Resurrecting Brooklands

Among the targets of the Brooklands Museum is the plan to resurrect a useable circuit in the historic grounds, using part of the Campbell Circuit, part of the banking, and some of the airfield roads – not for racing of course, but as a track over which cars old and new could be tested and demonstrates.

We used to think that motoring garden-party could be a great success, if the manufacturers’ latest creations and interesting historic cars were paraded past visitors as they took strawberry-and-cream teas and listened to an intelligent commentary. It could have been done to perfection at Goodwood, for instance.

Perhaps this is what Sir Peter Masefield had in mind when he announce the prospects for such a course at Weybridge to a large gathering of Brooklands Society and Friends of Brooklands Museum members recently. Will it be possible for members to drive their cars round the circuit, as it was at Brooklands proper before the war?

Meanwhile, Sir Peter sees a £10-million development ahead for the Museum (which should open its doors to the public by 1991) with the complete project taking perhaps ten years to achieve. One person who approves is John Cobb’s widow, who has given to the Museum the trophy presented to her late husband for his all-time lap-record of 143.44 mph in the Napier-Railton in 1935. WB