Brooklands Reunion - 1976

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The 8th Annual Reunion of Brooklands drivers, flyers and riders organised by the Brooklands Society was held at the Track on Sunday, June 27th. Following on the success of last year, it was again an all-day affair, officially starting at 11 a.m. but as is usual at any of the Society’s gatherings, members and their guests Started arriving more than two hours before “opening time”.

Due to the division of Brooklands caused by the sale of all the land west of the River Wey to Oyster Lane Properties Ltd., the programme had to be altered this year. The Vickers Gate, which is on the bridge which carries the Campbell Circuit over the river, is now the only way of getting from the Clubhouse and Members Hill side over to the Aerodrome side, so the old “tour” of the Track had to be modified. Since BAC have had to fill up all the Members Banking with jigs and other debris from the west side, members wishing to see this most interesting part of Brooklands had to do so on foot.

The cars collected in the Paddock made a splendid sight, the Multi-Union being the centre-piece, specially brought from Honington. Nearby were the Vauxhall-Villiers and the White Riley, the Straker-Squire, exDobson ERA and Paul Grist’s Strasbourg Sunbeam and, with owner just back from Le Mans, Alan dc Cadenet’s P3 Alfa Romeo. And the list would not be compleze without mention of the Birkin single-seater Bentley and Ian Preston’s Type 35B Bugatti and the Appleton Special with its twin rear wheels. Elsewhere was Jenks in the Riley-engined Joyce AC, Robbie Hewett in her Lagonda, and the splendidly re-built 1924 200-Mile Race Alvis.

The Test Hill was opened by T.A.S.O. Mathieson and Alan Hess in Dudley Gahagan’s Type 57 Bugatti, to be followed by a host of other specially-chosen cars, bikes and three-wheelers, until a halt was called. The time had come to move over to the Aerodrome side for luncheon.

A first-class catering firm had laid on an excellent table d’hote meal or a la carte, and tables and chairs were laid out with table cloths in the old Hawker sheds. Here, also. was Edith Carlisle with her bar which, before being opened to all, was used as a committee room to entertain VIPs. Older members will remember Edith as mine-host for over 20 years at “The Hand and Spear”. During and after lunch television cameras were filming various cars going round the top of the cleared Byfleet Banking. This was the firSt time this had been used since it was cleared for the making of the “Magpie Special” by Thames Television.-R.O.W-K .

Brighton Speed Trials

It looked as if the Brighton Speed Trials, over that historic Madeira Drive course which now measures a s.s. kilometre, and which was specially laid down for motor racing in 1905, might be discontinued, due to financial difficulties. Had this happened it would have been most regrettable, for not only is this the oldest British speed event, with Shelsley Walsh, to have survived, but it provides all the atmosphere of the old-time seaside Sprint events, is excellent for settling personal arguments as to which car is faster of a pair, whether fully-equipped sports car or racing car, and it represents the top form of this class of the sport, with cars dispatched up the course in pairs. So we are glad to announce that Fribourg & Treyer, the tobacco people, arc sponsoring this event, which will take place as usual, on September 11th. -W.B.

The Things They Say…

“Bill has helped organise the car for me from the makers. He works for their London agents. I love powerful cars and am used to handling them. This one will go up to 150 m.p.h.”-Actress Sally Thomsett, telling the Sunday Express about a Morgan 4/4 she is taking on holiday. Either her boy friend, racing driver Bill Wykham, is a wizard tuner or Peter Morgan ,has omitted to tell us about his new super-fast 4/4 model.