Brooklands in Surrey, much restored, is now the home of a motor and aviation museum which is open to the public.
Brooklands is a legendary place in the annuls of motor racing history. It was the very first motor racing circuit built anywhere in the world.
It was created by racing enthusiast Hugh Locke King on his own land and its most prominent features were the two sections of banking which were 30 ft high and were designed so that the cars could achieve their maximum possible speeds.
Banking at Brooklands
It opened in 1907 and for the next thirty years it was at the very centre of motor racing sport. Record attempts were made there, along with the countless races and festivals that were held. It attracted all the big names of the day. Drivers who were pioneers, great heroes of their time. Without any of the safety devices of today or protective clothing and helmets (apart from the ones that pilots used) they risked their all for the thrill of speed.
The first ever British Grand Prix was held here in 1926 and a lap record was set at 85.99 m.p.h. by Sir Henry Segrave who drove a Talbot car. Sir Henry became the only driver to win a Grand Prix in a British car for 32 years. He subsequently changed from car racing and began trying to break the world water speed record. In 1930 he was killed on Lake Windermere in his efforts to create a faster time.
Sir Henry Segrave
During the 1930’s the most glamorous racer was Count Louis Zborowski who won many times at Brooklands in his enormous aero-engined racing cars which he constructed himself. He called each on of them in turn "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" after the noise made by their extremely crude exhaust pipes. Count Zborowski was later killed at the Monza circuit in 1924. After his death, the original Chitty was bought by the two sons of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes) and the car continued to be used for speed trials well into the 1930’s. She was then abandoned and left to rot away at Brooklands. However, she was still to achieve fame, maybe immortality, in a different way. Ian Flemming ( creator of James Bond) wrote the children’s book "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and used the name because he knew of Count Louis's cars. The book has become a classis and has been made into a film.
Count Louis with Chitty
Brooklands also lead the way in aviation pioneering. At the outbreak of the second world war Brooklands was closed as a motor racing circuit and taken over for the production of military aircarft. Thereafter it became overgrown and derelict, never to be used for racing again.
Percy Lambert was a much loved and colourful member of the motor racing fraternity and it was here in 1913 that he became the first person to cover 100 miles in a hour. He then asked his girlfriend to marry him. She had mixed feelings because she worried about his love of speed. However, she agreed to marry him provided he gave up on racing. He consented and they became engaged.
Percy Lambert
Sadly, he could not resist one last attempt and must have talked her into letting him do it. The misty October morning dawned (Halloween) and he began his attempt to beat his own record. He was averaging 110 m.p.h. and continued to do so for over 100 laps where suddenly a rear tyre burst and his car hurtled off the track and disintegrated. Some say he was killed outright, some that he died in hospital shortly thereafter. He was greatly mourned as he was much admired.
Caretakers and curators look after Brooklands now and many of the them have reported very weird occurences. None of those old cars race nowadays although Brooklands does hold car rallies and other events, but engines revving in the middle of the night or early morning are regularly heard - at a time when no cars are in action. The sound of footsteps is another phenomenon. On investigation, nobody is found in the area where the footsteps have been heard. The eerie noise of squealing tyres, the smell of hot oil, the sound of old cars, gone for many decades.
Many people have witnessed a man in white overalls and a leather helmet walking across the car park towards the banking before disappearing before their eyes. He is seen regularly and his description perfectly fits Percy Lambert. Is he still striving to complete the record that ended in such a disastrous fashion?
It would seem that, for poor Percy, the race goes on…………….
