Brooklands

Does anyone know the latest about Brooklands? I heard several months ago that there were plans to build high-rised flats and offices on part of the site - has anything come of this?

Cheers,


AndyF

Jeez, is nothing sacred? :banghead:

I was there last month to help with a marshals training day and there are already offices on part of the old circuit. As I understand things the club are trying to renovate some of the remaining banked track for use in sprint meetings, but I could be wrong. It's a fantastic place to visit as there is the motor and aero museum there!

Originally posted by Stephen Green
It's a fantastic place to visit as there is the motor and aero museum there!

Absolutely right, Stephen. I went there about 6-7 years ago. To be able to stand up on that banking - a fantastic experience (who needs cars?!!). If you've got the vaguest interest in the history of motor sport, it's a tremendously atmospheric place to visit. I'd recommend it to you. (I've got some photos I took on that day somewhere, I must dig them out.....!).

The building work, sadly, is well under way. My last visit, about 3 weeks ago, was accompanied by a constant thumping from the piledriving machines putting in the foundations.

For those who know the site, the new office is on what was the chickenwire fenced car park which Gallaghers built on the start/finish straight.

So if you're standing in the clubhouse entrance, looking at the test hill, you will see the aircraft hangar on your left, test hill and the Campbell section straight ahead and a sodding great building site to your right.

The offices are being built for the Prudential Assurance, and I for one will not be purchasing any of their financial services again.


On the plus side, I understand that all existing sections of the banking (including the Byfleet Banking by the industrial estate) have now been scheduled as ancient monuments, which means no developer will be able to touch them, and it might even mean that it'll be worth the museum trust's while putting the Vickers airstrip back into commission for sprint events and aircraft fly-ins.

Poor old Brooklands. Bruised and bloodied, she still refuses to die, thank goodness.

Well said Tim, I agree 100%. Long may she survive.

It is a shame that this building work has gone ahead, but I am glad the rest of the site is preserved. When I went there last year with Driving Test, I had the privilidge of driving on part of the old banking!

Long Live Brooklands!!!:)

When was the last race to be held at Brooklands? Has anyone got any pictures at all?

August 7th 1939, Paul.

I've a lot of images, but nothing scanned in - so I'd suggest the very best archive of Brooklands material on the net, the Brooklands Society website.

http://www.hartlana.co.uk/brooklands/

How come it wasn't used post war?

A long and sorry saga, Paul.

There had been an aerodrome in the centre of the Brooklands circuit from the earliest days, and a number of civilian flying activities took place there. When World War II broke out, there was a need for the dispersal of British aircraft manufacturing, and by a convoluted process, Brooklands became the home of the Vickers aircraft works, manufacturing Wellington bombers and Hurricane fighters.

In order to disguise the facility, the track was camouflaged. Fake houses were built on the bankings, and young trees were even set into the concrete.

The main hangar itself was built slap on top of the start-finish straight.

Thousands of fighting aircraft were turned out of the factory, and on only one occasion did the Luftwaffe manage to put a stick of bombs on Brooklands, causing minimal damage.

Preserving the track surface, however, was not a priority for the War Department, and by 1945 the circuit was frankly a mess. The outer circuit was unusable, and the hangar still blocked the straight. When the British Government offered the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club a sum of money for the site, the committee reluctantly agreed. Led by Sir Malcolm Campbell, the view was that the Club, after years of hardship, had not the capital to restore the track. The Club accepted the money, and were soon out looking for alternative racing sites. Ironically, they settled on a surplus RAF bomber airfield near a village called Silverstone....

Vickers went on to manufacture airliners on Brooklands until the late 1960s, until the site was sold to Gallaghers tobacco. They demolished a large portion of the Members Banking to make way for offices, and sold on a portion of the western side of the site to more developers, who tore down part of the Byfleet Banking to make an access way for a Tesco and a Marks & Spencer superstore.

When, in 1969, flood damage brought down the Hennebique Bridge, which crossed the River Wey as part of the Members Banking, Brooklands as a race circuit had most certainly "had it".

Thanks for that history lesson, shame that it went that way, but perhaps it adds to the legend of Brooklands. It makes whats left of it more important and treasurable.

That's true to an extent, Paul, but although the circuit was in a mess after the war, it seems from what Tim says that most of the track/banking was still intact. To survive those years of conflict with so little damage and then to be desecrated for the benefit of M&S and Tesco's really is sacrilege!

I won't disagree with you there!!

Hmmm I'm gonna quit Tesco..... soon.... but I need the money.... AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!

True enough, cutting away the banking to make a road for a supermarket is sacrilege - but it did at least highlight the circuit's existance to the general public, who may have had no idea that a racing circuit was ever there. You can see from the Motor Sport track test that it also highlights how steep the banking was.

Who knows, perhaps this was in part the reason the remaining circuit was protected? Something had to be destroyed to make the authorities sit up and take notice of the rest.

cdc074t

Well that didn't work...can't post pictures from my files...I have a few I would send you if I had an address.

Better yet just go to:
www.hartlana.co.uk/bsarchive/Default.htm
:) Just click on this link.............

sorry Tim..I didn't notice you had given the link.;)
Mine does go straight to the photo archive..........

Lets try this again.....just for fun

Oh wow..that's great...didn't think I could do that:)

Excellent pics Strad.

The clear air under the Bugatti clearly demonstrates that Brooklands was not what you'd call a smooth track even in its heyday.

I'm trying to place the lower picture. I would have said that the timekeepers' bus would make it a JCC event, but I'm fairly sure that's a Talbot 90 high on the banking. Not the '29 Double 12 race is it?

Im not sure but I think it's 1930. I'm not very good at labeling my photos:banghead: Someday I'll learn:rolleyes:
Try this one:

try this one

Check out that banking! I was going to attach a different one of some guy they refer to as T.A.S.O but they said it was too big. Any info on who was T.A.S.O.?

Wow, what incredible pictures, thanks for posting them:)
That first picture is amazing!!!!!

TASO - TASO Mathieson, racing driver, journalist, motor sport historian. Author of a superb history of the GP de l'ACF 1906-14, among other excellent books. Major contributor to Georgano's Enyclopaedia of Motor Sport etc etc. In short, a legend ...

Thanks Vitesse:)

T A S O Mathieson was an important figure in the Brooklands scene. I am sure there must be archive material about him. See Bill Boddy's books/articles about Brooklands.

With the help of a friend.....

Taso leading R.L. Bowles

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Now if I drive y'all crazy you can blame Ray.;):)

Hi Guys,

The latest information about what is happening at Brooklands is on our web site at www.brooklands.org.uk

You can find all kinds of topics on our intro page. On the right hand side is the latest news about our new English Heritage preservation orders which now cover the entire track, the Prudential development of five office blocks and a car park which despite 1,000 emails from our friends all over the world last year to Elmbridge Borough Council we could not stop. On a lighter note - life has to go on and all that, our entry for this year's Goodwood festival of Speed soapbox race is being written about.

You can also get details of our Annual Reunion at the track this June which features French cars - road and race. A lot of entrants will be coming from France and as soon as I get the forms finished you will be able to buy tickets in advance. Just look out for the onion sellers and accordionists.

Brooklands is still there and so are we - by the way try clicking on the photos - some of them in the preservation section zoom in to let you see more detail.

By the way - turn your sound on if you have it.

Lived 5 mins from Brooklands for 8 years and watched the circuit turn into a shopping centre. My late husband's father raced Mother Gun at Brooklands and was awarded one of only 17 130 mph badges for his efforts. He also won the Gold Star. So sad to see such an historic track in its current state although the museum (car and aero) is well worth a visit. Talking of flats and offices, I know the Brooklands Society (well worth joining - lively bunch with a never say die attitude!) won a victory over the developers a couple of years ago when they retained some of the land that had been threatened with development. They won about £5m (or was it £15m?) I think from the National Lottery too and that helped their David beat Goliath.

Hello again,

Jenny - thank you for your very kind comments.

Just to explain our web site which is hosted by my company Hartland - in the old days, 1995, before we got the Brooklands domain name we used one of the Hartland domain names (hartlana.co.uk) which is why you see the URL changing as you move around the site. In fact it has about 2,550 pages now (my dad always used to say "Never throw anything away" so it is too big to work properly on one name. We now actually use 5 or 6 different domain names.

So - Strad seems to have been picking his photos up from part of our site at:

http://www.hartlana.co.uk/bphoto/index1.htm

but you can also see our other sections at:

www.brooklandstrack.co.uk
www.goodwood-racing.com
www.goodwood-festival.com
www.hartlana.co.uk/bphoto
www.hartlana.co.uk/bsarchive

So there you go.

I have to say this for legal reasons: The photos are copyright but anyone who wants to use them to help the cause on a non profit basis is welcome. However it is standard practice to credit 'The Brooklands Society' whenever they are used.

Thanks to you all for your continued support. We won't be beaten down by brute force no matter who the brutes are.

Rob

Lovely--pure and simple

I was at Brooklands to see it run this afternoon - nice beastie!! :D

Now that is completely unfair.:(
But doesn't she look lovely all polished up like that? :)
The pic was from Goodwood. My ( alas , never to be achieved) ambition is to drive that beastie.

Very definitely one of the most evocative racing cars of all time.

Maisie, that was a lucky break to catch the Napier-Railton out at play this early in the season. I've only ever seen it run at the Brooklands Reunion in high summer.

Did your itinerary give you a chance to wander round the museum exhibits much? Was Parry Thomas' "Babs" still there, or has Owen Wyn Owen taken her back to Wales already?

Originally posted by TimD


Did your itinerary give you a chance to wander round the museum exhibits much? Was Parry Thomas' "Babs" still there, or has Owen Wyn Owen taken her back to Wales already?

That is one superb car!!:) Saw it at the Pendine Museum of Speed a couple of years back - great to see it where it at Pendine where it it achieved its fame.

Does anyone recognize this board game? Can one be aquired without dropping an arm and a leg?

Tim,

This is going to sound very sad, but true to form the Maestro Owners Club committee spent most of the day debating club stuff, were about the last to leave, neglected the museum(!!) and were late out of the car park after comparing vehicles - AGAIN! Next time, I'll make a weekend of it and have a thorough look round. *hangs head in shame*

Oh, Maisie!!!!

Never mind - this still means I get the excuse to do my Professor Higgins impression if you ever make the mistake of being at Brooklands the same day as me....!


Strad, I don't know anything about the board game, but the set of driver profile stamps it's resting on (top left corner) is worth a small king's ransom if they're still intact.

I wish! ;)