Although I have been a contributor to Macfilos since the early days, I had not met Mike Evans, the man behind the project. The reason for this omission is simple. I live in Australia and I have not visited the UK, where I was born and raised, since 2004.
It has been a pleasure to watch the growth of Macfilos from afar and, over the years, Mike and I have become friends. Therefore, when I visited the UK in June, Mike and I finally met. He very kindly took me to Brooklands, near Weybridge, in Surrey. It’s a place steeped in motor sport and aviation history, and a place I had not visited previously.
Backstory
The backstory to Brooklands is fascinating. At the turn of the 20th century, motor racing was banned on public roads in mainland Britain. Hugh Fortescue Locke King, a non-practising barrister, knew that this ban would be a major impediment to the development of the fledgling British motor industry.
By good fortune he had inherited £500,000 back in 1885. In today’s money that is £62m, which explains why he did not practise law.
He had married Ethel Gore-Brown the year before he inherited this vast fortune, and she soon had plans to help him spend it. They then proceeded to make a series of bad investment decisions.
Eventually, Hugh had the inspired idea of using some of his wealth to build a permanent race circuit for cars and motorcycles. At this time, it was to be a world’s first.
Navvies
Fortunately, Ethel shared Hugh’s enthusiasm for the idea, and they decided to spend a budgeted £22,000 — £2.5m today — to build a track 2.7 miles (4.35 km) long and 100ft (ca. 30 m) wide with 30ft (ca. 9 m) high 45º banked corners.
Navvies1or “Navigators”, workmen employed first to build the canal and then the railway networkbuilt the track on 356 acres of Surrey woodland, aided by the latest steam machinery. It was a vast expanse of concrete, but was completed in an almost unbelievable nine months — complete with two long straights, a finishing straight, two huge banked sections. It’s a pity modern construction projects, especially road construction, cannot be completed in such record time.
The track opened in June 1907, but the cost blew way out and the last of the once vast fortune had all but gone by the time it opened.
Ethel, who by that time had acquired a taste for motoring, led the opening parade in her vehicle, a 1904 Siddeley two-seater tourer, known affectionately as Daisy. It is still preserved in the museum.
The right crowd
To make matters worse, Hugh and Ethel saw Brooklands as an exclusive society venue in the vein of the Henley Regatta and Royal Ascot: “The right crowd but no crowding”.
Admission prices were high and it was not profitable. To rub salt into the wound, they were soon in court with the circuit’s neighbours complaining about the noise. A situation that is familiar to many motor-racing circuit operators today.
Hugh’s fortune may have vanished, but Brooklands flourished during the roaring twenties and into the thirties. Standards had been lowered, and the venue was not just for the “right crowd”. Hugh and Ethel would have been surprised and, possibly disappointed, that the hoi polloi took to motoring so comprehensively.
It was not just a motor racing and speed record setting venue, but an aerodrome, with a Hawker and Vickers factory and flying aircraft from their facilities in the centre of the giant oval.
Last post
The last race at Brooklands was held in August 1939, just weeks before the outbreak of the second world war. During the war part of the banking was demolished to facilitate flying, as aircraft production there was ramped up. The circuit was never used again because of this, but by1939 the rough condition of the concrete track surface was becoming dangerous.
Today, Brooklands is home to an industrial estate, a hotel and the Mercedes-Benz UK driver experience centre, the Brooklands Museum and the remnants of the original circuit. It’s strange to see outer sections of the banked circuit flanking office buildings and, at one point, a large Tesco supermarket.
Brooklands is a key part of the history of the internal combustion engine in Britain. So I found it ironic that we drove there in Mike’s Tesla, an electric car made in China. I doubt if Hugh Fortescue Locke King would have been at all impressed!
Lap records
The museum has some significant exhibits both automotive and aeronautical, including the famous mighty 1933 Napier Railton which holds the all-time Brooklands lap record at 143.44 mph (230.84 km/h). The car has a 24 litre Napier Lion aircraft engine with 12 cylinders in a W formation. The car belongs to the Museum and is started up and run regularly.
The aeronautic exhibits include a Harrier Jump Jet, a Concorde, and the remains of a WW2 Wellington bomber which was raised from the depths of Loch Ness in Scotland. You can go into the Concorde and realise how small the interior is.
See brooklandsmuseum.com
Classic gatherings
Mike is a member of the Brooklands Club and is very familiar with the museum. For him, the best days to visit Brooklands are on a weekend when there is a big classic car or motorcycle gathering.
Many of his photos from these events have appeared on Macfilos over the years.
When we visited, it was a Wednesday, so no big enthusiasts meet. In fact, there were very few visitors at all. All the world over, motor racing circuits are bleak when they are not full of cars and people, and Brooklands on a typical British summer weather day is no exception.
There was just one classic car, a sad Triumph Herald, standing forlornly in the display area. Perhaps it had failed to proceed at the end of a recent event and the owner was planning to return later to retrieve it. We’ll never know.
Surprises
However, Mike tells me that weekdays, such as when I visited, are often graced by unusual veteran and vintage cars driven to the circuit by proud owners. Apparently, there are frequently surprises, such as finding a contingent of the Bentley Owners’ Club members picnicking in front of the clubhouse.
Many of the original buildings. Including a hangar, have been saved and restored. I’m not quite sure why I did not take some photos of the buildings, but I suspect that I was too busy chatting with Mike at the time.
I did at least manage to get a photo of Mike standing at the edge of the track by the historic banking. Sadly, you are no longer permitted to walk on it. This partly for “health and safety” reasons, but also because the Museum is trying to protect the concrete from further damage. Ironically, however, weeds and grass are now taking over and doing more damage than human feet.
Very British, eccentric
If you have an interest in a significant piece of British automotive and aeronautical heritage, then the Brooklands Museum is worth a visit. But be aware it is not like one of the big, slick German automotive museums.
It is very British. Slightly eccentric, but that is part of its appeal. Go, preferably on a weekend when there is a big enthusiast meeting and when the historic Finishing Straight is full of shiny classic cars fussed over by their doting owners.
Many thanks to Mike for showing me Brooklands. Such a pity that we could not take the Tesla onto the banking. Now that would have made a great photo.
Perhaps we could have set up a match race from a standing start down the Finishing Straight between the Tesla and the mighty Napier Railton. I suspect the Tesla may well have been the winner. If Ethel and Hugh had but known what was to come…
Lots of Brooklands coverage on Macfilos
Browse John Shingleton’s 70-plus articles
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A wonderful article John.
I get together with car enthusiasts both here in the States and back home in the UK when I visit. Maybe it’s my age but I have a nostalgia for those cars from the 60’s and 70’s, and as someone will inevitably say “they don’t make them like that anymore”.
I have one question, and maybe neither of you can answer it, but the Triumph Herald looks a bit more like a Triumph Vitesse with the angles of the bonnet over the headlights, whereas the Herald had a more rounded “barrel” shape to the bonnet over the headlights. Maybe someone can confirm?
Jon. you may well be right. It may be a Triumph Vitesse. It is not an area of my expertise. I was surprised to find on Wikipedia that the Triumph Herald was produced in Australia from 1959 to 1966 and 14,975 were made. It was named and badged Triumph 12/50 down here. I’ve never seen one here but I am sure given the numbers produced that there are members of the Aussie Triumph enthusiast’s clubs who still love their 12/50s!
Having been born in Weybridge, just down the road so’s to speak, a friend and I used to play on the banking and explore the huts during the 60’s and 70’s. Like you I’ve moved to the other side of the world, Tasmania, but regularly revisit Brooklands when visiting the UK for narrowboat touring.
Nice write-up and of course pictures. If I may make a gentle correction I think the Brough Superior motorcycle outfit featured is in fact an 11.50 of 1933 not an SS80. The 11.50 had a JAP (John Alfred Prestwich) 1096 cc 60-degree vee-twin engine while the SS80, whether JAP or Matchless powered, had 1000 cc 50-degree engines.
Dear Nick, sorry but that was my fault, not John’s, and I will correct the caption. I know we have discussed this particular bike before. I have several pictures of it, including one taken with a 1935 Leica Camera. This was published in a previous article some years ago. I distinctly remember writing that it was a 1935 model, but I must have been wrong. You are the Brough expert after all. Looking forward to seeing you in a future Club Run. Mike.
John
Thank you for writing such an engaging article. Old cars and old planes certainly make a playground for the young at heart. The Triumph Herald had a distinctive way to open the bonnet (hood). Just undo one clip on each side of the car and the whole assembly tilts forward 90 degrees to reveal the engine and front suspension.
Chris
Yes ..and there were so many thefts of lead acid batteries from Triumph Heralds (just open the hood/bonnet and lift one out!) that something had to be done about it! ..But I can’t remember what the solution was.
(Drivers complained, though, that the pedals (accelerator, brake and clutch) were offset too far – to the right, as far as I remember – that it took some getting used to, and it was then awkward to drive any other car, as their pedals were in the ‘wrong’ places!)