You were there...

This is the first of a series showcasing photos from readers’ archives. We begin with the early post-war shots of John Stock

Although he lives in Cornwall, lifelong motorsport enthusiast John Stock, 73, was born and raised in Essex — close to the short-lived Boreham circuit. It was there, at the Daily Mail Trophy meeting in 1952, that he took some of these photos — in the BRM pit.

“My father was a marshal, so through him I got a pass to be in the pits. It was a decent track: fast and flat. I had this small Agfa camera, which usually went wrong! But these pictures came out as Ken Wharton and Froilan Gonzalez got ready for the race. Gonzalez was sitting on the pitwall and I got his autograph and spoke to him; he was very jolly and relaxed. I rated him — he was the only driver, it seemed to me, who really got the BRM V16 to go. Of course, that day was wet and he crashed after three laps.”

John attended the first post-war meeting in Britain at Gransden Lodge in 1946, and travels overseas with his father were an annual event: Dundrod and the Jersey Road Race. His camera was also regularly in action at Silverstone: “I went to every single meeting there from 1948 until ’75!”