1960 to 1969 Sprints, Hill climbs, Autocross, The Rally of the Vales
Sprints in the 1960s were not so well blessed as they are now. In 1960 the club held a sprint at Llandow, then still a huge airbase, on a part of the site well away from the present race track. Amongst the competitors was Tony Boshier-Jones, who competed in the Austin 7 class. Tony was part of a motorsport family which included David Bosher-Jones who was British Hillcimb champion 4 times.
In 1961 sprints were held at Pembrey. The former Spitfire base was by then a chicken farm. Courses consisted of either a straight-line ¼ mile on one course or another short sprint with corners at the top of the airfield. On one occasion the club ran 2 sprints in one month. On the entry list for the September 11th sprint in 1961 was one H Strawford, a regular competitor in a Mini. The club ran sprints at Pembrey from 1961 to 1963. On 29/9/62 Peter Boshier-Jones, driving a Lotus, set the FTD with a time of 30.60 seconds.
From the early 1960s until 1967 the club ran sprints at Castel Farm hill climb, taking over the running of the venue from SWAC (South Wales Auto Club) when SWAC started to organise racing at the newly created Llandow race track. Castel Farm was situated at Llangynwyd near Maesteg. Based on a wartime tarmac track leading to a now de-commissioned gun emplacement, it was essentially a short straight uphill section. A dog leg right was added later, but the track ended abruptly, straight after the finish, the cars going from the tarmac directly on to the grass paddock!
To illustrate the short nature of the track, in 1965, at the Monday meeting on 7th June, Brian Field set the FTD with a time of 25.73 seconds! Nonetheless the entry contained names like Jeff Churchill, John Hopkins and Nicky Porter, all famous in the rally world. Karts were included in sprints from 1964 to 1970.
In 1964 and 1966 the club held Autocross racing (on grass) at the Fairwood Horse Racing Course. The race course was on the site of what is now the Fairwood Golf Course and contemporary photographs show a large crowd that was entertained by such unusual entries as a Humber Super Snipe Hearse!
Running throughout the 1960s The Rally of the Vales has its own section.
Lynn Isaac has photos from Castel Farm on his excellent site http://www.sandspeedwales.co.uk
Been looking at your material with great pleasure, particularly at Llandow sprints. I have a trophy from dated 11 Oct 1959. Driving a Cooper/JAP. I remember building my own car and called it the Lansbury Special. I windered if this was the car or whether it was one or two years later when I used the special. I am not suggesting any alterations, it was a long time ago and the Lansbury Special used the Cooper engine and gearbox anyway. If there is any data you can find easily I would be delighted to receive a copy but please do not search and spend a lot of time. Regards. Ron