PRESERVATION SOCIETY

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Brooklands Museum, C&SC gets privileged access to the incredible unseen archives of this most historic of all race circuits

Behind the scenes of a racing and aviation institution, the Brooklands Museum

When entrepreneurial landowners Hugh and Ethel Locke King were discussing how to go about spending a large portion of their not inconsiderable fortune, they decided that they quite fancied the idea of the world’s first purpose-built race track in their back garden. It was a mere nine months from commissioning the plans to the flag dropping on the opening day in 1907, meaning that Brooklands raced its way into the record books, and it continued to be the setting for many more records until the outbreak of war forced its closure in 1939.

Whisper it, but today the famous circuit is undergoing something of a revolution. The grand old dame of British motorsport has just been given a starring role on our television screens as the Brooklands Museum celebrates its 30th birthday in style. Secrets of the Transport Museum is a behind-the-scenes series on the Yesterday channel, highlighting the work its 850 volunteers put in all year round.

While the site has undergone many alterations over the past century, the most recent three decades of change have been set at a pace of which motoring and motorsport pioneer Selwyn Francis Edge would have been proud. In the early ’80s began the process of reviving the overgrown and derelict landmark, crammed with character and ghosts of past glories but sadly little else. Collections grew of cars, buses, ’bikes, aeroplanes and anything else with mechanical moving parts; buildings were rebuilt; the track was cleared; and in 1991

the museum was finally opened to the public.

Since then, the Brooklands Museum Trust has overseen quite the transformation. Many icons of land and air have been acquired by the Trust and now form the backbone of the Museum. The Wellington Bomber recovered from the bottom of Loch Ness is on display, along with many other Vickers and Hawker aircraft originally built at the Brooklands factory, brought home to see out their retirement in leafy Surrey and to illustrate the importance of the site to the war effort. Star of the show, however, is undoubtedly Concorde. Since its delivery in 2003, G-BBDG has been one of the Museum’s biggest draws and continues to wow the crowds some 45 years since its maiden supersonic flight.

Happily, however, static displays are only a part of the experience. Most of the vehicles are working exhibits and are regularly given their head at Brooklands events and at race meetings around the country. The jewel in the crown is John Cobb’s legendary Napier-railton. Acquired in 1997 with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Outer Circuit record-holder that was built at Brooklands in 1933 never fails to send onlookers reaching for their ear defenders when its 24-litre Napier Lion aero engine is fired up for another spectacular run.

With more than a century of history to curate, the temptation to simply keep a conventional museum ticking over must be strong, but the trustees should be applauded for not standing still and constantly evolving the exhibits to include modern Formula One cars and a 4D theatre experience, as well as the more expected pre- and post-war cars and planes. There’s also a superb collection of 1875-’79 London buses – you can even jump aboard one and ride around the Brooklands site at selected events, should you wish to re-enact a historical commute.

An area that is crucial to keeping Brooklands relevant is the Learning Programme, which brings more than 13,000 school children a year to the site to engage in practical demonstrations of the science, technology, engineering and maths employed in the restoration and maintenance of the various exhibits.

In 2010, landlord Japan Tobacco International handed over the land’s freehold to the Museum, ensuring that this most historic site’s future is secured for generations to come.

Thanks to the Brooklands Museum team (brooklandsmuseum.com)

The Clubhouse was the social and administrative centre of the venue, built in 1907 and extended and evolved throughout the life of the track. Today (top) it continues to provide a focal point for all activities around the site

Crowds watching racing on the Campbell Circuit in 1938. Designed by and named after Land Speed Record legend Sir Malcolm, it was built for the ’37 season to allow Brooklands to compete with the emergence of Crystal Palace and Donington

Spectators had the option of paying to come in as a oneoff, joining as members for paddock access or, for more adventurous youngsters (far left), sneaking in on a punt on the river that ran under the banking

Racing at Brooklands was always a family affair. Above: youngsters give a bump-start and, left, Elsie ‘Bill’ Wisdom with daughter Ann, later a successful rally driver and navigator. Among others to compete were the Evans siblings – Doreen, Denis and Kenneth – Alfred Moss (Sir Stirling’s father), and even Tiff Needell’s dad

The River Wey was a big obstacle, with three bridges needed to span it (two for the Outer Circuit, one for the Campbell). Right: workmen carry out maintenance on the Campbell Circuit bridge, which was also used by the aircraft factory to cross to the airfield

Taken during the 1936-’37 close season, these images reveal the huge amount of work involved in the creation of the new Campbell Circuit, which was opened in October 1937 Right: post-ww2 the track fell into disrepair, with several areas used for storage by the aircraft factory, and was largely ignored. Preservation work was initiated by the Brooklands Society in the late ’60s, the group instrumental in the preservation of Brooklands before the museum was created in 1985 and opened in 1991 WW2 forced the end of racing as aircraft manufacture took centre stage. Vickers Wellington bombers and Hawker Hurricane fighters were built here, both essential to the war effort

Right: crowds watched from the hillside with their picnics, or from the comparative luxury of the Royal Box in the Fork grandstand. The Duke and Duchess of York (later George VI and the Queen Mother) visited several times