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Silverdale Hillclimb nostalgic visit


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#1 GMACKIE

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Posted 30 August 2012 - 21:09

Next Saturday, 8th September, the VSCCA is having a 're-visit' of the old Silverdale hill, led by Dave Stuart [club president].

Meeting at 12 noon for lunch at Wallacia Hotel, then on to the [over-grown] track. Looking forward to it. :up:

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#2 GreenMachine

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Posted 30 August 2012 - 22:45

Next Saturday, 8th September, the VSCCA is having a 're-visit' of the old Silverdale hill, led by Dave Stuart [club president].

Meeting at 12 noon for lunch at Wallacia Hotel, then on to the [over-grown] track. Looking forward to it. :up:


Photos please. :D

I hope you have a good day for the visit. I am sure a good time will be had anyway ...  ;)

#3 GMACKIE

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Posted 30 August 2012 - 23:29

As 'Tubby' [Dave Stuart] says, "We will do what we do best". :lol:

#4 Ian G

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 00:09

Meeting at 12 noon for lunch at Wallacia Hotel, then on to the [over-grown] track. Looking forward to it. :up:

As 'Tubby' [Dave Stuart] says, "We will do what we do best". :lol:


:lol: ,will be a great day.I have fond memories of the place,we used to make a full day out of it,meeting back at a Hotel(forgot the name) out that was that was opened on a Sunday for travellers.

#5 Catalina Park

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 00:18

Looking forward to seeing lots of photos. I used to enjoy Silverdale.

#6 GMACKIE

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 00:41

:lol: ,will be a great day.I have fond memories of the place,we used to make a full day out of it,meeting back at a Hotel(forgot the name) out that was that was opened on a Sunday for travellers.

Geez, how quickly we forget......The WALLACIA HOTEL!l [see post #1] :lol:

Mick might be going, C.P. - he's got a camera.

#7 TonyK

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 02:54

The loop at the start is still clear:
http://www.nearmap.c...mp;nmd=20120802

Might need to sharpen your machetes for the rest of the climb though....

A nice little grass circuit seems to be recently taking shape just north of the start loop. Maybe Silverdale can be reborn as an autocross/khanacross venue!

#8 Stinky

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 04:44

Hi All;
The comment about "Bona Fide Travellers" in the antiquated liquour laws got me thinking.
For me to have a legal drink on a Sunday (living on the Northern Beaches of Sydney) I had to drive to either (A) The Green Frog Hotel near Windsor. (B) The Wisemans Ferry Hotel © The Log Cabin Hotel at Penrith (D) The Wallacia Hotel or finally the Panorama Hotel at the top of Bulli Pass!! :eek:
AND, I lived 5 minutes away from the Newport Arms!! :mad:
Must admit though that after going to a hillclimb at Silverdale I used to drop into the Wallacia for a couple of ales to wash down the dust from that goat track Bents Basin Road. :)
Good Grief, How things have changed!!
Cheers.
Roger. :)

#9 Ian G

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 06:59

AND, I lived 5 minutes away from the Newport Arms!! :mad:
Roger. :)


Yeah,the Newport Arms was our favourite,they were fairly slack with who they let in so a lot of the locals drank there somehow.

The thread has got me thinking,i remember the Wallacia but i'm sure there was another nearby that overlooked the river,Nepean?.Also a couple of time we ended back at the Greengate(Killara) so i'm not sure if they opened the Beer garden on a Sunday or i'm getting my days mixed up.

#10 Stinky

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 09:11

Hi Ian;
Might have been easy for outsiders to drink at Newport but near impossible for locals because the local Sarge had been there for near 25 years and knew us since we were kids!! :lol:
The pub on the Nepean was the Log Cabin.
Across the bridge from Penrith and first turn to the left from memory.
Never heard about the Greengate.
Must have been a well kept local secret!! :lol:
Cheers.
Roger. :)

#11 Ray Bell

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Posted 31 August 2012 - 16:21

Originally posted by Stinky
.....I lived 5 minutes away from the Newport Arms!


Ah, yes, the place the "word flashed 'round"!

Did you pile into the Mini Cooper? Where's Dennis?

#12 Stinky

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Posted 01 September 2012 - 03:21

Hullo Ray;
Yeah,The Newport Pub back then was a real haven for social butterflies (Still is :drunk: )
No I did not pile into a Cooper S.
Had a Sprite at that time.
Notice that being a local and resident Philistine I have NOT referred to the place as "The Arms". :lol:
It received that name when all the trendies and would be's "discovered" the joint. :mad:
Go into it now and you near need to take out a mortgage for a feed and a few beers.
IF you can fight your way through the "Beautiful people", TV bit players, wannabe models etc. etc. :mad:
The old "Newport Pub" she ain't.
Suppose that's progress. :D
Cheers.
Roger.
P.S. The only pub on the North Shore that was known an "The Arms" was the Narrabeen. (Now the Antler.)
Because all the Shire sanitary carters used to drink there the locals called it "The S***T Carters Arms." :rotfl:

Edited by Stinky, 01 September 2012 - 03:27.


#13 Dick Willis

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Posted 01 September 2012 - 06:48

This thread wouldn't be complete without a Silverdale pic, a typical pit scene in the late fifties, note, this pic has been posted before on another thread but I thought it was appropriate to use it again.

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#14 DanTra2858

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Posted 01 September 2012 - 22:49

Will there be a forty second medal available on the day for the first under forty pundant :rotfl:

#15 Ian G

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 00:04

Hi Ian;
Might have been easy for outsiders to drink at Newport but near impossible for locals because the local Sarge had been there for near 25 years and knew us since we were kids!! :lol:
The pub on the Nepean was the Log Cabin.
Across the bridge from Penrith and first turn to the left from memory.
Never heard about the Greengate.
Must have been a well kept local secret!! :lol:
Cheers.
Roger. :)


Getting OT(sorry) but the Newport Arms always had character and like the Oaks at Neutral Bay tapped in to the emerging Yuppies in the 1970's,doubled the price of a schooner & found trade increased.My Brother worked & lived in Brookvale in the late 1960's early 70's and he said they used to photostat the paper license of the day with false birth date & bodgey address to get into the clubs & pubs.One memory of Newport is the Police turning up just before 6pm(?) on a Sunday to make sure it closed on time and everyone was out,i won't mention the plain brown envelope. :lol: Great memories of that era,the two Terrigal Pubs on the Central Coast also made for a nice drive & beer on a Sunday.



#16 GMACKIE

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 07:13

Will there be a forty second medal available on the day for the first under forty pundant :rotfl:

That reminds me.....I have an 'Under 40 Badge'. Probably should wear it next Saturday.  ;)


#17 275 GTB-4

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 07:45

Yeah,the Newport Arms was our favourite,they were fairly slack with who they let in so a lot of the locals drank there somehow.

The thread has got me thinking,i remember the Wallacia but i'm sure there was another nearby that overlooked the river,Nepean?.Also a couple of time we ended back at the Greengate (Killara) so i'm not sure if they opened the Beer garden on a Sunday or i'm getting my days mixed up.


Please refresh my memory...was it the Greengate that had the Ivy-covered facade or was it the the Newport Arms? :blush: (memories..sometimes!! :rolleyes: )

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 02 September 2012 - 07:54.


#18 Ian G

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 14:09

Please refresh my memory...was it the Greengate that had the Ivy-covered facade or was it the the Newport Arms? :blush: (memories..sometimes!! :rolleyes: )


Not the Newport Mick,i've been out of Sydney since the late 1970's but IIRC the Greengate used to have the vine on the side entrance which at one stage was a beer garden,probaly been re-opened with the anti-smoking laws in place.I'll be in Sydney at Xmas so i'll drop in and have a beer at both pubs for old times sake,where's the last 30 years gone?

#19 Ray Bell

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 19:21

Originally posted by Stinky
Hullo Ray;
Yeah,The Newport Pub back then was a real haven for social butterflies (Still is :drunk: )
No I did not pile into a Cooper S.
Had a Sprite at that time.....


You've missed my point, Stinky...

Do you not recall the infamous scribing on the back page of the inaugural issue of Oz Magazine?

"The word flashed round the Arms that there was a gas turn up on Whale Beach Road, so we all piled into the Mini Coopers..."

This could have been the Narrabeen pub, of course, I'm not really a Northern Beaches local even though I did live at North Curl Curl for a short time.

Oh, yeah, this was before the Cooper S, so they were definitely 'Mini Coopers'...

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#20 GMACKIE

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Posted 02 September 2012 - 20:24

Maybe I've missed the point also. What has all this got to do with Silverdale hillclimb?

Any more photos like that, Mr Willis? :up:

#21 Ian G

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 00:51

What has all this got to do with Silverdale hillclimb?



...easiest way to get a second off your times is talk about it over a Beer :lol:

My fault,getting sidetracked trying to think of the name of the pub we stopped at on the way home.It used to be called 'Bargwanna Hill' amongst the car club types as no matter which clubs were invited there always seemed to be a tribe of Bargwanna's competing.

Edited by Ian G, 03 September 2012 - 00:51.


#22 Stinky

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 04:45

Hi Ray;
To tell you the truth I was not a fan of Oz magazine.
At most I may have glanced through half a dozen editions.
Getting back to Dick,s photo is car 47 the Citroen Special?
Also the blue car to the left looks very much like the Stewart MG.
I can only remember the car painted red.
Car#3 I cannot place. Help there please. (Maybe the WM Holden?)
I ran my Sprite a few times at Silverdale with Manly Warringah Car Club.
On one run I still very vividly remember having too good a look at "Gordon Stewarts Tree" at the top of the climb!! :lol:
Cheers All.
Roger. :)

#23 rms

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 05:12

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See you there on Saturday Greg

Erol


#24 GMACKIE

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 05:22

Stewart MG, Don Wright's Citroen Special, #3 could well be the WM , and is #42 Derek Jolly's Decca Special, perhaps?

Be good to catch up on Saturday, Erol.

#25 275 GTB-4

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 05:28

Not the Newport Mick,i've been out of Sydney since the late 1970's but IIRC the Greengate used to have the vine on the side entrance which at one stage was a beer garden,probaly been re-opened with the anti-smoking laws in place.I'll be in Sydney at Xmas so i'll drop in and have a beer at both pubs for old times sake,where's the last 30 years gone?


Thank you...memory recalibrated, yes the beer garden on the right used to jump :cool: :) makes more sense now as the young lady I was ...ergh, a word like "courting", was from Turramurra :)

PS some great bands played the Royal Antler at Narrabeen...I was taking out a girl from Warriewood at the time...but thats another story...

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 03 September 2012 - 05:42.


#26 Stinky

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 05:41

Hullo Greg.
Just another thought about car 3 in the photo.
Could it also be the Dalro?
Just the wheels look rather similar to the Dalro,s.
Colour may be wrong though as I can only remember the car painted BRG.
Cheers.
Roger. :)

#27 GMACKIE

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 07:07

Not the Dalro, Roger - the exhaust is on the other side, and the tail is higher and 'rounder'. I can only remember it being green, also.

#28 Dick Willis

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Posted 03 September 2012 - 08:51

car 3 is definitely the WM Cooper of Jack Myers, the year I think is 1959.

#29 seldo

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 01:51

This thread wouldn't be complete without a Silverdale pic, a typical pit scene in the late fifties, note, this pic has been posted before on another thread but I thought it was appropriate to use it again.

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Some of the back-ground vehicles are also interesting. I like the alloy? bodied transporter, and I see a Morrie Oxford, early black Hillman, Jag MKv, Sprite, Morgan or TF, Jag Mkviii, Buckle, Dauphine and across to the right a 500 racer

#30 GMACKIE

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 02:30

The 'Oxford' is Most likely Gordon Stewart's Tow Car, although it may be an Isis.

#31 Ray Bell

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 21:09

Next to the Buckle...

Is that a Fregate?

#32 tsrwright

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 21:24

Some pictures of the Walton Cooper at Silverdale, first two being Bruce Walton, third being John Fish. Note Bruce's line at Big Tree c/w John's. The first pic Graham Howard found in a hut there - at the finish line I think - would that be right?

It will be interesting to hear how the visit goes. Who owns it now?


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PS Why are my pics so small?

Edited by tsrwright, 05 September 2012 - 21:27.


#33 Tim Murray

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 21:34

PS Why are my pics so small?

You've uploaded them as thumbnails. You can correct this (as I've done below) by removing the '.th' from each photo's URL, but the best thing to do is to select the option called (something like) 'Link for forums' when uploading the photos.

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#34 tsrwright

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 21:36

Thanks, they look quite good now.

Edited by tsrwright, 05 September 2012 - 21:38.


#35 GMACKIE

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 22:15

Great Photos, ts. Bruce Walton was amazing to watch. Even with those skinny tyres, he managed almost zero wheelspin.....true traction control. Retired un-defeated after 6 years as Australian Hillclimb Champion. :clap:

The 'hut' is at the start, and is still there. The NSW State [National Parks] owns the land now.

#36 tsrwright

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 22:25

The NSW State [National Parks] owns the land now.


Are you quite sure Greg? I visited the place maybe 10 years ago and I understood then that all the land belonged to the guy who had the big house there. He owned a big pub in Mt Druitt and one in the city too I think. I did speak to him once - about organising a 'nostalgic visit'! He said no problems but I did nothing about it.

Wish I could come but I'm overseas.

Edited by tsrwright, 05 September 2012 - 22:34.


#37 GMACKIE

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Posted 05 September 2012 - 22:28

Yep! He sold out to the Govt., and now rents it back. He gave us permission for the visit on Saturday.

#38 Dick Willis

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 05:20

Hope someone has a Silverdale sticker on their car tomorrow, like this one ;

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#39 275 GTB-4

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 10:22

Ummmmmm what diameter were they approximatley Dick  ;) :up:

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#40 GMACKIE

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 10:33

I reckon they were about 4" dia.

Have you charged all your camera batteries, Mick?

#41 275 GTB-4

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 10:43

I reckon they were about 4" dia.

Have you charged all your camera batteries, Mick?


Thanks...I'm printing some off!! (thanks Dick!)

Batts fully charged :wave:

[damn...toner cartridges are getting low]

#42 GMACKIE

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 10:52

[damn...toner cartridges are getting low]

Well lift 'em up higher, Dick. :lol:


#43 275 GTB-4

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 11:10

OK tried printing them with the printer balanced on top of my head...still no better...how high do they have to be to start working again :confused:

Say Good Night Dick...."Good Night Dick!"

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 07 September 2012 - 11:31.


#44 Dick Willis

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 12:19

Sorry if you have already printed them off but they are 80mm.

#45 275 GTB-4

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Posted 07 September 2012 - 23:17

Sorry if you have already printed them off but they are 80mm.


Thanks Dick...paper protos are 65 and 100mm....vinyl reproductions will be 80mm!!

How many do you want??;) :wave:

[assuming the Robsons don't mind!]

Edited by 275 GTB-4, 08 September 2012 - 10:21.


#46 275 GTB-4

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 01:13

The track today is in fairly good condition under all the leaf litter (compared to say Catalina)...

Thanks to Eddie for allowing the group access...

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more to follow...

#47 275 GTB-4

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 01:21

more...following..

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#48 275 GTB-4

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 06:07

more...

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Edited by 275 GTB-4, 10 September 2012 - 06:10.


#49 baz

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 07:29

Thanks Dick...paper protos are 65 and 100mm....vinyl reproductions will be 80mm!!

How many do you want??;) :wave:

[assuming the Robsons don't mind!]


How could I get A couple, my car raced there and the nose needs a repaint. If I had a new sticker it would save trying to mask around the old one

#50 275 GTB-4

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Posted 10 September 2012 - 09:53

How could I get A couple, my car raced there and the nose needs a repaint. If I had a new sticker it would save trying to mask around the old one


Patience Padawan...we need to check whether it is OK first...then getting a few done should be easy.

Please confirm that that devlishly good looking, raconteur, guru, man-of-the-world (Dick Willis) is spot on in saying 80mm diameter....