Memories stirred

I have contributed a few articles and comments through the pages of OBM and now that everything has virtually stopped – no events, no shows and no meetings requiring coverage and reporting – I thought you might like something to ‘get yer teeth into’.

Have a look at Google, and do a search for ‘Clipstone Speed Trials’. The Motor Sport magazine article is a bit long-winded but gets interesting a few paragraphs in.

First, an explanation. I live in Clipstone, a small coal mining town near to Mansfield. Clipstone nestles close to Sherwood Forest, so there is quite a bit of history around, and living close to Robin Hood’s gaff means we don’t need to go far to immerse ourselves in daring-dos and interesting places to visit. In fact, during the First World War, Clipstone had the largest tented Army barracks with some 3000 plus soldiers being prepared for service. There is a very long access track which is close to my house and apparently Colonel T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) would ride his Brough Superior along this track... at speed.

So then, whilst out for a Covid-19 exercise walk, we came across a wooden bus stop shelter with some information displayed in a case. I found I was reading about the very first ‘speed trials’ held on the Duke of Portland’s driveway... the supposed track that we walked, assuming it was an unmetalled Army access road was in fact the remains of a tarmac road i.e. the Duke’s driveway – some driveway at over a mile in length! This was used for the very first speed trials of motorcycles and cars in 1900.

So, on the internet you may have seen some of the pictures of bikes and cars, the wooden wagons in the brick built barn are still there to this day in apparently the same condition and apparently unmoved in all this time from their original resting spots. It made me wonder if Mortons Archive might have photos from this/these events?

We also found out that the Brough Motorcycle factory was in Nottingham, and the test riders proving each bike before release to their owners would ride the 16 miles to the White Gates Hotel which is almost next to the entrance to the duke’s driveway, an ideal test track for 80 or 100mph proving tests (depending on the bike model). I’m learning things here and it’s only taken 13 years living in Clipstone to discover this latest fact.

Unfortunately, it seems that we have no images of Clipstone in the expansive Mortons Archive, not of a digital form anyway. However, images are continually being scanned and added, so some may appear in the future. Ed.

I am a recent convert to Old Bike Mart, and I must say that I’m loving it. I’m 80 and it’s just taken more than 60 years off my life. Long forgotten memories have come flooding back – North London, Kingsbury, Wembley, Neasden, the North Circular Road and the Ace Cafe – those were the days!

I live in rural Bedfordshire now and am still riding, just.

What caught my attention was a letter entitled ‘Sprinting days revisited’, and a reference to one Jack Terry, who shared commercial premises with my uncle, Len Collins, who was a well known sidecar sprinter in the 1940s and 50s. Len’s business was Technical Rebores and Jack’s was Elgar Engineering, if my memory is correct. As an apprentice toolmaker I was not allowed to do overtime at my own firm, so on Saturday mornings I would ride over to Len’s in Nightingale Road, Harlesden, and do odd jobs for him. Tea breaks were spent in Jack’s, sitting around a coke brazier with cheese rolls and mugs of tea.

Jack made pannier frames and carriers as I remember. Len was influential in me becoming interested in competition riding, i.e. trials, scrambles and grasstracking.

Thankyou J Hendersson for stirring up my brain cells and taking me down memory lane, it was great.

Incidentally, does anybody out there know the whereabouts or the fate of the following bikes? I have photos of them from the 1950s and 60s, the last two in action…. 1937 Triumph Speed Twin EXB 742; 1938 Triumph T90 single AVJ 337; 1954 BSA B32 trails 664 HME; and 1960 Greeves Scottish

574 WMT.