New Year Records at Brooklands Museum

The UK’s largest New Year’s Day gathering of classic vehicles which is held at Brooklands Museum on January 1st every year broke its previous record with just over 7,900 people attending throughout the day.

The historic site in Weybridge which is the Birthplace of British Motorsport and Aviation welcomed in excess of 1,500 classic cars, vans, motorcycles and commercials from all over the country – a figure which has also never been reached at this or any other event staged at the Museum before. Every inch of the 32-acre site was filled with a staggering variety of cherished vehicles including rare and early examples of Bentley, Riley, Austin and MG as well as sports and supercars. Over in the Aircraft Park, vehicles nestled amongst the Museum’s collection of Vickers-built aircraft, under Concorde and on the sloped Members’ Banking and Finishing Straight sections of the original 1907 Race Track.

Other highlights included owners who’d brought along hot rods, rally cars and the more unusual makes like Allard, Panhard and Jensen. Visitors came from as far as the West Country, Kent, Worcestershire and Sheffield. Extra catering outlets were set up around the site as well as a winter barbeque to cope with the extra demand and live music filled the air throughout the day adding to the classic atmosphere.

Alongside the rows of classics, visitors explored all the Museum exhibition areas including the Award-winning* Brooklands Aircraft Factory and Flight Shed. This vast, unique exhibition space tells the story of aviation design, testing and manufacture over an 80 year period at Brooklands through interactive displays, assembly lines and workshops. Beyond this on a connecting walkway from a mezzanine level is the Flight Shed which houses some of the Museum’s live aircraft, and leads out to the north end of the Finishing Straight.

Mr. Lord, a visitor who came from Ashington in a 1953 Morris summed up the day by saying, “Tremendous show, something for everyone at a wonderful venue".

The event kicks off a milestone year in aviation history that commemorates two aircraft inextricably linked with Brooklands with both having been built or partly built and developed at the site: 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first flight of Concorde and the centenary of the first non-stop transatlantic flight which was achieved with a Vickers Vimy bi-plane. Plans are coming together for an exhibition called The First and the Fastest along with fly-ins, a gala dinner, special guests and of course, showcasing these two aircraft which form just part of the aviation collection at the Museum.

These, along with many opportunities to participate in events, volunteering and learning are all detailed on the main Museum website at: www.brooklandsmuseum.com

Tags: Brooklands, Brooklands Museum, January 1st

12th - 16th February 2018

Hundreds of families will be spending February half term on the factory floor in the recently completed Aircraft Factory and Flight Shed at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey. Inside the newly restored Bellman hangar, visitors will be able to clock in and don factory workcoats as they begin their ‘Brooklands Apprenticeship’. A series of workshops and interactives explore some of the skills used over the 80-year history of aircraft manufacture at Brooklands. On a new mezzanine level, the story of design at Brooklands is told and visitors can design their own military and civilian aircraft from different eras of aviation including those of the future. Leaving the Factory and entering the new Flight Shed visitors will see some of the Museum’s collection of complete aircraft, including opportunities to sit in the cockpits of the Hawker Hunter and Harrier, as well as displays on radar, ground-to-air radio and pioneering pilots.

The Museum’s collections of pre-war racing cars and motorbikes, the incredible Barnes Wallis ‘Stratosphere Chamber’ and the Brooklands Aircraft Park, featuring post-war aircraft including the Sultan of Oman’s VC-10 will all be open as usual. As well as this, there are racing and flying simulator rides in the 4D Theatre, special Kids Tours on Concorde and for children aged 5-11 years the chance to design your own sky scene in a special aviation-themed Family Workshop with the Brooklands Learning Team. The drop-in workshop is FREE to attend and runs from 11am – 12noon and again from 1pm – 3pm. All materials are provided.

However, if visitors really want to feel the wind through their hair, the Museum’s long-established and hugely popular rides in vintage-style cars* and on London Bus Museum’s iconic double-decker buses* will also be operating during weekdays in Half Term. Car rides take in the challenging summit of Test Hill and the Members’ Banking, the steepest part of the original Race Track, as long as it’s not too wet or slippery, from 11am–1pm and again from 2 – 3.30pm. London Bus Museum’s double-decker bus trips will run every half an hour from 11am until 3.30pm, except for a short break over lunchtime.

The Sunbeam Café is the ideal place for refuelling and add to this a visit to the Museum Shop to pick up a souvenir and you have the recipe for a perfect day out come rain or shine. And don’t forget to look out for the Museum’s larger than life mascot, Bertie Bear, who will be roaming the site looking for fans to have his photograph taken with!

Normal admission prices apply for half term week and are: adults £13.50, seniors £11.50, children (5-16 yrs) £7, family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children) £35. The half-hour Concorde Experience is £5 for adults, £3 for children, 4D simulator rides are £4 for adults, £2 for children. *A minimum donation of £1 per passenger is requested for car and bus rides. The main visitor entrance for the Museum is via Mercedes-Benz World, on Brooklands Drive off Wellington Way between Weybridge and Byfleet.

For full details of events, directions and general Museum information, please telephone 01932 857381 or visit www.brooklandsmuseum.com. The Museum is open daily from 10am – 4pm in winter. Last entry is one hour before closing.

Tags: Brooklands, Brooklands Museum, Brooklands Race Track, Flight Shed, Aircraft Factory

Iconic Double-Deckers will Flock to Brooklands for 60th Anniversary

26 June 2016

Dozens of London Transport’s iconic Routemaster buses will be marking the double-decker’s 60th anniversary at the London Bus Museum’s summer event on 26 June. Supported by the Routemaster Association, the event at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey will feature live bus services and excursions, and the organisers hope to have every major variant of the Routemaster on display.

The first Routemaster bus entered service on Route 2 at Crystal Palace in February 1956 and the last was withdrawn from front-line service in December 2005. In all, 2,876 Routemasters were built of which, according to the Routemaster Association, 1,280 are still in existence. They can still be seen on the streets in London on Transport for London’s Heritage Route 15 between Tower Hill and Trafalgar Square and much further afield in various liveries and model variants.

Visitors to the event can expect to see a variety of visiting buses and other vehicles as well as London Bus Museum’s own collection, which is housed in LBM’s Cobham Hall on the Brooklands Museum site. There will be excursions* to Guildford and Hampton Court on historic buses and, more locally, there will be the opportunity to ride on a Horse Bus*. Face painting* and a Playbus* will be laid on to keep youngsters entertained, and entry to the event includes access to all the aviation and motoring displays of Brooklands Museum. Extra paid attractions at Brooklands Museum such as rides in the 4D Theatre and the half-hour Concorde Experience will also be running all day. Collectors will be able to peruse the Market Place with models, books, artefacts and other historical items for sale with extra catering outlets ensuring that visitors are never far away from refreshment.

Gates open to the public at 9.00am and admission charges are: Adults £11.00, Children £6.00, Seniors and Students £10.00, Family ticket (2 adults & up to 3 children) £30.00. The Concorde Experience is £5 for Adults and £3 for children, with rides in the 4D Theatre costing £4 for Adults and £2 for children.

*There will be a small charge for the bus excursions, the Horse Bus rides, Playbus and face painting.

Public parking will be in The Heights off Wellington Way – please follow event signage on the day. There will be a free bus service throughout day on Route 462 to take passengers using SouthWest Trains arriving at Weybridge Station to the event.

Tags: What's On, Brooklands, Brooklands Museum, Surrey, London Transport, Weybridge, Routemaster, buses

Re-Engineering of Brooklands gets budget boost

Brooklands Museum took a major step forward in its ground-breaking Re-Engineering Brooklands redevelopment programme with the announcement in last week’s Budget of a £1million grant from the Government. The award coincides with the start of construction work at the Museum to enable the re-interpretation of key parts of Brooklands’ aviation and motorsport history.

The Brooklands Aircraft Factory and Race Track Revival project is an £8million programme of work which will see the Grade-2-listed Aircraft Hangar restored and re-opened as the Brooklands Aircraft Factory. The new exhibition will display aircraft and objects dating back to the birth of British aviation, enabling visitors to see the individual stages of aircraft design and manufacture and try these skills out for themselves. Alongside the Hangar, a new Flight Shed will be built to display working historic aircraft and provide environmentally controlled storage for Brooklands’ unique archive and a new restoration workshop.

As part of its restoration the Bellman Hangar will be moved from its current position on the Finishing Straight of the original 1907 Race Track to an adjacent site, allowing that part of the track to be restored to its pre-World War Two condition. For the first time since 1939, the key elements of the world’s first purpose-built motor-racing circuit, the Finishing Straight, banked Track, Clubhouse and Paddock will be seen together, as the legendary pre-War racing drivers would have seen them.

Key parts of the project are to inspire young people in the STEM subjects and also to provide an Aviation Heritage Skills course for the Museum’s volunteers to enable them to look after the Museum’s extensive collection of historic aircraft.

A successful fundraising campaign, including an award of nearly £5million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, had seen work start on the site last October, but rising construction costs as well as the clearing of land which had been contaminated during the site’s aircraft manufacturing history had left a funding gap which needed filling to ensure the project could go ahead. Following a meeting with Brooklands’ local MP the Rt Hon Philip Hammond, the Museum applied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for support from the LIBOR Fund, which was granted in the Budget.

Mr Hammond said: “I have always taken a close interest in the development of Brooklands Museum and, when Director Allan Winn told me about the potential delays in progressing the Aircraft Factory and Race Track Revival Project because of the increase in building costs, I was glad to be able to offer to approach the Chancellor of the Exchequer to explore whether the Project could be supported with LIBOR funding.

“So I am delighted that the Chancellor has recognised the exceptional importance of the Museum by providing £1 million in funding to bridge the gap and allow this fantastic Project to go ahead.”

Allan Winn, Director and CEO of Brooklands Museum, said: “This support from the Chancellor of the Exchequer is crucial to enabling the delivery of our ambitious plans for the site and to help us tell the extraordinary story of Brooklands’ role in British aviation history. We are very grateful to the Chancellor for his support and to Philip Hammond MP for his role in helping us secure it”.

The Brooklands Aircraft Factory, the new Flight Shed and the restored section of Race Track are scheduled to open in summer 2017.


Brooklands Museum

BROOKLANDS - the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit, constructed at Weybridge, Surrey in 1907 - was more than a great sporting arena. Brooklands was the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation, home of Concorde and the site of many engineering and technological achievements throughout eight decades of the 20th century.

The Museum displays a wide range of Brooklands-related motoring and aviation exhibits ranging from giant racing cars, motorcycles and bicycles to an unparalleled collection of Hawker and Vickers/ BAC-built aircraft, including the Second World War Wellington Bomber, Viking, Varsity, Viscount, Vanguard, VC10, BAC One-Eleven and the only Concorde with public access in South East England. With displays in original buildings, motoring and aviation events and an extensive learning programme for schools and colleges, the past is brought to life again for over 185,000 visitors a year.

The Museum is open 360 days a year from 10am to 4pm (10am – 5pm in summer) and the admission prices are Adults £11, Seniors £10, Children (5-16 yrs) £6, Family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children) £30 with supplements payable for the half hour Concorde Experience and 4D Theatre rides.

Visit www.brooklandsmuseum.com for more information.

Tags: Local, What's On, Brooklands, Brooklands Museum, Brooklands Race Track

The Brooklands Double Twelve Motorsport Festival 18-19 June 2016

Silver theme takes the stage as entries open for unique motoring event at Brooklands Museum.

Entries are now open for the 2016 Brooklands Double Twelve Motorsport Festival, organized by Brooklands Museum and the Vintage Sports-Car Club.

The well-established format of three separate competitive events (Speed Trials, Driving Tests and Concours d’Élégance) held over two days, with aggregate scores from any two going towards overall Double Twelve awards, continues. But the status of the Concours is raised this year with its own full awards and the inclusion of a special “Anything Silver” class in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the official opening of the Museum in 1991.

In true Brooklands tradition, the Double Twelve Motorsport Festival will be held on the weekend closest to the date the original track opened in 1907, which this year is 18th and 19th June.

The three stand-alone competitive events are:

• The Double Twelve Speed Trials (Sprint) on the Mercedes-Benz World Circuit on Saturday
• The Double Twelve Concours held at the Museum across both days
• The Double Twelve Driving Tests on both sites on Sunday

The structure of the competitions allows entrants to choose which elements best suit them and their vehicle across both days making full use of the historic terrain at Brooklands and the circuit at neighbouring venue Mercedes-Benz World. For the first time this year, all three competitions will have their own individual awards, in addition to the aggregate trophies – hitherto, the Concours results have only been recognized as an element of the aggregate awards.

The classes within each competition are structured to give all ages of car from veterans to 1970s classics, and all types from nimble sports cars and thoroughbred racers to stately tourers, an equal chance of picking up an award, making this a very inclusive weekend for competitors, and an enthralling one for spectators.

Saturday’s Speed Trials are essentially for Pre-war cars (but do include an Invited class for 1950s Sports Cars) and this year will form a round of the VSCC’s inaugural MSA-registered Speed Championship; the Driving Tests and Concours are open to vehicles up to the 1970s, and include classes for vehicles of a type that could have raced at Brooklands had the track re-opened after World War Two, such as Jaguar XK120s and AC Cobras.

The special “Anything Silver” class for the Concours, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the official opening of Brooklands Museum to the public in 1991, caters not only for cars with silver-painted or polished aluminium coachwork, but also those with “silver” in their model names, such as Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts. Other notable classes in the other competitions include one for that perennial favourite, the aeroplane-engined Edwardian car, in the Speed Trials, alongside those for standard and modified sports-cars of differing eras.

Each event will have its own class and overall winners, but to qualify for a Brooklands Double Twelve award, an entrant must compete in any two of the three events and the combined scores of these will decide their Double Twelve placing.

A full list of classes now appears on the Double Twelve pages of the Museum website and at the VSCC website at www.vscc.co.uk, along with entry forms to download. All the up-to-date Festival information can be found on the Double Twelve button at www.brooklandsmuseum.com. Entrants are offered the exclusive use of a hospitality area in the charming, period splendor of the Edwardian Clubhouse, the chance to drive on motoring ‘hallowed ground’ and when competing, will be in the capable hands of the VSCC and Brooklands Marshals.

In addition to the competitive events, there is a list of other attractions throughout the weekend. The Vintage Mobile Cinema will be in attendance, showing period Brooklands films and news reel footage during both days, the Test Hill Challenge will be running on both days, providing much merriment as it invites practically anything on wheels (or legs) to reach the summit of that most famous peak, with Sunday lunchtime seeing a cavalcade of vehicles on the Mercedes-Benz World circuit.

Many Car Clubs will be coming along to showcase their cars, and the Sinclair C5s will be back. The weekend will culminate in the prize-giving ceremony in the main Paddock on the Sunday. For spectators, a day ticket gives access to all areas on both sites, Paddock and grandstand views along with the Museum's exhibits, collections and facilities.

Spectator tickets will be at the normal Museum admission prices of £11 for adults, £10 for Seniors and Students, £6 for Children (aged 5-16) and £30 for a Family ticket admitting 2 adults and up to 3 children. The Concorde Experience is £5 for adults and £3 for children, and rides in the 4D Theatre, including the Napier-Railton Experience, are £4 for adults and £2 for children. Visit www.brooklandsmuseum.com for more information.

Entry forms are now available on the Brooklands Museum and VSCC websites or for further information about the competitive events and the Test Hill Challenge, please contact Steve Castle, Head of Track & Air Events at the Museum at stevecastle@brooklandsmuseum.com or call 01932 857381 ext 244 or the VSCC Competitions Department at comps@vscc.co.uk or call 01608 644777 Ext 4.

Tags: What's On, Brooklands, Brooklands Race Track, VSCC Competitions, Napier-Railton Experience, Test Hill Challenge, Test Hill, VSCC, Steve Castle, Brooklands Museum, The Brooklands Double Twelve Motorsport Festival

Record Line-Up as Final Entries for Festival Weekend Announced

Historic racing cars with Brooklands History vie with modern Classics in a thrilling weekend of motorsport competition, stunning car displays and a site packed with music and entertainment for all at Brooklands Museum.

This two-day extravaganza is held on 13-14 June and will feature Speed Trials and a Concours on Saturday; Driving Tests on Sunday; and action on Test Hill on both days.

Each year there is something different at the Double Twelve and for 2015, the Ford Escort Mexico Mk 1 will be getting some attention on this, its 45th birthday. The organisers are pleased to reveal that both the winner and the 8th placed cars of the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally will be appearing at the event. These are the only two surviving works-prepared cars from that event and they have not been seen together for over 20 years.

The Campbell Car Park area will be occupied by 2CV Adventures who are inviting the public to take part in their Tin Snail Challenge: driving a 2CV seems quite simple until you learn that they have reverse steering for added hilarity. Times around a course will be recorded and a prize will be awarded for the fastest.

Music comes from vintage chanteuse Noelle Vaughn who will be selecting hits from the 1940s to the ‘60s to match some of the entries on show and extra food and drink outlets will give plenty of choice no matter where you’re watching the action. Special activities will be laid on for children, including ‘Peg Car Making’, races up Test Hill and pedal planes and cars for the under 5s.

Places are now full with over 100 entrants in the Double Twelve Speed Trials which take place on the Mercedes-Benz World circuit on Saturday, including cars with genuine Brooklands pre-war history such as James Cheyne’s Halford Special and Aston Martin “Razorblade” (driven by Colin Shaw), Terry Crabb’s ERA R12C and Ian Baxter’s Alta single-seater. Pre-1918 racers include a pair of American vehicles, John Dennis’ Packard Twin Six and Hugh Mackintosh’s Hudson Super Six.

With over 50 entries for the Driving Tests, which make full use of the Museum site on the Sunday, there is a truly eclectic mix of competitors, ranging in engine size from Guy Lachlan’s odd little 692cc Berkeley B95 Sports up to Neil Thorp’s 4.2 litre supercharged Hudson Spikins Special, and with apparently non-sporting saloons like Andrew Atherton’s Austin 1800S and Gus Manley-Clarke’s Rover 110 mixing it with agile pre-war sports cars. The historic landmarks of Test Hill, the Members’ Banking and Finishing Straight provide the ideal terrain for these tests which have their spirit in that most celebrated era of British Motorsport of the 1920s and ‘30s.

Entries in the Double Twelve Concours d’?légance include a pair of rare Alpine 110 sports car and two more of the Cars with genuine Brooklands racing history which will have competed in the Saturday Sprint – Paul Baker’s Richard Bolster Special and Julian Grimwade’s Fazer Nash Single-Seater. The weekend culminates with the prize-giving ceremony in the main Paddock on the Sunday with the largest final score achieving the coveted ‘Double Twelve Champion 2015’.

In addition to the activity of the festival itself, Brooklands Museum will be operating its other attractions including the Napier- Railton Race Experience in the 4D Theatre and the Concorde Experience, opening up its aircraft and Motoring Village for visitors to explore their world-class collections of cars, motorcycles, bicycles and the period charm of the Clubhouse, all from the bygone era which made Brooklands a destination of choice which continues to this day.

A full list of Classes and up-to-date Festival information can be found on the Museum’s website: www.brooklandsmuseum.com

Tags: Brooklands, 13-14 June, Festival Weekend, Speed Trials, Concours, Mercedes-Benz World

A fire-breathing aero-engined monster, a Formula 5000 car and hundreds of other exotics will star at Brooklands Museum’s annual Italian Car Day

Every square inch of Brooklands Museum’s 32-acre site will be crammed with Italian sports and super cars and motorcycles of all ages, each of them with that inimitable Mediterranean twist, for the 22nd Italian Car Day to have been organised at Brooklands in conjunction with Auto Italia magazine. The event, on Saturday 2nd May, is one of the biggest in the Museum’s calendar, with over 1,200 examples of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Fiat cars on show.

One of the highlights on display will be the amazing ‘Il Drago Ruggente’. Built on a 1924 Delage chassis, it is powered by a 27-litre Isotta Fraschini V12 engine from a World War 2 Caproni bomber. It is owned by Glenn Billqvist, who will be bringing it from Sweden especially for this event.

Max Wakefield’s rebuilt Lola T332 will be in action on the Mercedes-Benz World circuit in the midday parades as a tribute to the former Italian female Lola and F1 racer driver Lella Lombardi, together with ‘Il Drago’ and selected Fiat 500s, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, Lancias and Alfa Romeos, amongst others. Later in the afternoon, the action will return to Test Hill on the Museum site.

Supporting the event this year is prominent UK Ferrari specialists Hoyle-Fox, which will be displaying a “concours” Ferrari 330 GTC and a recently restored rare right-hand drive Dino 246 GTS in the desirable ‘Chairs and Flares’ option - so called because of its Ferrari Daytona seats, widened wings and Campagnolo wheels.

Throughout the day, the Paddock in front of the Clubhouse will be reserved for especially rare and interesting cars, with an extensive trade village selling models, spares and collectibles and additional food outlets around the site ensuring no-one goes hungry or thirsty.

The Museum’s motoring and aviation displays will be open as usual, including the Concorde Experience, 4D Theatre Napier-Railton Race Experience (extra charges apply) and the F1 Simulator. Entry for this event starts at £13 for adults if purchased in advance or £16 on the day, with family tickets at £35 in advance or £40 on the day. Advance tickets are available online until April 27 from www.brooklandsmuseumshop.com and from the Museum Shop in person until May 1.

Italian cars should enter the Museum site via the Campbell Gate off Brooklands Road (with a fast access lane for ticket holders). Parking for visitors in non-Italian cars will be in The Heights off Wellington Way - please follow event signage on the day. Gates open at 8am for ticket holders and 8.30am for those paying on the day.

Tags: What's on, motoring, Brooklands, Museum, Brooklands Race Track, Italian Car Day