Snetterton history & memories

[diddy100]

Originally Posted by chunterer

Thanks, a couple of the clips seem to be from Silverstone?

Films 213053 and 213057 do look like Silvestone. I have dropped mesg to the Archive.
The Lombank films bring back memories for me - shame I lost my autograph book from that era. My father was in the St Johns Ambulance and was on duty for many races so I used to get close the action with him. You can some of the st Johns on duty standing close to the circuit at the Bomb Hole with their white medical bags that contained a few bandages and plasters !! How things have changed

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by diddy100

Films 213053 and 213057 do look like Silvestone. I have dropped mesg to the Archive.
The Lombank films bring back memories for me - shame I lost my autograph book from that era. My father was in the St Johns Ambulance and was on duty for many races so I used to get close the action with him. You can some of the st Johns on duty standing close to the circuit at the Bomb Hole with their white medical bags that contained a few bandages and plasters !! How things have changed

That's interesting! My late father was responsible for organising the St John Ambulance cover at Snetterton from (I think) the time that racing began up until 1970, by which time I was old enough to drive myself to the circuit.

I shall never know if my interest in motor sport was triggered by simply being there from a very young age or if I would have been interested anyway.

[nicanary]

I'm a newby - only joined today so no profile logged on yet but I just had to go straight to this thread.I s anyone still watching?beforePlease excuse the rubbish posting but I'm a bit computer illiterate.You lot are all freshers -I used to cycle to Snetterton as a schoolboy in 1965 onwards to any meeting I could afford (2/6d to get in and 1/- for the programme)- usually Cambs Univ or West Essex organising. 18 miles from home in Norwich being threatened by artics all the way - my mum used to fret all day till I got home (I think it took about 1 1/2 hours).My very first meeting was the Lombank International in 1962 - my dad had free tickets from a guy called Foulger who ran a haulage firm based in the old hangars.Proper racing as per pre-Ecclestone with all the big names in saloons as well as GT as well as sports cars!Only saw two races and then my mum and sister got bored - I was fuming.This was all be--fore the transition to one -make series; I lost contact when girls came along and Chunky started painting his cars the wrong colour. Snetterton was wonderful on a sunny summer's day but when it was wet and cold you'd think it couldn't get any worse - only Davidstow I would guess.I'll no doubt come up with more memories later but meanwhile thanks for a website where people know how to spell and use correct grammar - a grown-up's site.

[gt917]

Great stuff,

keep those memories coming. I used to marshal at Snetterton from around 1966 until i started racing in 1969. My first full race was there as well, and i can still remember vividly going up the old Norwich straight, foot to the floor, in my 850cc special saloon Mini, and Martin Birrane in his big yank 5ltr car (cannot recall if it was a Falcon) overtaking me and the slipstream pushing me to one side.

You are so right about its bleakness when the weather turned rough. Even worse if you were stuck out there marshalling.

You would love it now... complete transformation.

GT.

[Alfie72]

Originally Posted by nicanary

- a grown-up's site.

Hey - who are you calling a grown-up?

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by gt917

Great stuff,

keep those memories coming. I used to marshal at Snetterton from around 1966 until i started racing in 1969. My first full race was there as well, and i can still remember vividly going up the old Norwich straight, foot to the floor, in my 850cc special saloon Mini, and Martin Birrane in his big yank 5ltr car (cannot recall if it was a Falcon) overtaking me and the slipstream pushing me to one side.

You are so right about its bleakness when the weather turned rough. Even worse if you were stuck out there marshalling.

You would love it now... complete transformation.

GT.

It's something I realised in my very early days of being a motor-racing spectator. Race circuits (and airfields, which can be different, or the same thing) are usually at least 2° different in temperature to the surrounding countryside.
If it's a nice day, it'll appear at least 2° warmer at the circuit, but on a bad day, the difference is in the other direction!
There is a similar correlation to rainfall too, on a wet day it always seems to rain more at the circuit!

[nicanary]

Originally Posted by Alfie72

Hey - who are you calling a grown-up?

I refer of course to another popular site(of which I am a member)letters Pand H where the average contributor appears to be 26 going on 14 with a passion of BMW 3-series with sound-systems and bling alloys,innit.

I have taken much time today to recall old times at Snetterton in a long post only to find that it didn't get accepted cos I wasn't logged-in properly
It'll have to wait.

[nicanary]

I'm back for a few mins. and hope this gets the approval of my laptop.
I've worked out that my first visit was the Lombank Trophy of 1963- I was 12 years old and thrilled to bits
Saw the saloons and GT races- Coombs and Endeavour Jags and the midfield of Hutcheson/Riley,Harper/Sunbeam and Blydenstein/Borgward.Real variety. The GT race was mainly E-types and hordes of Elites inc. David Hobbs in his auto-box(did his dad ever get anywhere with this ?). Didn't visit in 1964 which was just as well cos that was probably the wettest race in British racing history.
I started cycling there in 1965 aged 14( wouldn't be allowed today) and you could hear the cars accelerating back up the Home Straight during practice from miles away. I always stood between Coram and Russell-the name Bombhole didn't exist then so it can't be anything to do with the war.The only connection left that I can remember was the annual USAF Trophy meeting.
I made a lap chart from graph paper on a clipboard-useless when it rained but handy for the Euro 500kms Touring Cars- John Whitmore taking on the Autodelta GTAs and the Abarths spanking the Minis.
Other posts have mentioned Lotus testing GP(NOT Eff-Wunn in those days)cars - yes,you could watch them from the main road through the trees.Some biggish teams also used clubbies fot testing and I recall David Hobbs being on the card for a sports-car race much to my surprise in a Lola T70,the opposition being Paddy Mcnally's Cobra and some sundry Elans.Ron Fry used to turn up from time to time in his 250LM - bliss!
I wish Jonathan Palmer all the best- his track(sic)-record is a good one and I'm sure the old place will go from strength to strength.
(PS- I went to a few bike meetings as well and recollect a guy called Owen Greenwood with a sidecar made of a Mini-Cooper with either one wheel or two close-coupled wheels(a la Isetta) at the back.THe purista hated it but I thought it was a hoot. Does it still exist?)

[morninggents]

I think Greenwood also built an Imp engined sidecar outfit.

[Al Weyman]

I saw the Greenwood thing race at Mallory it was the first ever race meeting I attended and was a bike meeting, I drove all the way from London on my Norton Dominator with Stieb sidecar outfit and hated that Greenwood thing.

[Mike Bell]

Welcome nicanary, and thanks for sharing your memories! Look forward to hearing some more.

Foulger Transport are now based on the industrial estate opposite the entrance, and their address is still 'The Circuit', Snetterton. They are a big concern nowadays.

And it can still be the coldest place on earth when the wind is in the wrong direction.......

[nicanary]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Welcome nicanary, and thanks for sharing your memories! Look forward to hearing some more.

Foulger Transport are now based on the industrial estate opposite the entrance, and their address is still 'The Circuit', Snetterton. They are a big concern nowadays.

And it can still be the coldest place on earth when the wind is in the wrong direction.......

As I mentioned in an earlier post there was a short-lived track at Davidstow on Bodmin Moor where it appears to have rained at every meeting.I have the excellent book of its history and the photos make Snetterton look like the Costa Blanca.

Foulger's used to run a lot of the extraordinary Commer trucks ( as per the Ecurie Ecosse transporter) which had some weird engine designed for tanks in WW2 - I think(without refererence) that it was a boxer two-stroke or some other strange configuration but I remember the fantastic noise very well.

Sorry to go a bit off-thread.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Al Weyman

I saw the Greenwood thing race at Mallory it was the first ever race meeting I attended and was a bike meeting, I drove all the way from London on my Norton Dominator with Stieb sidecar outfit and hated that Greenwood thing.

A Steib sidecar Al? That takes me back, I spent many a left hander hanging out of one of those that was attached to my mates Panther 600. (Mind you, that combination still couldn't keep up with my 350 Arial that had a tin bath on a sidecar chassis!).

[nicanary]

Referring to Mike Bell's weather reminder, I have an excellent book on the history of Davidstow which was sited atop Bodmin Moor.It seems to have rained at every meeting and the whole scene makes Snetterton look like the Costa Brava.

Foulgers had a fleet of Commer trucks powered by that weird engine derived from a WW2 tank design - I think it was a boxer two-stroke or some other strange configuration.(Think Ecurie Ecosse transporter)

Sorry to go off-thread

[Unit 2 Racing]

Commer TS3, 3 Cylinder horizontally opposed 2 stroke diesel.

3250 cc 2 pistons, crown to crown in each cylinder linked by con rods & bell cranks driving a single crankshaft, with a Roots supercharger.

Commer TS3 was one of a number of engines in the Dyno lab. at Luton Tec in the 60's when I was an apprentice, we used to make it scream on test but could not make it go bang.

I can only agree about how cold it can be at Snetterton, we used to test there a lot in the 70's & 80's. I could not undestand why anybody would live there (I lived in Hertfordshire at that time). Now I live in Norfolk and love it, never thought that would happen.

[Mike Bell]

Originally Posted by Unit 2 Racing

Commer TS3, 3 Cylinder horizontally opposed 2 stroke diesel.

I can only agree about how cold it can be at Snetterton, we used to test there a lot in the 70's & 80's. I could not undestand why anybody would live there (I lived in Hertfordshire at that time). Now I live in Norfolk and love it, never thought that would happen.

I've got a pic of me at a local single venue stage rally- at Snett in the Spring. Did quite well as circuit was covered in snow on the day and I was one of few that had some narrow knobblies!

Yes, completely OT, but the Commer engine was amazing, if nothing else for the noise the supercharged version made.

[gt917]

I live just ten minutes drive from Snetterton, over the border in Suffolk.

Like any exposed circuit it can be really draughty and bleakish when the weather turns bad, but the climate in general over this side of the country is usually very good, as is the pace of life.

Have just remembered another little snippet from my marshalling days, i think this was in 1968.

End of day, last race over and been on inside post at hairpin at end of the old Norwich Straight. Just packing everything up when along hurtles a VW Beetle (white, light grey if i recall correctly), fails to get round the bend and promptly rolls it over onto its side.
It was a driver showing off to his girlfriend, in her car i think, and boy, did he get a roasting, not only from us, but from the CoC. I think four of us managed to rock it and get it back on its wheels, and no amount of "TCut" was going to improve its looks.

Wonder if they stayed together after that little jaunt ?? !!

GT.

[nicanary]

Thanks folks for the info. on the Commer engine - there was a full description in a copy of C&SC a while ago but all my mags are in storage.

I haven't lived in Norfolk now for 30+ years, and wondered what was left of the old airfield.For younger posters it was built as a base for the US8thAF when they first came over in force.Dozens of these fields were constructed along the South Norfolk/North Suffolk border in what was known locally as the Waveney Complex after the border river of that name.There was a base every 5 miles or so and it must have been some sight and sound when they all took off for a mass raid.I think they mainly lived on base but the local pubs must have made a mint.

So many of them never saw their Oklahoma farms or Bronx bars again.My mum used to go all misty-eyed talking about the famous night when "Jerry followed them home".The Luftwaffe sent night intruders to patrol the East Anglian bases and caught them coming in to land - people in Norwich stood in their gardens and watched the "turkey shoot".

When I left home to travel there were still many fields being used for Gliding/light planes or for farmers' storage or even being dug up to sell the concrete.

Please forgive me- I've digressed again. What's left at Snetterton apart from the Control Tower?

[nicanary]

Thanks for the info. on the Commer engine - there was a lot of guff in C&SC a while back but all my mags are in storage.

I apologise that two similar posts followed each other yesterday.The first did not appear for 1 or 2 hours so I re-posted and then they turned up like London buses.I've taken it up with the bosses but now another post at about 12.30 has disappeared. It's what comes of living in the boondocks.Kirkistown is 5 miles away but I've never been cos i work on Sats. and the Presbyterian Church don't allow sport on Sundays(seriously!)

The post was off-track anyway and about the old useage of the track during WW2.I just wondered what was left of the airfield.

[nicanary]

Yet another post from me - the site organisers have sent me a prompt and helpful e-mail concerning the time lapses. It's because I'm a newby and they have to spam-filter,so please don't think I'm some sort of nutcase. I'll leave longer time spans in future.

[SAMD]

Originally Posted by nicanary

and the Presbyterian Church don't allow sport on Sundays(seriously!)

I think it is more a case of the person who sold the ground to the 500 club had no Sunday racing written into the deeds. Although he may have been Presbyterian.

Unfortunately the 105 Db limit has nothing to do with the Presby. Church. And no, I am not Presbyterian.

[Rob29]

Originally Posted by SAMD

I think it is more a case of the person who sold the ground to the 500 club had no Sunday racing written into the deeds. Although he may have been Presbyterian.

Unfortunately the 105 Db limit has nothing to do with the Presby. Church. And no, I am not Presbyterian.

I don't think any motorsport has ever been held in Ulster on a sunday.Bishopscourt also saturdays only-also bikes at Dundrod and NW200( the only one I have been to)

[kipper]

Originally Posted by Rob29

I don't think any motorsport has ever been held in Ulster on a sunday.Bishopscourt also saturdays only

Bishopscourt is now operational on Sundays (albeit, with limited use throughout the year).

[nicanary]

Thanks for the info. on Sundays - being an Englishman I always feel a bit baffled about it all. There is no Sunday football, cricket, no anything so I assumed it was a Belief-led thing. No offence meant in any way.

[SAMD]

Originally Posted by Rob29

I don't think any motorsport has ever been held in Ulster on a sunday.Bishopscourt also saturdays only-also bikes at Dundrod and NW200( the only one I have been to)

There is a weekend race meeting at Bishopscourt this May 12 and 13th?
The first in many years to be affiliated with the RAC/MSA
But you are right is is mainly on Sat's