The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
His love of Fife racing put Murray Walker in the fast lane
There was no mistaking the highpitched enthusiasm of Murray Walker during his time behind the microphone in Fife.
Walker, who would become the voice of Formula One, would drive from London to commentate on motor cycling at the start of a career that would see him become a household name.
Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club (KDMC) archivist Jake Drummond said Walker, who recently died aged 97, would be sadly missed although his mark will live on in motorsport.
His father, Graham, was the son of William Walker of Aberdeen, a company secretary of the Union Castle shipping line.
Graham developed a passion for motor cycles at an early age. He was a successful trials and roadracer, crowning his career with victory in the 1931 Isle of Man TT.
Graham took on the role of editor of Motor Cycling magazine and started a second career as a radio commentator. He was joined around the race circuits by son Murray who also raced motorbikes following the Second World War.
“You either loved what your father did or you loathed it,” he explained.
“But my father was a great man, I was very fond of him, and I wanted to be like him.”
He had success in motorcycle trials, particularly in the International Six Days Trial where he won a gold medal, and the Scottish Six Days Trial in which he received a first-class award.
Walker forged a highlysuccessful career as an advertising executive which dovetailed with the commentary role that would ultimately come to define him.
He shared commentary duties with his father Graham at Beveridge Park races in Kirkcaldy in 1950 where thrills and spills were the order of the day.
Walker would drive to Kirkcaldy from London and said he wished he had known about Beveridge Park when he briefly competed in motorcycle races himself.
Road racing began in Scotland with the 1948 Kirkcaldy Grand Prix which was held at Beveridge Park, and drew the top highspeed racers from across the country and abroad.
There was also car racing in the town park in the early 1950s, with names like Ken Tyrrell and Ivor Bueb racing ‘the wrong way round’ in 500cc powered cars.
Walker went on to become the voice of the Saturday afternoon scrambles live on BBC Grandstand where he returned to Kirkcaldy to call the action.
Mr Drummond said: “The connection between Murray Walker and the KDMC was made many years before the 1948
Kirkcaldy Grand Prix. Walker’s father Graham was a friend of a few of our club committee members in the days before the Second World War.
“From 1935 Graham was covering motor sport events all over Europe for the BBC and had a close connection to many clubs as editor of Motor Cycling magazine.
“Graham did much to promote our Kirkcaldy speed events on the sands and in 1948 our venture into proper road racing events with the Kirkcaldy Grand Prix.
“In July 1950 he was joined as commentator for the BBC at Beveridge Park by his son Murray who shared his dad’s love of the
sport and was also a handy rider on a motorcycle.
“The commentary from Beveridge Park went out live on BBC radio and one motorcycle racing supporter I spoke to recalls being given permission from his factory foreman to listen in to the reports as he was unable to get the Saturday off to attend.
“Murray knew many of the club members and had served in the latter years of the Second World War with some of them.”
Sadly, Mr Drummond said Murray Walker and his father Graham’s commentary from the early days at Kirkcaldy was taped over by the BBC.
“When I contacted Murray a few years back to
ask about the radio recordings – and the television footage broadcast by the BBC in 1967 – he was disappointed to have to relate that the film stock had been reused. Footage from our scramble events when the Grandstand Trophy races were held in the 1960’s at Kilrie just outside Kirkcaldy, were also gone, much to Murray’s chagrin.
“He did mention that every Party Political Broadcast had been retained.
“Murray was always happy to have a chat about his time at Kirkcaldy events. He will be sadly missed by motorsport fans world wide, and especially in this wee corner of Fife.”