meeting of staff from The Royal Aircraft Factory, also based at Brooklands, which was held on 23 October and included cars and motorcycles.
Shortly after these events, Frank Houghton joined the Royal Flying Corps and, after a tour of duty at the front line, was posted to help with the pioneering development of aerial wireless communication. On 6 May, 1918, he was tragically killed during an aircraft-toaircraft radio transmission test flight at Biggin Hill.
Brooklands did not reopen until 1920 due to the amount of repair work that was needed following the war. In November 2015 and 2018, the Museum commemorated the centenary of the First World War events with re-runs of the Serpentine Race. It was interesting to see
the amount of control riders had on period machines, many of which had no clutch.
This article first appeared in Old Bike Mart
You can find out more about the early history of military motorcycling in Martin’s book War Bike, British Military Motorcycling 1899 to 1919. The book covers how the motorcyclist became mobilised by a War Office initially skeptical about the usefulness of two-wheeled transport, and the development of the concept of the dispatch rider. War Bike costs £9.50 including postage and is available from: www.fenlandclassics.com/books
The Royal Aircraft Factory Meeting at Brooklands in October 1915.
A LONG REACH DISCOVERY
Following the Second World War raid on Brooklands, one of the German Messerschmitts crashed nearby. This is the story of its subsequent discovery.
Words Alan Cooper and Simon Parry Photos: Alan Cooper, Simon W Parry collection, Brooklands Museum Collection
A Messerschmitt Bf110 in flight similar to the one flown by Karl Rohring and Joachim Jackel that attacked Brooklands before crashing nearby.
When interviewed after the war by the eminent German aviation writer Ludwig von Eimannsberger, Unteroffizer (Corporal) Joachim Jackel recalled the Luftwaffe Staffel (squadron) lounging by their planes and watching the French harvesting crops prior to their mission being declared. They were to escort bombers whose intended target was Brooklands in Surrey, England. The journey was without incident and the target was reached without loss or combat taking place. Once the bombing was complete, they joined a ‘Schwarm’ of four (the RAF flew in threes known as ‘vics’ while the Luftwaffe favoured the ‘finger four’ formation) and set course for France.
Aware that they had unwanted company closing fast, Jackel alerted his pilot but it was already too late. As their plane turned to meet the enemy headon and he himself began to fire, bullets
ripped into the doomed Messerschmitt Bf110. Their plane on fire, he with a leg wound, and his pilot Feldwebel Karl Rohring slumped unresponsive over his controls, Jackel jettisoned his canopy and was sucked out of the machine, his flying boots becoming detached as he did so, and lost consciousness. Meanwhile, the plane gathered speed and crashed into the ground.
Regaining consciousness and realising he was in free fall, Jackel pulled his parachute’s ripcord and slowly descended to the ground where he was met not by a savage mob baying for his immediate death as so many eye-witness reports state but by several civilians carrying shotguns. As one cursed at him, another tried to console him. A small crowd assembled led by ‘a pretty blonde girl in a summer dress’. Two Canadian soldiers stationed in the nearby village of Ockham arrived at the scene and carried him through the crowd, who offered him packets of
cigarettes. He was then conveyed to Ripley police station where he received first aid before being escorted across the road to Dr Creet’s surgery to wait and receive proper treatment. What remains could be found of the unfortunate pilot, Karl Rohring, were taken from the crash site for interment in a canvas bucket. He was later buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery.
It appears Jackel was treated very well, apart from when he was in Dr Creet’s surgery. The doctor’s nurse, Eliza Paul, who had lost her sweetheart during the previous 1914-18 conflict, was alleged to have been less than gentle when applying dressings to his wounds. He then spent the rest of the war in captivity, mostly in Canada, from where he returned to Germany in 1946. After the war, Joachim Jackel was traced and given the opportunity to return to Ockham at the expense of the residents as a guest. However, this more than generous offer was apparently declined.
What happened next to the Messerschmitt
Most people living in Ockham and nearby ended up with a ‘souvenir’ from the crash, though few of these still survive today. I have one, a piece of Perspex screen from the cockpit which, unknown to me until
close to his death in 2007, separated runner beans and broad beans in a seed tray in my late father’s shed.
During the 1970s, aviation archaeology became a very popular pastime, with groups springing up everywhere. Around our area was the Air Historical Group, who numbered among its members Simon Parry. Now a familiar face on television, Simon takes up the story of the Long Reach Dig:
“Things were different back in 1977 when I first went looking for the German plane at West Horsley. The Battle of Britain had finished just 37 years before and it was still possible to knock on a door and ask the surprised occupier if they knew about the plane that had crashed down the road. If they did not know, then more often than
not they knew of someone who had been living nearby in 1940. That’s how I found Mr Pipe, who lived in a bungalow on Long Reach and on whose land the German plane had crashed. In those days, there were very few publications that gave any clue as to where aircraft had fallen, when, or who was flying them. Frank Mason’s book Battle over Britain published in 1969 was the best reference work then available and in it he wrote of six Messerschmitt Bf110s being shot down.
This combat was so clearly defined that the claims were entirely accurate, the enemy aircraft all falling just south of Weybridge, two at East Clandon, three at Horsley, and one near Ripley. The crater and scars made by these aircraft are clearly visible to this day. This was enough to send me scouring the area but, as we now know, it was entirely inaccurate.
Brooklands made efforts to disguise its outline from enemy aircraft, but the distinctive layout of the track made it a clear target.
Some of the damage to the Vickers-Armstrongs factory caused by the 4 September, 1940 raid that killed 88 people and injured more than 400.
A Messerschmitt Bf110 preparing for take-off. Note the popular ‘nose art’ shark’s mouth.
The good Mr Pipe was a little bemused when I asked if he would mind if our little group of enthusiasts could search his field for a few bits of ‘his’ plane. He remembered the war and said: ‘You
feet down into the sub-soil. Tantalisingly, there were still signs of pieces deeper still. It was a bitterly cold day and Mr Pipe must have thought us completely mad when we showed him the odd bullet and a couple of scraps of metal, the result of hours of labour. We asked if we could come back and dig further, and Mr Pipe replied: ‘So long as you don’t make a mess, I suppose you can.’
The next weekend was even colder. The ground was frozen and our gloves that had been left in the car also froze solid. It seemed a good idea to put them on the engine to warm-up, but we left them too long and they melted. By the end of the second day, we had dug a pit down about six feet and hit some pieces of metal too big to get out. We would need a digger to make a bigger hole.
won’t find much, it was all taken away. It’s all junk anyway and I don’t want my field messed up.’ We must have looked crestfallen, but after a while he relented upon assurances that we wouldn’t dig a big hole. With what today would be regarded as a very primitive metal detector, we set off across the field and found tiny fragments scattered far and wide. Eventually, we isolated an area that we determined by the concentration of finds to have been the impact point and dug a couple of
Mr Pipe was not pleased. The ground was too soft at this time of year and a digger would churn up his field. Not wanting to take no for an answer, we asked about coming back in the summer. After some correspondence and pleading over the next few months, he relented and excitedly we met our hired JCB digger at the field gate one morning. It didn’t take more than a couple of scoops to dig out the hole that had taken two days to dig by hand and below was the metal we had seen. It turned out be an undercarriage leg and a propeller blade. Immediately below was a Daimler-Benz engine, but that was all. The aircraft must have dived into the ground with only one engine running as the other engine had not buried itself. There was nothing left from the cockpit and none of the nose guns. The engine was taken away by the well-known wildlife artist David Shepherd in his van. Eventually, after many moves, the engine was put on display in the Brooklands Museum, where it remains to this day.
Time is a funny thing and, 45 years after being excavated, the parts of the
Pilot Karl Rohring was buried alongside other Luftwaffe crew in Brookwood Military Cemetery near Brooklands.
The JCB digger used to uncover the Messerschmitt’s engine in a field. Mr Pipe was not pleased with the big hole.
Raid on Brooklands
As home to Vickers-Armstrongs’ factory for Wellington and Hurricane production, Brooklands was a prime target for Luftwaffe raids during the Second World War. The first raid to target the site specifically happened on 24 July, 1940. Eighteen bombs were dropped, but damage was minimal.
For the 4 September raid, around 100 Messerschmitt Bf110s took part. One unit was used as a diversion to draw the RAF away from the London area that included Brooklands. It proved a clever tactic and allowed the Luftwaffe to complete their bombing mission unchallenged. At Vickers, 88 people died and more than 400 injured.
When the RAF were scrambled into action, 15 German aircraft were destroyed as they headed back to France. The raid was a success for the Luftwaffe, but it failed to seriously damage the machinery within the factory, allowing aircraft manufacture to restart soon after. There was a second raid on Brooklands on 6 September, but it only briefly interrupted Hurricane production. After this, aircraft production was dispersed around a much wider range of facilities to limit potential damage from any further attacks.
Bf110 have been out of the ground longer than they had been buried in it. Mr Pipe’s ‘junk’ is now historically significant, and
Mercedes-Benz World has been built on the very place the Daimler-Benz engine had taken the bombers to 82 years earlier.”
Simon Parry is now one of Britain’s leading aviation historians, with his roots in Surrey where he began his research into the battles and aircraft crashes in the county more than 40 years ago. This was a time when it was possible to interview many witnesses to the events. His interest in the air war led him to become a professional researcher at the National Archives, undertaking a variety of assignments
for those not able to conduct their own investigations. Since the publication of his first book in 1987, he has focused his attentions on the editing and production of more than 40 aviation books. Simon is also one of Europe’s most experienced aviation archaeologists, contributing to several television documentaries.
This article was originally published by Send and Ripley History Society in their journal earlier this year. For more information, visit: www.sendandripleyhistorysociety.co.uk
Simon Parry’s publications are available from: www.wingleader.co.uk
A piece of the Messerschmitt’s Perspex canopy screen which Alan Cooper’s father had used as a seed tray divider.
The Daimler-Benz engine that belonged to the Messerschmitt was uncovered in a field. The engine is now on display in the Museum.
Simon Parry holding the newly uncovered propellor blade from what is thought to be the one engine of the Bf110 that was turning as it crashed.
members’ matters
A certified visit
Chris Bass found out a great deal about his car when he applied for its Heritage Certificate.
Just as the Brooklands Museum collection includes much more than the cars, bikes, and aircraft on display, the British Motor Museum houses materials beyond the vehicles you might have seen at its site in Gaydon, Warwickshire. Among the services offered by the British Motor Museum is the provision of a ‘Certified Copy of a Factory Record’ for a massive range of cars. This museum is the home of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (BMIHT), which was formed from Leyland Historic Vehicles, a part of British Leyland, in 1983. It houses the historic cars and records accumulated by the many companies that had been swallowed up by that ill-fated conglomerate.
The collection was first moved to its current location in 1993. RAF Gaydon had been founded in 1942 and went on to be a V-bomber base in the Cold War. In 1978, the site was bought by British Leyland with the intention of it becoming a technology and testing facility. This was to be rather short-lived, but it did provide a location for this museum and now parts of the former airfield are used by Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin.
Throughout the history of the museum, the company records have been a prime asset and they have been carefully preserved, just as documents are at Brooklands. If you would like to know what the original specification of your car was, its exterior and interior colours, the optional equipment fitted, whether it still
has its original engine, and what its exact build date was so that you can gain Road Fund Licence exemption for it, the British Motor Museum is the place to contact.
I went to see Richard Bacchus, Senior Certification Officer, and we used my wife Annie’s 1962 Triumph Herald convertible as a test case. For Triumph, the museum holds the Build Records and the Despatch Records. During the company’s existence, these were transferred onto micro-film and the museum has scanned all of these so they can be searched on computer. The original micro-films were not compiled in an entirely logical or numerical manner, so some trial and error is involved. With the car’s chassis number and his experience of the records, Richard was soon able to track down our car. Its chassis number starts as a commission number and the record shows its engine number, paint colour, interior colour, and optional equipment, which in this case included a heater and windscreen washers which we had always thought were a dealer fitment because they use a rubber bulb screwed to the bottom of the dashboard. The build date was also given, in this case 14 March, 1962.
Richard then turned his attentions to the Despatch Records. A similar hunt for the chassis or commission number revealed the Herald was delivered to Carrs Auto Sales of Croydon five days later for a trade price of £651 10s 11d.
This certification service has been in place for many years now and in 1996 I went through a similar process for my 1966 Triumph TR4A. While the Herald has stayed very much in its original state,
the same could not be said for the TR4A. When I bought it in 1985, it was white and right-hand drive. Its Heritage Certificate showed that originally it had been blue and been built as left-hand drive. It had been ordered by a US Air Force Officer stationed in the UK, who had the intention of taking it home with him. The certificate gives its specification as ‘LHD, North American Export’. It was built on 31 March, 1966 but not delivered until 10 May, and then as a ‘Personal Export Delivery’ to an NF Jensen. Its optional equipment included wire wheels, overdrive, independent rear suspension which I think was listed because it was not standard for US cars, heater, a black tonneau cover, and Michelin tyres. The certificate also states that its registration was issued in Coventry ‘under the Home Delivery Export Scheme’.
For some reason it only got as far as Southampton. At the time I was conducting this research, the vehicle licensing offices would still provide details of previous owners and I was able to contact some of them. I discovered the car had been in a breaker’s yard by the mid-1970s and was then crudely converted to right-hand-drive with the dashboard turned round the wrong way, the veneer facing the engine and its plywood backing for the driver to enjoy. One owner did a lot of work to put the car right, covered many miles in it and sent me much useful information about its history. He had not known what was on the Heritage Certificate.
The service giving previous owners is no longer available from the DVLA, although thankfully Heritage Certificates are from
the British Motor Museum. It can provide certificates for a wide range of models from Aston Martin, Austin, Lagonda, Land Rover, Morris, MG, Riley, Rover, Standard, Triumph, and Wolseley. It can also help with registering imported examples of these marques with the DVLA, as well as securing age-related number plates and tax exemptions. In addition, it holds examples of many sales brochures from which copies can be supplied. They produce around 100 certificates per week. The certificates cost £43 and there is a Premier version available incorporating
Landing strip flight test
a photo plus document wallet. Basic technical specifications can be provided for £35 and research requests can be made via the museum’s website at: www. britishmotormuseum.co.uk or by email on: archive@britishmotormuseum.co.uk. The confirmation of an original engine number or bodywork colour can cost as little as £6 via e-mail.
Similar services to the Heritage Certificates are offered by Vauxhall for its historic models and by the Rootes Archive (www.rootesarchive.org) for Rootes Group products such as Hillman, Humber, Singer,
On Sunday 16 October, we staged a trial run of a fly-in using the existing part of the original hard runway that is now used as part of Mercedes-Benz World’s skid pan. The reason for the change of landing strip was because of the constantly deteriorating state of the existing strip to the East of Mercedes-Benz World’s main building that is used as a car park most of the time.
We have enjoyed excellent cooperation from Mercedes-Benz in making the old runway available as a potential replacement. This led to the October trial fly-in to see whether we can use this for our full-scale fly-ins next year.
Arrivals were by strict invitation only and numbers were kept lower than would be usual for a typical fly-in. All told, five fixed wing and three rotary wing aircraft made it on the day.
The first aircraft to land on the runway since the Vickers Vanguard landed on 17 October, 1996 was the lovely Piper Super
members’ matters
Brooklands at the British Motor Museum
Although the British Motor Museum is perhaps best known for its cars from the British Leyland era, not least a fabulous collection of prototypes and ‘might have beens’, it also has one or two gems with Brooklands connections.
Prime among these is its 1927 Leyland Straight Eight. Designed by Parry Thomas, with Reid Railton’s assistance while they were working at Leyland, the car at Gaydon is said to be the only survivor of the 14 examples built of this early supercar and it was assembled at Thomson & Taylor at Brooklands.
Also in the collection is a 1908 Austin 100hp Grand Prix car. This was raced in the 1908 French GP by Lord Brabazon, later to receive Pilot’s Licence Number One at Brooklands and later still, in 1957, to make the speech at a Vickers’ open day that would lead to the start of the preservation movement at Brooklands. ERA R8B/C and a 1936 Austin Seven twin-cam single-seater are other Brooklands cars on display.
Sunbeam, and Talbot. Sadly, it seems Ford has not preserved any of this type of documentation.
Cub G-BOOC of Suzie Whitcombe, while Tim Williams retains his prize for the oldest aircraft to participate with his much travelled de Havilland Puss Moth G-AAZP. All of the fixed wing aircraft landed ahead of the helicopters by necessity.
The day proved very successful and a good test of our air traffic control and ground handling procedures, emergency vehicle locations, and exercised the necessary cooperation between our operation and Mercedes-Benz World.
The organisers would like to say a fulsome thank you to the visiting ’trial’ pilots, the Brooklands Museum Volunteers, and to the staff of Mercedes-Benz World for their support. We can look forward with confidence that fly-ins will continue at Brooklands throughout 2023 and beyond.
Graham Chisnall
Lagonda puts on a Royal Show
As has been the custom in past years, the Brooklands Outreach Team were present in force at this year’s Egham Royal Show. It seemed very appropriate that a car which was built just down the road from the show ground should represent the Museum’s car collection and, in a moment of madness, Motoring Team member Chris Bound volunteered to drive the Lagonda to the show.
Many readers will know that ‘our’ M45 left the factory in 1934 with a saloon body. Lagonda was one of only a few manufacturers to sell complete cars, but this car was subsequently rebodied as a replica of the car driven by Dr JO Benjafield and Geoff Manby-Colegrave in the 1935 Le Mans 24h Hour race. With its bright red bodywork, imposing radiator, and huge headlamps, the car is always a crowdpleaser, wherever it goes.
On the Thursday before the Egham show, Chris and fellow team member Mike Lay checked the car over, paying particular attention to the fuel system and carburettors. Tanks were topped up and tyre pressures checked. Following recent electrical gremlins, the battery was left
connected to a trickle charger, ready for the big day.
An early start from the Museum on the day of the show was followed by an uneventful and enjoyable drive from Weybridge to Egham, a distance of just less than 10 miles. Perhaps it was an omen that we needed to use jump leads to start the engine but, once running, the car performed well. On arrival, we took pride of place alongside the Outreach gazebo and a handful of other Members’ cars.
As the show came to a close, the Outreach Team dismantled the stand and loaded everything back into their van.
After another jump start, the Lagonda set off back to Weybridge in convoy with the Outreach van. All went well initially but, on the approach to Chertsey, the car spluttered to a halt. A couple of jump starts from the van got us a bit closer to home, but the engine would not run properly and died as soon as the leads were removed.
It was getting late, so Chris decided to make use of his belt and braces AA cover.
Within 45 minutes, the familiar yellow van arrived and patrol man Bill was on the case. Of course, after a day attending to flat
tyres on the M25 and hybrids with faulty electronics, he was delighted to help. The battery was quickly identified as being dead and a jump pack was connected.
Attention then turned to the ignition system, which was checked and declared to be healthy. The car has dual ignition systems, with six spark plugs fed by a coil and distributor and another six fed by a magneto. Even if the coil system had been faulty, the magneto should have been producing enough firepower for the engine to run.
Next on the list of things to check were the carburettors and, although the rear float bowl was full of fuel, the front one was dry. Carbs were dismantled and jets blown through, although no faults were found. Finally, the decision was taken to tow the car back to the Museum, where Bill helped us push it into the Campbell Shed and thanked us for making his day, before leaving for his next mundane breakdown.
Readers may, by now, have made their own diagnosis of the problem. For those who have not, I can tell you that Chris and Mike spent the following Thursday going over the car once more. As is often the case with old cars, there were several issues contributing to the breakdown. Our findings were that, not only was the battery failing to hold a charge, it was also acting as a resistor and wiping out any attempts to boost it. This, in turn, was preventing enough current reaching the SU electric fuel pump. It seems the pump was just about able to trickle fuel into the first carburettor, but couldn’t manage to fill the second. A brand-new battery has been fitted and the performance of the dynamo and voltage regulator have been checked. All now seems well, so let’s hope that our next outing is less eventful.
Our thanks go to Sonia Brock, who owns the car, for her enthusiastic encouragement to use it to promote the Museum whenever we have the opportunity to do so.
Chris Bound
Further to the article in the Bulletin about AV Ebblewhite, my Father must have known him because he was often asked to help out with the timekeeping of motorcycle races at Brooklands during the 1920s. The reason he was asked was because my Father was an official AAA (Amateur Athletic Association) timekeeper and starter. Also, he worked in the watch and clock testing department at the National Physical Laboratory which was located in Bushy House, Teddington.
Father was also a motorcyclist, which made it easy for him to get to Brooklands if they required him. Here are some photos of him on his Rudge Multi. In one where Father is on the left and with a friend on a similar bike on the right, you can note the dropped handle bars of Father’s obviously changed to look like the racing bikes he was timing. In the other photo, my Father (on left) is with his assistant Ken Elliot checking stopwatches in the basement of Bushy House.
John Burch
In Memory of…
Sadly, each issue we do lose some of our Members and we would like to pass on the condolences of the Brooklands Members, Chairman, and Committee to the families of the following who we have been notified have recently passed away.
Mr Eric Sweeting, a long-standing Double Member of 17 years, who passed away last year.
Mr Norman Branch, an Individual Member with us and who died in October last year.
Mr David Sawyer, a long-standing Club Level Member, who passed away last October.
Raconteurs don’t come any better than Tony Jardine, who has been involved with motorsport as a driver, commentator, PR, tyre fitter, and indefatigable classic car enthusiast. His Talk on 20 October was packed from start to finish with anecdotes and insights about many of the great teams, drivers, and characters he’s worked with. And it turns out, Tony also has an amazing ability when it comes to mimicking voices.
Following this, designer Peter Stevens gave a hugely enjoyable Talk about his own motoring backstory as well as the many unusual and amazing projects he’s been involved with. They span everything from mainstream manufacturers to Formula 1 and Le Mans race cars. Peter also touched on topics as diverse as funicular railways and the worst hotel he’s ever stayed in, making this a wonderful evening.
If you missed these superb evenings either in person or via video link, you can catch up with them on BM.tv. Also available on BM.tv now are videos from the Autumn Motorsport Day including, the restoration of the Tallboy, and Martin Shelley’s superb talk about Frank Halford learning to fly at Brooklands. You can find these films at: www.youtube.com/c/BrooklandsMemberstv/videos or: www.podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/brooklands-members-talks/ id1449720627
You will also find a vast back catalogue of videos from Brooklands events to keep you amused, informed, and entertained. Whether you missed the original event or want to revisit a highlight at Brooklands, it’s all there to watch.
Images by Cliff Bolton
EVENTS2023 Brooklands 1 Brooklands 1
1JAN NewYear’sClassic Gathering
26MAR MiniDay
8APR EasterClassicGathering
16APR LondonBusMuseum SpringGathering
29APR ItalianCarDay
7MAY BestofBritish
18JUN Double12Weekend ft.BrooklandsRelived
25JUN LondonBusMuseum OntheBuses
2JUL MotorcycleDay
8JUL WorkingVehicleDay
23JUL SummerClassic& Autojumble
13AUG FrenchDay
3SEP AmericanDay
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1OCT GermanDay
8OCT AutumnMotorsportDay
22OCT LondonBusMuseum Transportfest
Concorde from inside the cockpit
In 1956, a sevenyear-old boy holidaying on Bournemouth beach looked up at a silver speck in the sky and determined that one day he would be a pilot. Captain Mike Banister, Brooklands Trustees ViceChairman, was that youngster and he more than realised his ambition, eventually rising to the position of British Airways Chief Concorde Pilot, a position he held from 1995 until the aeroplane went out of service in 2003.
There are many books available about the celebrated supersonic jet plane, but Mike brings a unique perspective to this subject and now shares his story in the book Concorde. Among his special flights was the Queen’s Golden Jubilee pageant, with Mike in Concorde leading the Red Arrows down the Mall to Buckingham Palace, a manoeuvre not as easy as you might think. He was also in charge of the last ever commercial Concorde flight. Yes, that’s him waving the Union Jack out of the window as they taxi towards Heathrow’s terminal building.
Those looking for a series of anecdotes about the characters who flew on Concorde will be disappointed, but that would be missing the point of this book. Mike does, however, have a few gems such as Princess Margret looking out, spotting Windsor Castle and remarking: ‘I can see my sister’s home – the Royal Standard is flying.’ More pertinently, we are taken through what it takes to become a commercial pilot and the particular skills and knowledge to be qualified to fly this most special of aircraft. Elite pilots they may have been, but what shines through is how proud they were and all those connected to the aircraft were of Concorde.
the airplane and she’ll respect you back.’ A continuous theme throughout the book is how important it is to follow the rules and disciplines. Did those in command of that fateful Air France Concorde flight ‘respect the airplane’? Read the book and draw your own conclusions.
A significant part of the book is devoted to the crash of the Air France Concorde in 2000, which ultimately led to the plane’s withdrawal from service in 2003. Mike represented British Airways at the official inquiry and he reveals the political and commercial influences on the investigation and subsequent published reports. Later, he acted as an expert witness at the French trial and subsequent re-trial.
Earlier in the book, we learn about Bill Weaver, test pilot of the Lockheed Blackbird in the 1960s, who tells the incredible story of surviving the spy plane disintegrating at supersonic speed while testing its capabilities in extremis. Bill’s advice to Mike was: ‘Respect
Many of us will have cherished memories of this most special of aircraft that filled us with wonder, just as those silver specks in the sky inspired a small boy in the 1950s. If you were one of those people, you will enjoy reading Concorde by Mike Banister.
Gareth Tarr
You can watch Mike Bannister’s recent Members’ Talk about Concorde and his time as a pilot on the aircraft at: www.youtube. com/watch?v=P6exi6egcjQ
Concorde by Mike Bannister is priced £20. Published by Penguin Books: ISBN 978-0-24155-700-6
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Alvis accounted
A list of every Alvis chassis built might sound like rather a dry recipe, but this is an excellent book. It starts from the basis of charting every car built by the company, from 1919 to 1967, but it adds an awful lot more to those bones.
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The connections with Brooklands are numerous. One of the first Alvis owners was Sir Arthur Whitten-Brown, of Alcock and Brown and the Vimy Atlantic crossing fame. As the book points out, Whitten-Brown might only have had his Alvis because Vickers, his employer at that time, was the company’s chassis supplier. Motor Sport magazine editor Bill Boddy is prominent, as are Brooklands drivers Malcolm Campbell, ‘Tim’ Birkin, Sammy Davis, Betty Haig, and Vintage Sports-Car Club, canal, and steam engine man Tom Rolt. Of course, the Brooklands Museum’s frontwheel-drive Alvis is covered, although not with as full an account
of its history at the Track as you might expect. Perhaps less expected owners include William Lyons of Jaguar, singer Petula Clark, a number of police forces, writer Henry Williamson, John Profumo, George Formby, Douglas Bader, Frank Muir, and Nicholas Parsons among many others.
It is not just that these people were Alvis owners or drivers, it is also the nuggets of information about their involvement with the cars and other aspects of their lives that Culshaw presents to make this such an enjoyable read. The amount of information given on each person is well judged, with suggestions of sources for further reading if desired.
This is a hardback of medium size, the selection of photos is perhaps a little random, and their reproduction is not always to the highest of standards. However, it is the words that are more important in this book.
Undeserved infamy
The name Macklin is now largely forgotten, but at different times it has been quite important in the world of motor sport and naval warfare. This book says that one of Noel Macklin’s earliest claims to fame is to have faced the fearsome Fiat ‘Mephistopheles’ at Brooklands before the First World War. This is a car very much from the heroic age that has in recent times been revived. Bill Boddy’s bible on Brooklands doesn’t have Macklin in the Fiat at that time but does say he drove a Mercedes at the track in 1909. Later, Macklin provided the finance and drive behind the Invicta and Railton marques, both assembled on his Fairmile Estate in Cobham, Surrey. In the Second World War, his ingenuity was behind the Motor Torpedo Boats and Motor Gun Boats. Such a father was always going to be difficult to follow, but his son, Lance, looked at times as if he might even exceed his father’s fame. Macklin senior discouraged Lance from taking up motor sport, but he was not to be deterred. After serving on one of his father’s vessels in the Second World War, he finally took up motor racing. Unlike many rising stars at this time, his career didn’t start with 500cc single-seaters. After coming to notice in an old Invicta and then a Bentley, quite early on he progressed to the Aston Martin sports car team. He had considerable talent, but often failed to apply it, enjoying the social side of motor sport perhaps a little too much. Early on, he became friends with Stirling Moss and outside of racing they had a shared interest in what Moss always described as ‘crumpet’. From the Steering Wheel Club
in London to bars in Monaco, few attractive young ladies escaped their attention. Because of his lack of application, Lance Macklin did not achieve as much as he should have done in motor racing. He drove for the under-funded HWM team in single-seaters, winning the 1952 British Racing Drivers Club Trophy, but by 1955 he had to call on an old friend of his father’s, Donald Healey, to get drives, not least at Le Mans. The French 24 Hour race that year was a low point. Macklin’s Austin-Healey was forced to swerve to avoid Mike Hawthorn’s Jaguar making a late dive for the pits. The Healey moved into the path of Pierre Levegh’s Mercedes, launching it into the crowd. As well as Levegh, more than 80 spectators lost their lives.
Although the accident was not Macklin’s fault, and this book goes into some detail on this, it coloured the rest of his life. He tried to continue in motor racing but with little success. Business ventures came and went without reward, and he gradually descended into too much drinking and virtual poverty. This small format, hardback book tells this sad story in a compelling style and good detail, with previously unpublished photos.
Chris Bass
Chris Bass
The Lance Macklin Story – A Race with Infamy by Jack Barlow is priced £20. Published by Veloce: ISBN 978-1787117-87-7
Alvis Society – A Century of Drivers by David Culshaw is priced £50. Published by Veloce: ISBN 978-1-787114-73-9
Assessing the legitimacy of historic cars
Few people could be more qualified to write a book about the legitimacy of historic cars than Paul Griffin. Just as well he’s written this book, then, as it combines his detailed knowledge of classic cars and the law to come up with one of the most fascinating and unusual motoring books you’re likely to read.
The thought of a 418-page tome discussing the legal validity of classic cars could seem like one to be left on the shelf. However, this is to miss the philosophical debate that Griffin plays out in his book as it looks at the disputes of many historic racing cars concerning their originality and identity. Yet far from being a gossipy look at the stories surrounding these cars, Griffin looks at them with a considered eye developed during his years as a lawyer specialising in the oil, gas, and energy businesses. There are some famous names included as part of these tales, but it’s the way the author discusses the different arguments that really makes this book a must-have for anyone interested in historic vehicles. ‘Trigger’s broom’ has never been so thoroughly dissected and studied.
Licensing Agency). While Griffin’s advice in this area is as disconcerting as it is useful, it does mean you will be forewarned before going into battle with officialdom.
Another unexpected treat with The Past and the Spurious is its handsome, stylish design by Julian Balme. Some will know Balme from his exploits racing at Goodwood or his design contribution to other books, and his sure hand gives this book a look and feel that makes you want to go back time and again to enjoy the images and artwork alongside the faultless research of the words.
Alongside books such as Bill Boddy’s history of Brooklands and GN Georgano’s The Complete Encyclopaedia of Motorcars, Paul Griffin’s The Past and the Spurious is a book you will return to many times for entertainment and reference, as well sheer pleasure.
The Past and the Spurious by Paul Griffin is priced £75. Published by Paul Griffin: ISBN 978-1-7397673-0-3
There is also a relevance to The Past and the Spurious for anyone who has to deal with the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle
Getting closer to Edge
Study the early years of motoring in Britain or at Brooklands and the name Selwyn Francis Edge will soon come up. In this biography of ‘SF’, author Simon Fisher documents the motoring pioneer’s achievements and gives us an insight into this determined character.
The SF story begins before motor cars. He was born in 1868 and by his mid-teens Edge was participating in bicycle races, which were beginning to boom, and he became one of the leading lights, marrying fellow cyclist Eleanor Sharp. The idea of win on Sunday, sell on Monday helped SF find employment in the bicycle industry, and he eventually invested in several linked businesses.
In February 1895, SF travelled to Paris for a ride in a Panhard et Levassor, returning ‘convinced that the death knell of the horse as a means of locomotion, has been sounded.’ In November 1898, he took part in his first motor race using a De Dion tricycle and later that year bought a Panhard, known as ‘No. 8’. SF became involved with Montague Napier, using D Napier & Sons’ engineering skills to improve No. 8. The relationship developed so that in 1900 Napier started making its first cars to be sold exclusively through SF’s company.
In 1901, SF took part in the Paris to Bordeaux race, concurrently run with the Gordon Bennett Trophy. Edge’s Napier was
ineligible for the Gordon Bennett, but in 1902 he used a much-improved car and won the Gordon Bennett Trophy. He was back again in 1903, when the race was run on a closed circuit in Ireland. Most famously, Edge then came to Brooklands on 17 June, 1907 and completed 1581 miles 1310 yards at an average speed of over 65mph in 24 hours.
Simon Fisher’s book details Edge’s many other successes, and his less profitable ventures in to politics, farming, and car production with AC Cars and Cubitt. Fisher is to be congratulated for his biography of one of the key figures in the early days of Britain’s motor industry, a man described by celebrated journalist SCH ‘Sammy’ Davis as ‘the greatest figure Brooklands has known.’ This book is superb value and even more so with the Members’ reader offer below.
Gareth Tarr
Brooklands Members can take advantage of a special offer to buy SF Edge – Maker of Motoring History for £30, saving £15 on the normal price, when ordering direct from www.evropublishing.com and using the code: SFE2022.
An interview with Simon Fisher can be found on BM.tv. SF Edge will also form part of the Members’ Talk on the story of the Gordon Bennett events, which will be held at the Museum on 30 March, 2023.
AROUND THE COLLECTION
Brooklands Members
Members’ Administrator
Sarah Dover 01932 857381 ext 226 Tues-Fri 9am-2pm members@brooklandsmuseum.com
Chairman
Neil Bailey 07970 206778 chairman@brooklandsmembers.co.uk
Vice Chairman
Julian Grimwade 07971 831084 juliangrimwade@brooklandsmembers.com
Secretary Kevin Lee 01932 562246 kevin@abbeywalls.com
Tours and Trips
Angela Hume 07884 184882 Angelahume@brooklandsmembers.co.uk
Outreach
David Norfolk 01372 373929 david.norfolk@outlook.com
Talks
Harry Sherrard 07899 984535 harrysherrard@brooklandsmembers.co.uk
BM.tv
Mark Jarman 07710 783536 nonesuche@gmail.com
Bulletin Editor
Alisdair Suttie 07768 372440 brooklandsbulletineditor@gmail.com
Contributors
John Axtell, Chris Bass, Clifford Bolton, Chris Bound, John Burch, Grahame Chisnall, Alan Cooper, Sarah Dover, Martin Gegg, Andrew Lewis, Simon Parry, Harry Sherrard, Gareth Tarr, Mike Venables
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Sam Hart ext 225
Email addresses are available on the Museum website www.brooklandsmuseum.com/about/ contact-us
Often on this page, we look at some of the smallest items in the Museum collection or ones that are easy to miss. However, it’s also possible to overlook the biggest part of the Museum, the Brooklands site itself.
Covering 30 acres, or 12 hectares, the Museum occupies much of the central part of the circuit that would have been so familiar when racing, record-breaking, and aviation were active from 1907 to 1939. The superb preservation of the site, which has recently seen the Clubhouse benefit from a programme of work, makes Brooklands a prime location for photography and filming. You can see the results of just such a photo shoot in the image above with the famous Alfa Romeo 8C raced by the Hon Brian Lewis and John Cobb among others at the Track.
Parking arrangements
Much of the attraction for motoring media is the Banking, which evokes the look and feel of what racing drivers would have experienced. However, there are also many other locations all around the site, with many still much as they would have been in the 1920s and ’30s.
Of course, there are more modern exhibits at Brooklands and most prominent among these is Concorde. It’s had starring roles in television series and films, most notably the Netflix series The Crown where Princess Diana, played by actor Emma Corrin, is seen boarding the supersonic aircraft.
However, you don’t need to be royalty or a film star to have a slice of Brooklands to yourself. Everything from weddings to corporate events, private functions and parties can be enjoyed at Brooklands.
Please note that for all events marked ‘Parking in The Heights’, designated vehicles only can enter via the Campbell Gate, off Brookland’s Road. All other Members including Club level and visitors please park in The Heights or main public car park unless otherwise specified. Members with a Blue Badge may park on-site using the Campbell Gate entrance.
Parking arrnagements for other weekend events are:
Club Level Members: entry via Campbell Gate. Period and classic vehicles may park outside the Paddock. Other vehicles to park in the Campbell Car Park adjacent to the Race Bays. Please abide by staff directions..
All other Members and visitors: entry via main public entrance off Brooklands Drive.
This issue of the Brooklands Bulletin (incorporating The Spirit) is published on behalf of Brooklands Members, supporters of Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd, by Hine Marketing, Hill Farm Studios, Wainlodes Lane, Bishops Norton, Gloucestershire GL2 9LN.
The statements and opinions expressed in the Bulletin are not necessarily those of the Brooklands Members’ Committee or Brooklands Museum Trust Ltd.
While every effort has been made by the Publishers to include correct information, they are unable to accept responsibility for errors or omissions. The Publishers, Brooklands Members and Brooklands Museum Trust Limited cannot accept responsibility in the event of misinformation or lack of source relating to images supplied by a third party by electronic or other means.
Charity number 296661. Please quote this if making donations or requesting them via a funeral director.
Period style seat belts for pre-1973 vehicles, not forgetting your modern classic post-1973
• Seat belts and harnesses supplied and fitted
• Bespoke service • Original belts refurbished
• New original equipment available on certain vehicles
