A rope festooned with flags is all that restrains 30 or so motorcyclists from charging up the first hill on the Canada Heights scrambling course. The sound of their engines revving fills the Kent countryside as thousands of spectators watch in keen anticipation.
Will Dave Bickers, twice European champion, prevail on his 250cc Greeves machine over the more powerful 440cc and 500cc engines? Can his arch-rival Jeff Smith spoil the day for the Suffolk star of scrambling?
Suddenly, the “gate” opens, the rope is released, and the competitors in this invitational race roar uphill.
I watched such scenes on my black-and-white television most winter Saturday afternoons on BBC’s Grandstand sports programme during the early 1960s. I still remember the thrill of seeing such skilled riders strain to negotiate the muddy, hilly courses. Especially exciting was when they crested the hills and were momentarily in mid-air before crunching down on churned-up earth. Even the bare, wintry country scenes added to the atmosphere.
Scrambling, or motocross as it was known on the continent, began in 1924 when a group of motorcycling enthusiasts in Camberley, Surrey began to race each other over rough ground.
This new sport needed a name which best described its unique nature. After all, it wasn’t simply a speed race. It was more a test of endurance between rider and machine over a challenging cross-country course. Finally, at one of the club’s meetings, a member remarked: “Whatever we call it – it’s going to be a rare old scramble.” Thus the sport of scrambling was born.
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Denne historien er fra November 2023-utgaven av Best of British.
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THE FEW ON SCREEN
Steven Taylor looks at the Battle of Britain across film and TV
Table Service
Rachel Toy looks at the history of Ridgway Homemaker tableware
Hever Forever
Claire Saul studies the newly refurbished Boleyn Apartment at Hever Castle & Gardens - a castle fit for a queen
Shining a Light
Tony O’Neil tunes into the history of the last manned lightvessel
The Man With the Goldeneye
Film stills photographer Keith Hamshere describes how he came to enter the world of James Bond
THE ORIGINAL GOLDEN BALLS
lan Wheeler looks back on 70 years of Tiger comic and Roy of the Rovers, and chats to the man who edited and oversaw both titles
To Play the Queen
Chris Hallam looks back on the life of one of the UK’s best known lookalikes
POOLING RESOURCES
Martin Handley looks at what life was like after the Vernons Girls
POSTCARD FROM= SUSSEX
Bob Barton indulges in pleasure piers and fairground delights, as well as fulfilling a long-held ambition to visit the home of Rudyard Kipling
Oh, Miss Jones
Chris Hallam looks back at the origins and legacy of Rising Damp, ITV's most successful sitcom