7 replies to this topic

[Vitesse2]

Chanced upon this little 20-minute gem this afternoon. It's the official Mobil film of the 1957 UK run (there are several films of the US runs on YouTube) which started and finished in Ascot, using Buxton for two overnight stops. Commentary by Raymond Baxter and it opens with some footage of a sports car race at Silverstone - I couldn't recognise it offhand, but no doubt the Le Mans start will enable somebody to pin it down fairly quickly.

 

Some nice in-car footage 'on the road' and a lovely sequence of a Land Rover going over Hard Knott Pass - again including in-car, right at the summit and going 'over the top'. There was quite a big foreign entry, so there are shots of some visiting metal not normally seen on British roads. Even a brief view of a Sheffield tram.

 

There are five further showings currently scheduled: 06.00 June 22nd, 13.35 June 23rd, 15.35 and 23.40 June 25th and 23.40 July 7th. There might be more in the future, but TP TV only issue their schedules three weeks in advance.

[Cirrus]

I wasn't aware of Talking Pictures TV but, thanks to you alerting me to its existence, I have to say that a lot of its programming looks right up my street.

 

Recorder set for the Mobil Economy Run...

[Cirrus]

I see Talking Pictures TV are showing a 20 minute film of Whit Monday motor racing at Gamston Airfield tomorrow (15th November) at 13:40.

[john winfield]

I see Talking Pictures TV are showing a 20 minute film of Whit Monday motor racing at Gamston Airfield tomorrow (15th November) at 13:40.

Thanks Alan. I remember getting quite excited some years ago to learn that there was once motor racing at Gamston, a mile or so from where we lived in West Bridgford. Sadly, I had the wrong Gamston, and it wasn't the South Nottinghamshire hamlet but the North Notts village near Retford. Coincidentally both have airfields. The southern one - where I don't think there was ever any motor sport -  was formerly known as Tollerton, but is now grandly named 'Nottingham Airport', confusing many travellers who arrive hoping for flights to the Mediterranean, only to find a tatty windsock and a broken microlight.

 

Here's the northern Gamston wiki page which includes some motor sport history:

 

https://en.wikipedia...Gamston_Airport

Edited by john winfield, 14 November 2017 - 11:34.

[Macca]

I had that same interest when I first saw Gamston mentioned, as it is a few miles from where my mother's family originate in Bingham, and was equally sorry to find out some time ago it was the other Gamston.

 

As well as 'Nottingham Airport' being a grand name for Tollerton airfield, there has been confusion lately because the PR people at East Midlands Airport near Donington Park want to rename their airport 'Nottingham Airport'.......although it is nearest to Derby but lies in Leicestershire.

 

I have been keeping an eye on Talking Pictures TV as there are some interesting old films and programmes on. There is a series titled 'The Human Jungle', with Herbert Lom as a psychiatrist with a new case each week; one episode was about a racing driver who was too hard on himself. I haven't watched my recording yet but will be interested to see what cars were used.

 

Another series which I think has finished is 'Scotland Yard', a series of dramas said to be based on real events with the names changed. One episode was about a stolen highly-tuned getaway car used in several bank robberies, where the car owner's secretary was in league with the thieves and eventually led the police to their hideaway - this was a farm with a Lotus XI in a barn, and the police then arrested the rest of the gang at Brands Hatch where they were testing another Lotus on the short circuit, before the pits were built.

 

If the story was indeed based on reality, were there any racing drivers/teams in the late 1950s who financed their racing with armed robbery?

 

Paul M 

[Cirrus]

From the Wikipedia entry about Gamston it would appear that the race meeting on Talking Pictures TV will be the one on 14th May 1951.

 

Edit - the results are on the Motor Sport magazine archive. There are some interesting races, 500 F3 and J M Hawthorne (sic) racing his Riley.

Edited by Cirrus, 15 November 2017 - 11:05.

[john winfield]

The Gamston short was interesting, and it's on again tomorrow Friday 17th at 17.40. The Radio Times schedule leaves out the shorts and I would have missed it if not for Alan's prompt. Thanks.

A Google search for 'Talking Pictures Schedule' finds something more comprehensive, with full listings for, I think, four weeks at a time. Other motoring related films I noticed include: Herbert Lom/The Quick and the Dead, The Masked Racer. Motor Salesmanship in the 1930s, Car Insurance in the 1960s. Lots of other interesting shorts too: Night Mail etc.

[Eric Dunsdon]

Thank you very much for the tip. I look forward to watching and I believe that F3 500's are included. Such an evocative name Gamston!.