Club News, February 1954

N. London M.C.
For the first event of 1954 there will he a film show at the White Lion Hotel, High Street, Edgware, Middlesex, at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday. February 10th. At the last film show held by this club there were over 250 people present, and so that they can ensure that all persons present have proper seating accommodation it has been decided that admittance can be by ticket only. Tickets are available from the Hon. Secretary — G. F. Luck, 27, Ferney Road, East Barnet, Herts, or from G. J. Waple (Barnet 2919).

Shelsley On Sundays
It has now been decided, after numerous requests from competitors and the public, to hold both meetings on Sundays, the dates being: National meeting, Sunday, June 20th, and International meeting, Sunday, August 29th. These dates have been approved by the R.A.C. and F.I.A. and both meetings are officially approved by the S.M.M. & T. for trade participation and support and the advertising of results. Practising will take place on the Saturday before each meeting.

All communications in connection with Shelsley and the Midland A.C. generally should now be sent to the new address of the Midland A.C.’s office: Temple House, 184, Bath Row, Birmingham 15.

Racing At Southport
Southport, once famed for its sand-racing, is aiming to bring its name to the fore in the world of motor sport again. About 150 enthusiasts attended the inaugural meeting of the Southport Auto-sports Club, held in the Prince of Wales Hotel on January 4th.

One of the main projects of this new club, as may be expected, is the revival of sand-racing, which before the war attracted crowds of 30,000 to the Lancashire holiday resort. The members — already they number nearly 200 — intend to organise other sporting events. Trials, hill-climbs, rallies and a concours d’elegance are planned.

Co-founders of the club are Mr. G. L. McLean and Mr. F. T. Duffy, and at the inaugural meeting they were elected chairman and secretary respectively.

Mr. Duffy outlined the aims of the club and recalled those pre-war days when world-famous motorists like Malcolm Campbell made use of Southport’s seven-mile straight. “We have the best beach in the country,” he claimed. Several world record attempts were made at Southport and speeds approaching 300 m.p.h. were reached. The new club, said Mr. Duffy, anticipated the full support of the Corporation in providing labour and flagging the courses. They had been promised, too, that the first major event held on the beach would be televised.

There were some critics of the sand-racing scheme. Mr. George Leigh questioned the practicability of racing on sand in view of the speeds reached by the machines of today. He was not sure that Southport’s sand now was as suitable for racing as it had been before 1939. He was, however, quite prepared to support the scheme, although he felt it was being started too late, he did not think it would ever regain its pre-war popularity and gave as his reason the construction of the new road-racing circuit at Oulton Park, only 50 miles away, and the possibility of a new circuit at Aintree in Liverpool. Young enthusiasts, he thought, would not risk ruining their machines on sand, when they could enter for road-races near by. Before the war there had been no racing circuits in the vicinity.

Mr. Duffy replied that Stirling Moss and Mike Hawthorn had both expressed their keen interest in the scheme, and he was confident that there would he plenty of entrants. The speeds reached in prewar record attempts were higher than any attained by modern racing cars.

Mr. McLean said motor-cycle racing on the beach and an international hydroplane event on the Marine Lake were also planned. Sunday hydroplane races in 1953 had been watched by 25,090 people.

The representative of the R.A.C. at the meeting was county manager Mr. W. C. Hosegood, of Liverpool. Reg Parnell and Geoff Duke, who lives in Southport, had both promised to attend but were unable to get to the meeting. It was reported that Parnell had left Derby for Southport but seemed to be making poor time. Officials elected were: Mr. G. McLean, chairman; Mr. R. A. Levers, vice-chairman; Mr. F. T. Duffy, secretary; Mr. L. E. Harris, treasurer; Messrs. Charnley, K. Bridge, J. Watts, V. Kilner, R. A. J. Holding, T. Taylor, R. McKillop and Miss Pam Tirrell, committee.