A little history of Harewood

• 
• 

Missed the Vintage Sports Car Club’s latest event? Nothing to worry. The season has just started, with round 3 coming up next in lovely Yorkshire for another classic hill climb: Harewood.

We’ve been to Harewood only once ourselves but must admit that this place ticked all the boxes for a perfect hill climbing scene. First there is the lovely country house situated near the Yorkshire Dales with a near endless drive and gorgeous park surrounding it. Then there’s the Wharfe Valley next to it, which has to be a perfect place for a motoring event such as this. Winding and hilly, with spectators being able to oversee much of the track. That must have been exactly what the organizers thought when they started with the first hill climb there, also starting a long tradition. This was April 1962 when Yorkshire had a thriving motorsports scene with a busy program of social and competitive events; road rallies, sporting and production car trials, driving tests and sprints but was eager to get a national hill climb as well.

The BARC’s chairman wrote the following words a couple of years ago: “I remember seeing a track winding up the side of the Wharfe valley when stuck in traffic on Harewood Bank and commenting “that would make a lovely hill-climb”. I was not the only one to have spotted it! The Centre had an eye on that track and when the farm came on the market, the tempting prospect of our own venue suddenly became a possibility when Arnold Burton revealed that he was seeking to buy a farm and that he was prepared to give the club the right to improve the farm road and use it for Hill Climbs.”

That first event in 1962 saw many competitive cars of its time. Minis, TVRs, Elvas and plenty of Specials. But Harewood wouldn’t be Harewood without the vintage cars either, which have been on the scene since day one. The two pictures seen here both date back to 1963, but not much has changed in the last 56 years. Fortunately.

Ajoutez un commentaire...