On Sunday April 18th the Brooklands Society held their Spring Motorcycle Gathering at the Museum. And we were blessed with a fantastic sun-filled spring day for the occasion.

Witley MCC were invited to take part and provide an arena trials display, as at the Centenary event in 2007 and more recently at Wings and Wheels at Dunsfold. Once again the Surrey Schoolboys Trials Club – over 25 of them – joined with us to demonstrate to the public how much enjoyment can be gained from the sport of trials, along with the benefits in fitness, coordination, confidence and rider skill that come with experience. Thanks to Dave Mair for getting the wheels in motion (so to speak...) on this arrangement.

A good number of Club members and friends, along with their machines, were present on the day, and the whole display was set up and ready to go soon after 8.30am. The appearance of the trials arena was a testament to the hard work of members over the two previous Saturdays, a professional-looking set-up, with the newly repaired and repainted obstacles looking very smart.

If was slightly unfortunate that what had been a prime position on our previous appearance at Brooklands was compromised by the closure of the adjacent entrance gate; this meant that many visitors were unaware of the Witley/SSTC arena unless they heard the PA announcements, or were attracted by our orange arrows! But while numbers were certainly lower, there were some spectators present for most of the 7 hours of almost non-stop activity. And certainly the riders had a great time as they tackled obstacles from the low seesaw to the Nissan Micra plus added pyramid on the roof!

As an ex-Brooklands employee from BAC days, I have a soft spot for the place and these open days. By lunchtime over 600 visitors’ bikes had arrived in the public area, and with all the period racing machines in the paddock, and Test Hill in action for morning and afternoon sessions, the atmosphere was excellent.

The Barry Taylor trailer (and sound system) was on hand to show off our Club members’ best vintage machinery – Pete Crummett’s Rudge and Derek Prior’s Brough. Alec Jay’s BSA outfit was also there, along with Graham Ford’s rather more modern BMW and various competition bikes.

Many thanks to Barry Brockman for co-ordinating the event (and the yellow paint party!), to all those who helped in the preparations, to the Surrey Schoolboys and their parents, and to all those who brought along motorcycles to show or to ride. We hope to have something similar going on at the Wings and Wheels show at Dunsfold over the August Bank Holiday weekend, so please let the Committee know if you are interested in helping Witley put on another great show on that occasion.