Miscellany, August 1998

A nice gesture when the new by-pass at Paddock Wood was completed, it was opened by the 1896 Arnold, which was built nearby at East Peckham, Kent, with Virginia Arnold, grand-daughter of the car’s designer, as passenger. After the road had been declared open, VIPs were driven along it in a 1930s Rolls-Royce owned by the husband of an East Peckham Clerk, Mrs Blackmore. The Arnold was made a quarter of a mile from the site of the by-pass.

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Kent Robinson of the Rover 8 register, is seeking a single-cylinder Rover as a companion for his vintage Rover 8. This has unearthed some interesting history of ‘Boanerges’ which was once driven in Brighton Runs by students of Imperial College in London as their mascot, until it was re-dated as 1905 and became ineligible. Before that it took part in the first re-run of the Emancipation Run, in 1927. It seems that in 1924 it had been used as a platform for an effigy of Ramsey MacDonald which was pushed to No10 Downing Street and then pushed by the police to Scotland Yard, its owner unknown. It was last heard of at Crystal Palace circuit in the 1930s, driving round to advertise the next race meeting. After which KN 1443, as the Rover was registered in 1918 (originally it was presumably given an earlier mark) vanished. Can anyone tell us more?