GOLDIE'S GOLDEN YEARS

John Mayhead discovered a treasure trove of candid shots from Goldie Gardner’s lifetime of recordbreaking while researching his biography

- John Mayhead

I discovered Goldie Gardner entirely by accident. I was writing a story about the Jabbeke speed runs and, among the well-known faces of Moss, Healey and the like, this slightly awkward man in his fifties who walked with a stick and towered above the others really stood out. I carried out some research for the story, and the little I found out about him intrigued me even more.

Then I discovered that the National Motor Museum had 35 boxes of letters, photographs and press cuttings that Gardner's wife, Una, had donated many years ago, and I started delving. The result was a fascinating journey down a series of rabbitholes that led to me writing his biography. The National Motor Museum Photographic Archive has a brief not only to assist the museum financially but also to encourage new authors, and so it was indredibly helfpul and supportive throughout. It's also great knowing a percentage of my book sales will go to help supporting the museum.

What I discovered was that Goldie's life was far more fascinating than scant details online would have you believe. A capable sportsman, he found wartime leadership came easily, received the country's third-highest award for bravery after an action in 1916 and was placed in temporary charge of his artillery brigade in 1917. But then, in an air crash that summer, he received wounds that changed his life.

Even so, by 1924 he was racing at Brooklands. It was a strangely familiar environment, with a distinct hierarchy of drivers, mechanics and an adoring public that reflected what he and many other drivers had experienced during the war.

Gardner didn't have the huge personal wealth of many competitors, but improved rapidly and made a name for himself that attracted works drives and invitations to other events. By 1929 he was racing in the Irish Grand Prix and in 1931 drove an MG, the marque that was to define him, in the Ulster TT.