Obituary
B. H. Davenport
Basil Davenport died, aged 75, after fighting a long illness with his characteristic determination. His name and meritorious racing career will for ever be associated with Shelsley Walsh and GN. Although Davenport raced his home-tuned GNs of which the most notable was his orginal Spider, costing £105, in Sand Races and Speed Trials, the outstanding achievements of this remarkable and lovable combination were at Shelsley Walsh. There Basil broke the record with his GN Spider in 1926, 1927, and at both the 1928 meetings, his last record climb taking 46.2 seconds, thus cocking-a-snook at the polished, professionally built and prepared, racing cars.
The deliberately scruffy Spider which was so very much the creation of B.H.D., the amateur driver whose business was silk-spinning at Macclesfield, also made fastest time at Shelsley Walsh on three other occasions. The intimates of these successes were recorded in Motor Sport for December 1957. That Davenport clocked 42.31 seconds at Shelsley Walsh after the war with his 2-litre Spider is a measure of the staying power of the man and his cars. B.H.D. made his last appearance there when he was driven up the hill last year by Parker in the B.H.D. Special, the last chance we had to applaud a motor racing enthusiast the like of whom will never be seen again. The heart-felt sympathy of all fellow enthusiasts must go out to Mrs. Davenport at this unhappy time.
Roy Nockolds
AS WE close for Press we are deeply saddened to hear that Roy Nockolds has died, at the age of 69. He was well known for his many motor race and aviation paintings and portraits, being by profession an artist. His pictures depicted speed without the imaginary appendages used by some other artists in this field. Nockold’s better pictures have appeared in Motor Sport and he exhibited at the Royal Academy etc. During the war Roy painted aviation scenes for the RAF and in more recent times he was an avid supporter of the Brooklands Society, of which until recently he was Chairman. He is succeeded by two elder brothers. We offer our heart-felt sympathy to Mrs. Nockolds and her daughter.