I had checked out at Brooklands museums homepage and found out that they had a breakfast meeting for classic vehicles on last Sunday. Nearest trains station to Brookelands museum is Weybridge, only 38 minutes from Waterloo train station in London…….so naturally I made some plans to go out to the English countryside….I lost many point when I told my wife and son that we had to get up at 06.30 that Sunday…..I lost a lot more when there was signals problems at Weybrigde station…..The train had to go by and set us off at a station in the middle of nowhere to wait for a train in the opposite direction……One hour wait…No shop, no toilets. We missed the breakfast with good margin.
And the “short” walk from the station to the museum is not as short as the museum map says……Grab a taxi at the station…..Everything will and can be used against you……
Brooklands is a very special place. It`s the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation. The world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit. The first official race was held on the 6th July 1907 and the last ever meeting on 7th August 1939.
With the outbreak of World War Two the aerodrome was requisitioned by the Government and devoted to the production of Vickers and Hawker aircraft including Hurricane fighters and Wellington bombers.
When peace returned there where high hopes of the Track’s recovery, but the costs were too high. Temporary hangars had been built on the Track, German bombs had exploded on various parts of the track in 1940 and camouflage was used heavily in the form of tree planting and canvas houses to obscure Brooklands’ distinctive shape which made it an easy target for the Luftwaffe. The government could not see its way to releasing Brooklands until 1949 and the track was sold to Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd in 1946 and motor racing at Brooklands gradually became no more than a memory.
Today the spirit of Brookelands lives on at the museum and the old restored buildings.
Malcolm Campbell, The World Land Speed Record holder, built his first shed here in 1926 and extended it in 1931. The building, surviving today, was used by him as office, workshop and showroom until around 1935. It was here that his successful ‘Blue Bird’ racing and world record-breaking cars were often kept, displayed or even built.
The Brookland Clubhouse was built in 1907 to accommodate the race track officials such as stewards, the Clerk of the Scales and the Clerk of the Course. If you have a red car without a roof this is a great place to park it…..
The construction of Brooklands Motor Course in 1907 was a wonder of its age. Much of the Track and many of its original buildings and features have survived to this day, some as Listed Buildings or part of a Scheduled Monument.
Wellington IA serial number N2980 is on display. Built at Brooklands and first flown in November 1939, this aircraft took part in the RAF's daylight bombing raids on Germany early in the Second World War but later lost power during a training flight on 31 December 1940 and ditched in Loch Ness. All the occupants survived except the rear gunner, who was killed when his parachute failed to open. The aircraft was recovered from the bottom of Loch Ness in September 1985.
You can see part of the old motor course behind the aero plane display.
