Our Classics
Geoff the T2 takes a slow cruise to a historic Lincolnshire hillclimb. No, really…
1972 VOLKSWAGEN T2 CAMPER
One snag about living in Lincolnshire is that attending motorsport events usually involves a lot of driving to get there and back. So, when a historic event was revived less than 30 miles up the road, this was good news indeed.
I was invited to the private launch party of the Syston Park Speed Trials, just north of Grantham, back in September 2015. This revival came about when some enthusiasts were driving back from a hillclimb event further south. ‘ Wouldn’t it be great if we had a hillclimb in Lincolnshire?’ went the conversation. Once the laughter subsided, someone mentioned that there had indeed been a regular hillclimb near Grantham up until the late 1930s. Further research showed that motorsport had actually taken place within the grounds of Syston Park, originally with a hillclimb in 1906 (pre-Brooklands) and then a 1.75-mile full circuit was developed. Meetings at Syston attracted up to 30,000 visitors at its peak, but it all came to a close in 1939 with the outbreak of World War Two. Much of the track disappeared beneath undergrowth during the ensuing years, but a half-mile section (including the original hillclimb) was still intact. Discussions with the owning Clegg family were positive, and the launch party went ahead. Public access for the party and subsequent inaugural public event in August 2016 – for which 500 people bought tickets – was via a farm track at the rear of the estate. But for 2017 a classic car park was introduced opposite the pre-war paddock for competing cars and motorcycles at the foot of the hill, with easier access from the road.
This meant that I could drive there in ‘Geoff’, my VW camper, this year and so we set off early on the morning of 27 August for a clear run north up the A15.
Approaching the outskirts of Bourne, I joined the town centre bypass – aptly named Raymond Mays Way ( local hero Mays tested his ERA R1A and participated in Syston Park’s trials in the 1930s) – then the picturesque A151 to Corby Glen, before taking a right turn on to a real B-road – the B1176 – which has many twisting curves and shifting gradients. It’s very popular with motorcyclists – and me!
Many gearchanges later, I skirted the suburbs of Grantham, then enjoyed a short, but pleasant run on the A607 past Belton House before arriving at Syston Park itself. I found myself actually driving on part of the old race circuit for a few yards, before parking up next to a blue 1985 Ford Transit. There were a couple more T2s parked up nearby, so there was some good lunchtime chat about bodywork, interiors and engines among owners of the ‘you show me yours and I’ll show you mine’ variety.
It was another great day for the Speed Trials (see our full report in CCW, September 13), but only pre-1939 cars and bikes are allowed up the hill, so I cadged a lift in Mark Fishpool’s 1935 Lanchester Woodie. This offered a great view of the course and the surrounding countryside. It took us a leisurely minute to complete the course, by which time Nigel Stennett-Cox’s 1934 Ford V8 40 was storming up the hill, having been set off at the timed interval between vehicles.
The event was all over for another year by 4pm, leaving Syston Park to return to its rural tranquillity.
Geoff and I retraced our tracks for the journey home, spotting another T2 and a T3 en route – and I was home in time for tea. Splendid!