MAY-JUNE 2020
brooklands bulletin
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contents
brooklands bulletin
Welcome
Putting together this issue of the Bulletin has come with some unique challenges. Half way through the production schedule, the Museum had to close its doors for the safety of everyone who works, visits and volunteers here. It also meant finding some of the many images and checking facts became harder for those who contribute so much to the magazine. We have also faced some other challenges, such as how to keep your magazine filled with all of the news and features that you expect. In the midst of the Coronavirus outbreak, though, there comes a shining beacon. This is the ongoing commitment and determination of many to make sure the Bulletin goes ahead regardless. So many of the contributors have excelled themselves to send in their words and pictures while staying safely at home, while others have come up with innovative ways to pack the pages with exciting, entertaining and informative features. I must also mention the ‘backroom boys’ from our publisher, Hine, who have remained calm despite incredibly tough conditions. Without them, the magazine would not be designed, printed and delivered to your door. It’s humbling to work with such a dedicated ensemble of enthusiasts and professionals. This is what makes me certain Brooklands and the Bulletin have a great future to look forward. We need you to be part of that future, so please let us know what you’re up to at home and in your garages and sheds. Stay safe, well and enjoy the magazine. Alisdair Suttie Editor Brooklands Bulletin
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20 REGULARS
FEATURES
News ....................................4
Quiz....................................20
Museum Updates................11 Forthcoming Events ............15 Letters ................................19 Members’ Matters ..............45
The Rise and Fall of the Mountain Circuit.................23 The Darling of Brooklands ...30
Reviews ..............................47
Flying School.......................37
Around the Collection.........50
A Racing Start .....................40
Front Cover photo: Mike Venables
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, Tim Morris: 01932 857381 ext 226; or www. brooklandsmembers.co.uk where you can find the latest news on Brooklands.
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news #LoveBrooklands campaign launched to support Museum through lockdown The Museum has launched an innovative new campaign called #LoveBrooklands to help keep the Museum going during the lockdown caused by the Coronavirus situation. This new initiative gives everyone the chance to help support the Museum and the vital work it does to look after its collections, buildings and the estate. Although the Museum is closed in accordance with government advice, the cost of caring for Brooklands continues. By contributing to the #LoveBrooklands campaign, you can help the Museum through this difficult period when it would normally be funded largely through visitors. There is a dedicated page on the Brooklands Museum website for #LoveBrooklands where you can donate any sum of money. Whatever you can afford, it is truly appreciated and every penny goes towards running the Museum and supporting its work. To find out more and make a donation, visit: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ about/support-us/lovebrooklands There are other ways to help contribute to the Museum and its ongoing costs. Members and non-members alike can provide a long-lasting difference through a legacy, while non-Members can join Brooklands to become a Member. This way, they can enjoy all of the benefits that
11,000 Members already do with free entry to the Museum when it reopens, as well as exciting events, tours and talks.
Whatever you can do to help support Brooklands, everyone at the Museum is most grateful. #LoveBrooklands
Virtual Vintage Festival
The Brooklands Vintage Festival is heading online to celebrate vintage fashion, music and style on Saturday 16 May. Even though the Museum is closed, this is the perfect chance for Members and visitors to put their hair up, grab their best period outfit and lace up their dance shoes.
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In addition to sharing some of the best content from last year’s event, the Museum will be running many of the popular festival activities digitally. Everyone is invited to join in, so keep an eye on the Museum’s social channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the virtual event schedule. This will give you plenty of time to get your favourite period outfit ready for the Best Dressed Competition. There will also be a chance to stock up on vintage gear with online offers from vintage sellers, download family activities and to try out virtual dance classes. Katharine Allen
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news Message from Sir Gerald Acher Our management team led by Tamalie Newbery fought valiantly to keep the Museum open for as long as we could during this unprecedented and extraordinary crisis. Coincidentally, on the same day as we received the Government advice, we decided it was no longer safe and made the decision to close. Since then, I have been overwhelmed by the messages of support we have received with offers of help from every quarter. Our management team and staff have been phenomenal over this difficult period and this effort continues. It is a privilege for my Trustees and I to lead them and I thank them all. The closure work is now virtually complete, the majority of our staff are furloughed, and we are cutting out every penny of discretionary cost. Our hearts go out to all those who have been affected by the impact of Covid-19. I feel an especial sadness for our cohort of more than 800 fantastic Volunteers where, for many of them, Brooklands is such an important part of their lives. I cannot wait to hear their friendly banter again, so please stay safe in the meantime. I do not know what will be the status of the virus in the country when you read this message, but I want you to know that your Trustees and I have no intention of allowing this pandemic to derail us from our ambitions for this great museum and its outstanding future. We have battened down the hatches which, with the promised support of a Government-backed loan and the continued
support of Brooklands Members, should see us through to when life returns to some form of normality. We are at the moment choosing master planners to advise us on the next stages of the development of our historic heritage and they will start work as soon as the current situation is relaxed. We shall then be drawing up our Development Plan which will be the blueprint for the years ahead and seeking support from a wide range of stakeholders and funders. May I, on behalf of my Trustees, end by thanking Neil Bailey and his Members Committee and all of you, our Members, for your unstinting support. We all look forward to hearing, seeing and smelling the Napier Railton stretching its legs, the Sopwith Camel running up its engine and Ethel Locke King’s dear little Daisy trundling round the Museum again, hopefully, in the not too distant future. Sir Gerald Acher Chairman of Brooklands Museum Trust
Remember the Brooklands legacy
The extraordinary legacies of pioneers in motorsport, aviation and technology continue to resonate at Brooklands to keep alive the spirit that makes British ingenuity and engineering revered across the world. Brooklands Members are at the forefront of maintaining that spirit. Brooklands Museum ensures engineers, adventurers, innovators and pioneers of the future can learn and be inspired by the accomplishments of those who worked and raced at this unique Surrey site. In recent weeks, we have been approached by many Members asking how they can help to secure Brooklands’ future. Despite the current closure of the Museum, caused by the Covid-19 virus, we have
ambitious and exciting plans to conserve Brooklands’ special atmosphere and share its history more widely. This is vital to ignite the same passion among younger generations, who will sustain Brooklands into the future. To do this, we are relying even more heavily on our Members’ and supporters’ commitment to Brooklands. We expect funding from government, lottery and businesses to be even harder to come by for many years after the Coronavirus situation is over. Those people who love Brooklands will be more important than ever to secure its future. Many of our Members’ working lives were spent at Brooklands, developing and
using technology that has shaped the world we live in. Others keep alive the excitement of vintage motorsport through their passion for historic cars and motorcycles. They are a unique and intimate part of what makes Brooklands Museum so different from other historic sites. Members who have shown great support for Brooklands in their lifetime may wish to consider leaving a gift in their will. This can provide a longlasting benefit to the Museum. There is information on our website about how to leave a legacy to Brooklands Museum Trust: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ about/support-us/donate/legacies. It explains that if you have an existing will, you can add a legacy to Brooklands simply using a codicil form available from our website. If you don’t have a will, you may want to consider making one. Legacies to registered charities such as Brooklands Museum Trust (registered charity no. 296661) are free of Inheritance Tax and can provide wider tax benefits. A solicitor will be able to advise you. If you would like to discuss a legacy, of any value, and how your gift might be commemorated, please contact Museum Director Tamalie Newbery in confidence. She can be emailed at tnewbery@ brooklandsmuseum.com. It helps our planning a great deal to know of your intentions in advance.
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news Brooklands book launch
Stirling Moss 1929-2020
Brooklands Museum was the appropriate venue for the launch of author David Blumlein’s new book Brooklands: The Sports Car Endurance Races. Held on 13 March in the Clubhouse, David was on hand to discuss the inspiration for his book and sign copies for Members. The event was also attended by several classic cars that lined up outside of the Clubhouse, including a Delahaye (pictured foreground) that competed in period. Brooklands: The Sports Car Endurance Races is a detailed history of these often overlooked events. It is superbly illustrated with many period photographs and there is a full list of results for endurance races held between 1926 and 1932. A review of Brooklands: The Sports Car Endurance Races is on page 49 of this issue of the Bulletin. The book is available now from good booksellers priced £30. Mike Venables
Former Brooklands Trust Members’ President and long-time Brooklands supporter Sir Stirling Moss has died following a long illness. He was aged 90 and had been in poor health since contracting a virus while in Singapore in December 2016. Stirling was always labelled, somewhat disingenuously, as the greatest British Grand Prix driver never to win the World Championship. This belied the fact that he was until recent times also the UK’s most successful driver in all disciplines, winning 16 Grands Prix out of 66 starts when there were often only eight or so races each season. He also won the Mille Miglia in 1955 and no fewer than 195 other races in everything from touring cars to sports cars, sometimes winning more than one race on the same day. He had an ability that transcended the machinery he was driving, never better demonstrated than his victory in the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix where, despite a huge power deficit to the rival Ferraris, he won in his tiny Lotus 18. He survived three huge accidents, at Spa in 1960, Goodwood in 1962 which ended his racing career, and more recently when he fell down a lift shaft at his Mayfair flat. All Brooklands Trust Members will wish to join in sending their heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie Moss and all his family. A full obituary will appear in a later edition. Philip Strickland
Message from Members’ Chairman As I sit at home typing this message, the Museum has been closed for two weeks and we still have no clear idea when it will be able to reopen. The safety of staff, Volunteers, Members and visitors must always take priority, and commercial considerations are of far less importance. The Coronavirus has hit organisations like ours particularly hard, with most of the income streams flowing from visitors drying up overnight. The income that you provide through your subscription is more important now than it has ever been, and we really hope that you will renew your membership as normal. We recognise that for some of you this may cause financial stress during this time of uncertainty and we have announced an option for you to extend this year’s membership to cover the period during which the Museum is closed. Sir Gerald Acher, the Chairman of our Trustees, has explained the overall position in greater detail elsewhere in this edition (see page 5), and it makes clear how serious the position is for the Museum. We will of course keep you informed and engaged over the coming months through the Newsletter, which has an increased frequency, and the Bulletin, but regrettably will not be able to welcome you back to Brooklands until the Museum reopens. The programmes of Events and Talks have been postponed and clearly the AGM, scheduled for July, will not go ahead then. I
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will advise you of a new date as soon as possible. While other postponements are likely and I will advise you as the situation becomes clearer, we are still planning for our Annual Dinner, as you can read on page 8. I leave you with the simple wish that you and your loved ones stay safe and well throughout this trying time, and look forward to seeing you at Brooklands again as soon as that is possible. Please remember: Brooklands needs your support more than ever at this difficult time! As this edition went to press, we heard the very sad news of the death of our past President, Sir Stirling Moss. A brief tribute by Philip Strickland appears in this edition, with a fuller tribute to be published. Neil Bailey
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news Egged on at Brooklands
Shere Hill Climb
All the fun of an Easter Egg Trail was provided by Brooklands even though the Museum was closed thanks to a virtual egg hunt on the website. Kids of all ages joined in to track down clues using an interactive map that pointed them towards discovering more about different parts of the Museum and finding a hidden egg. By combining the hidden eggs, the intrepid hunters could uncover all of the letters of a special item on the website’s map. Those who correctly worked out the clue could then enter a competition to win a Family Ticket to Brooklands Museum to use when we reopen. The Virtual Easter Egg Trail was a big success and generated a lot of entries. We’ll let you know the winner when they have been selected and informed. A number of entrants said how much they enjoyed the hunt and discovering more about parts of the Museum that they had not previously visited.
The Shere Hill Climb very generously donates to the Museum and our Outreach team hosts a Brooklands Paddock at the event. The organisers are continuing to make plans for the hillclimb held on the North Downs near Guildford, Surrey. As a result, they will close entries in the normal timescale, at the end of April and then announce the entry list in the usual way Shere Hill Climb Chairman Martin Warner said: ‘We will defer payment of entry fees until the end of June and, while this will be tough, it should give us just about enough time to put the event together. Hopefully we will also have a clearer picture by then and a firm decision whether we can safely run the event can be made.’ Many Brooklands Members enjoy attending the Shere Hill Climb and Martin added: ‘I do hope that we can all meet up in September with all the usual happy smiling faces that make the Shere Hill Climb such a great day out.’ For more information, check our website: www.sherehillclimb.co.uk
Virtual Mini Day a big success
BTM Dinner
The Mini may be small but it made a big hit with the Virtual Mini Day that took place on 31 March. Despite the Museum being closed to visitors, hundreds of Mini owners and enthusiasts came together on social media at the invitation of Brooklands Museum. Fans of the Mini old and new chatted online about their favourite models, which car they would bring to the event and even what they would have for breakfast. The response to the Virtual Mini Day was overwhelming and many owners posted images of their cars from previous Mini Days at Brooklands to remind us all of what enormous fun these small cars are. It was amazing to see the variety of Minis being enjoyed by everyone, including some superb scale models, that helped to create the same great atmosphere at Mini Days in past years. The Museum is planning to run similar virtual events and other interactive content throughout the next few weeks and months until current restrictions are lifted and the Museum can open again. Keep an eye on the website for further details.
We may be dealing with challenging times, but we are still working towards a highlight of our year, the Annual Dinner which has been set for 9 November, 2020. This date is provisional depending on how the Coronavirus situation unfolds. We have been lucky enough to engage Peter Grimsdale as our after-dinner speaker this year. Peter is the author of High Performance – When Britain Ruled the Roads and is a man of many talents. High Performance is his first foray into non-fiction but Peter already had a number of other books under his belt. Most of Peter’s working life has been spent in television. His first novel Perfect Night was based on a factual BBC film about the Tamil community of Sri Lanka. Peter’s TV credits go far beyond this, having taken charge of programmes as wide ranging as Big Brother and Panorama. Peter has also been a contributor to Classic Cars and Classic and Sports Car, so you can expect a fascinating talk from him which will touch on a wide range of life experiences and anecdotes. We anticipate that tickets for the Annual Dinner will be available from around September, so watch out for them and we look forward to a great evening. Angela Hume
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d:class automotive specialise in full interior management and restoration of all classic cars. Our knowledge is second to none in supplying period correct carpets, leather or vinyl. We are very well known and respected in our field of expertise for such marques as Mercedes Benz, BMW, Ferrari, Rolls Royce and Porsche. All our work is carried out in-house by trained trimmers with vast years of experience and all works come complete with our full workmanship guarantee. d:class have carried out work for customers worldwide and we are happy to work with any possible logistics required for shipping of parts or cars and this is a true testament to the craftmanship and attention to detail that we put into our work. Our quality of work speaks for itself.
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A full hood fitting service is available in house for a wide range of vehicle manufacturers, we specialise in classic Mercedes hoods. All our hoods come with a 1-year guarantee and are available in a wide range of colours to suit. We can supply and fit OEM where available or aftermarket hoods. Many convertible owners experience the common issue of the deterioration, discolouration and eventual cracking of the perspex rear screens, within the workshop we can carry out a replacement service of this issue to most vehicles with the exact thickness perspex required.
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MUSEUM updates Director’s Message When I wrote my piece for the Bulletin two months ago, I never imagined how much the world would have changed, nor that the Museum would face two tough challenges in such a short period of time. The flood in February half-term left the Museum car park completely submerged and water came onto the Museum site, but fortunately didn’t enter any of our buildings. Through a gargantuan effort we managed to stay open throughout, only closing one morning during our busy half-term week. Staff stood in the rain directing visitors to where they could park while the normal car park was out of action. We were so grateful to all the Members and other visitors who cheerfully adjusted to the temporary arrangements and we enjoyed having the chance to speak directly with so many of you. Less than a month later, we have had to shut the Museum in order to play our part in helping prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus and to keep our staff, Volunteers, Members and other visitors safe. This closure will have a much bigger impact on Brooklands Museum as we are dependent on income from admissions and memberships for all the Museum’s expenditure, much of which continues despite the closure and a skeleton staff. Nevertheless, Brooklands is still an amazing place, with captivating and inspiring stories to tell and I am sure it will continue to be a favourite destination for many people when we are able to welcome you back. We are already thinking about how we can celebrate re-opening when it comes. In the meantime and until you can come back in person, there is plenty of Brooklands content to keep you going on our website and on the social media channels of both the Members and Museum. We have been so grateful for the many warm wishes of support and donations to our #LoveBrooklands appeal which we have received. Please stay safe and keep in touch with us during the closure, and we look forward to seeing you again as soon as we can. Tamalie Newbery
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MUSEUM updates Flood swept and clears
The recent weather was noted for the rising waters of the River Wey, with levels not seen since the flooding of 2013-14 when the Clubhouse and Motoring Village were under water. This time the water only encroached onto the grass outside the Members’ Office, which has become known as Julian’s Lake, and is a good indication of the rising waters. It did look quite scenic, with a pair of Egyptian Geese swimming happily on the temporary lake. However, on the other side of the river, the Museum car park was completely under water, as was the Mercedes-Benz World skid pan and air strip. This resulted in the Campbell Gate being used for visitors to enter the Museum and staff employed in unusual roles as temporary car park attendants. The flooding coincided with half-term but it didn’t put off the hundreds of visitors who came to the Museum during the week.
Motoring exhibits had been moved out of potential harm’s way to a safer area for a few days but were back in place by the end of the week as the waters cleared.
Answers to the Quiz: 1: Bimotore. 2: Autokraft. 3: Reid Railton. 4: (Chris) Orlebar. 5: Neville (Barnes Wallis). 6: (Sir George) Edwards. 7: Rex. 8: Napier. 9: Solomon. 10: Tarrant Tabor. 11: Rolls-Royce. 12: Oyster Lane Properties. 13: Duncan Davis. 14: Austin. 15: King’s Cup. 16: (Bristol Siddeley) Olympus, for the TSR2. 17: Whitney (Straight). 18: Sunbeam. 19: King George VI. 20: International Horseless Carriage Corporation. Bonus answer: Baron Ernst Rodakowski.
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museum updates Motoring Volunteers
Roger Horsfield enjoying a drive in Daisy shortly after preservation work was completed at the end of 2019. This was the first time the car had moved under its own power in 50 years.
As it has been a while since my last update, I thought it wise to give an overview of the work undertaken and completed since June 2019 rather than just focus on a couple of cars. You will have seen the article written by my colleague Roger Horsfield on Daisy, the 1904 Siddeley, in the last edition of the Bulletin. Although she can be temperamental to start, generally Daisy runs very well. However, on her last outing she ground to a halt with a mystery problem. This has now been diagnosed as cracking and a rusty ring inside the float. The part is currently being repaired by Colin Shaw and will be refitted as and when we have access to the Museum. The work to repair the pipe at the top of the radiator on the Salmson has been finished and the car is now running well. Elsewhere, bringing the MG PA back to running order has been completed, thanks mainly to the efforts of John Phillips, supported by various members of the team. You will remember this car had a serious oil leak, issues with the cooling system and electrical wiring. Gradually, we worked our way through the tasks and were supported by a number of MG enthusiasts we met at shows during the summer months. The car ran successfully in early March and has been returned to its display in the Museum. Calendars finally aligned for the upholstery work on the Duesenberg, which was finished early this year. After a short trip to the Flight Shed due to the risk of flooding, it’s now back on display in the ERA Shed. Little work has been done to the Morris 8, Ford 10, MG M-Type, Railton Terraplane, Hillman Aerominx or Lander Bentley other than keeping them in running order. They
were due to take part in the half-term demonstrations on the Finishing Straight, but heavy rain and floods put paid to that. The Alvis FWD has been moved to Dunlop Mac to look at the configuration of the rear cockpit, the idea being to improve the driving position, as reported previously, and to deal with the woodworm. However, a decision has been made by the Museum not to change the car, so if you know of any volunteers, please get in touch. The woodworm is quite extensive at the rear of the car and will be treated professionally. An old friend, the Napier Colonial, has returned to the Museum. The 1911 machine needed some work to bring it back to full working order, but this was quite straightforward. The autovac problem highlighted in a previous issue of the Bulletin has been resolved and the car is running well. Another recent arrival is the replica of the MG D12, on loan from the Reynolds family following the passing of Colin Reynolds who ran the car at Brooklands in competition as recently as 2018. The car is a stunning example of Colin’s engineering skill and a reminder to the Motoring Volunteers of a much-missed friend. Pop into the Campbell Shed next time you visit for a look. The Lagonda has been suffering from overheating problems due to a radiator full of scale and a compressed bottom hose which resembled the soggy paper straw in your bottle of pop. The radiator was flushed through and a stent fitted to the bottom hose to keep it open. A long-standing exhibit in the Museum, the little green Austin 7 Sports Special, has finally come under our care as the owner would like to run it in the future. It
had severe problems and something nasty going on with the brakes. The fuel system was found to be clogged, so that was cleared with compressed air and petrol. The distributor was refitted and the timing reset. Compression was found to be widely variable, so the valves were checked and reground to secure a perfect seal, then the valve clearances were adjusted. The brakes had been changed from cable to drum at sometime in the 1960s, but fitted on the wrong side of the car, so the shoes were trailing rather than leading. We have also helped the owner of the Cuthbert Riley to prepare the car for running. It had a known fuel pump issue and needed a thorough check before it could be started. A new SU fuel pump was fitted as the diaphragm was perished and other internals corroded. The battery, radiator, oil levels, spark plugs and leads were also checked prior to firing her up. Another vehicle we have been helping with is the Delahaye owned by Robbie Walker and run by his father Rob Walker. The car needs some work to the magneto, but flooding and Coronavirus has put a stop to that for a while. Finally, little work has been undertaken on the field vehicles due to the weather and lack of funds. The Land Rover Ambulance requires some paintwork, the Range Rover Fire Engine has a leaky water pump. The last bit of bodywork is still to be finished on the Bedford CA Crew Bus and work has only just started to repair the leaky roof on the Bedford Control Tower. The BMC Bowser and large diesel tug ‘Eddie’ are still running without problems and the Bedford HA is finally back on display. Clearly, all of these projects need funding and with the Museum’s forced closure, income is at an all-time low. If you would like to help us preserve the vehicles and keep them in running order, you can do so by making a donation via #LoveBrooklands or by simply continuing your membership. Thank you. Debbie Crawt
A rusty ring inside the float and some cracking caused Daisy, the 1904 Siddeley, to come to a halt on her most recent journey. A repair is now underway by Colin Shaw.
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1922 Bentley 3/5.3 Litre With Vanden Plas Style Coachwork £350,000.00
1924 Bentley 3/4½ Litre Vanden Plas Style Tourer £230,000.00
1924 Bentley 3/5 Litre Le Mans Style £550,00.00
1926 Bentley 3 Litre Weymann Saloon by Gurney Nutting £320,000.00
1926 Bentley 3 Litre With Vanden Plas Style Body £300,000.00
1927 Bentley 4½ Litre Le Mans Style Tourer £450,000.00
1929 Bentley 4½ Litre H.J. Mulliner Saloon £1,100,000.00
1931 Bentley 8 Litre Sports Tourer. £1,100,000.00
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forthcoming events 2020 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. Due to the Coronavirus situation, all events at the Museum in May and June are cancelled or postponed. For information on these and other Museum events, please check the website. Thank you for your support. July 5 The Brooklands Motorcycle Show. 10am-5pm. Celebrating our two-wheeled history. The Test Hill will be in action and we are asking for a £5 contribution from participants as part of an essential fundraising programme to safeguard this vital part of Brooklands. Check website for admission prices.
August 9 Brooklands Relived. 10am-5pm. Step back in time to capture the atmosphere of Brooklands in its heyday during a race day. Cars, motorcycle and bicycles are welcome and there will be Race Starts on the Finishing Straight, Aircraft Fly-In and parade laps. Check website for details.
September 5 Brooklands Aviation Day. 10am-5pm. Enjoy a day of aviation antics with a Fly-In, Aero Runs, Pedal Planes for under-5s and an aviation-themed workshop in the Shell pagoda. Check website for details.
6 American Day. 10am-5pm. Expect plenty of chrome and noise as Brooklands rumbles to every sort of American car and motorcycle. Check website for details. 18 Historics Classic Car Auction. 10am5pm. 10th Anniversary Sale. Parking is available in The Heights off Wellington Way - please follow temporary signage. Entry to auction is by catalogue: £30 (admits two). Purchase of a catalogue also allows two people entry to the Museum apart from the Concorde Experience. Contact Edward Bridge-Stille on: 01753 639170 or auctions@historics.co.uk 19 Supercar Sunday. 10am-5pm. Children under 16 must be accompanied. Supercars, classics and pre-booked car clubs will enter the site via the Campbell Entrance off Brooklands Road, with other visitors parking in The Heights off Wellington Way - please follow event signage.
Talks For Classic Talks contact: talks@ brooklandsmembers.co.uk; or by telephone 07880 670359. For the MotorSport Legends Series, to go to www.brooklandsmuseum.com/members and follow links for online sales or call Tim or Sarah in the BTM Office: 01932 857381 ext 226. To check the food menu at each Talk please call: 07857 874456 (recorded announcement) available four days before the event. September 17 7.309.30pm. Peter Grimsdale has worked in television and is an author. His latest book High Performance – When Britain Ruled the Roads was inspired by his passion for those who don’t always receive the recognition they should. His talk covers the post-war privateers who built and raced cars on a shoestring, including Brabham, Cooper, Lotus, Tyrell and Walker.
Learning and Participation
10 Reminiscence Café. 2.30-4pm. For people living with Dementia and their families and carers. Includes hot drink and slice of cake. Entry to the Museum is free, however booking is required. Check website for details. 20 Emergency Services Day. 9.30am-5pm. Every type of vehicle and equipment will be on display so you can chat to and find out how our emergency services keep us safe. Check website for details. 26 Historics Classic Car Auction. Parking is available in The Heights off Wellington Way - please follow temporary signage. Entry to auction is by catalogue: £30 (admits two). Contact Edward Bridge-Stille on: 01753 639170 or auctions@historics.co.uk
July 9 Mini Aces Under-5s Club. 10.30am12.15pm. Two 45-minute sessions starting at 10.30 and 11.15 in the Art Gallery. £2 per child plus normal admission prices for entry to Museum. September 10 Mini Aces Under-5s Club. 10.30am12.15pm. Two 45-minute sessions starting at 10.30 and 11.15 in the Art Gallery. £2 per child plus normal admission prices for entry to Museum. October 8 Mini Aces Under-5s Club. 10.30am12.15pm. Two 45-minute sessions starting at 10.30 and 11.15 in the Art Gallery. £2 per child plus normal admission prices for entry to Museum.
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forthcoming events 2020 Members’ Events June 10 Castle Combe Track Day: Motorcycles. 9am-5pm. Ride your own motorcycle. Members have exclusive track time for 15 minutes every hour. Check website for details.
August 2 Scenic Car Tour. Self-drive car tour. Destination tbc. Check website for details.
27-28 All About Evesham Touring Assembly weekend break. Download a booking form on the website. July 15 Brooklands Members AGM. This meeting has now been postponed and the Members’ Chairman will advise on a revised date as soon as possible. 26 Members’ Classic Car Show and RetroJumble. 10am-5pm. The Members’ own classic car show is a premier event. All classic cars are welcome and the RetroJumble is ideal for finding that rare part or perfect gift. Check website for details.
September 6 Shere Hill Climb. 9am-5pm. A non-competitive event held in the North Downs. The Outreach Team host a Brooklands Paddock. Money raised is donated to local causes including Brooklands. Check: www.sherehillclimb.co.uk
SHERE HILL CLIMB 2020 ENTRIES CLOSE 30TH APRIL Like every organisation with events planned over the summer and autumn, we are currently waiting to see how the COVID-19 crisis plays out. We still intend to run our event if we can, with over 200 classic cars, vintage motorbikes and modern supercars running up the hill, but we don’t expect to be able to make a final decision until the end of June. In the meantime, we are still open for entries. The list closes on 30th April and as it’s typically oversubscribed, please get your application in soon. We’ve got our fingers firmly crossed that the 2020 Shere Hill Climb will be the best ever. To apply for this year’s event, visit sherehillclimb.co.uk
STAPLE LANE, GU4 7RL, SUNDAY 6th SEPTEMBER
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Remember Brooklands in your Will Since 1907 extraordinary people have been making their mark at Brooklands in the fields of Motorsport, Aviation and Engineering, leaving legacies that still resonate today. Brooklands Museum depends solely upon income from our visitors and the generosity of our supporters and sponsors to fund the restoration and interpretation of our objects and site. If you have been inspired by the pioneers of Brooklands, please help us ensure the enjoyment of future generations at the museum by including a gift to Brooklands Museum in your Will. If you would like to receive further information about making a charitable gift in your Will or other ways you can help support Brooklands Museum, please contact the Chief Executive’s Office: call 01932 857381 ext 243, email tnewbery@brooklandsmuseum.com, or visit our website www.brooklandsmuseum.com
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Please send letters to the Bulletin on any topic connected with Brooklands to the Alisdair Suttie on: brooklandsbulletineditor@gmail.com
letters
Revealing Retromobile
The Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost that achieved 78.26mph during the London to Edinburgh Trial in 1911. It was on display at Retromobile in Paris.
Dear Sir, Rolls-Royce is not a name normally associated with Brooklands, but on the Lukas Huni stand at February’s Retromobile was Silver Ghost chassis 1701E which used the track whilst playing a significant part in endorsing the marque’s reputation as ‘The Best car in the World’. In the early years of the 20th century, Napier was the leading British car but the emergence of the 40/50hp Silver Ghost represented a significant challenge, especially after its famous 14,371-mile reliability run in 1907. Napier’s SF Edge threw down the gauntlet by completing the 1911 London to Edinburgh Trial which was run in top gear only and for which fuel consumption and a flying lap of Brooklands were the key measures, achieving 19.35mpg and 76.42mph. Roll-Royce’s Claude Johnson responded and 1701E, driven by EW Hives with
three passengers including an RAC observer, repeated the run with decisively better figures of 24.32mpg and 78.26mph. Later, 1701E was fitted with a streamlined, light aerodynamic body and completed the flying half mile at Brooklands at a speed of 101.816mph. Also spotted at Retromobile was a Squire on the Fiskins’ stand, the British Alfa Romeo of the 1930s and of which only 10 were built in Henley on Thames. Each car came with a certificate confirming that it had achieved 100mph at Brooklands. Retromobile is not only a car show. French trader Art-Aviation specialises in model aircraft for display and its stand included a largescale cut-away model of the VC10, the last Brooklands-built plane in BOAC livery. It was an unexpected find. On a similar stand, I also spotted a model of Concorde in BOAC colours, a reminder that when the supersonic airliner was conceived British Airways was yet to be formed. As ever, Retromobile 2020 proved fascinating and surprising in equal measure. Kind regards Gareth Tarr
Lost plaques Dear Sir, I don’t know what happened to the Parry Thomas memorial as Jeremy Wood asked in the January-February Bulletin, but there is another missing memorial to Eric Fernihough, who was killed in Hungary in 1938. This was unveiled at the BMCRC (British Motor Cycle Racing Club) championship meeting on 13 May, 1939 and was presented to Mrs Dorothy Fernihough in July 1951, presumably because it was then no longer in the public gaze. Dorothy died intestate and without children in 1982 and her nearby house was cleared, at which point I imagine the plaque went for scrap. Fortunately, most of Eric’s papers and trophies emerged on the local antique market and then found their way to Brooklands. Others ended up in places as near as Guildford and as far away as Adelaide. These I have for the time being and if there are any more out there, I am sure the Museum would like to hear about them. Perhaps the Parry Thomas plaque was given to his family as I understand he was not married, so it may yet turn up? But exactly where was it? I have seen no sign of it in my recent search for the location of the Fernihough plaque. When the Fernihough plaque was unveiled, it was just to the right of the large lap record board on the far right of the eastern elevation of the original Clubhouse building. Andrew Lewis has cleverly found a photograph from 1939 showing it having been moved to the left of the record board where it was presumably thought to be more noticeable. As there is a detailed photograph of the Fernihough plaque available (it is also on page 225 of the Venables history) it would be
The Eric Fernihough plaque can be seen to the left of the lap record board behind Flight Lt Harry Torin’s Maserati. Bill Boddy is in the passenger seat in James Brymer’s photograph.
straightforward to create a close replica and I would be happy to raise funds for this. However, others would first have to decide if a replica was the right thing to have. It would also seem like a good idea to replicate the records board too, but again others must judge. What I do feel qualified to suggest is the Clubhouse elevation to the east facing the Finishing Straight is a little sad looking when compared to pre-WW2 photographs. There is what looks like a later rainwater downpipe that is awkwardly placed above, over and then beside the entrance door, as well as a lot of external horizontal cabling which does not help. The original downpipes were boldly featured in white and I do not think the building is enhanced by their being in black. Perhaps something might be planned to improve the Grade 2 listed ‘front door’ of Brooklands? Yours sincerely, Terry Wright MAY - JUNE 2020 | BROOKLANDS BULLETIN
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BROOKLANDS QUIZ Test your knowledge of Brooklands with our fun quiz compiled by
Allan Winn. When you have all 20 answers, the first letter of each brain teaser will spell out the name of a key figure from Brooklands’ history. We’ll even give you a clue as the bonus answer is the name of an aristocrat who was a key figure in the early days of Brooklands racing. This is just for fun, but let us know how you get on!
1 What was the name of the fearsome twin-engined Alfa Romeo car raced by Austin Dobson at Brooklands in 1937?
3 Who was the designer of the Brooklands-built car which was the first to exceed 400mph? 4 What is the surname of the author of the definitive history of Concorde, which has been the biggest-selling book in the Museum Shop? 5 What is the middle name of the inventor of the ‘Bouncing Bomb’ and the Stratosphere Chamber?
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1 2 Can you name the Brooklands-based company which built and restored AC Cobras and restored a Hawker Hurricane in the 1980s and ’90s?
2 20
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12 Which company was formed in 1974 to develop part of the airfield site?
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6 6 What is the surname of the Chief Designer, later Managing Director, of Vickers-Armstrongs Aircraft and Chairman of the British Aircraft Corporation? 7 Which make of motorcycle did WO Bentley ride in his first race at Brooklands in 1909? 8 What make of car did SF Edge use to set a 24-hour record on the Track in June 1907?
13 Who was Chief Instructor and later owner of the Brooklands Flying School and Brooklands School of Flying? 14 Which manufacturer’s cars formed the basis of racing specials such as the ‘Dutch Clog’ and ‘Mrs Jo-Jo’? 15 Name the annual air race which had Brooklands as its finishing point in 1928 and 1932. 16 Which engine powered the last combat aircraft built at Brooklands?
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17 What was the given name of the Anglo-American racing driver who drove the single-seat Duesenberg to a lap speed of 138.15mph in 1934 and was later the Chairman of BOAC?
9 Name the famous Brooklands goat after which one of the corners on the Campbell Circuit was named.
18 Which company had car, racing, record-breaking and aero engines that performed at Brooklands all designed by Louis Coatalen?
10 What is the name of the giant six-engined triplane built at Brooklands in 1917, which crashed on its first take-off at Farnborough?
19 Who was the last Royal Patron of the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club?
11 Which company’s engines powered Alcock and Brown’s Transatlantic Vimy, built at Brooklands in 1919?
20 What is the name of RGJ Nash’s collection of pioneer aircraft and vehicles, largely destroyed in the bombing raid of 4 September, 1940? Answers on page 12 MAY - JUNE 2020 | BROOKLANDS BULLETIN
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Option to Extend Membership The Brooklands Members have a more important role than ever to play in supporting the Museum and keeping the Brooklands spirit alive whilst it is closed. The many messages of support and financial contributions from Members are hugely appreciated. One really important way that Members can help the Museum now, whilst it is closed, is to renew their membership at the normal time. This keeps money coming in for the Museum, to help meet the many site and collection costs that are continuing even though it is not open. Many Members have already been doing this and if you can too, it is hugely appreciated. However, some of our members may be financially challenged during this period of great uncertainty. If you fall into this group, rather than you not renewing your membership, we would be willing to extend it to cover the period the Museum is closed - whether the renewal falls during the closure, or after we reopen. We shall email or write to you at your normal renewal time in this regard. If your membership is not due for renewal for a while and you would like to help Brooklands Museum now, please join others and consider making a donation to the #LoveBrooklands appeal. There is a link to it on the homepage of the website. We want you to keep enjoying your Membership whilst Brooklands Museum is closed. We will be continuing to send your copy of the Brooklands Bulletin, we are increasing the frequency of our email newsletters and there is lots of new content on our social media channels and website to explore, including recordings of new and past Members Talks, a virtual Easter egg hunt and much more.
Option to Extend Your Membership
We hope that knowing there are many happy days to be spent at Brooklands in the future, is something to look forward to and a help to you and your families during the current challenges. We look forward to welcoming you back when we reopen.
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In the final BARC meeting of 1935, we see Mrs Oxenden in her Alta, second from the camera, getting ready for the Womens’ Mountain Handicap race.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MOUNTAIN CIRCUIT Words: Allan Winn Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection
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The Mountain Circuit at Brooklands was the first purpose-made ‘road’ course in Britain. We look at its rising and falling fortunes.
or the first 18 seasons of racing at Brooklands from 1907 to 1929 (not counting the six years during and after the First World War when there was nothing other than a couple of Forces motorcycle meetings) competition was confined almost entirely
to the wide open Outer Circuit. Some of the few deviations were effectively the ‘Trials’ run by the Junior Car Club on an adventurous circuit using the top half of the Finishing Straight, a short piece of Banking round to a hairpin onto the Paddock Return Road, then left along Shell
Way and out through the Competitors’ Tunnel to follow the estate roads round to cross Members’ Bridge and down Test Hill to rejoin the Finishing Straight. All that changed at the first Brooklands Automobile Racing Club (BARC) meeting of 1930, however, with the inauguration
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of what was at first called the ‘Mountain Course’. Unlike the later Campbell Circuit, opening this new track involved no changes to the infrastructure, just to the direction of running: it was described in the race card as ‘…down (sic) the Finishing Straight, turning right under the Members’ Bridge, and again right on reaching The Fork.’ That was a lap of 1.17-miles, with a straight of almost half a mile and a hairpin with an included angle of 150-degrees.
Closer racing
Probably the main aim of the Mountain Circuit was to provide an experience closer to Europeanstyle road racing. Whereas a two-lap Outer Circuit race would entail just two or three upward gear-changes and one application of the brakes after the finish, a five-lap Mountain Circuit race of similar distance would involve some 40 gearchanges and 10 racing braking events, half of them being the very heavy braking needed to negotiate the Fork hairpin. There was the added attraction, of course, that a Mountain race took place entirely in the vicinity of the main spectator areas along the Finishing Straight and around
This poster from 1933 advertises the Oxford versus Cambridge Universities race that was one of the novelties held on the Mountain Circuit.
Members’ Hill. With lap times in all classes being around one minute, the slower and smaller cars in particular were in sight far more frequently. The difference between the Outer Circuit and Mountain Circuit is graphically
underlined by the lap times and speeds achieved. On the Outer Circuit, the fastest lap ever recorded by a Class H (750cc) car took 16% longer than the fastest by a Class B (up to 8000cc) car. For the Mountain Circuit, the difference between those two classes was less than 1%. Nobody ever set an official lap record for a Class A unlimited car on the Mountain Circuit and, unlike the Outer Circuit where bigger cars dominated, on the Mountain course lighter, more nimble cars with the best power to weight ratios held sway. The ultimate lap record fell to Raymond Mays with a 1500cc supercharged ERA, probably R4B which was his main ‘works’ mount in 1936, though usually with a 2.0-litre engine. That lap record was much slower than the speeds achieved on the Outer Circuit at ‘just’ an 84.31mph average. This is not to say that there weren’t some heroic lap times recorded by lessnimble machines. For six years, the Class B record was held by Sir Malcolm Campbell in his heavy, long-wheelbase though undoubtedly powerful 38/250 MercedesBenz, presumably the famous ‘GP10’, at a speed of 73.89mph which was slower than the records for all the other classes for most of that period. The first time the Mountain Circuit was used in anger was at the opening meeting of the 1930 season, with a race for
Raymond Mays leads the way in his ERA ahead of Prince Bira’s number 16 Maserati in 1938 with the Clubhouse in the background.
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The Iliffe Riley leads the Pauling Riley during the first Easter Mountain Handicap race in 1931.
The much shorter layout of the Mountain Circuit is evident, yet it required many more gearchanges and braking inputs than racing on the Outer Circuit.
‘Brooklands speed cars, ie cars the Chassis and Bodies of which are or were eligible to compete in the Brooklands Double Twelve Hour Race, the BARC. Six Hours Endurance Race or the Ulster TT Race of 1929 or 1930, in racing trim and with engines having a cubic capacity not exceeding 3000cc.’ The Autocar report of that first 25 March race was written in almost bemused tones: ‘Finally, a cheery day was brought to a close by a really debonair race around the Mountain, in which it was most noticeable, first, that Chronograph Villa Hairpin (The Fork taken the “wrong” way) is unusually puzzling because of the width of track available, and, secondly, that most
of the drivers could have done with more practice.’ The report, however, ended on a very positive note: ‘A really good show, which should be repeated for TT type cars and for racing cars, and a capital meeting overall.’ For the record, that first race was won by Earl Howe in his Type 43 Bugatti, at an average speed of 62.56mph and with a fastest lap of 64.4mph.
First permanent track
Over the following 10 seasons, the BARC would run at least 136 individual races on this, the shortest of the 17 circuit layouts used on the Brooklands estate over its 32year life as a motor racing venue. As with the Outer Circuit, the vast majority of those races were short handicaps, although over the years there was a number of Mountain Championships, which were scratch races comprising up to three heats and a final each, with the individual races being of 1015 laps covering up to 17.5-miles.
An Alfa Romeo heads round the Members’ Corner on the Mountain Circuit during a race on 16 October, 1937.
For most of that time, BARC race meetings would feature a mix of Outer Circuit and Mountain Circuit races with, on a typical day, three or four of the races on the card being held ‘around the Mountain’. For its first three seasons, the Mountain Circuit was the only permanent track in the UK which offered even a semblance of road circuit racing. Even after Donington Park opened in 1933, Brooklands’ course remained a very popular venue. Indeed, the peak season for the Mountain Circuit was 1935, during which no fewer than 25 races were run on it, with 22 the following year, including a record seven races in one day at the Autumn meeting. On only one occasion did the BARC run a race day using the Mountain Circuit without corresponding races on the Outer Circuit. That first meeting of the 1933 season was an unusual one because the southern bridge which took the Outer Circuit across the River Wey had been washed out by flooding and its replacement was still being completed. On that day, the Mountain races were augmented by sprints running from the Finishing Straight round to a finish line on the Railway Straight. In the end, the Mountain Circuit’s biggest challenger proved to be at home, rather than Donington or the new Crystal Palace circuit opened in 1937. Faced with the demand for even more realistic road racing and the refusal of the Continental teams, especially those running full Grand Prix cars, to race on the wide and bumpy Outer Circuit, Brooklands itself embarked on a new ‘road’ circuit. The Campbell Circuit, designed by serial racer and Land Speed Record breaker Sir Malcolm himself, utilised a segment of the Outer Circuit from the back of Members Hill round to halfway down the Railway Straight. It connected to an entirely new length of track which snaked across the airfield to cross both the river via a new bridge and the existing Finishing Straight to a new parallel Pit Straight and then curve up what is now the
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Museum’s Campbell Entrance road to again meet the Outer Circuit. This new circuit, from its opening on 20 April, 1937 by Dame Ethel Locke King, took the spotlight right off both the Mountain and Outer Circuits. In that 1937 season, there were just seven Mountain Circuit races and in 1938 there was just one, a 10-lap Mountain Championship race during the Autumn meeting. In these two seasons, the majority of races were held on the Campbell Circuit, with fewer still on the Outer Circuit. There was one madcap day on 16 October, 1937 when all three circuits were used in a single meeting. Things looked up a bit for the Mountain Circuit in 1939. By the time that truncated season came to a premature end in August, 13 races including two for motorcycles at a BARC meeting had been held on it, which was as many as had been held there in 1931.
Novelty races
From starting out as a bit of a novelty itself in 1930, the Mountain Circuit soon became a home for a variety of novelty races. At the August 1931 meeting, it hosted the first of several Veterans races, this Daily Sketchsponsored event being notable for having two different 1903 Mercedes recording identical fastest laps of 37.34mph but both beaten on handicap by a 1903 Rover which averaged 24.99mph. At the same meeting two years later, the BARC tempted out of retirement nine
Brian Lewis’ Talbot follows behind the Bugatti of CS Staniland during the Mountain Championship race on 17 October, 1931.
of the drivers who had starred in the early days of Brooklands before 1914. Driving identical MG Magnas, such luminaries as JTC Moore-Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara and a pioneer aviator as well as driver), land-speed-record breaker LG ‘Cupid’ Hornstead and Tom Thorneycroft (who drove a 30hp Thorneycroft at the first Brooklands meeting in 1907) battled it out over three laps, with Sydney Cummings the eventual winner. In that same year, the Junior Racing Drivers Club organised practice sessions on the Mountain Circuit on Thursday evenings. Other novelties included an Oxford versus Cambridge Universities race in 1933. It was won by a Cambridge team which included Raymond
Mays, Whitney Straight and Richard Seaman. A Ladies’ Race in 1934 was won by Doreen Evans but made notable by Fay Taylour, who had come second by just 0.8sec, failing to acknowledge that the chequered flag had been shown and carrying on racing until a marshal stood in her path in the middle of the track to dissuade her from lapping any further. SCH ‘Sammy’ Davis, the well-known driver and journalist, had his own memorable encounter on the Mountain Circuit, crashing heavily in a low-chassis S-Type Invicta at the Easter meeting in 1931. He ended up hospitalised with a badly broken leg. This was just weeks after he had written an entertaining description of racing on the
The variety of machinery in size and engine capacity that competed equally on the Mountain Circuit can be seen clearly in this image on the Finishing Straight. MAY - JUNE 2020 | BROOKLANDS BULLETIN
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Earl Howe lines up his Bugatti ready to pass a slower Talbot during a Mountain Circuit race in 1931.
Prince Bira stands by his ERA after beating Raymond Mays’ record for the 1500cc class on Brooklands’ Mountain Circuit.
Mountain Circuit in The Autocar : ‘Come under the Finishing Straight bridge on top, brake like blazes, engage third, with the brakes on hard and your right heel feeling for the throttle, then second almost on the corner, open up to pull, not too hard nor too little. Pull hard at the wheel to bring the machine round on the banking; meet the skid as it comes round. Exactly as the rev-counter reaches 5500 go up to third and, with the banking slope to aid, swing the car down the hill, again the rev counter limit, then top, then snap the throttle back, pile the brakes on, come down to third, to second, open up a little, round Chronograph Villa just on the skid point, and let her have it on the straight. Up to third once more, then to top, and so round again.’ He compared the whole experience favourably to chariot racing and opined that it was ‘Certainly one of the finest training grounds for road racing that anyone could contrive or enjoy.’ Davis was to return to writing about The Mountain in 1936, this time looking at different methods of tackling the course. From it, it is easy to see why lap speeds were low, with a minimum target speed of 27mph for the Chronograph Villa/Fork hairpin and 50mph for the turn under Members’ Bridge. Davis’ preferred technique for taking that top corner was
interesting to say the least. He wrote: ‘Come down the Finishing Straight about one third of its breadth from the outside railings, turn on the up-slope, and aim the right front wheel so that its hub almost clips the grass border of the Mountain itself.Then I come through the turn fast in third, with a car on the balance point, and a lovely shrieking noise from the tyres.’ Swooping back down off this highest point
on the Banking, Davis liked to be on ‘The line taking one to a position so close to the inside edge that there is a general hope of startling the observer in his special bay out of his wits.’ The last-ever Mountain race, at the lastever Brooklands meeting, was won by bandleader Billy Cotton in his 1500cc ex-Seaman ERA R1B at an average speed of 77.15mph. This was almost 25 per cent faster than Earl Howe’s first winning speed nearly 10 years earlier and shows just quickly the Mountain Circuit could be driven.
The Riley of Lucas shows how streamlining was beginning to show in race car design as it heads the Alvis of Powys Lybbe in a 1934 Mountain Circuit race.
Mountain Circuit Lap Records by class: Over 8,000cc
No recorded record attempts
Up to 8,000cc Austin Dobson, Alfa Romeo Bimotore
…………… …………… 54.15sec
77.84mph
Up to 5,000cc Sir Malcolm Campbell, Sunbeam V12 LSR
55.20sec
76.31mph
Up to 3,000cc Richard Shuttleworth, Alfa Romeo Tipo B
51.32sec
82.06mph
Up to 2,000cc Raymond Mays, ERA (R3A?)
51.82sec
81.28mph
Up to 1,500cc Raymond Mays, ERA (R4B?)
49.96sec
84.31mph
Up to 1,100cc R J W Appleton, Appleton-Riley
55.36sec
76.10mph
Up to 750cc
54.69sec
77.02mph
Cyril Dodson, Austin Seven
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This photograph gives an impression of the size of the Delage raced by Kay Petre. She used a collapsible seat to position herself higher up and further forward so she could drive properly.
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THE DARLING OF
BROOKLANDS Kay Petre was known as the Darling of Brooklands, but she was a determined and able racer as we find out in this first part of her life story.
H
Words: Tim Morris Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection
enry Petre was a keen aviator and a relative of Mildred Petre who is better known to Brooklands afcionados as the Hon Mrs Victor Bruce. Henry became the first military pilot in the Australian Flying Corps, despite being born in Essex.. He returned to England after the First World War and came back to Brooklands, where pre-WW1 he had been the head of the Deperdussin Flying School, to take up recreational aviation. ‘Peter the Monk’ was a shy man who generally steered clear of female company, so it was a great surprise when, in 1930, he turned up at the Brooklands Aero Club with a diminutive and attractive dark-haired young lady from Canada on his arm. Kathleen Coad Defries was born in Toronto on 10 May, 1903 and her father was a wealthy barrister in the city. Her schooling took her to Europe where she studied art in Paris and then returned to Canada in 1924, where she married 31 -year old advertising salesman Langlois Dundas Lefroy in Toronto on 9 June when Kay was 21 years of age. Lefroy was a legal student prior to WW1 and then served in the Royal Grenadiers Canadian Expeditionary Force during the war. The marriage, however, was tragically short-lived as Langlois committed suicide by Paris Green poisoning in August that year. Paris Green is a highly toxic substance which was used in green paint and dyes. Shortly afterwards, Kay set sail for London on a restorative holiday, returning to Canada in November. Kay was a competitive ice skater and Henry a keen winter sportsman who travelled to Canada for the Winter season each year. They are believed to have met while taking part in these wintry pursuits and there was an instant attraction. Perhaps as an antidote to her two boisterous brothers, Kay saw something in
the quiet, reserved Henry. They married in Marylebone, London in 1929 and set up home there.
Not in the family car
Although a keen sportswoman, Kay was not interested in flying. She was, however, attracted to the cars racing around the Brooklands track while Henry was taking his Deperdussin aeroplane up for a spin. This appealed to her competitive nature and by 1932 she had tried to persuade Henry to let her race his 4.5-litre Invicta. Understandably, he did not want her to race the family car so bought her a red Wolseley Hornet Daytona Special to take out on the Brooklands track. Handily, Henry was also a friend of the great racing driver and World Land Speed record holder LG ‘Cupid’ Hornstead. It was to him that Henry turned to teach his wife how to drive a racing car. The tuition took place on the Brooklands circuit and it wasn’t long before Kay entered her first races, coming third and second in the very first two at the wheel of her Wolseley. Kay was keen to gain more experience and persuaded several of the other drivers to let her test out their cars in practice sessions. This presented a problem for Kay who, standing at just 4’10”, was rather small for many of the larger cars. The solution was to have a special collapsible seat made that would fit in to the driver’s seats of the cars enabling her to see over the scuttle and be nearer the pedals. Most pictures of her in a car show her to be very close to the steering wheel, probably as a result of this seat and that she also believed a woman had to be closer to get more power from her arms on the wheel. In some cases, wooden blocks would be placed on the pedals to enable her to reach them. The Wolseley proved fine for her as she was learning to drive, but it soon
Kay Petre might have been only 4’ 10” in height but she was a glamorous addition to the paddock. More importantly, her driving talent made her stand out among Brooklands drivers.
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Proving that it was not all about racing, here Kay enjoys a picnic with her husband Henry and two friends at Brooklands.
Getting ready to head out in the 10.5-litre Delage that belonged to Oliver Bertram. Kay went on to become the fastest lady at Brooklands in this former Land Speed Record car.
became apparent that it was not fast enough for her competitive spirit. Henry bought her a second-hand Grand Prix Bugatti Type 35C for just £150 which, although temperamental, proved invaluable training for the higher speeds she would accomplish later. Kay was taking motor racing more seriously by this time and had the Bugatti resprayed in her favourite shade of pale blue to match her racing overalls. While not being afraid to get her hands dirty and muck in with the mechanics, she was always immaculately turned out for racing and the make-up she kept in the cockpit of the car enabled her to touch up her appearance at the end of a race, prior to coming into
the Paddock. Inevitably, there was always a phalanx of photographers waiting to take her picture. Although lady racers were no strangers to Brooklands, they were the exception rather than the rule and most gained some notoriety during this inter-war period. Kay was at the forefront of those pioneer lady drivers and was quickly dubbed the ‘Darling of Brooklands’ and there are no end of photographs and newsreels featuring her at the track.
Growing reputation
From 1932 until 1937 she appeared at virtually every Brooklands race meet, sometimes with her own car and often driving other people’s. The publicity they
Kay drove for Riley on several occasions, including at Le Mans in 1934 where she was part of a six-car team that went on to win the Rudge-Whitworth Cup.
and the works teams she drove for (Singer, Riley and Austin) gained as a result of her driving was immeasurable. She was not just a pin-up though, for Kay had a steely determination to get past the winning post ahead of the field. There were many notable races during that five-year period and Kay forged good friendships with most of the drivers frequenting Brooklands. Notably, her first ladies handicap race in 1933 where she was the favourite to win ahead of Rita Don, who was driving her brother Freddie Dixon’s Riley 9. The race featured some erratic driving from Rita, who had her brother as a riding mechanic, which was later revealed to be the result of her being surreptitiously prodded with a hat pin when she showed signs of slowing down for corners. A bit of string on the accelerator helped as well as Freddie was determined not to lose a bet he had made that Rita would win. Strangely, all signs of pin and string had disappeared by the time the car returned to the Paddock with Rita having beaten Kay by 5.2 seconds. Even so, Kay was a calm but fearless and extremely rapid driver. Her ability and personal charm led her to being lent some very powerful cars to drive at Brooklands. She took Dick Shuttleworth’s 2.5-litre Bugatti around the Outer Circuit at 117.74mph, even with the car’s spark plugs playing up. Perhaps the zenith of these borrowed cars was Oliver Bertram’s massive 10.5-litre Delage. This car was a true legend in itself, having first been built as an aluminium sprint car. The Delage first appeared driven by René Thomas at the 1923 Gaillon Hill Climb, recording fastest time of the day on its debut. Later that year it took the Land Speed Record at Arpajon, reaching 143.24mph. By 1929, the car was owned by Ken Thomson and driven by John Cobb at Brooklands. It taught John Cobb all he needed to know about very high-
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TO ADVERTISE IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF
brooklands bulletin
brooklands
ER 2019 SEPTEMBER – OCTOB
I
t is odd realise that in this age of gender equality there are few top women racing drivers. In the ‘Golden Days’ of Brooklands this was certainly not the case. There were many. One such was Gwenda Stewart, who was born Gwenda Mary Glubb in Preston, Lancashire on 1 June, 1894. She was born into a military family and her father was Captain Frederic Manley Glubb of the Royal Engineers, later to become Major General Sir Frederic Manley Glubb and her brother John became famous as Glubb Pasha while serving as the commander of the Arab Legion. In January 1913, aged 19, Gwenda started as a student at St Hilda’s Hall, Cheltenham, which was a residential college attached to Cheltenham Ladies’ College. While there, she taught herself to drive in a car belonging to the family of a school friend. Her education was ‘finished off’ in Paris and as a result she became a fluent French speaker.
bulletin
Wartime The Design Office, with Spud Boorer in the left foreground
A FLYING START
Relived comes to life
What was it like to work and train on the Brooklands site at a time of extraordinary activity? Malcolm Reid remembers the profound effect of being an apprentice at Vickers-Armstrong in the 1950s had on his career, life and friendships.
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A
s you make model aeroplanes, you should enter the aircraft industry’. Following this guidance from a careers advisor, I applied to Avro, De Havilland and VickersArmstrong (Aircraft). The first two required my father to pay them for the privilege of being an indentured apprentice, whereas the last one offered £3 per week, so it was no contest. Starting in the autumn of 1955, my apprenticeship commenced in the newlybuilt apprentice training school situated near the Campbell gate. The first task was to make my tool box in aluminium, which I still have. After a few months, I was introduced to the fitting shop making and riveting together small airframe sub-assemblies. Then it was into the ‘tin bashers’ assisting the very skilled men
shaping Viscount stainless steel exhaust pipes where the noise of the hammering was horrendous. Enrolling for the engineering course at the Brooklands Technical College, I noticed the queue divided into two and asked why. The answer was: ‘Mechanicals to the left and Electricals and Electronics to the right’. I had no idea of this distinction and as those who I was chatting to turned left, I went with them and became a mechanical engineer. A mistake as electronics were to be the big future. At this time, my friend and fellow apprentice Mike Walker and I had digs in a small hotel that was a watering hole for pre-war Brooklands drivers. It was where the Multi-Union and a Bugatti Type 23 were stored. Particularly memorable was meeting Charles Brackenbury and have a ride in his Jaguar XK140. I also met Dudley Gahagan, owner of a Bugatti Type 37 and ERA R7B. After a year at college, I went on a three year ‘sandwich’ mechanical and aerodynamics-aerostructures course at Kingston Technical College. During this time, I attended a Weybridge branch meeting of the Royal Aeronautical Society. This was a Question and Answer forum, chaired by Vickers-Armstrong’s Managing Director, George Edwards, later Sir George. When asked if the company was going to produce helicopters, his characteristic wry answer was: ‘We have enough trouble keeping wings on, let alone them going round!’
This was in the aftermath of the Valiant wing-spar fatigue issue created by the late requirement to include low level operations. Working on Valiant bombers, my job was to assist a ‘mate’ with wing assembly. This was labour intensive work by teams of two men inserting thousands of rivets. With this aircraft, the rivet material was unusual because they were ‘age-hardened’. The process involved storing them in a fridge to maintain their softness to avoid cracking during the actual riveting and they were issued at the beginning of every morning and afternoon. The rivet cans were colour coded to prevent the use of old rivets and it was one of the apprentices’ jobs to collect these coloured cans. The end results were completed airworthy aircraft. Every week, a Valiant with minimal fuel load took off over the gap in the Byfleet banking and landed almost immediately at Wisley airfield for flight testing. Then there was the Viscount. Initially, it was wing assembly again, but across the airfield near the New Haw gate were the twin assembly lines for BEA, KLM and another for Howard Hughes, which he never collected. As with the Valiants, the wings were assembled in a jig at 90-degrees to the normal flight position to give the riveting teams good working access. Later, I was transferred to airframe assembly for two jobs in parallel. The first was installing the special clips that held the cabin window glass panels in place
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THE GREATEST
WOMAN DRIVER Gwenda Stewart was arguably the best woman racing driver of her time. Roger Radnedge looks at her life and career in the first of two instalments.
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When the First World War broke out in 1914, Gwenda joined the SCottish Women’s Hospitals organisation as a volunteer driver and was sent to the Crimea. The train journey there took several weeks as the passengers had to disembark and chop up wood for the engine every 20 miles or so. Once there she drove ambulances under difficult and dangerous conditions. She was involved in what became known as the Dobruja retreat. This happened in the autumn of 1916 when the hitherto successful Romanian army got pushed back. The ladies of the Scottish hospital contingent were awarded the Crosses of St George and St Stanislav by the Romanian Government. Gwenda was also mentioned in dispatches probably because she was seen carrying out repairs to her ambulance while under fire. By 1918, she must have been attached to a flying unit because on 1 April when the RAF was formed, she became an Assistant Administrator in the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF). Fifteen months later on 1 July, 1919 she became its Deputy Administrator. Unfortunately, while she was at the Air Ministry (AM) the WRAF’s administration was in turmoil and she got involved in this in a very personal way. The WRAF’s original Commandant was intended to be Lady Gertrude Crawford, but on the 4 April Sir Geoffrey Paine, the AM’s Master General of Personnel, informed the Air Council that the lady ‘lacked the qualities necessary for organising a large body of women’. The lady seems to have accepted this and
stood down. The second choice was the Honourable Violet Blanche DouglasPennant. However, there were two views in the AM as to what the Commandant’s function was. One view was that it was just a figurehead and the second saw it as a normal command function. Sir Geoffrey assured Violet that it was the latter. Yet she soon faced a series of increasing difficulties both within the AM and outside it. Sir Geoffrey was replaced with Sir Sefton Branker who found the whole business unacceptable and he sacked Violet. That might have been the end of the matter except that Violet had a strong feeling she had been wronged and she had many influential supporters. They managed to raise a House of Lords enquiry into the matter. By now the affair had become a national scandal and was making headlines. During the enquiry, the excommandant had been asked to give examples of the problems she had faced. One such example she claimed was the immoral behaviour of some of her officers and the case she cited involved Gwenda. It was said that she and Colonel Janson had conducted an affair in a London lodging house. What follows is almost hilarious. The landlady said she had found Miss Glubb’s hot-water bottle in Colonel Janson’s bed and saw Miss Glubb emerge from his room one morning. Gwenda explained that she had given Janson the hot-water bottle because he was ill with a recurrence of trench fever and had gone into his room in the morning to take his temperature. To remove any suggestion of impropriety, a doctor was called in to settle the matter. He stated: ‘There is no definite physical sign of virginity, but I am of opinion that there has never been penetration of this girl.’ The popular press accepted this explanation and the Evening Standard ran a headline that complained about ‘Cruel and wicked charges’ that put a ‘Girl’s honour at stake.’
Racing and adventure
After the war, Gwenda married Colonel Janson on 17 February, 1920. He was then the London Manager of the London Spyker motor company. Perhaps missing the excitement of war, Gwenda decided to take up motorcycle racing and started competing in events at Brooklands. She also offered to undertake longdistance promotional rides for motorcycle manufacturers. In November 1921, SF Edge took up her offer and entered her in ACU (Auto Cycle Union) monitored trials using a Ner-a-Car. The machine she was riding was best described as motorized scooter. It had
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BENTLEY MYSTERY UNRAVELLED Anthony Saunders unravels the mystery surrounding the creation the first Bentley cars and it appears they owed a lot to Humber’s TT model.
22
B
ritain was still recovering from the devastation of war in the autumn of 1919. Yet in a small garage off Baker Street, London, a group of men were creating what was to become a legend in the annals of motoring. One of the finest and best known of sporting and racing cars was being developed. The men were WO Bentley, Frank Burgess, who had been chief designer and racing driver at Humber, draughtsman Harry Varley and Clive Gallop, a racing driver and engine designer. A massive number of articles and theories have been published about the experimental Bentley cars made by WO Bentley and how he managed to design and produce a whole new car from scratch in less than a year. Research over the years has been done, not least by Bill Boddy, Tim Houlding, archivist of the Bentley Drivers Club, Kenneth Neve, as well as Brian Demaus and John Tarring both of the Humber Register and many others.
BROOKLANDS BULLETIN | SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2019
In 1914, Humber had many successes in trials and competition and decided to enter a team of three cars into the Isle of Man TT race. These TT cars were purpose built by the factory. As well as being Chief Designer, FT Burgess was also a driver and competed in the TT in Car number 2, the other cars being driven by WG Tuck and S Wright. Humber are known to have also built a number of spares for the TT cars. Although no documentary evidence has been found, Humber also probably built a spare TT chassis as this was a very different design to standard chassis. Another competitor in this TT was WO in a DFP. None of the Humber cars finished the race, all retiring with mechanical problems. However, Tuck’s TT car was supposedly the most powerful of the three and he successfully raced this car later that year, proving the potential of the design.
Aero development
Prior to World War 1 and before deciding to go it alone, WO was working and racing with the French car company, DFP, whose engines would overheat dramatically in competition. WO realised this was mainly due to the cast iron pistons used which were heavy and had poor heat dissipation properties, so he started to work on the problem. Experiments with lighter magnesium pistons had ended up with the pistons ‘disappearing down the exhaust pipe’. Ordinary aluminium would not stand the temperatures and stresses involved but WO thought that if he could develop a strong, heat resistant alloy of aluminium then that might work. He did and it did. An alloy of 88% aluminium and 12% copper provided the necessary qualities and WO
went on to achieve many racing successes with his new idea incorporated in DFP cars, which he tried to keep secret for as long as possible. Then came WW1 and the need for fighter planes. Over in France, British planes were fitted with French Clerget engines which had a very limited life of 15 hours or less due to overheating. This caused the British Government to get somewhat worried, so they called for help. WO stepped in as he knew exactly what the problem was and how to cure it. He fitted the Clerget engines with aluminium pistons and redesigned the cooling system to solve the problem. The next step was for him to develop the Bentley Rotary engines (BR 1&2) using, of course, aluminium pistons and in 1916 the Humber factory in Coventry was chosen as one of the manufacturing sites. The Humber workers were delighted as, up until then, their war efforts had been confined to making mobile kitchens and military bicycles. Making proper engines was a much better use of their skills. It was here that WO and Burgess started working together and became firm friends, although they had already met on the racing circuits.
A new car
After the war ended, WO asked Burgess to join him in the development of a new type of high performance car and the rest is history, but not quite! WO developed his engine, with aluminium pistons and many other novel features, in a mews workshop off Baker Street along with Harry Varley and Clive Gallop as well as Burgess. When it was first fired up in October 1919,
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Kay’s driving won her many races and accolades and also the respect of the greatest drivers who competed at Brooklands such as Prince Bira, pictured here sharing a joke.
speed driving. Kay came to the car later and it was in this car that she became the fastest lady at Brooklands. The 1934 Wakefield Cup was run in some appalling conditions and Kay was one of three drivers for the Works Singer team led by Sammy Davis. Eileen Ellison and Mr Tolhurst were her teammates. Unluckily for the MG team, their team orders blew away on a gust of wind by the pits and were spotted by Kay who retrieved them, thus giving the Singer team an insight into MG’s
tactics. George Eyston could not understand why the Singers were always one step ahead of them. The race was eventful and the cup went to the Singer team despite MG finishing third and Singer fifth. The rules stated that the cup could not be won by a team in the top three places and luckily Sammy Davis had actually read the rules whilst George hadn’t. While Brooklands was Kay’s mecca, she did not always race here and in 1934 she was part of the works Riley team at Le Mans partnering Dorothy Champney,
A posed shot of Kay Petre, but it also shows how close she believed lady drivers had to be to the steering wheel to get more power from their arms to be in control of the car.
who later married Victor Riley. Le Mans is a race of attrition and despite the large Alfas and Bugattis roaring away, their drop-out rate accelerated over the 24-hour period. Kay and the rest of the team put in some great times to average more than 60mph for the entire race and all six cars made it over the finish line to win them the coveted Rudge-Whitworth Cup. Kay and Dorothy themselves finished a very creditable eleventh place overall. Part two of Kay Petre’s story will appear in the next issue of The Bulletin.
The fearsome Delage had been driven by René Thomas and John Cobb before Kay used it regularly at Brooklands. She’s seen here in the car with the Jackson staff standing behind. MAY - JUNE 2020 | BROOKLANDS BULLETIN
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D This image clearly shows the Constant Speed four-blade propellers of the Viscount that Ron learnt so much about, including how close to the ground they were during taxiing manoeuvres.
FLYING SCHOOL
Captain Ron Macdonald was a dedicated Volunteer at Brooklands who flew Vickers Viscounts during his long career. Here are some of the late flyer’s memories of training to fly this Brooklands-built aircraft.
uring February 1958, I was a Douglas DC-3 Captain for Trans Canada Airlines and was eagerly awaiting the equipment bid awards. I was advised I had been given a Viscount Captain’s assignment and was to report to the ground school in March. There were 10 of us in ground school: five Captains and five First Officers. The course required a 95 per cent pass mark, so it was heads down and hard work. Considerable time was spent on the RollsRoyce Dart engines, explaining things like jet pipe temperature and engine power torque. It also covered all about the Constant Speed four-bladed propellers which did not need propeller pitch control nor an engine run-up before take-off, and the use of water methanol in very hot weather. Pressurisation was explained and how the cabin altitude could be maintained at about 7000ft when flying at 19,000ft but which was only used on the longer sectors. Quick-don masks for the pilots were installed in the event of a depressurisation, but as 10,000ft or lower could be reached quickly, masks were not required for the passengers. The hydraulic system pumps were on engines 2 and 3 and the undercarriage was raised and lowered by buttons on the throttle quadrant but, big surprise, the flaps were electric with a manual over-ride in the passenger cabin if the electrics failed.
Words: Ron McDonald Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection/Chocks Away
Ron McDonald was born in Canada but settled in the UK. He was a regular and muchloved member of the Viscount Team. Here he is aged 81 just after completing a barrel roll 40 years after his previous one.
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very much. So, he was satisfied I should start my line checks. The line checks consisted of three round trips going from Montreal to New York and back to Montreal, which was a very busy route. I had a check pilot as my First Officer and, after the third trip, the check pilot said: ‘Well done. You’re now a Viscount line Captain.’ During his training, Ron flew three round trips from Montreal to New York in a Viscount similar to this one operated by Capital Airlines.
Plenty of time practicing in a simulator made it easy for Ron to transition to flying the Viscount, like this one operated by Brazilian airline VASP.
Finally, ground school was over with and all exams successfully passed. We now moved to the simulator to learn engine starts, engine failures, and auto feathering if the torque fell below 65 per cent when the throttle lever was in cruise. It also included the use of the auto pilot, the loss of two engines, and hydraulic failures. This was all done in darkness as visual simulators were not available yet. Lastly, my instructor announced that we would be flying the next day. The following morning, we went to Viscount Fin Number 604 and carried out an external walk around with my instructor pointing out the inboard propellers were only seven inches from the ground and the out boards 11 inches. Therefore, considerable caution was required when taxiing in snow, especially watching out for drifts. This knowledge turned out to be important as I was able to avert disaster in a later flight. Finally, I was in my seat with the instructor in the Flight Officer’s seat. On his say-so, I started up and soon had all four engines running and the after-start checks done. This included selecting the take-off flap setting without which the plane would be unable to get into the air. I then released the brakes and, having been waved off
the ramp, I was heading for the runway being especially cautious with the nose wheel steering and the Maxaret anti-skid brakes. With all the checks completed, the instructor requested take-off clearance, at which point I lined up on the runway centre line. As I moved down the runway, I advanced the throttles to take-off power and rotated when the speed was 110 knots, calling the gear up after the positive rate call. The flaps were then retracted and we were cleared to climb to 7000ft. I found the controls of the Viscount light and effective, so tried a couple of 45-degree turns. After pulling out of a clean stall, I executed a dirty stall with gear and flaps down and found the recovery easy. Next, we executed engine failures: first number 4, then number 3. It demonstrated to me how good the control was when the Viscount operated with two engines failed on the same side. I then flew an ILS (instrument landing system) approach as opposed to a manual approach with number 4 engine feathered. At 200ft, I performed a go-around, re-starting number 4 and landing back at Dorval airport, which is now Montreal-Trudeau International Airport. My instructor, Captain Wilton, said that I had seemed to enjoy that, and I had
Ron found the Viscount’s controls very light in use after his first take-off. However, he was wary of the Maxaret anti-skid brakes as fitted to Viscounts like this flown by Philippines Air Lines when taxiing.
This feature first appeared in Chocks Away, April 2018.
Remembering Ron
Captain Ron McDonald FRAeS (Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society) is fondly remembered by many at Brooklands and especially within the Viscount team where he was a regular on Mondays. He brought a wealth of first-hand knowledge of flying many aircraft and, of course, the Viscount in particular. This helped bring the Museum alive for the many visitors who Ron met at Brooklands. Ron was a delightful chap with a wicked sense of humour. Among many others who have helped the Museum, we will miss him greatly. He was always a gentleman and like many successful, intelligent men, he was always very considerate of others and very humble. He was a brave man, having fought Leukaemia for many years, amazing the medical world by not succumbing. We like to think that this was because of his positive thinking and stubborn refusal to give in. As a pilot, his cool head and logical thinking saved many a day as is evident in many of his stories. He was a Brooklands Volunteer for many years, not only as a steward but also as an archivist. He loved being on the Viscount and telling the visitors all about it, which with his first-hand knowledge was immensely interesting. He once took me on a guided tour of the outside of the Museum’s Vickers Viscount G-APIM ‘Stephen Piercey’ explaining patiently what all the different bits did. For me it was an eye-opener as I was a steward on the BAC 1-11 and was therefore a ‘modern’ plane person. On other occasions he would be busy giving instructions in the cockpit. Ron’s daughter, who would join the volunteers in the Cosy Café on her trips from Canada to visit her Dad, said: ‘Brooklands brought great joy to Ron. His friends there and the aircraft you have restored and maintain enabled him to remain close to one of the major loves of his life... flight.’ Gill Elliott
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A RACING START
W Gordon McMinnies on the Triumph, left, and Oscar Bickford on a Vindec, right, were Oxford graduates who took part in a private race early in 1908. The Triumph rider won.
We take a look at 1908 and the introduction of motorcycle racing at Brooklands. Words: Martin Gegg Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection, Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History
P
rior to 1908, motorcycle sport in mainland Britain was restricted to timed regularity trials held on open roads as well some record breaking events at velodromes. Meanwhile, in Europe long-distance car races were being held and even after SF Edge won the Gordon Bennett race from Paris to Innsbruck, hosting the return event in 1903
was not possible on mainland Britain due to speed limits. Instead, the event was held in Ireland after an Act was passed enabling roads to be closed for racing. The Isle of Man also allowed pre-event testing to take place on a route which was later to become the TT course. In the early 1900s, various plans were being drawn up for race tracks on private land and eventually Hugh Locke King came forward to build the Circuit on his land at Weybridge. This was initially conceived as a motor car racing circuit but the 2 January, 1907 editorial
ufacturer Matchless, Harry Collier, of motorcycle man the Brooklands track ct inspe to first the of one was not perform well on in 1908, though his machine did g. its first outin
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in The Motorcycle Magazine was already looking forward to the opening of the new Brooklands Racing Circuit where it said ‘Riders will start in positions according to their handicap and it will provide much excitement.’ Pioneer motorcycle manufacturers saw the opening of the track as an opportunity to reach high speeds in controlled conditions. By June, and a month before the opening of the Surrey Motordrome, Charlie Collier of Matchless announced that he was developing a special motorcycle with the intention of being the first to register a speed of 100mph. In the same month, it was announced that
Riding a 7-10hp Matchless, Charlie Collier passes under the Members’ Bridge on his recordbreaking run in October 1908 to set a One Hour benchmark.
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Cook being congratulated after his win in the inaugural motorcycle race run by the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club at the Easter Weekend Meeting
The North London Garages Peugeot as it is today. This is the machine that won the first official motorcycle race at Brooklands on Easter Monday, 20 April, 1908.
‘A French Manufacturer’, almost certainly Peugeot, was also preparing a machine to reach 100mph at the circuit. On 17 June, 1907 Brooklands was opened and following a lunch, Edith Locke King led a procession of cars round the circuit. Despite the track being designed for high-speed racing, the effects on vehicles, their drivers and riders was unknown. Prior to Selwyn Edge’s planned 24-hour car run, doctors had warned that his body may not stand the strain and he could even become insane due to the monotony. At this stage, the Brooklands authorities felt the track was unfit for motorcycles and there was a fear their engines would seize or even disintegrate if run at full throttle for long periods around the banked circuit. There was perhaps another reason why it would be undesirable to run bikes
at high speed. Just 11 days after the track was opened, and Selwyn Edge was completing his momentous record-breaking run in a Napier car, the newly laid concrete track was already beginning to break up in places. By this time, motorcycle racing had been taking place at Canning Town Velodrome and a purpose-built motor racing track at Bexhill. The 1907 season closed without any motorcycle events at Brooklands, but in early December two unidentified naval officers rode the track and reported serious overheating, although they did say that the surface was very much better than anticipated.
Rapid progress
At the same time, the Auto Cycle Union was lobbying Brooklands to introduce motorcycle racing, but still there seemed
William Cook with the larger 2700cc NLG which proved to be too powerful for Brooklands.
to be no appetite for motorcycles at the track. However, things progressed fast and the experience of the early car races, developments in motorcycle design and smaller than expected spectator numbers for the first car races in 1907 meant that by February 1908, motorcycle racing had been included in that year’s programme, beginning with an Easter Weekend Meeting. On 25 February, an unpublished private race of one lap was run between two Oxford graduates, W Gordon McMinnies riding a single cylinder 3hp light TT Triumph without pedals or mudguards, and Oscar Bickford riding a 5hp twin-cylinder light TT Vindec. The Triumph made the better start and by half-way was leading by 100 yards. It was reported that a small piece of metal preventing full compression in one of the Vindec’s cylinders led to a rather underwhelming race, with McMinnies winning by 150 yards. While this event is well-known by Brooklands aficionados, what is less well known is that McMinnies also went on to become the fastest Brooklands motorcycle rider that day by making two timed halfmile runs of 57.88mph against the wind and 59.80mph with a following wind. This fact was immediately picked up by Dunlop with a full-page advert proclaiming ‘Almost 60 Miles Per Hour at Brooklands’ on Dunlop Tyres. Whilst researching this piece, it was interesting to see one reference, dealing with the history of The South British Trading Company that read: ‘1908: early in the year came more success in a private match race at Brooklands – the first ever two-wheeled event on the track, when Oscar Bickford came second on his Vindec Special.’ True, but second in a two-horse race is also last! During the last week of March, Charlie and Harry Collier of Matchless, AG Reynolds, and WH Wells representing the South British Trading Company, suppliers of Vindec, travelled to Brooklands with F Straight, the Secretary of the Auto Cycle Union, to get
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Large crowds attended the Easter Weekend Meeting in 1908, many drawn by the novelty of motorcycle racing for the first time at Brooklands.
a look at the track in advance of the first official races. Wells was one of the first off and at high speed he left the main finishing straight and rode up onto the banking, just missing an area of wet concrete. Reynolds and Wells, keen to restore the reputation of Vindec after its apparent failure to impress in February, allowed representatives from The Motorcycle Magazine to have a ride and they duly reported the Vindec’s excellent performance. It appears the Matchless machines fared less well on that occasion. During a break, Baron Ernst de Rodakowski, the Clerk of the Course, was persuaded to have a go on Reynolds’ Vindec. Despite being a complete novice and never ridden before; he was able to comment on the Vindec’s excellent handling.
Racing begins
On Easter Monday, 20 April 24 riders lined up for the first official motorcycle race run as part of the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club’s Easter Weekend Meeting. The handicap system that was hinted at prior to the event did not materialise and so, somewhat inevitably, the big 7.9hp
Peugeot-powered NLG (North London Garages) motorcycle built by AG Forster and ridden by William Cook made a good start and romped home 5/8ths of a mile in front of E Kirkham on a 7hp PeugeotLeader. Charlie Collier had clearly learnt from his trial and came in third, 100 yards behind on a 6hp JAP-powered Matchless. McMinnies again won the Triumph versus Vindec grudge match, coming in fourth ahead of WH Wells, while Bickford was 12th and Harry Collier 13th. By May, when the second motorcycle race was held, the organisers had introduced a handicap system which produced a more interesting result. H Shanks won on a 2 ¾hp Chater-Lea with H Partridge second on a 6hp NSU and WH Bashall on a 3 ½hp Triumph in third place. A 5hp Vindec was eighth piloted by A Sproston with McMinnies 10th on his 3 ½hp Triumph beating William Cook on the Peugeot-NLG in 18th. Reynolds could only manage 22nd on the second Vindec and Wells suffered a puncture on the third of these machines. This month also saw court action taken against Brooklands
A group of riders wait for the start of a race in The Paddock in 1908. It clearly shows how closely related these early motorcycles were to bicycles in their construction.
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for noise and disturbance which included petrol fumes and spoiling raspberries in adjoining properties. While the records seem to suggest the action may have been brought following the Edge 24-hour record run, it was the poor old motorcyclists who suffered and were not able to race again until October. In the meantime, McMinnies competed in hill climbs and regularity trials on his Triumph. Correspondents in the letters pages of The Motorcycle Magazine complained that his motorcycle had an unfair advantage as it was not a standard road machine having had pedals, tool bags, horn and lamp removed. In August, he was also caught speeding with another motorcyclist. The case was dismissed as only one of two constables gave evidence of speed, commenting that McMinnies was travelling very fast but neither officer had timed the riders over the required distance. In June, Oscar Bickford put his 5hp Vindec up for sale for £25 and was next found on the pages of The Motorcycle in September having built himself a steam canoe. Readers were told he originally powered it using a 1½hp motorcycle engine, but the vibration made the seams leak. Back at Brooklands, the October race of 28 entrants was won by Gordon Gibson on a 3 ½hp Triumph with Vindec managing only sixth. Vindec Motorcycles continued to perform well in hill climbs but had less success at Brooklands. Charlie Collier, not happy with the formula used to set the handicap, finished well down the field and the motorcycling press previously supportive of handicapping were also understandably complaining that larger bikes were not being treated fairly. Charlie Collier was back at the track on 8 October to attempt the hour record.
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The NLG Peugeot
Charlie Collier riding a 7-10hp Matchless on his way to breaking the Hour Record at Brooklands on 8 October, 1908. Harry Collier and H Martin can be seen by the side of the track.
Riding a Matchless 7hp powered by a V-twin JAP engine that had recently come ninth in the Isle of Man TT, Collier pushed off to reach a speed of 63.24mph on lap one and a highest speed of 72.89mph on lap four. He eventually set the first motorcycle hour record at Brooklands of 70 miles and 105yds in the hour. The result was later adjusted to 67 miles and 1655yds as Collier had been instructed to ride outside the 50ft track guideline when the ACU rules stated motorcycles should ride at the 10ft guideline. This adjustment was still enough to beat the previous record set in France by Italian rider Giuppone on a 12hp Peugeot. However, Charlie continued to protest that he had been treated unfairly.
The last motorcycle meeting of the year was in November. The Cambridge University Motorcycle Club was at the track for a private meeting consisting of five races and an impromptu Car vs Motor-bicycle race. It was noted that the handicapping was well calculated as no more than two seconds separated the first two riders in each event. The last race was the Car vs Motor-bicycle race involving the Club Secretary driving a 31.1hp Daimler against a 5hp Vindec. It is not known if this race was handicapped, but the car won by five seconds. On 22nd December, Major LindseyLloyd replaced Ernest de Rodakowski as Clerk of the Course and motorcyclists looked forward to a full programme of two-wheeled events for 1909.
This magnificent machine built by North London Garages still exists and resides in the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham. Cleary built for one purpose, it was powered by a 944cc V-twin Peugeot engine and weighed 120Ib (54.5kg). The motorcycle was back at Brooklands in April 2008 when the Museum commemorated the centenary of the first motorcycle race at Brooklands. NLG went on to build a second even more powerful motorcycle. This was a 20hp 90-degree V-twin 2700cc JAP-powered machine. It proved to be too much of a handful for Brooklands, managing a top speed of 84.247mph over a flying kilometre in 26.553 seconds. Although this was a new unlimited speed record for Brooklands, it was not recognised as a world record. A replica of this incredible machine was built by motorcycle restorer Parvel Malanik with the aim of beating Cook’s speed. In 2017, I was lucky enough to witness Malanik run the replica at the banked MontlhÊry Circuit in France and reach a speed of 100mph. Parvel, seated precariously over the back wheel, appeared in the distance towards the top of the banked circuit. He powered past the pits, sounding more like a steam train than a motorcycle. There is a film about the NLG replica project including onboard footage on YouTube at: www.bit.ly/bbnlg1
Official checking and congratulations for Charlie Collier for setting a new Hour Record. His initial distance of 70 miles and 105 yards was later adjusted to 67 miles and 1655 yards but still stood. MAY - JUNE 2020 | BROOKLANDS BULLETIN
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members’ matters by Tim Morris
Thank you In normal circumstances, we would be looking forward to our Spring and Summer programmes and all the great events that both the Members and the Museum had lined up for you to enjoy. It is anything but normal, though, and after a strong start to the year with many of the Members’ events being sold out, we are now sitting at home on our sofas until this Covid-19 outbreak passes and we can get back to normal again. Clearly this has been a difficult time for our Members and for the Museum. With no visitors there is no income and it falls to the support of the Members to keep the Brooklands flag flying. With your help and support we can ease Brooklands through the Coronavirus crisis and that is very much appreciated by all Brooklands enthusiasts as well as the Trustees and Members committee. The Museum is keeping active on its social media feeds with quizzes and more to see us through these difficult times. Of course, this magazine is continuing production as well and is being augmented by more frequent email newsletters to Members, original content and links to archive pictures and films. A big thank you to Members who have already donated to the Museum through this period and if your situation allows then you too can do so by looking for the #LoveBrooklands tag or by going to the Museum website where you’ll find a Donate Now button. We hope that you have managed to keep well and that we will see you again at the Museum or enjoying one of our events soon. Stay safe!
On the web
We’ve increased our social media and online presence principally through the Members Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. You may have seen our virtual jazz session over one Friday lunchtime featuring Bob Webb and the Brooklands All Stars over the years or our tribute to Dick Seaman on the day the event with Richard Williams was due to take place. Then there were the virtual Mini Day and MG and British Marques Day shows where members posted pictures of their cars in a virtual car meeting. Members.tv continues to entertain with nearly 200 films to view now on our Vimeo channel and approaching half that on our YouTube outlet. It’s great to see some archive footage from the Museum’s past on there now and John Bottomley gave us two films of the VMCC Brooklands Relived events in 1988 and 1991. It was fascinating to look back at how things were when the Museum was first forming and an interesting look at how safety has progressed, particularly on those Test Hill runs when the riders seemed to relish falling off their steeds at the top of the hill! If you have any vintage footage in any format of Brooklands, then please let us know. Who would have thought the Boundless Auto Solo and Elspeth Beard Round the World on a Bike events would be the last for several months as the world changed around us? You can see the full Elspeth Beard talk on our YouTube Channel and a short film of the Auto Solo on our Facebook page.
Members’ Office is open for business The Members office remains open but has been operating on a reduced basis over these weeks of isolation as best as possible. Sarah has been manning a diverted office phone at home from 10am to 2pm from Monday to Friday and updating Membership renewals and new memberships. She can also access the online renewals and post is being brought to her at home - it’s handy that her Husband, Mark, is the Brooklands Property manager and is still going into the Museum to carry out vital maintenance work. Renewal and new membership acknowledgements are being sent by email and membership cards will be sent by post when we can get back into the office once again. There is likely to be a delay when that glorious day does arrive and the Museum reopens, and we know you will be keen to visit again, so just bring your email acknowledgement with you when you can get to the Museum. The best way to contact us is by email and to renew your support via our online system.
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reviews
S
Dispatch riders story uncovered In early March, Museum Volunteers were treated to a talk by Martin Shelley who told the story of Two Wheels to War, a book he wrote with his brother in 2017. It tells the backstory of Adventures of a Despatch Rider by Captain WHL Watson published in 1915. I first became aware of this title when writing my own book War Bike. It is interesting because it is contemporary to the beginning of World War One, and is unique for the fact that it slipped under the radar of the censors. I was deeply moved by the introduction which is a letter written by William Watson to his friend Robert. He talks about the death of his friend Alec and even more profound is the footnote which reads: ‘The day after I had written this letter, the news came to me that Robert had also been killed. The letter must stand – I have not the heart to write another.’ This letter and other descriptions were later removed by the censors, but the book remained in print and describes in detail the journey of a group of friends from signing up until August 1915. It describes a very different war from the trench bound stalemate we tend to associate with WW1. At this early point in the conflict, armies were constantly on the move and motorcycles were a key part of communication. The reason why the book slipped through the censors was that it was first published as a series of letters to his mother in Blackwood’s Magazine known at the time as The Maga. By the time it was published as a book, the censors were not interested and assumed it had been previously scrutinised. So, what has all this got to do with Two Wheels to War? Martin, a marque specialist for Blackburne acquired some medals belonging to the company founders Cecil and Alick Burney. With them were some documents including an album of photographs, which turned out to be a pictorial account of William Watson’s book. After painstaking research, Martin and his brother Nick, a Family Historian, were able to track down the surviving relatives and with them some more photographs and information to enable them to retell the story. Martin and Nick have an eye for detail and have also attached appendices that include the list of the first 400 Despatch Riders to land in France with the 5th Signal Company, together with their
Serial Numbers Dates of landing, and dates of birth and death. Incidentally, this list also includes some Brooklands racers such as Vernon Busby and Archibald Sproston. They have skilfully included the text of Watson’s Book within their own sandwiched between an introduction to the project. The backstory comprises that of ‘the twelve’ and then other letters following the same timeline as the book interspersed with the wonderful pictures documenting each stage of the journey. Already familiar with Adventures of a Despatch Rider, I was able to read it again and delve into the timeline before moving to the next section. This is not just a book about Despatch Riders, it’s a journey of discovery. This book quickly went out of print in 2017, so don’t be tempted by some of the high prices on Amazon, as it is now available from the publishers. However, Martin Shelley has kindly offered to provide Brooklands Members with a signed copy for the reduced price of £20.00. He can be contacted via email at: marticelli@gmail.com Martin Gegg
Two Wheels to War: A tale of twelve bright young men who volunteered their own motorcycles for the British Expeditionary Force 1914 by Martin Shelley and Nick Shelley is priced £25 for Brooklands Members. Published by Helion & Company: ISBN 978-1911-0965-80
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reviews Cars in context At last, a book on the history of the British car industry which is readable by petrolheads and laymen alike. Peter Grimsdale’s book High Performance takes us on a journey from 1950 to 1970, a period which he describes as being ‘when Britain ruled the roads’. Where Grimsdale’s book scores particularly highly is that it is a flowing narrative with all the chapters leading into each other instead of being a sequence of unrelated, topic-specific articles. For those not so interested in motoring, there is plenty of content which is sufficiently familiar to draw the reader into the book. Meanwhile there is also lots of behind the scenes and contextual information which adds depth to the text. There are also numerous little nuggets that provide interest. For example, John Cooper’s first car was built from the front ends of two Fiat Topolinos welded back-to-back, while Rover designer David Bache kept up a sideline in tailoring with many managers dropping by his office to be measured for suits. Understandably, there is significant space given over to the famous names of the period, from William Lyons to Colin Chapman and John Cooper. However, this book isn’t just about the big boys. Many of the smaller players or transient businesses also feature,
often with minor yet key roles in what was to come. Add to this the fascinating interactions between the car companies and racing drivers of the day, including iconic figures like Stirling Moss and Jim Clark, and the storyline becomes a real page-turner. It is in these human relationships between manufacturer and driver that the book is probably at its strongest. Angela Hume High Performance: When Britain Ruled the Road by Peter Grimsdale is priced £20. Published by Simon & Schuster: ISBN 978-1-4711-6845-1
Endurance in detail In the foreword to Brooklands – The Sports Car Endurance Races, the Museum’s Allan Winn rightly points out that by concentrating on only the long-distance races at the track, author David Blumlein is able to go into far greater detail than previous histories of the venue. In less skilled hands, this might have ended up with an accurate but dull read of little more than statistics, but thankfully Blumlein is a very capable story teller. The book is logically arranged into chronological order and has separate chapters for the development of Brooklands, Production and Sporting Car races and moving on to the longer Six Hour and Double Twelve events. There are also chapters for the 1932 Thousand Mile Race and 3 Hour Production Car Race. Taking each race as it happened, Blumlein’s obvious enthusiasm for the subject and his meticulous research of archive material and race reports is clear. It gives the reader a real sense of a bulletin appearing straight after the event, while Blumlein’s prose also helps bring racing from 100 years ago to colourful life. Backing up the race reports and events surrounding each meeting, there is a chapter of results at the back of the book that provides a useful reference. For this alone, Brooklands – The Sports Car Endurance Races is a worthwhile addition to anyone interested in the history of the circuit. As well as these superbly researched chapters, there are others that add further to the reader’s overall knowledge and understanding of endurance racing at Brooklands and its wider impact. A compact chapter is packed with facts about the track, racing history and those involved that will delight any reader. The section on cars that have borrowed the Brooklands name may be tangential, but it’s no less fascinating and demonstrates Blumlein’s determination for thoroughness. We must also mention the superb photography used throughout Brooklands – The Sports Car Endurance Races. With help from the Museum’s Andrew Lewis and others, Blumlein has illustrated the book handsomely.
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Priced at £30, Brooklands – The Sports Car Endurance Races is good value given the large amount of work that has gone into writing it. Blumlein is to be applauded for casting a much brighter light on these races and we recommend it as an addition to any book shelf. Alisdair Suttie Brooklands – The Sports Car Endurance Races by David Blumlein is priced £30. Published by Chaters Booksellers: ISBN 978—0-9957054-3-2
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AROUND THE
COLLECTION Brooklands Members Members’ Administrator Tim Morris 01932 857381 ext 226 members@brooklandsmuseum.com Members’ Assistant Administrator Sarah Dover 01932 857381 ext 226 Mon-Fri Chairman Neil Bailey 07970 206778 chairman@brooklandsmembers.co.uk 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@davidnorfolk.wanadoo.co.uk Talks Steve Clarke 07860 355525 steveclarke@brooklandsmembers.co.uk Bulletin Editor Alisdair Suttie 07768 372440 brooklandsbulletineditor@gmail.com Contributors Katherine Allen, Steve Castle, Steve Clarke, Debbie Crawt, Gill Elliott, Mike Forbes, Martin Gegg, Angela Hume, Anna Jackson, Georgina Lange, Stefan Lange, Sir John Laycock, Andrew Lewis, Tim Morris, Julian Nowell, Justin Robson, Paul Stewart, Gareth Tarr, Julian Temple, Mike Venables, Martin Warner, Allan Winn Advertising, Design and Production: Hine Marketing, Tel: 01452 730770 Hill Farm Studios, Wainlodes Lane, Bishops Norton Gloucestershire GL2 9LN E-mail: nick@hinemarketing.co.uk Address change and Bulletin distribution queries 01932 857381 ext 226 members@brooklandsmuseum.co.uk Brooklands Museum, Brooklands Road, Weybridge, Surrey KT13 0QN 01932 857381 Fax: 01932 855465 www.brooklandsmuseum.com
Brooklands Museum Chairman Sir Gerald Acher CBE LVO gerryacher@brooklandsmuseum.com CEO Tamalie Newbery ext 243 Director of Collections, Interpretation and Heritage Alex Paterson ext 247 Volunteer Resources Manager Sue Lewin ext 242 Heritage Estate Projects Manager Julian Temple ext 240 Director of Learning and Participation Virginia Smith ext 248 Curatorial and Archive Enquiries Andrew Lewis ext 246 Chief Operating Officer Amanda Squires ext 255 Head of Track and Air Events Steve Castle ext 244 Events Manager Donna Marshall ext 253 events@brooklandsmuseum.com Concorde Bookings ext 266 flyconcorde@brooklandsmuseum.com Hospitality Sales Manager Joanna Rodgers ext 251 hospitality@brooklandsmuseum.com
What have Brooklands and Bonneville Salt flats got in common? Well, that’s the question Mike Venables was asked when he was photographing a group of volunteers at a CEO Coffee Morning in February. Curatorial team member Viki Beshparova (pictured right) was photographed by Mike on a tour round the archives holding up a small pot bearing the inscription ‘Tirgeau Bonneville Salt Flats, Wendover, Ut 02/09/09’. The item consists of a small plastic container filled with a material similar in consistency to a Slush Puppie (We’re told it’s a crushed ice drink!). Now, the thing about salt is that it is a very challenging material to store, firstly because of the need to maintain its condition, and secondly salt and water are the last things you want to be introducing to the sterile
and controlled atmosphere of the Archives. However, for the Brooklands curatorial staff, in common with their counterparts in museums such as The British Museum and The Victoria and Albert, this is just another challenge they rise to in their goal to conserve anything that helps tell the story of their particular collection. There is a bit of a mystery surrounding this particular artefact, which was given to the Museum by Maurice and Cindi Turgeau. A bit of research leads us to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA where Maurice and Cindi ran their tiny 50cc Kawasaki motorcycle in the 2009 BUB Speed Trials. More research is required to pin down the significance of this bit of Bonneville salt. However, for now it helps to maintain a link between Brooklands, the birth of record-breaking venues and Bonneville Salt Flats where Campbell and fellow pioneer record breakers went after they had outgrown Brooklands and Pendine Sands on this side of the Atlantic.
Parking arrangements 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. Parking arrnagements for other weekend events are: Club level Members: entry via Campbell Gate and parking outside the Paddock. Period and classic vehicles only inside the Paddock by invitation. 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.
Marketing Director Sam Hart ext 225
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.
Email addresses are available on the Museum website www.brooklandsmuseum.com/about/contact-us
Charity number 296661. Please quote this if making donations or requesting them via a funeral director.
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BROOKLANDS BULLETIN | MAY - JUNE 2020
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