The Things They Say…

“What is it about piers that seems to attract conservationists? Earlier we have talked of the plans to restore Brighton’s second pier, and now there’s a scheme afoot to raise £1-million to preserve a unique Victorian pier at Clevedon, Somerset… More comprehensible is the Mary Rose Trust to recover the Henry VIII warship (sunk in 1545)… and public reaction has so far produced £1.7-million in three years, of the £4-million estimated to be necessary… Several more millions will then be required to install the ‘Mary Rose’ in a special Tudor Ship Museum east of Portsmouth, some time in the next 20 years. Brooklands, like the ‘Mary Rose’, is a unique part of British history, and must be preserved.” – From an Editorial in the current issue of The Brooklands Society Gazette. This is the sort of fighting-talk which should get National coverage, if the preservation of what is left of Brooklands is to be saved. It is quite astonishing that piers, old ships and narrow-gauge railways, etc., receive enormous financial support for restoration purposes, when Brooklands where so much motor-racing and aviation history was established over a long period and where so much pleasure was given to such a large number of people on typically British sporting occasion, remains largely neglected, the Preservation Fund opened by the Brooklands Society standing at a mere £2.000. Shame on all motoring enthusiasts and preservationists! – W.B.