Looking for info about Hillclimb at Caerphilly

[PratJeffley]

Does anyone have any information about the Hillclimb events held at Caerphilly, starting in 1907? I'm particularly interested in locating the course--I've seen several photos of the events, including May's Bugatti and Campbell's Sunbeam, but it's difficult to place the course, even for a local (which I am) because of the changes in the last 70 years.

Thanks...
Jeff

[Steve Wilkinson]

In Chris Mason's superb book there are a lot of references to Caerphilly Hillclimb but no indication of where it was; however there are two photos of the venue both supplied by the National Motor Museum.

You could try Beaulieu's website and ask if they have any details or could supply copies of the photos from which you might be able to ascertain where the course was.

[PratJeffley]

Steve,
Thanks for the pointer. I've seen the two pictures of the Caerphilly event in the mpl collection--the first is the famous image of Raymond Mays losing a wheel off his Bugatti, and the second is a view of what is claimed to be the top of Caerphilly Mountain. I've also found a third image on the SandSpeedWales web site (http://www.automotive-art.com/product.asp?id=GF0010) which shows Leopoldo Alphonso Villa and Malcolm Campbell racing a Sunbeam at the event.

All three photos are difficult to place, though I have found a reference to the race on John Davies' website (http://freespace.virgin.net/john.davies0/venues.html) which places the course on "the Mountain road". One of the principle routes to Cardiff over Caerphilly Mountain is called Mountain Road, which makes it a fair candidate. There's another bit of evidence which almost clinches it--most records agree that the course was 1194 yards. Using Google Earth, I've measured from the car park at the top of the mountain to a junction on the road just above the town, and the result of my rather crude survey was 1195 yards. Q.E.D. (ish).

My only reservation revolves around that Raymond Mays photograph. Someone has painted a version of it, and the image is somewhat larger than the photos I've seen on the web (http://www.automotive-art.com/product.asp?id=GF0010). This shows the roofs of houses on the left, which are a little difficult to locate in relation to the course. I still find the evidence of the course distance quite compelling though.

[PratJeffley]

The eagle-eyed and sharp-fingered amongst you will have noted my incompetence in publishing the wrong link for SandSpeed Wales. The correct link is http://www.sandspeedwales.co.uk/5907.html, and the photo of Campbell and Villa in the Sunbeam is about halfway down the (rather long) page.

[RAP]

I have looked in T R Nicholson's book "Sprint" but it does not add much. For the first 1907 event it says "The Cardiff Motor Club found a fitting course on which to hold the first open hillclimb in Wales. It lay on the Mountain Road at Caephilly, was 1194 yards long, averaged 1-in-8.6 and rose to 1-in-6.2". References to later events imply it was the same course in use. For the last 1924 event it says "a surface even looser than usual added to the hill's horrors. Several tyres burst and other things broke including Raymond May's two Bugattis"

[PratJeffley]

Thanks for the information. I think I've placed the course now, though there are still a few anomalies. If the course was, as published, 1 in 8.6 overall, then in 1194 yards it would rise over 400 feet. The candidate course I've plotted, which finishes at the road's highest point, rises only 350 feet, which would make the overall course gradient 1 in 10. I can't find a stretch of Mountain Road 1194 yards in length which rises by anything more than about 350 feet. To make that fit properly, it would have to have been over 1300 yards long.

Ho-hum. I'll make a trip to the local library and see if they have anything...

[Fuzzi]

Thanks for the update. (I was hoping to have a shufti while I was passing on the M4 on Thursday or Saturday, but unfortunately I couldn't go rambling and delay my passengers). I've got to go up to the Map Room at the British Library in the next couple of weeks. I'll add it to the list of things I want to check at large scale. I'll report back any findings.

[Spudracer]

My grandfather, J.H.England ,who lived at Pentre Gwilym on Thornhill (now a restaurant/steakhouse, I believe) came second in the September 12th 1907 Caerphilly hillclimb in a 40.H.P Talbot .I have a photo of him sitting at the wheel of what Ithink is the car-number 43- and registered as W-935.There are some buildings in the photo I have not yet identified but will post as soon as my computer skills allow .

[Spudracer]

[PratJeffley]

Finally found evidence of the location of the Caerphilly Hill Climb - see http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/pictures/caerphilly-hill-climb-1914/#.WbbFiHrTWhA

This picture is undoubtedly from Mountain Road close to the junction with Corbett Crescent, and places the start fairly exactly 1194 yards from the mountain summit. The garage with the circular window in this image still exists, as do the gable ends of the houses on the right of the picture.