Brooklands Bulletin Issue 72 Nov/Dec 2021

brooklands bulletin

Stirling effortMoss Tribute success

Brake components

Clutch & Gearbox

Cooling & Fuelling

Electrical

Engine & Mechanical

Steering & Suspension

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Welcome

It may be autumn, but as we put together this issue of the Bulletin it felt there were plenty of green shoots emerging. News from events at the Museum tells us more of you are back and enjoying all that Brooklands has to offer. There have been many days to enjoy, from the superb Sir Stirling Moss Tribute to Mini Day and Italian Car Day that had taken place just as we went to press.

There are other clear signs of Brooklands’ resilience and determination with Members’ outings such as the SS Shieldhall and Bournemouth Air Show trip and the Motorcycle Team’s visit to Cadwell Park. It’s wonderful to see these events being attended by Brooklands Members, and it’s a chance to promote ourselves again.

You can also find out from our Chairman, Neil Bailey, on page 5 about the recent AGM. This was held in person and online, and it resulted in a great turnout that shows how much Members want to be involved with Brooklands. Listening to the Committee’s presentation, Members’ questions and comments showed there is no end of enthusiasm for the Museum and its work. While we might not all agree on every point, it’s obvious everyone is delighted to see Brooklands back to full operating speed.

One of the great pleasures as editor of the Bulletin is hearing from Members, so please do get in touch. Just recently, the Bulletin has helped reconnect a couple of former Viscount pilot colleagues living on opposite sides of the world, which goes to show what can be achieved with a simple email via the Bulletin.

Alisdair Suttie Editor Brooklands Bulletin

Become a Member

Brooklands Members is the official support organisation for Brooklands Museum and is dedicated to raising funds for the preservation of the historic Brooklands site.

Members receive the Bulletin six times per year and enjoy free admission to the Museum, except when major events are taking place, in which case additional charges may apply. Club Level Members have access to the Clubhouse Bar on Thursday, Friday and Sunday lunchtimes.

For full details of membership benefits, contact the Members Administrator, Sarah Dover 01932 857381 ext 226; or wwwbrooklandsmembers.co.uk where you can find the latest news on Brooklands.

Front Cover photo: Mike Venables

BSA Empire Star donation

An exact replica of the 1937 BSA M23 Empire Star has been donated to Brooklands Museum by its owner, George Wander. The original was destroyed in its second race at Brooklands, but it had already earned a coveted British Motorcycle Racing Club Gold Star when it lapped at an average of 102mph ridden by Walter ‘Wal’ Handley and set a fastest lap of 107mph. As a result, BSA called its new M24 model the Gold Star.

As the original no longer existed, Mr Wander created his replica in 2012 to mark the 75th anniversary of Handley’s achievement. The bike received its first public outing at Brooklands exactly 75 years to the day of the original’s race win.

The replica Gold Star has now been donated as a permanent part of the Museum Collection. George Wander, on the right, is seen handing over the BSA to Fred Wade of the Motorcycle Team.

Supersonic wedding

King Estate five years ago. Through my love of classic cars and Julie’s 25-year career as Worldwide British Airways crew, we couldn’t have imagined a better place to get married. On the 25 September, we finally had our special day, after three date changes due to Covid.

Brooklands Bentley on show

Brooklands Museum made a welcome return to hosting weddings with the ceremony for Neil Levio and Julie Driffield. The happy couple made a supersonic start to married life by holding their wedding on Concorde.

Neil said: ‘We have been Brooklands Members since we moved to the Locke

‘It was a magical day, from start to finish, having the Brooklands Concorde DG as our wedding venue and reception in the Napier Room and entertainment in the Bluebird Room. The whole event went without a hitch… or actually with a hitch come to think about it as we were married. The Brooklands events team did a fantastic job organising the day and ensuring everyone was at the right place at the right time, and our wedding has introduced many of our guests to the magic of Brooklands. Thanks to everyone involved.’

Brooklands Trophy thrills in the wet

This 1928 Bentley 4½ Litre is generally recognised as the most successful originalbodied Bentley team car in existence and it drew much attention at September’s Concours of Elegance held at Hampton Court from the 3-5 September.

‘Sideways to victory’ is an expression generally used in the rallying world, but someone forgot to tell Duncan Pittaway and Edward Williams as they slid to victory in the very wet Brooklands Trophy at the Goodwood Revival.

The duo led home two other Frazer Nashes in their 1932 TT replica.

Gareth Tarrr

Among YW 5758’s successes were the Brooklands Double Twelve, Six Hours, and 500 Miles races in 1929, and the Junior Long Handicap and Gold Star events in 1931. The car finished third at Le Mans in 1929. Its most notable race achievements are engraved on the top of the Bentley’s radiator.

Gareth Tarr

International Day of the Girl

International Day of the Girl was marked at Brooklands by a visit from Maisy, who had been appointed Chief Executive Officer of luxury supercar maker McLaren Automotive for the day.

Seventeen-year old Maisy, an activist for global children’s rights charity Plan International, was joined by Amanda McLaren, daughter of Bruce McLaren. Together, they inspected the McLaren: Driven by Design exhibition at the Museum.

Tamalie Newbery, Brooklands Museum Director, said: ‘Our goal at Brooklands is to get people excited about the solutions that engineering can offer for the future. The new McLaren exhibition demonstrates the different roles that young people can aspire to by choosing a career in STEM. It was fantastic to meet such an enthusiastic young woman who is advocating the opportunities for people in this field.’

Maisy added: ‘Plan International is about smashing stereotypes, changing attitudes, and unlearning lessons because a lot of girls think they should be playing with dolls and not cars, and that’s not right.’

Message from Members’ Chairman

Our first ‘hybrid’ AGM took place on 15 September. The combined attendance for those in the Napier Room in person and via Zoom was far higher than we had expected. However, it was nearly a very different story, as about 40 minutes before the start it was discovered that an IT glitch meant Members could not sign in via Zoom. Thanks to the efforts of several unsung heroes, we managed to email a fresh link out to all Members with 20 minutes to spare, so it became a case of ‘it’ll be alright on the night.’ The meeting was lively, with lots of questions from Members, and the new format allowed a far longer Q&A session, so overall I think the evening can be considered successful.

Voting was opened to all the membership and this will continue in future years, rather than just those able to attend in person. It seems only reasonable that those who have taken the trouble to vote via the e-ballot system get the opportunity to participate in the meeting. I anticipate the hybrid arrangement will become a permanent fixture.

Harrier hits 50

On 15 September, 30 members of the Hawker Association gathered at Brooklands to mark the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the two-seat Harrier resident in the Museum’s Flight Shed.

In the Flight Shed, new information panels planned by David Hassard were unveiled. Members then shared the birthday cake sliced by Diana Dean, Membership Secretary, and provided by Association Chairman Chris Roberts, who sadly could not be present.

The Association would like to thank the Brooklands Museum staff for their co-operation in running this very successful event organised by Chris Roberts and Dick Poole.

Chris Farara

Eventful Brooklands

Many of the questions asked at the AGM were in respect of the Members Bar and catering arrangements generally. It is important there is a conduit through which Members can raise queries and address their concerns, following the departure of Steve Clarke who previously held this role. Martin Gegg has kindly volunteered to take this on and he will be communicating with you shortly to set out his assessment of the current position, and to establish a plan moving forward.

We must recognise that following Covid, and the bringing of catering in-house coupled with the staff shortages being experienced across the hospitality sector, the Museum is facing unprecedented challenges, and I ask you to be patient during this uniquely difficult time. From 26 September, the Members Bar has been open for walk-up, drinks-only service for Club Level Members, and has resumed normal service and accepts lunch reservations on event and non-event days. Advanced booking is recommended.

We have also taken the difficult decision to postpone our Annual Dinner this year. Following the cancellations and changes to the Formula 1 calendar due to Covid restrictions, our President could not attend on the proposed date of 12 November and another suitable date could not be arranged. Angela Hume is working hard in the background to secure a date for the dinner in 2022 and we will let you know as soon as we can.

Neil Bailey

Recent highlights at Brooklands have included American Day, the Motorcycle Show, Mini Day, and Italian Car Day with large entries and enthusiastic crowds. American Day showed the popularity of all things US. At Motorcycle Day, Allen Millyard from ITV’s The Motorcycle Show brought his amazing Flying Millyard with a 5.0-litre V-twin engine. It had no trouble ascending Test Hill.

Mini Day was a huge success. There were Minis of all ages and shapes, and many took a run up Test Hill. Italian Car Day drew in everything from Fiats to full-blown supercars. You can also see these events on BM.tv.

Photo: McLaren Automotive

MUSEUM updates

Director’s Message

The past two months have seen a flurry of activity at Brooklands Museum and elsewhere, as many postponed events, celebrations and launches have been able to finally take place.

We were delighted to celebrate the official opening of the Heritage Skills Academy (HSA) at Brooklands Museum, with a plethora of heritage vehicle specialists and enthusiasts in attendance. The high regard in which the HSA is held is evident and there’s universal agreement its partnership with the Museum is both natural and very important for the future. During the launch, I spoke about the need for diversity by making careers with heritage vehicles open to men and women, whatever their background.

There was a similar theme to the official launch of our McLaren: Driven by Design exhibition. Many of the McLaren Automotive employees who feature in the exhibition were there in person, and spoke inspiringly about their different backgrounds and routes into the automotive sector. One of them shared how a friend had brought their teenage daughter to see the exhibition during the summer holidays. It made such an impression, the daughter was now

planning to change her A-level choices to focus on subjects that could lead her to an automotive career. We were thrilled to hear this example of the exhibition doing exactly what we intended it to do.

September also saw the launch of the new Cycle Path from Weybridge Station to Brooklands Museum and beyond to the Community Park. The Museum contributed to the project by designing wayfinding signage and interpretation boards, which can be found along the route and on into Weybridge town centre. The signs highlight the history of the Brooklands Heritage Area and the world-changing things that happened here. The new path will make it easier for people to visit the

Museum by public transport, which is good for the environment and for people who are not car owners.

I was delighted to speak to Members, both in person and online, at the Brooklands Members’ AGM. During the evening, I was pleased to have the opportunity to thank all the committee members, retiring and continuing, for the huge amount of work they have done in the past year to support the Museum and to enhance the value of your Memberships. It was also good to be able to reflect on how much has been achieved despite Covid, and to share some more details of the plans for the Museum’s future. A recording of the presentation will be available from BM.tv, if you missed it.

Alongside all of this, filming continued for the second series of Secrets of the Transport Museum, which will be airing next year. With such a busy events season from August onwards, there was even more to film than last year and picking the stories to feature presented the production company with quite a challenge.

We are now looking forward to the last few events of this year and a busy half-term. There are also a number of Brooklands Members Talks, celebrating long-service awards with our volunteers in person for the first time in two years, and much more.

Tamalie Newbery

Sir Gerald Acher with Tim Oliver, Leader of Surrey County Council, and Tamalie Newbery at the opening of the Brooklands Accessibility Project that has signage created by the Museum along its route.

Please send letters to the Bulletin on any topic connected with Brooklands to Alisdair Suttie on: brooklandsbulletineditor@gmail.com

Society collection

Dear Sir,

Having read the article on the former Brooklands Society in the May-June issue of the Bulletin, perhaps now is a good time for someone from the Museum to update us on the status of the memorabilia that was formerly in the custody of the Society.

There is a plan, I understand, to display a selection of the memorabilia, this being changed over time.

As a not so young former member of the Society, I am naturally interested to see this project come to fruition in the not-toodistant future.

Best Regards, David Coney

I believe David is talking about the recent finalisation of the Society’s collection being gifted to Brooklands Museum Trust. We are looking to incorporate some material and its story into a display in the Clubhouse to mark the 30th anniversary of the Museum. Alex Patterson, Director of Engagement and Heritage.

Museum improvements

Hawk memories

Dear Sir,

I was delighted to see the article ‘Hawk and Sold’ in the July-August Bulletin. In the late 1980s, I was Technical Director and Chief Engineer at BAe Brough with responsibilities that included the new Hawk development programmes and ZA101 was one of our main development aircraft.

The challenge for the team designing and developing these all-new Hawk versions was to package a very advanced weapons system into a small airframe and do it in a timescale that was significantly faster than had ever been achieved before. During this time, numerous issues arose that required quick decisions and this led to myself making a number of memorable flights in ZA101, usually with the project test pilot Paul Hopkins. One flight included a highspeed, low level run up through the Lake District on a bright cold January day. Sitting in the front cockpit of a Hawk is like riding the tip of a missile, with a wraparound, completely clear windscreen and very little aircraft ahead of one. On this flight, there was snow on the peaks and Windermere, which we flew up from south to north, was a mirror reflecting the blue sky and snow-capped hills perfectly. I had the best seat in the house by far.

As a counter to this, on another flight, tests were required of the Radar Warning System newly fitted to the aircraft which involved flying for over two hours in deep cloud on a race track pattern over the military test range at Otterburn in the north east of England. That generation of ejection seat gets to feel quite hard after more than three hours of being strapped on top. Another flight involved demonstrating the difficulties the emerging Night Vision Goggle equipment posed to fast jet pilots with a significant lump of metal hanging off the front of one’s helmet. When pulling a lot of G-force, the ability to keep one’s head up and move it about was sorely challenged. On this flight, I just about managed it while pulling 7.5G, but it was very uncomfortable. One final memory, off one of these flights I managed to land ZA101 and, as a keen amateur pilot, I used the only definition of a good landing that matters: the aircraft remained flyable after touchdown and there were no casualties to report!

The Hawk remains one of the outstanding jet aircraft of the last 40 years and it is marvellous that ZA101, such a workhorse for the whole Hawk programme, is on show at Brooklands.

Regards

Graham Chisnall

Mephistopheles art

Dear Sir,

I recently brought my grandson on a visit, and we have been coming for years with our own sons. I thought I must write to say how much the Museum has improved for young children, especially the grass area outside the Clubhouse with games and more picnic tables around the site now. The toilet facilities are so much improved too.

Regards,

Gill Price

Dear Sir,

The Brooklands Members may be interested to know the artist George Morgan has produced a picture of the FIAT Mephistopheles in the form that it broke the Land Speed Record in 1924 at Arpajon.

The image is available as an A5 greetings card, on a mug, and as a print or poster.

George Morgan’s work including this new addition can be viewed on his eBay shop.

Regards, Clive Roberts

Dear Sir,

Though not a Brooklands Member, I have been a Volunteer since 1997 and for most of that time I have been associated with the Museum’s Vickers Viscount G-APIM.

I was therefore delighted to read Andy Lambert’s article detailing this aircraft’s recovery to Brooklands, in effect its place of birth, for a second career as a museum exhibit.

Although the history of Brooklands as the first race track in the country and the parallel aviation story are rightly well known, it may be that the history of the Museum, where did the exhibits come from, and how did they get here is a separate story well worth telling. I am sure a lot of this detail is known by the now largely departed original senior management, but maybe not by their successors.

Brooklands Bentley film

The recovery of the Loch Ness Wellington is perhaps widely known, but other aeronautical exhibits such as the Vickers Varsity and Viking maybe should have their recovery stories published for posterity. The Hawker Hurricane is another splendid example. On the motoring side, the Napier-Railton stands out. Apart from Andy Lambert, I am sure you know who the contacts are to get writing!

Best wishes

John Woodhouse

Thanks for the suggestion, John. We’d love to include more about how many of the exhibits come to be at Brooklands Museum. Do any readers have stories about this they’d like to share? - Editor

Farnborough Air Show memories

Dear Sir,

As new Members, my wife and I were delighted when our Brooklands Welcome Pack arrived. In the enclosed July-August Bulletin, I was interested to read on the Letters page the two articles relating to the 1952 Farnborough Air Show disaster as I was there too.

At the time, I was five-years old and with my father. We were standing on open grassland outside the airfield perimeter fence. I remember looking up as the DH110 approached from my right and, when almost directly overhead, it broke-up like a balsa wood model. All around me spectators were panicking and running in all directions. In an attempt to protect me, my father pushed me to the ground and dived on top of me, pushing my face into the turf. Moments later, he pulled me to my feet and, as I looked around, approximately 20-metres from us, embedded in the ground with twisted smouldering pipes protruding from it, was a very large section of the aircraft which I believe included the cockpit instrument panel.

I then turned in the opposite direction, looking towards the airfield and seeing what looked like the wings and other parts of the aircraft that had hit a stationary lorry within the airfield.

My father and I were lucky, but sadly and tragically many people lost their lives that day, including the two airmen. I was told that pilot John Derry’s body was recovered from the field adjacent to where we had been standing.

Kind regards,

Victor R Machin

Dear Sir,

As a follow-up to John Burch’s letter in the recent Bulletin, I was an inspector in the Vickers-Armstrongs Sheet Metal shop between June and October 1960. I remember the toilet seat of the VC10 being returned for remodelling as when a male used it at Hurn, it was decided that if the toilet was in use during turbulence it might lead to an unfortunate amputation.

On another matter, given the Bentley anniversary, does anyone have knowledge of a film being shot at Brooklands? The star was Leslie ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson, then a popular musical entertainer of the 1930s and ’40s and a prominent Bentley owner.

My father drove a Bentley round the Track in the film, but I can find no information about it or even if the film was released. He worked at Carleton Forge in Cricklewood, which serviced the marque and even repaired the original Chitty- Chitty Bang Bang.

Regards, Jim

Gibb

Brooklands Christmas Gift Guide

GIFT TICKETS & GIFT MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE FROM BROOKLANDSMUSEUM.COM

1 Brooklands Racing Metal Poster £14.99. 2 Hot Air Ballon £16.99. 3 Grand Prix 95th Pin Badge £2.00. 4 Aston Martin Diecast Car £7.99. 5 Castrol Oil Jug £14.50. 6 Stirling Moss Tribute Programme £2.00. 7 Racing Drivers Pocket Book £8.99. 8 Concorde Pocket Manual £8.99. 9 Brooklands Tote Bag £9.99. 10 Concorde Diecast Model £9.99. 11 Brooklands Racing Poster Reusable Co ee Cups £9.99. All items and gift vouchers available from the Museum shop and online at brooklandsmuseum.com/shop

Share the magic of Brooklands this Christmas

forthcoming events

2021 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, please check the website for the most up-to-date information on events. Some events may have limited capacity. Thank you for all of your support.

October 31 Vintage Sports-Car Club Driving Tests.

November 21 Military Vehicles Day. From bicycles to tanks for the family and enthusiast to enjoy.

2021

Members’ Events

For Members’ Tours and Trips information, please contact Angela Hume on: angelahume@brooklandsmembers.co.uk

Events at the National Motor Museum should be booked directly with Beaulieu. Brooklands Members are charged the Friends of the National Motor Museum rate for entry.

2022

January 1 New Year’s Day Meeting. Enjoy a traditional Brooklands start to the New Year with this fantastic gathering of classic vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

Brooklands Members Talks: update

Everyone who attended the Talk with John Watson, both in person and via Zoom, thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Wattie’s racing life and exploits. We were also treated to a superb Talk with Peter Higham. If you missed either of these Talks, they are both available on BM.tv to enjoy at your leisure.

Looking forward, there’s a busy calendar of Talks over the next few months, starting on 28 October, Air Marshal GA ‘Black’ Robertson talks about his father and his book Fighters in the Blood. The Story of a Spitfire Pilot and the son who followed in his footsteps. This is a fascinating tale and one you won’t want to miss.

Author Steve Holter, who wrote Crusader – John Cobb’s ill-fated quest for speed on water, gives his insights into the

fateful outcome of Cobb’s record attempt. This is on 4 November. Then, on 18 November, Steve Parrish returns to Brooklands for a Talk with Henry Cole, all-round motorcycling enthusiast and presenter of various television shows. This is another Talk that promises to be as entertaining as it is informative, so contact the Talks team to book your place now.

October

27 Castle Combe Track Day. Stretch the capabilities of you and your car on one of the best circuits in the country. More details to follow.

November

13 National Motor Museum, Have plane, will travel. Colin Hales talks about designing and building his own plane, and then flying it around the world.

December

11 National Motor Museum, The Beast of Turin. Find out more about the amazing Fiat S76 Land Speed Record car.

Another highlight is a Talk with Neil Trundle, former Chief Mechanic for the McLaren Formula 1 team working with drivers such as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Neil co-founded Rondel Racing with Ron Dennis, so his conversation with Steve Clarke on 9 December will be fascinating. Previous talks can be viewed on our BM.tv channel. You can find a link on the BM.tv section of the Museum website. Please note the new number for the Talks Booking Line is: 07955 462392. The email address is: talks@brooklandsmembers.co.uk Talks can also be booked online at: www.brooklandsmuseum.com/ brooklands-members/member-events

Steve Clarke and The Talks Team

The Brooklands Scoreboard makes its own tribute to Sir Stirling Moss, showing his famous 722 race number from when he won the Mille Miglia in a Mercedes in 1955.

A FITTING TRIBUTE

Words: Rob Rennie Photos: Yvette Bolton, Andy Carter, John O’Dell, Sam Hart, Mike Venables

The Stirling Moss Tribute was a fitting salute to Sir Stirling Moss, an extraordinary racing driver and the first President of the Brooklands Trust Members.

1. Tony Brooks with Lady Acher and Sir Gerald Acher, and Yvette and John Bolton. They are standing in front of the Bolton’s Aston Martin DB6, which was used to collect Tony and bring him to the tribute. Tony and Stirling Moss were team-mates at Vanwall and Aston Martin.

2. This is the Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica that gave Sir Stirling his breakthrough win in an international race at the British Empire Trophy on the Isle of Man in 1951.

3. A splendid Jaguar Mk2 was part of the Classic Jaguar Collection of cars on display. Stirling Moss raced a Mk2 for Equipe Endeavour, which bore the famous registration plate ‘JAG 400’.

4. The works Jaguar XK120 supplied to Stirling Moss. The colour scheme was chosen by Moss and he finished second with it in the gruelling 1952 Lyon-Charbonniéres Rally. He said: ‘It was quite an experience and slightly out of the ordinary for me.”

5. The Keele Grand Prix Mk1 Go Kart, in the foreground, was raced to victory by Stirling Moss at Brands Hatch in 1959. Later, this kart was energetically displayed on the circuit by the designer’s son.

6. Built for the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours, this 1950 Aston Martin DB2 sadly overturned on route to the circuit. After a complete rebuild, it was driven by Stirling Moss and Lance Macklin in the Daily Express 1,000-mile Rally.

7. This 1953 Sunbeam Alpine was a stylish rally car that helped Stirling Moss to 14th overall in the 1953 Alpine Rally. He won a Coupe for three consecutive unpenalised runs and repeated this feat in 1954 to become only the second driver to be awarded a Coupe d’Or in this rally.

8. Stirling Moss drove Vanwalls to victory in the 1957 British Grand Prix, and secured three further victories in the Dutch, Portuguese and Moroccan races in 1958. This is a replica of a 1957 Vanwall waiting for its run on the Finishing Straight.

9. The beautiful Maserati 250F was kindly loaned by Hall & Hall, and here the car is speeding up the Finishing Straight to the delight of the crowds. Stirling drove this car to his first grande épreuve win for the Maserati team at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1956.

10. Tony Brooks chatting with Simon Taylor surrounded by the Vanwall Team cars. Stirling, Tony and the team won six Grands Prix in the 1958 season. The moment was captured for the series of Secrets of the Transport Museum

11. The Lister Bristol was a favourite of Moss’ and prompted him to say: ‘Better to lose honourably in a British car than win in a foreign one.’

12. The Lotus 18 Climax, chassis 912, came to the Brooklands starting line sporting 1961 Monaco GP race winning bodywork, which means with side panels removed. Stirling said: ‘I think this was probably my greatest drive in a Formula 1 race. With my old Climax “4”, I held off the Ferraris despite the fact that they had 30bhp more from their V6 engines.’

13. Stirling drove works Aston Martins between 1956 and 1959, enjoying considerable success. He scored notable victories in the Nürburgring 1000km and the Tourist Trophy at Goodwood in both 1958 and 1959.

14. This 1972 Cannon Sporting Trails car was driven by Stirling Moss, partnered by Autocar’s editor Peter Garnier, in a celebrity trial in 1973. These cars have been driven by many motoring legends such as Graham Hill, Sidney Allard and, of course, Stirling Moss. You can watch videos from the Stirling Moss Tribute on BM.tv at: www.vimeopro.com/brooklandsmembers/bmtv

A CIVIL JUMP-JET

The Hawker Siddeley Harrier G-VTOL is one of the Museum’s star attractions. Now 50-years old, the aircraft was also a star of many air shows and demonstrations in its working life.

Words:

Photos:

Chris Farara

BAe, Brooklands Museum Collection, Chris Farara

G-VTOL brand new in 1971 and resplendent in her patriotic red, white and blue livery that was styled by John Fozard, Chief Designer of the Harrier.

Along-time resident in the Brooklands Museum is a grey and white Harrier two-seater, Hawker Siddeley Aviation’s (HSA) Harrier Mk52 demonstrator. It’s usually referred to by its civil registration G-VTOL (pronounced ‘gee veetol’), one of the first in the UK register to be personalised. The aircraft was funded jointly by HSA and their Harrier suppliers who provided equipment on loan or free of charge, including Pegasus engines provided by Bristol and Rolls-Royce, which took over Bristol.

Assembled at HSA Kingston, G-VTOL was the twelfth two-seater and made its first flight from Dunsfold with Duncan Simpson in September 1971. It soon became the world’s first jet V/STOL (very short take-off and landing) aircraft with a civil Certificate of Airworthiness. Equipped with airliner-standard communications and navigation equipment, G-VTOL was ready to fly the airways of the world.

It was a striking sight in its patriotic red, white and blue livery designed by Harrier Chief Designer John Fozard. It would soon appear in desert camouflage and later in naval grey and white as the marketing emphasis changed. The aircraft would also wear the military serial ZA250 to allow the carriage of trials weapons, not permitted on civil aircraft. The primary purpose of the aircraft was to enable potential customers’ pilots and influential officials to experience Harrier flight first hand under the guidance of a company pilot to demonstrate the

many outstanding and unique qualities of the type, and show that an ordinary, suitably experienced pilot could fly it.

G-VTOL nearly came to a premature end when it over-ran the Dunsfold runway on flight 12, just three weeks after first flight. However, it was ready again in May 1972, repainted in desert camouflage, and set off in June with Tony Hawkes and John Farley on a delayed Middle East and India sales tour managed by Kingston marketing executive Johnnie Johnson. The Harrier was accompanied by the sales and maintenance teams in an Avro 748.

Marketing stops were made at Tehran and Kuwait before setting off for Bombay (now Mumbai) and Cochin (now Kochi), hampered by the monsoon weather activity. From the Cochin base, the aircraft was

flown aboard the Indian Navy carrier INS Vikrant by Farley. In two days, he flew 17 sorties from the ship plus two return trips from Cochin to Vikrant. The first days’ operations were to establish handling and performance data relevant to the ship and local conditions with a Dunsfold flight test team led by Eric Crabbe that had flown out, and the second day was devoted to flying Indian Navy (IN) pilots. Next, interrupted by the heavy monsoon rains, G-VTOL left Cochin, with an IN officer on board, for Goa and then on to Delhi, demonstrating a lowlevel mission requested by the IN.

In Delhi, there was more IN pilot familiarisation with Hawkes and Andy Jones, who had replaced Farley in the team. From Delhi, G-VTOL flew via Bombay and Mashrah to Abu Dhabi, one of the Emirates

Another image of G-VTOL in her original livery. This shot shows the aircraft in a hover, which was what made the Harrier capable of take-off and landing in very short spaces.

Repainted in desert camouflage in May 1972, following an incident where the aircraft over-ran the runway at Dunsfold. G-VTOL is seen on HMS Hermes in this image.

G-VTOL is probably the best travelled Harrier ever flown and is seen here passing the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Mount Corcovado in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

on the Persian Gulf. A demonstration by Hawkes to the Emir and Minister of Defence had been organised to take place at a semiprepared strip near Al Ain. While hovering in front of the assembled VIPs, a cloud of dust engulfed the aircraft and it hit the ground hard, breaking an outrigger and the nose leg. It was the end of the tour.

G-VTOL was flown back to Dunsfold in a Canadair CL-44 Guppy to be repaired. John Farley returned to the Middle East and demonstrated a GR Mk1 to show that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the

aircraft. Harriers were never sold in that region, but the Indian Navy did eventually become an important customer for the Sea Harrier.

The aircraft was back in the air in February 1973. It did a lot of pilot familiarisation work, made the first of many appearances at the Le Bourget Paris Air Show, and was then air-freighted to Rio. In Brazil, it was assembled and air tested prior to an extensive tour of South America managed by John Parker, Kingston’s South American marketing executive. The pilots were John Farley and Don Riches. The tour ran from 12 September to 19 October, with demonstrations, pilot familiarisations and even carrier operations during 62 flights. The route started in Brazil at Galeão (Rio), San Jose (Sao Paulo), Santa Cruz, San Pedro, and back to Galeão. Then it was Asuncion in Paraguay, Cochabamba in Bolivia, Peru’s capital Lima, followed by Ecuadorian cities Guayaquil and Quito. After this, the aircraft returned to Lima, where it was broken down for the return to Dunsfold in a CL-44 Guppy.

The Sao Paulo Air Show was attended and the Brazilian Navy carrier Minas Gerais was visited from Santa Cruz. In spite of generating great technical interest in the Harrier no orders resulted from the tour, but spectacular publicity photographs were obtained including G-VTOL flying past the Corcovado statue of Christ at

Rio and hovering in front of the enormous airship hangar at Santa Cruz.

In November 1973, a group of French naval aviators was familiarised by John Farley in preparation for trials on the French Navy carrier Foch, and later that month G-VTOL was flying from HMS Bulwark. In January 1974, it was off to Algeria, then Italy in May. The Society of British Aerospace Companies Farnborough Air Show in September was where the BBC’s Raymond Baxter broadcast from the back seat during a Farley demonstration.

Throughout its flying career, UK demonstrations and pilot familiarisations with G-VTOL were interspersed with the more exciting overseas and development work. In 1975, G-VTOL flew from HMS Engadine, HMS Bulwark and HMS Fearless,

Another image of G-VTOL while travelling the world to promote the Harrier to potential customers. This one was taken at Sugarloaf Mountain in Brazil.

Hovering in front of the huge airship hangar at Santa Cruz, Bolivia gave onlookers a perfect insight into the Harrier’s ability, as well as providing an ideal photo opportunity.

G-VTOL was involved in many trials of ‘ski ramps’ to assist with takeoffs. The steepest was 20-degrees, which the aircraft dealt with easily.

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attended the Paris Air Show, and trained McDonnell-Douglas test pilots Charlie Plummer and Bill Lowe in the art of jet V/ STOL flying. The following year was one of UK demonstrations and familiarisations, but in 1977 the aircraft was flying from HMS Hermes on Harrier Civil Aviation (CA) Release trials and helping to celebrate the launch of HMS Invincible, the Sea Harrier’s future home, over Barrow-in-Furness, and demonstrating from HMAS Melbourne.

In October, G-VTOL participated in the ski-jump trials in progress at RAE Bedford with the ramp at nine degrees. During 1978, the angle was increased through 15- to 17.5-degrees. That September, the first public ski-jump demonstrations were flown at the Farnborough Air Show from a ramp constructed by the Royal Engineers from Fairey Engineering’s medium girder bridge components. Needless to say, this was the highlight of the show. During the Farnborough show period, John Farley flew a Chinese test pilot in G-VTOL from Dunsfold. As he and Mr Ma had no common language, John devised a method of communication involving morse code and a very thorough briefing with three translators.

For November 1978, there were more CA Release trials on HMS Hermes now the ship was fitted with a 12.5-degree skijump. In 1979, the Bedford ski-jump trials were completed with the ramp set to what seemed an impossibly steep exit angle of 20-degrees, but the Harrier still flew easily and effortlessly away. The Royal Engineers erected their medium girder bridge ski-jump at Le Bourget for the Paris Air Show in June

and G-VTOL stole the show again. The year finished with another trip to HMS Hermes. 1980 was a quiet year with servicing at HSA, based at Holme-on-Spalding Moor in Yorkshire, but G-VTOL did appear at the Farnborough Air Show and was evaluated by the Brazilian Air Force. In 1981-82, G-VTOL was flown by Indonesian, Chilean, Japanese and Indian pilots. Then, in 198283, a large number of Indian Navy pilots were fully trained flying from Dunsfold, RNAS Yeovilton, and HMS Hermes in preparation for that service’s receipt of Sea Harriers. Swiss Air Force pilots flew G-VTOL in 1984 and there was much chase flying for various Harrier and Hawk development and production programmes.

There were trials concerned with the development of test pilot Heinz

Frick’s 1985 Skyhook concept, which was a stabilised ship-mounted crane for catching hovering Harriers, as well as a publicity stunt hovering with the British Aerospace privatisation share price painted underneath. As hoped for by the management, photographs were published in all the national daily newspapers to gain widespread publicity for the share issue. Pilot training for a Rolls-Royce test pilot, familiarisation flying for an Australian, and various chase tasks brought G-VTOL’s long and valuable career to a close on 19 February, 1986 with 1389 flights and 721 hours and 33 minutes in the log book.

This historic aircraft is now a popular exhibit at Brooklands, where an enthusiastic band of volunteers keep her in pristine condition and her systems live.

Today, G-VTOL is one of the big attractions for visitors to Brooklands and you can even sit in the same seat as previous pilots such as John Farley and Tony Hawkes. Watch the Talk with Jim Farley at: www.vimeo.com/260099331

The Skyhook concept was an idea of test pilot Heinz Frick, which would catch the Harrier mid-hover using a stabilised ship-mounted crane.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AC

Words: Victor Day, Jane Pickering

Photos: Pickering Family, Brooklands Museum Collection, AC Cars (England)

This photo is from 1921, the year before Victor Day’s record-breaking runs. He started work for AC in August 1921 and quickly moved to the Experimental Department.

setting records

Following the First World War, when my father Victor WG Day had served in the Royal Flying Corps, he joined Auto-Carriers Ltd Thames Ditton. He had previously served his Marine Apprenticeship at Palmers Shipyard on the Tyne as a draughtsman. When diesel engines were being introduced, he decided to move on. Always having had an interest in how engines work, my father became an employee of AC’s, manufacturer of the AC Light Car, from August 1921. He worked there for 12 months, during which time he was mainly engaged in experimental work and on the production, tuning, and driving of AC’s developing racing cars. The following photographs are my father’s own record of some of the developments and events involving AC Cars, including at Brooklands, between 1921 and 1922.

Victor Day writes…

The First World War saw AC working on munitions and they made full use of the money and new machinery the government gave to all such firms to get them fully equipped to work on small arms. By then, cars were beginning to be marketed all over the UK by firms that had benefitted in the same way from this war work.

A brief memoir from Victor Day gives an insight into what it was like working for AC Cars and

at Brooklands in the early 1920s.

Victor Day, on the left, with JA Joyce sitting in the AC that took the 1.5-litre One-hour record at more than 100mph. The car had been carefully prepared by Victor Day.

The original AC was a tricycle with a delivery box on the front and the pedaldriven contraption had a cycle saddle at the back for the delivery boy. Then, the company took the chance to start on a new product based on the auto-carrier by installing an engine under the box, which speeded up deliveries. It was quite successful and an improvement on the then-current messenger boys who ran everywhere at the call of a whistle.

A new car was designed with a twoseater body in place of the box. It had a slightly more powerful engine, and it had four wheels instead of two so the body could be extended to the rear. Braking was by a Ferodo disc on the tail end of

the shaft and was exposed to keep it cool. However, it was quite a common sight to see an AC with fumes and smoke coming from the tail shaft because the driver had not released, or only partly released, the handbrake. Foot brakes were still by no means a standard feature on many cars of this period.

The next development was to make a four-seater, which was exactly like a domestic bath. To this new model, an Anzani engine was fitted and the whole lot was quite an improvement on many of the new cars then coming on the market. A chief competitor for the AC was the AngloSanderson, made in County Durham, which sold in good numbers. Having a car was

the ‘the thing to do’ and was helped by the new idea of hire purchase.

I had a short spell in AC’s Drawing Office and then was moved to a new section known as the Experimental Department. Remember, the sophisticated methods and equipment of today (this was written in the 1970s – Ed) were not even thought of then. The department was a corner of the machine shop enclosed by chicken wire on wooden posts just to let it be seen that it was not the place for general shop floor people to enter.

A new AC-designed four-cylinder engine was being tested and put into a rather crude chassis for the purpose of road testing and, eventually, for running at Brooklands race track, which several car and motorcycle firms were using for tests on their products. The four-cylinder job was then extended to six-cylinders with two carburettors, something very novel at the time. The smaller engine turned out to be quite good, so the Anzani engine was dropped. A new design of two- and four-seater cars was sold with competition lessening every day as many of the newcomers fell away while trying to get a product on to the market.

(In 1921, Selwyn Edge, who had previously been with Napier, bought shares in AC and was subsequently appointed Governing Director. He did not get along with John Portwine or John Weller, the other directors, and they resigned less than

The AC Sociable was a very early model from the Auto-Carriers firm and paved the way for its later passenger cars rather than the delivery vehicles it started with.

This shot of cars racing on the Banking at Brooklands clearly shows how little space there was for the passenger in the AC, which is in the foreground.

Record-breaking ACs at Brooklands

In his book Brooklands – the Complete Motor Racing History, Bill Boddy notes ‘Much comment was caused when it was discovered that AC had only top gear in its rear axle gearbox.’ The rival Aston Martin had four gears, but AC’s thinking was fewer gears would be more reliable and gearchanges would not be needed once the cars were up to speed.

During the record attempt on 24-25 May, 1922, AC took a cautious approach and SF Edge insisted on a complete oil change every hour. However, it was a misfire due to a failed magneto that lost Aston Martin the 8-hour record to AC, but Aston took the 9-hour record. A broken

a year later. In customary fashion, Edge sought publicity for the company through motorsport involvement.)

While at AC, among the cars and engines I prepared were three for testing at Brooklands. Eventually, JA Joyce and I were chosen to drive a four-cylinder special racing model with a cocoon-like aluminium body in an effort to break the 24-hour record previously held by SF Edge in a Daimler.

It was decided to enter the car in the Double Twelve, which was run in two sessions of 12 hours because local residents objected to the noise of racing cars at night. The cars were sealed and locked by the control judges overnight and they also checked for anything they thought necessary.

As I had some experience in testing various cars at Brooklands Circuit, I was paired with JA Joyce, who was a known racing driver. We drove alternate four-hour runs continuously at anything we could get out of the car over 100mph. Our attempt was organized by SF Edge, himself a dedicated long-distance driver.

The two days across 24-25 May, 1922 were very hot. There was a snake we had to make as we came off the far bend because Vickers had a hangar sticking out at an angle into the track and we ‘hit’ it as we came down the concrete slope on each circuit. Over the 24 hours, we averaged

spring bolt lost Aston Martin the 10-hour record, but it recovered to take the 11- and 12-hour records, with both the AC and its rival now lapping at more than 80mph.

After 12 hours, as SF Edge and his team were packing up for the day, they were surprised to see the Aston Martin still lapping. Lionel Martin duly went on to take the first World Record for a light car at 1100 miles at 75.99mph. Aston Martin also lifted the 16-, 17-, 18- and 19-hour records. AC started again the next morning and ran without mishap until a broken crankshaft and clutch at 11 hours 20 minutes cruelly denied the team of any further records.

71.23mph, including stops for refuelling, tyre changing, oil and water refills, and we broke several records.

In Light Car and Cycle Car magazine of July, 1922, it was noted: ‘There were

Phenomenal Performances by AC. Sadly, there is no record among my father’s papers of the results of these events, but there is the following:

3 June, 1922 @ 71.23mph

July 1922 SF Edge Double Twelve Record @ 74.27mph

My next run was on 19 August with Kaye Don, who was then one of the most famous of the world’s racing drivers and engaged especially for the 200-mile race. This was a new and startling innovation in motor racing, so AC prepared three cars for it and also employed two other drivers of much less repute.

Three of us in the Experimental Department were assigned a car each to be prepared. One never reached being ready, while the second did not produce the speed likely to win. My car was something I was quite proud of as I had practically built it and certainly tuned it to tip-top operation.

We set off for the Track and I got the engine really warm, fuel topped up, and pushed it out of the pit, such as it was, to the starting grid. We climbed in, as I was the required ‘weight’ to help hold it down and had to lie with my head squashed in beside Don. The engine was running as we waited for the flag, and Don put it in gear and held his foot on the clutch pedal. I had told him the clutch release was very short because, once in gear, there was no need to use it again (see panel Record-breaking ACs at Brooklands). I pointed this out to him again above the din while waiting to start, but he still kept his foot on the clutch and soon smoke began to rise from the burning Ferodo disc. We started with a jerk

This cover of The Light Car and Cycle Car tells of the ‘lightning replenishments’ during scheduled stops. SF Edge insisted on hourly oil changes for the AC during the 1922 Double Twelve record runs.

Victor Day, wearing his RAF uniform as he worked on Spitfires during the Second World War. He went on to enjoy working in the petroleum industry and maintained a keen interest in engines all his life.

A REGAL WINTER SALE

1964 ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM V LIMOUSINE BY MULLINER PARK WARD

Formerly owned by HRH Princess Alexandra and Sir Angus Ogilvy

Exceptional provenance and presented in superb condition throughout. Est: £125,000-£145,000

VIEWING DAYS

Wednesday to Friday 24th-26th November 9am-5pm each day

1970 ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM VI LIMOUSINE BY MULLINER PARK WARD

First owned by Mr Eric Lombard Knight, founder of Lombard Banking. One of the finest examples, sold with copies of the original build sheet.

Est: £95,000-£110,000

SALE TIME

Saturday 27th November Commences 9.30am

Doors open 8.30am

and, about halfway round, the clutch just packed up and we slowly coasted in to the pits. There was an enquiry and no blame was attached to me.

After AC

Soon after this incident, my father moved to work for another manufacturer. Later, he became an aeronautical engineer, working with many different aircraft, but mainly with the Spitfire in the RAF during the Second World War. His life in marine, automotive, and aeronautical engineering was followed by more than 35 years in the

AC today

petroleum industry. He always maintained his interest in engines, be they steam or internal combustion. He sought them out, watching and listening to the action. Victor Day was born in 1899 where the horse and carriage was still a mode of transport, and he lived to watch Concorde flying overhead near his Somerset home. He died in 1993, having witnessed many developments in modes of travel, from the steam age to the space age.

Thanks to Mike Forbes for help with this article.

The AC name has endured several highs and lows in its time. After the raucous glory days of the Cobra during the 1960s, the company’s fortunes dwindled. While the 3000ME was forwardlooking, it took too long to come to market and sold in small numbers. In 1982, Brian Angliss revived the Cobra under his Autokraft banner at Brooklands until he sold up in 1996. From here, a succession of companies offered Cobra models in a variety of power outputs. The company is back in production now

under the AC Cars (England) name and produces both petrol and electric versions of the Cobra and Ace two-seat sports cars.

Separately, Steve Gray started the Brooklands Motor Company in 1989, which is based at the Brooklands Circuit today. In 2007, Steve formed AC Heritage as a subsidiary company and his team continues to restore, restore and maintain original AC cars, as well as produce its own Continuation Cobra.

Kaye Don, in the driving seat, at the wheel of an AC with Victor Day beside him. During the record runs, Victor did his best to warn Kaye Don of the car’s delicate clutch.

A reference for Victor Day from AC written on 8 October, 1922 shows the high regard the company had for his engineering and development skills ‘especially at progressing urgent work’.

A letter dated 16 August, 1922 confirms Victor Day’s contribution to the Double Twelve record runs in the AC that year. It recognises Victor’s ‘hearty assistance.’

Bookmaker Harry White had a pitch at Brooklands in 1933. It’s not clear which race the betting is for in this photo, but all of the drivers’ odds appear quite evenly matched.

ODDS-ON FAVOURITE

The history of the racing circuit has been very well documented, but perhaps less considered is how Brooklands became markedly shaped by the horse racing fraternity and, to a lesser extent, by a colourful horde of bookmakers that plied their trade throughout.

From the grand opening parade held on 17 June, 1907, the popularity and significance of Brooklands continued to grow throughout the Edwardian era and 1920s. Its name became integral to the fashionable sporting calendar that boasted society events such as the Henley Regatta, Wimbledon, Royal Ascot, and The Derby. Grand sporting events not only attracted large crowds, they engendered a large betting fraternity among exhilarated spectators. Brooklands was no exception to this phenomenon and its bookmakers

Brooklands proved to be a favourite for bookies and punters, as the Track adapted horse racing practices to motorsport.

Words: Dr Ian S Andrews Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection

helped to define an era. They became an established attraction from the opening of the circuit in 1907 until its closure in 1939. Bookmakers first appeared in British society during the early part of the nineteenth century. By the 1920s, it is estimated there were more than 14,000 firms operating in England. The amount of money wagered was considerable. For example, betting on horses alone rose from £58.2m in 1920 to £119.9m by 1938. By the Edwardian era, gambling was deep rooted at all levels of British society. As

George Orwell had noted, gambling for many represented the cheapest form of luxuries and, for a stake of a few pence, there was always a chance of ‘beating the system’.

Horse power

From the onset, the ‘sport of kings’ was very influential on motorsport and horse racing was to play an unlikely role in shaping the modus operandi at Brooklands. In the absence of an alternative working model, Brooklands

A number of bookies’ stands clustered close to the Clubhouse clearly show the popularity of betting at Brooklands, which quickly adapted the practice from horse racing.

founder and owner Hugh Locke King decided to follow existing equine traditions and practices in an attempt to attract spectators. Brooklands was to have a ‘starter’, a ‘paddock’ where the assembled cars were ‘shod’, and a ‘finishing straight’. Indeed, many of the founding members of the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club (BARC) were also prominent members of the Jockey Club. The Earl of Lonsdale, for example, became the first President of the BARC and was the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club. He was later to become the first President of the Automobile Association, while Hugh Allen, a distinguished horse breeder and fellow

member of the Jockey Club, became the first Brooklands starter.

Initially, the cars at Brooklands were not numbered. All drivers wore brightly coloured smocks for identification purposes similar to the silks worn by jockeys. SF Edge, driving a Napier in The Surrey Stakes on 20 July, 1907, wore white coat and sleeves with a green cap, while Charles Jarrott driving a Lorraine Dietrich wore all white. In separate events, women were not allowed to race wearing silks, so they wore coloured scarves instead. Although cars were numbered from 1908 onwards, drivers continued to wear individual colours until 1914.

Entry fees and prize monies were denoted in sovereigns and, again similar to horse race meetings, the race results at Brooklands were run up a telegraph board situated in the paddock. Another similarity was the official Brooklands race cards were produced by Harrison & Sons, who became accredited printers to BARC. Even the early race reports and commentaries relied heavily on the language of the turf. For example, ‘the Renault is making good ground’, ‘Edge is pulling ahead by a few lengths’, and ‘at the tape it’s a one and two for Napier’ were used in contemporary reports. When the practice of wearing smocks ended, drivers still talked of ‘stabling their mounts’ at garages located near to the track.

Even before the circuit had held its first race meeting on 6 July, 1907, large bets had been wagered by SF Edge. He had stunned the motoring fraternity by announcing that he would contest the 24-hour world endurance record, held by American drivers WF Clemens and the 17-year old sensation Charlie Merz. They had driven a National Model C at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in November 1905 to secure the world record, covering a distance of 1906 miles at an average speed of 45.6mph.

Edge prompted widespread public interest with both his intended world record attempt and his betting, becoming

Lioney Ingram was one of the most notable bookies to work at Brooklands. Many of the bookmakers were regarded with some suspicion by the drivers and spectators.

Taken in 1920, this image shows a bookies’ stand from the rear. Bookmakers realised there was a ready crowd of gamblers at motor racing events at Brooklands.

a household name. Driving a 60hp sixcylinder Napier at Brooklands on 28-29 June, 1907, Edge achieved an average speed of 65.905mph and covered 1581 miles and 1310 yards over the 24-hour period. This record-breaking run gave Brooklands international standing and acclaim, and ensured the newly constructed track delivered the promise made by Locke King that England would once again reassert herself as ‘The Arbiter of Sport’. As with most sporting venues and activities, betting became irresistible.

At the first Brooklands race meeting on 6 July, 1907, more than 13,500 spectators passed through the turnstiles. The meeting boasted six races and the amount of prize money on offer was extraordinary. Entry fees for competing at this inaugural meeting ranged from 15 to 50 sovereigns, with race winners collecting between 400 and 1400 sovereigns. The available prize money from the six races was:

Horsley Plate: 300 sovereigns

Gottlieb Daimler Memorial Plate: 650 sovereigns

Byfleet Plate: 550 sovereigns

Stevenson Plate: 300 sovereigns

First Montagu Cup: 2100 sovereigns

Marcel Renault Memorial Plate: 550 sovereigns

Approximately £5000 of prize money was on offer on the day, which would be worth in excess of £600,000 today. It was hardly surprising this meeting drew the finest racing machines, including Darracq, Daimler, Fiat, Italia, Napier, and Renault. It also attracted the great racing drivers, such as Edge and Jarrott, and in later years

Thomas, Segrave, Campbell, Birkin, and Barnato, who all generated widespread public interest.

Although Locke King had intended Brooklands to energize the embryonic British motor industry, the first three race meetings saw foreign motor manufacturers dominate the results and prize money, with Mercedes winning £2800 and Darracq £1000. The Brooklands bookies, however, had minimal knowledge of motor racing and most punters knew even less as motor racing was in its infancy. FT Harris, the legendary Brooklands bookmaker known as ‘Long Tom’, noted in 1925 that at a horseracing event most punters had some idea of which horse was likely to win. In the early days of Brooklands, outside of ‘a few sharps’, hardly anyone had a clue.

Bookies move in Bookies would be drawn to the driver’s name and reputation, and this was a big factor in calculating the starting price. As one observer remarked, had Chas Jarrott turned up for the Weybridge Stakes on a little Sizaire-Naudin, it would have been exceedingly difficult to get anything better than even money on his chances of victory.

FT Harris observed that leading bookmakers at Kempton Park would do far more business than at Brooklands, but the amount of money changing hands was not insignificant. Bets of up to £150 were commonly placed on Chassagne or Coatalen to clinch the 200-miles races that began in 1921. A stake of £100 in 1920 would be worth about £4500 today.

The bookies were located in the Paddock and at the foot of the Members Hill. In later years, a tote office converted

from an old bus also operated in the Paddock. Long Tom was as recognizable as Tim Birkin with his white silk scarf, while other notable bookies included Harry White, Lioney Ingram, and ‘chirpy’ Bill Collins. Odds were chalked up on slate boards but were decidedly arbitrary. In the early days, it was not uncommon for two bookies next to each other to offer 5/1 and 10/1 respectively on the same driver in the same race. Odds and starting prices were also published in The Sporting Life and Motor Sport

A note in the race programme always advised punters to place bets only with bookmakers who displayed an Official Permit. However, due to an abject lack of knowledge, spurious and rash starting odds led to unfortunate consequences where several bookmakers began ‘welshing’ or reneging on bets. In the early days, the police were hard pressed to cope with those who had been flagrantly swindled.

Racing car owners and drivers were also drawn to the thrill of beating the bookies. One major obstacle to this was the reliability of the cars. In many races, almost half of the field was likely to have retired. Frank Clement, racing a 3 Litre Bentley at Brooklands for the first time in 1921 at a race organized by the Essex Car Club, said: ‘I had persuaded WO Bentley, rather against his will, that it might be a good advertisement to enter the car in a small Brooklands meeting and No 2 was duly entered. I had lapped in practice at about 83mph, and was handicapped to lap at 80mph, so it looked like a sitter and I have an idea that WO had pawned the family jewels to enable him to back me fittingly with Long Tom.

The number of bookmakers working at Brooklands by the 1920s when this photo was taken is obvious as their pitches stretch up the slope close to Test Hill.

FT Harris, better known as Long Tom, was a high profile bookmaker and he noted that few in the crowd really knew who was likely to win a race at Brooklands

‘However, KLG plugs were strongly against me winning such an easy race, as when Ebby (the Brooklands starter) dropped his little flag, one of them smelt oil and promptly refused to fire. I remarked “Dear, dear” or words to that effect and made for home at an incredible speed, pursued by an extremely irate WO who, by the way, failed to overtake me.’

Beating the bookies

While often described as ‘illiterate crooks’, the Brooklands bookies didn’t have things all their own way. Punters were quick to realise that if the starting prices could be manipulated, then the chances of making ‘a killing’ and beating the system would be a lucrative exercise. In early 1925, Dr Dudley Benjafield acquired a French 1100cc Salmson ‘San Sebastian’. He immediately entered the car in a long handicap race at the Brooklands Easter Monday meeting and lapped at 75mph and finished fourth. The car had received little or no race preparation, yet he decided to run it in the following Whit Monday meeting.

In the intervening six weeks, Benjafield and Browning, a highly respected Bentley Motors racing mechanic, attempted to find some more speed. By raising the compression, polishing the valve ports and easing the bearings, they achieved a significant increase in power. On the

Saturday before the race, a test run at Brooklands realised a speed of 91mph. Benjafield immediately eased back on the throttle and put two more laps in at 75mph and gave the numerous observers with their stopwatches the impression of a deceptively low speed.

Back in the pits, Browning was unimpressed and said: ‘Is that the best you can do after all the work we have done: 76mph to the lap?’ Benjafield, with a number of people standing about, replied: ‘Yes, I’m afraid so. Please put her away.’ Once they were alone, Benjafield gave Browning the good news about the car’s performance and pleaded for silence.

Benjafield had noted in the days preceding race meetings, a number of people made it their business to time the cars in an attempt to find a possible winner. Prior to the Whit Monday race, he had been handicapped at 81mph. He then told a number of his friends the facts and they decided they should have a pool bet of £60 on Benjafield to win. Benjafield then instructed four of his conspirators to meet in the paddock at 12:30, a half hour before the race. He then gave them £15 each with instructions to synchronize their watches and, at exactly 12:45, they would approach a different bookmaker and place their bets on Benjafield to win.

The four different bets averaged odds

of 11/2. Two minutes later, amid feverish tick-tacking by the bookies, the Benjafield starting price had come down to 2/5 on. Once the race was underway, Benjafield noted: ‘The car was very quick off the mark and soon we were bowling along in top gear as hard as we could go. I felt on top of the world with both the race and bet as it was as good as won. Then my dreams of winning were shattered by Browning bellowing in my ear “Keep your foot down, keep your foot down, Alvis on our bloody tail.” We had caught all of the other cars with only the Alvis to worry about. Now we were approaching the Railway Straight and the finishing line was in sight. As we dived off the Banking, the little car seemed to realise our position and once more the Alvis faded out of my field of vision. We flashed across the finishing line one length to the good.’

With an average starting price of 11/2, the £60 bet placed by Benjafield in 1925 would have been worth around £20,500 today plus the original stake. Quite an agreeable return for a short handicap race of 6.5 miles. The good doctor was later asked ‘What is the point of all this motor racing?’ He replied: ‘The obvious and correct answer is that, as in horse racing, it improves the breed.’

This article first appeared in Benjygram, the magazine of the Benjafield’s Racing Club.

Several bookies plying their trade in the Paddock. Much of the language of motorsport derived from horse racing through the connection between the sports and bookmakers.

Henry, in the front, with Eric Harrison in a Royal Aircraft Factory BE2. Together, they were the first two military flying instructors at the Central Flying School.

TAKE FLIGHT

Kay Petre is famed for her racing at Brooklands, but her husband Henry led an equally impressive life as an early aircraft builder and pilot.

Words: Roger Radnedge Photos: Australian War Memorial, Brooklands Museum Collection

You don’t have to be around Brooklands for long to become aware of Kay Petre, the small, glamorous lady who very successfully drove big fast cars about Brooklands in its golden days. Not so many people are aware of her husband Henry and his exploits, however.

Born Henry Aloysius Petre (pronounced ‘Peter’) on 12 June, 1884 at Ingatestone, Essex, he was the son of Sebastian Henry Petre and Catharine, née Sibeth, and the family was descended from the 11th Baron Petre. Henry was the second of seven children and was schooled at Mount St Mary’s College, Chesterfield. Initially, he followed his father into law, becoming a solicitor, and in 1905 the Law Society has him registered as the Managing Clerk of Blount, Petre and Co of 48 Albermarle St, London W1 which was the family firm. Henry’s father was a keen follower of the then fashionable Arts and Crafts movement and, unusually, provided his children with a wellequipped workshop. This was to have a profound effect on the Petre boys.

Following Louis Blériot’s crosschannel flight in July 1909, Henry decided to give up his legal career for one in aviation. He borrowed £250 (£20,300

in today’s money) and between 1909 and 1910, he and his architect brother Edward built an aeroplane. Their plane must have been considered creditable for it was shown at the 1910 Olympia Aero Show in an uncovered state on the stand of Leo Ripauld Ltd. The brothers moved into Shed 11 at Brooklands to complete their idiosyncratic design. It

was a wooden fuselage single-seater with its cockpit in front of the wing, and was powered by a four-cylinder 35hp New Engine Company motor. This was buried in the fuselage at the wing’s trailing edge. It was connected to the 7-foot propeller via a 16-foot long hollow diameter steel shaft. The propeller poked out the rear of the fuselage behind the tail unit. The radiators for cooling the engine were mounted on each side of the nose. The incidence of the wings was adjustable in flight and lateral control was achieved by ailerons. The machine’s first and only flight was on 23 July, 1910 with Henry piloting. It was airborne for about 100 yards before a gust of wind caused it to crash. It was not rebuilt and the brothers dropped the idea of becoming aircraft makers, but remained interested in aviation.

Flying lessons

Henry decided he needed to learn how to fly and borrowed a further £25. He then took lessons with the Hanriot Flying

School at Brooklands and, flying one of their monoplanes, he gained his Aviators Certificate (number 128) on 12 September, 1911. He later became an instructor there and, for a short time, its chief instructor. Meanwhile, brother Edward was employed by Handley Page (HP) as a test pilot, and was working on their Type D plane. On an unofficial basis, Henry aided him with this around December 1911. HP must have appreciated his input as they then also employed Henry for a short while.

The brothers also began work on HP’s Type F. This was to be the company’s entry in the upcoming Larkhill Royal Flying Corps Trial in August 1912. In May, Henry properly joined Handley Page as a test pilot. In July HP took over the Howard Flanders Flying School at Brooklands and the Type E was transferred there. Edward flew the Type F for the first time on 21 August at the Larkhill trials. The plane was seen to be coping with the windy conditions quite well, but the next day the engine failed soon after take-off. While attempting to land, its wing and undercarriage were seriously damaged in a crosswind, resulting in the Type F being withdrawn from the trials. The brothers became known within the flying fraternity as Peter the Painter and Peter the Monk, Peter the Monk, apparently a reference to Henry’s more thoughtful nature and the fact they were descended from a long line of priests.

In December, the Australian Government advertised in Flight magazine for ‘two competent mechanists and aviators’ to establish a flying corps and school. They received 50 applications,

Henry Aloysius Petre was an early aviator and flew before gaining his licence. When he did get a licence, it was Aviators Certificate number 128.

A rare image of Henry in flight. He’s at the controls of a Handasyde, which is a similar monoplane to the one his brother Edward was killed in while flying from London to Edinburgh.

Getting ready for take-off, this image shows Henry on 27 April, 1912 and says the aircraft belonged to the Brooklands Deperdussin School.

but it was Henry and another pilot called Eric Harrison who were chosen. On 6 August, 1912 Henry was commissioned as a lieutenant into the Australian Army, becoming Australia’s first military pilot Christmas Eve 1912 would be a very sad one for the family. Brother Edward wanted to become the first man to fly from Brooklands to Edinburgh. He had set off at 0910 flying a Martin-Handasyde monoplane in windy conditions, but during the flight the wind became a gale. He got as far as the Marske area of Yorkshire flying at about 500-feet, but he realised he was being blown out to sea. Edward decided to land on the nearby beach and, as he was doing this, the front skid of his aircraft dug into the sand and the aircraft was thrown back into the air for about 40-feet. It then slipped sideways and crashed, killing Edward instantly.

Australia

Henry arrived in Australia in January 1913. His first task was to select a site for the proposed Central Flying School (CFS), which he was to command. After travelling hundreds of kilometres on his motorcycle, and rejecting the government’s preferred location near the Royal Military College at Duntroon in Canberra, he selected a

297-hectare site at Point Cook, Victoria. He officially assumed command of the CFS and its staff in February 1914 and was joined by Harrison. The CFS now consisted of himself, Harrison four mechanics and three other staff. Aircraft wise they had five planes, including two Deperdussin monoplanes, two Royal Aircraft Factory BE2 biplanes, and a Bristol Boxkite that would be used for initial training.

Harrison made the unit’s inaugural flight on the 1 March, 1914 using the Boxkite, but eight days later Henry had the ignominious task of reporting the unit’s first incident. This happened when he crashed a Deperdussin while trying to avoid telephone wires during landing. He escaped with bruising, but the plane was wrecked. Henry and Harrison must have got on well as Henry was asked to be Harrison’s best man at his wedding in June.

A group photograph of instructors and pupils at the first flying training course held by the Australian Army’s Central Flying School. Henry is second from left in the front row.

Henry and fellow officers photographed with a local boy while they were stationed at Basra as part of the Mesopotamian Half Flight.

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 O ce: email tnewbery@brooklandsmuseum. com, call 01932 857381, or visit our website

www.brooklandsmuseum.com

The CFS ran its first flying course on 17 August, 1914, with Harrison responsible for initial training and Petre for advanced instruction. The four students included Captain Thomas White and Lieutenants Richard Williams, George Merz, and David Manwell. Captain White’s rank created a problem, for once he graduated he would be the most senior officer in what was now being known as the Australian Flying Corps (AFC). To Henry’s delight this was corrected by promoting him to Captain.

On 8 February, 1915, the Australian Government received a request from the British Government of India (GOI) for air support in their campaign against the Turks in Mesopotamia. The AFC only had sufficient aircrew and personnel to support half a flight and became its first unit to see active service, known as the Mesopotamian Half Flight. Petre was appointed its commanding officer and the unit embarked for Basra via Bombay on 14 April. Later

they would be joined by pilots White, Merz and Lt William Treloar, along with 37 ground staff.

The unit carried out reconnaissance and sabotage missions in support of the Indian (Mesopotamian) Expeditionary Force in their successful action against Turkish forces at Kurna. However, its effectiveness was hampered by the unreliable and obsolete aircraft the GOI provided them with. These included two Maurice Farman Shorthorns and a Maurice Farman Longhorn with a top speed of 50mph, yet the shamal desert wind could reach 80mph. From 31 May to 4 June, Henry took part in operations in the Amara area, for which he was mentioned in despatches. In July, the Half Flight’s equipment was augmented by two Caudron G3 aircraft with performance that was only a marginal improvement on the Farmans, but also less reliable. Later that month, one of the Caudrons was forced to land in enemy

territory. Its crew of Merz and a New Zealand military officer were later reported killed by Arabs after carrying out a running gun battle over several miles.

On 24 August, the unit received four Martinsyde S1s and was designated B Flight of 30 Squadron Royal Flying Corps (RFC). An odd designation as the rest of the Squadron was in Egypt. Henry tested the Martinsyde on the 29 August, but found the performance to be very poor, only achieving 50 mph and taking 23 minutes to reach 7000-feet as the Gnome engines didn’t perform well in the extreme heat of Mesopotamia.

On 25 September, Henry and Captain White flew two aircraft up to the advanced landing ground at Sanniyat from Basra to support General Townsends planned attack on Es-Sinn. Henry was in the Martinsyde 8 but crashed it on arrival, leaving the unit with only two aircraft, the Farman MF7 and Martinsyde 6. Later, Henry again damaged the Martinsyde 8 on 2 October. A Major

Thanks to his bravery and skill, Henry was mentioned in despatches several times and also won the Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Cross.

Reilly does not blame Henry for this and his report stated the Martinsyde requires a ‘croquet lawn’ to land on safely. Four days later, the three machines remaining in the Squadron move to a landing ground at Aziziya. Petre makes the first flight to Baghdad and finds the city almost deserted. For his part in the operation, Petre was again mentioned in despatches.

Over the following two months, both Treloar and White were captured and became prisoners of war, making Henry the only remaining pilot from the original Half Flight. In November, he invented a device to accurately measure ground distances from the air to better map the desert.

At the front, things were not going well. At the Battle of Ctesiphon, General Townsend was suffering heavy causalities and decided to retreat into the city of Kut. The Ottoman enemy then mounted the Siege of Kut on 7 December, 1915. In an attempt to relieve the entrapped garrison, Henry flew a series of missions using crude parachutes to airdrop grain supplies and a millstone for grinding the grain, along with medical supplies and other equipment. Amongst those trapped in the city were nine of his mechanics. Eventually, Townsend surrendered on 29 April, 1916 and 13,000 British and Indian soldiers were taken prisoner.

Meanwhile, Petre and his Farman MF7 were ordered to leave Basra and join 1 Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps in Egypt, but not before he was awarded the Military Cross on 14 January. Henry

received two more mentions in despatches over the course of the year. Then, in May, he contracted typhoid and was sent to India for recuperation. Upon his return to service, he rejoined 30 Squadron in December and was given the Distinguished Service Order.

By February 1917, Henry was with 15 Squadron RFC in France, a reconnaissance squadron operating BE2s. Two months later, his youngest brother John, now a Squadron Commander in the Royal Naval Air Service and also a Distinguished Service Cross recipient, was killed in a flying accident. Henry was later returned to England to take over 5 Squadron AFC, which was a training unit for Australian fighter pilots. He had hoped to command 1 Squadron AFC in Palestine, but apparently someone had submitted an adverse report concerning his leadership

abilities and the position went to Williams. Petre was discharged from the AFC as a major on 31 January, 1918, only to become commissioned in the RFC. In April that year, he was given the job of establishing and commanding 75 (Home Defence) Squadron of the RAF.

Back to Britain

With the war over, Henry left the RAF in September 1919 and set up his own legal practice. In 1929, he married Kathleen Coad Defries, who he introduced to racing cars and, as Kay Petre, became one of Britain’s leading female drivers of the 1930s. Henry maintained his interest in aviation for the rest of his life, taking up competitive gliding and, according to historian Alan Stephens, more than 30 years after his first flight in 1911 still enjoyed ‘taking an Auster for a spin.’

Henry broke the British Gliding Duration Record in 1931, with a time of almost three and a half hours. He also served as gliding instructor with the Air Training Corps between 1943 and 1948.

In 1951, he received the Royal Aero Club’s Silver Medal for his long record of active flying. Henry visited Australia in 1961 and was photographed sitting in the cockpit of his old Deperdussin, which he had flown at Point Cook in 1914 and is an exhibit at the RAAF Museum. After retiring from his legal practice in 1958, he continued to fly recreationally until his death on 24 April, 1962 at 77-years old in London.

Instructors and staff photographed on 17 August, 1914 in front of a BE2 as they get ready to begin training. Henry is third from left in the middle row.

Henry married Kathleen Coad Defries in 1929 and introduced his wife to motor racing at Brooklands. As Kay Petre, she became one of the leading female drivers at the Track.

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members’ matters

A classic day out

The Brooklands Members Classic Car Show made a superb return on 1 August. A large gathering of Member’ cars of all shapes, sizes and eras gave the day the perfect mix to keep everyone happy and wandering around the Museum.

Among the many highlights was a Weymann-bodied Austin Six (above), which is the sole survivor of three cars of this type built with the same coachwork by the Addlestone-based firm. Another car that many visitors found fascinating was the incredibly low-slung Unipower GT (above right), which is one of only around 70 built during the 1960s.

With the sun shining, it was the perfect chance to enjoy a spot of lunch and a chat with like-minded friends. With tea and sandwiches finished, everyone felt this year’s Members Classic Car Show was one to remember.

A vintage weekend for the Motorcycle Team

The relationship between Brooklands and the Vintage Motorcycle Club (VMCC) started when the Motorcycle Team was established at the Museum in 2004. Most of the volunteers are members of both organisations. This has resulted in opportunities for active participation of the Museum in many of the VMCC’s major events like the 1000 Bikes at Mallory Park where it has been possible to promote the Museum to the wider UK classic motorcycle audience.

Continuing this allegiance, the VMCC offered the Museum a prime corner promotional site at its 75th anniversary event at Cadwell Park on 14-15 August. A small contingent of volunteers, at their own expense, spent an enjoyable weekend promoting the Museum and participating in a number of track sessions.

We had a steady number of visitors over the two days, some drawn to us not just by the bikes but from seeing Secrets of the Transport Museum. Feedback about the series was far ranging and it certainly has made more people aware of the Museum. Our most excited visitor was ecstatic about the series and, when he recognised Michael Digby and Ted Lear who are now established stars, he wouldn’t leave until we could find a pen for them to provide their autographs on the Brooklands flyer we were handing out. He left very pleased and promised to find time to visit us soon.

We also re-established a previous contact with the Gold Star Owners Club, who still remember their 75th anniversary event at Brooklands in 2012 that we hosted for them and where we believe we had the largest collection of ‘Goldies’, some 280 I believe, ever on one site in the UK.

Steve Allen, VMCC Director, had taken his Rex Acme out of the Museum to ride at the event for the Cadwell weekend. Michael Digby keeps an eye on it for him in the Museum and we were able to keep it operational over the weekend. Due to the lack of sidecar entrants, the track sessions were increased in length so we had even better value than usual for the three different class sessions that we took part in.

It was a most pleasant and worthwhile event where we introduced the Museum to many new potential visitors. We are always happy to include any Brooklands Members who fancy a day on track with us. You don’t have to own a race bike and there are classes for all ages and types of machines. We have ideas for more events in 2022 to keep us on track.

John Bottomley

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Roger Back 1929-2021

tunnel design propelled him to a career in aeronautical design.

Born on 22 July, 1929, Roger Frederick Back was the only son to Frederick and Doris Back, née Lumley. His early years were spent in Whyteleafe, where his first introduction to aircraft was the nearby Kenley Aerodrome and Croydon Airport, key Battle of Britain fighter stations in the Second World War. After being bombed out of their house in 1940, the family moved to Caterham, where Roger attended Caterham Boys School.

Post-war, his love of aircraft was seen in his collection of numerous photos from air shows. After excelling at maths in school, he studied civil engineering at Imperial College, London from 1947 to 1953, completing both a BSc and MSc. His final thesis titled Some aspects of low speed wind

Shere delight

His entire career was spent working for the same company, initially named Vickers-Armstrongs, then British Aircraft Corporation, and finally British Aerospace. He started working at the Vickers factory at Brooklands, witnessing the largest expansion of British commercial aircraft to date and working on the Viscount, Vanguard, VC10 and BAC 1-11, and spent much of his time in the wind tunnel. Here he met Barnes Wallis, who was made head of the new Research and Development department following the war, and Brian Trubshaw, who shot to public attention as a first test pilot of Concorde. Roger stayed at Brooklands until the factory closed in 1989, being the last one to shut the door, and then made the weekly commute to Filton where he stayed until retirement in 1993. During his time at Filton, Roger’s attention was focused on aerodynamic projects, including the design and engineering for the Airbus 320 wings, which involved frequent trips to Toulouse in France, as well as travel to China and the USA.

Roger’s special connection to Brooklands continued following his retirement, where he was involved in the last flight of the Vanguard into the Museum. He had previously been part of the planning committee of the last

flight into Brooklands of the Sultan of Oman’s VC10 in 1987. Roger was made an Honorary Member for his significant support of the Brooklands Trust.

He became a foundation member of the Old Caterhamians and attended its 200th anniversary celebration at Westminster Abbey in 2011. He enjoyed attending awards day ceremonies at the school and meeting students.

Having grown up to the ringing of the bell at St Mary’s in Caterham, during his adult life he was actively involved in the United Reformed Church, attending first Leatherhead and then Dorking churches. He was married in 1958 to Margaret Cherry, becoming father to daughters Angela and Kathryn in the early 1960s. After Margaret and Roger separated, Roger married Sylvia Hall. Their daughter Heather was born in 1973.

Towards the end of his life, Roger suffered with dementia and needed full-time care. For the last four years, he was cared for with compassion at Quinton House Nursing Home near Stratford-upon-Avon, surrounded by his photos of aircraft and his lifetime achievements. As well as his daughters, he leaves grandchildren Peter, Andrew, James, Matthew, Sam, Monty and Henry, and two great-grandchildren, Maddie Mae and Lumi Francis.

Kathy Day

The weather was gorgeous, there were plenty of facilities, and enough food providers. Angie had brought along a delicious picnic so, with iced water, folding chairs and a cuppa, I was a happy lad.

I was number 30 in Eau Rouge bay, so my run was circa 9.10am. Crowds waved and cheered as I gunned my Jaguar Mk2 3.8 off the line, although I slowed right down for the chicanes made from bales of hay.

Martin Warner’s charity Shere Hill Climb is more than 200 per cent oversubscribed and he makes a personal selection to present a balanced picture of cars and motorcycles across a broad range of periods. This year, he added a further 60 cars to the 200-plus vehicles limit, which had two unwanted effects.

The log-in, normally between 8 and 9am, was brought forward to 7 and 8am, with the result that many of the male entrants sought twin bedded rooms. I eventually found a room in the Hilton Woking, but due to a change in plans I rebooked a double 12 minutes away and my friend met me on the day using a day ticket. The other problem was the rows and bays were compressed a bit, with the result that I backed into a slender steel rod holding up the plastic tape.

In some ways, the best part is the return run of four miles along an escarpment with lovely views. Angie thoroughly enjoyed the run up the hill, but she is a long way off being a petrolhead.

The usual villains were there: John Dennis with the Berliet/ Curtiss, Angela with the AC Ruddspeed Ace, and Nigel Webb with his racing Jaguar XK120. There was a stunning Henri Chapron convertible Citroen, which the owner and his wife told me was genuine and they had restored it.

As always, Shere Hill Climb was a great day out and, judging by the crowds, it should have raised a goodly sum for local causes. Well done and many thanks to Martin Warner for the huge amount of hard work which goes into such an event.

Edward Fitzpatrick

members’ matters

Brooklands on trial

planks, see-saw, tractor tyres, and our famous pyramids.

The riding was challenging at times with rain in the morning making for slippy ramps, but a sunnier afternoon made things better, with the children challenging themselves on bigger and new obstacles as the day went on.

Duncan Hedley

Surrey Youth Trials Club were in action at Brooklands on Sunday 15 August. There was a static display of bikes for visitors to try for size and plenty of information to hand out to encourage new riders into the wonderful sport of motorcycle trials, the world’s best kept secret and safest motorcycle sport.

Fifteen of the club’s riders attended on a mixture of electric and petrol bikes, with ages ranging from 6- to 19-years old. They rode tirelessly all day, giving a great display to the public without rest. The arena had various obstacles ranging from beginner

Shieldhall success

The highlight for the youngsters was a special invite by Steve Castle to allow them each to ride the famous Test Hill, which they did on their own motorbikes twice. I am pleased to say that all of riders made it to the top on both rides. George Camping and Reuben Keet became some of the youngest to complete Test Hill aged just 6-years old.

Special thanks go to John Burch for inviting Surrey Youth Trials Club to this wonderful event and for the support and encouragement from Brooklands VMCC. We would also like the thank Steve Castle and all at Brooklands Museum for giving us such a warm welcome and enjoyable day. We look forward to coming back and you can see a film of the event on BM.tv: www.vimeo.com/587688494

Steve Moore

The Brooklands Motorcycle Team is sad to share the news of the death of Duncan Hedley.

Duncan was one of the earliest members of the Team, having joined in 2006 when he was recruited from the Brooklands Section of the Vintage Motorcycle Club (VMCC) by John Bottomley.

Duncan was a motorcyclist through-andthrough, passing his test at the age of 16 and having at least one bike ever since. His collection always included a version of his favourite bike, a Triumph Bonneville.

As a VMCC committee member, Duncan organised Section rides up until the intervention of Covid. His rides were described as ‘brisk’, shorthand for ‘Who can keep up with Duncan?’

In the 1963-64 season, Duncan raced a Vincent Black Shadow and sidecar in club races. His best result was third in a race at Silverstone. He put his racing experience to good use with the Brooklands Team when they gave track demonstrations at Mallory Park, Montlhéry, and Brands Hatch.

Saturday’s weather on the SS Shieldhall and Bournemouth Air Show trip wasn’t too good for aviation photography and the day’s flying was curtailed because of the unfortunate accident to one of the Boeing Stearman wing-walker planes which had to ditch in Poole Harbour. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.

The next day saw much better weather and a full quota of aircraft. Everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and all credit to Angela Hume as there was a lot of organising for this.

John Axtell

In Memory of…

Sadly, each issue we do lose some of our Members and we’d like to pass on the condolences of the Brooklands Members, Chairman and Committee to the families of the following who we have been notified have recently passed away.

Mr Dennis Wheeler, a long-standing Club Level Member of 24 years who sadly passed away in June.

Mr Robert Haveron, an Individual Member for 11 years. Robert, living in Northern Ireland, enjoyed the Bulletin and his few visits to the Museum. Robert passed away in March.

Mr Frank Warren, of Dorking, who first joined with his now late wife more than five years ago.

At Brooklands, Duncan’s knowledge of Triumph engines was invaluable when the team was asked to recommission the supercharged Wicksteed Triumph replica. To his credit, the bike ran well and was demonstrated regularly until the current owner withdrew it from the Museum.

After the Triumph, Duncan turned his attention to Jim Gardiner’s AJS ‘Big Port’, which had not run since Jim inherited it from his father. Duncan led the team working on the bike and celebrated its re-birth by taking Jim Gardiner’s daughter on a pillion ride around the Campbell, ERA and Jackson sheds circuit.

Duncan was a typical motorcyclist, happy to talk bikes for hours, very practical with boundless enthusiasm, and ready to give unstinting help. He was modest and a wonderful asset to the Motorcycle Team and to the Museum. We miss him and remember him with affection and respect.

Michael Sands

CONTACT NICK ON 01452 730770 OR EMAIL nick@hinemarketing.co.uk

BROOKLANDS MUSEUM 187,000 VISITORS PA (2018)

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Crusader in technical detail

As the holder in perpetuity of the fastest ever lap of Brooklands (143.44 mph) in the Napier-Railton, John Cobb is a familiar name to Brooklands Members. In the wider world, he is remembered for breaking the Land Speed Record in the Railton Special both before and after the Second World War. Less well known is Cobb’s attempt to take the Water Speed Record (WSR) on Loch Ness in 1952 that was cut short by a fatal accident. Jim Holter’s book tells the story of that record attempt.

The first quarter of Crusader – John Cobb’s ill-fated quest for speed on water covers the background to the record attempt, including brief biographies of Cobb, designer Reid Railton, and Malcolm Campbell’s water record attempts.

At the time of Cobb’s attempt, the WSR stood at 178.497mph by Stan Sayers in Slo-mo-shun IV which was reaching the limits of propellor driven propulsion. Malcolm Campbell had tried with a jet conversion of Blue Bird K4, but Railton’s prediction this was ‘pure folly’ proved correct. A jet was the right way to go, but it would require a totally new design. In 1948, John Cobb commissioned Railton to design a new boat based around a de Havilland Ghost engine and built by Vosper at Portchester.

A significant part of the book is dedicated to the correspondence between Cobb, Peter Du Cane of Vosper, and Railton, which reveals the tensions involved. Railton was based in America and both he and Cobb were too genteel to seriously challenge Du Cane, who spent time testing blind alleys. We know how the story ends and here we see the flaws in Crusader’s development with traditional boat builder versus radical new design. The latter part of the book analyses what went wrong and

Turner events

This is an updated official biography of the legendary motorcycle designer, Edward Turner, first published in 2006. The 160-page book is packed with material about Turner, who was born on 24 January, 1901. After a disjointed education, he started a career in the Merchant Navy before the naturally gifted engineer began to design and build motorcycles.

The book guides the reader through Turner’s life and his time associated with Ariel, Triumph, and BSA during the halcyon days of British motorcycling. It provides an interesting account of his sometimes challenging relationship with Jack Sangster, as well as a wonderful insight into Turner’s appraisal of the Japanese motorcycle industry in September 1960. The full report is reproduced over four pages, in which he notes the vast numbers of motorcycles being produced to a high standard. The report is summed up in a conversation with his chauffeur on the way back from the airport in which he explained the trip had left him in no doubt that, unless the British motorcycle industry abandoned its head-in-the-sand attitude, there would be no-one making motorcycles in Britain in 25 years’ time. The rest is, as they say, history.

Author Jeff Clew, who was an active competition motorcyclist from 1946 and gained a reputation for well researched articles and reference books, states in the introduction the book is a biography and does not allow for full details of the models Turner is associated with. However, the fact that Turner was involved with the design

the conclusion that ‘no single person should be held responsible’ is probably fair.

If there is a criticism of the book, it is that it relies too much on telling the technical story of Crusader derived from the correspondence between the key players and other official documents. There are aspects of the story that are not touched on here, for example how was the story covered in the contemporary press. Among the many illustrations, there is a photograph of the remains of Crusader being burnt on the evening following the disaster, but this is not mentioned in the text. This is a well written book and will satisfy those interested in understanding the technology and development of the design. For those of us looking for a more general read, the detail might prove tough going in places and one is left with a sense there is more that could have been included.

Gareth Tarr

and development of so many bikes means they are an integral part of this book and are represented by more than 100 images, including a colour gallery over 12 pages, including reproductions of sales brochures. They provide a good initial reference and background for someone who may be more interested in the motorcycles than the man himself.

Martin Gegg

Crusader – John Cobb’s ill-fated quest for speed on water by Steve Holter is priced £30. Published by Evro Publishing: ISBN 978-1-910505-61-8

Edward Turner: The man behind the motorcycle by Jeff Clew is priced £25. Published by Veloce Publishing Ltd: ISBN 978-1-787111-41-7

AROUND THE COLLECTION

Brooklands Members

Members’ Administrator

Sarah Dover 01932 857381 ext 226 Mon-Fri members@brooklandsmuseum.com

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

BM.tv

Mark Jarman 07710 783536 nonesuche@gmail.com

Bulletin Editor

Alisdair Suttie 07768 372440 brooklandsbulletineditor@gmail.com

Contributors

Katherine Allen, Dr Ian Andrews, John Axtell, Glenn Bates, John Bottomley, John Burch, Nigel Carter, Steve Castle, Martin Chandler, Steve Clarke, Debbie Crawt, Sarah Dover, Chris Farara, Edward Fitzpatrick, Mike Forbes, Martin Gegg, Angela Hume, Anna Jackson, Andrew Lewis, Julian Nowell, John O’Dell, Jane Pickering, Roger Radnedge, Frank Rainsborough, Rob Rennie, Gareth Tarr, Mike Venables

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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

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Director of Collections, Interpretation and Heritage

Alex Patterson ext 247

Visitor Experience Manager

Jenny Pettit ext 302

Volunteer & HR Manager

Aimee Nelson ext 303

Learning Officer

Laura Barclay ext 257

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

Concorde Bookings ext 266

flyconcorde@brooklandsmuseum.com

Hospitality Sales Manager

Joanna Rodgers ext 251 hospitality@brooklandsmuseum.com

Marketing Director

Sam Hart ext 225

Email addresses are available on the Museum website www.brooklandsmuseum.com/about/ contact-us

How well do you think you really know Brooklands? Let’s go for a walk.

We’ll start at the Members’ Bridge and, instead of taking in the view of the historic Finishing Straight, we’re going to walk under the bridge and past the air raid shelters. Further down the track, we come to a fork. Veering right is the forest walk taking you up to the top of Test Hill and the view out over the track. We’re not going there today. Instead, we’re taking the hairpin bend to the right, down below the level of the track, and on to the stone structure and staircase.

You’d be forgiven for thinking this is another air raid shelter, but this structure is as old as the banking itself. Although

Parking arrangements

currently disused, this hidden feature was originally a road-tunnel under the track, allowing vehicles onsite.

If you look around, you might be able to spot some of the original railings for the tunnel buried in the forest. This photograph from an album depicting the construction of the track in 1907, shows just how impressive it was. From the image, we can see the tunnel’s entrance is about twice as tall as the workers standing in front of it and the construction is impressively solid. As there is building work going on directly above the tunnel, it would have to be.

The tunnel is blocked up now, but who knows what secrets are hidden beneath the concrete oval?

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.

While every effort has been made by the Publishers to include correct information, they are unable to accept responsibility for errors or omissions. The Publishers, Brooklands Members and Brooklands Museum Trust Limited cannot accept responsibility in the event of misinformation or lack of source relating to images supplied by a third party by electronic or other means.

Charity number 296661. Please quote this if making donations or requesting them via a funeral director.

Performance is a division of Lockton Private Clients, both trading styles of Lockton Companies LLP. Lockton Companies LLP is authorised and regulated by the