By Mike Stark and Steve Akers
2025 review by James Loveridge
Once Messrs Daimler and Benz plus a few others had proved the motor car was a practical proposition it was inevitable that people would want to see how fast it could go, hence – motor sport. Rapidly, various forms of motor sport were evolved and one very popular way, and still going today, is hill climbing.
“The Motorsport History of Aston Hill” by Mike Stark and Steve Akers is the story of one very popular venue that was used until motor sport on public roads in England was banned in 1925. This 148-page paperback is as comprehensive a history as you are likely to find and the joint authors are to be complimented on the depth and width of their research. The event was first run in 1904 and, apart from a gap in 1910 when not enough entries were received and a 6-year gap while the First World War disrupted normal life, it was used 30 times until the government banned it.
It attracted some of the most significant figures in motor sport, S F Edge, Dorothy Levitt, W O Bentley, H F S Morgan, Raymond Mays, Eddy Hall and Dario Resta for example, but probably its greatest significance is that Lionel Martin chose to name his new car the Aston Martin in tribute. Somewhat ironically, when Lionel Martin competed in 1914 he was actually driving a Singer.
This nicely produced book is really a “document of record” giving, as far as has been possible, complete lists of competitor both in cars and on motor cycles, the vehicles they used, their times and their placings and as such is of considerable importance in the history of motor sport.
Whilst it is admitted that such detailed information may not be of the greatest of interest to some readers the authors have thought to include thumbnail sketches of many individuals who competed or were associated with this event. These sketches are very welcome and are of much interest as little is known about several of the people who are included. Who knows anything about Ernest Edwards, Frank Applebee, A J Hancock or Winifred Pink?
For most years, except for 1910 as mentioned, the events were generally very well supported. The principal organisers were the Herts County Auto & Aero Cub but several other clubs used the hill including, in 1913, 1920, 1921 and 1923, the then Annual Oxford versus Cambridge Inter-Varsity Hill Climb. This was for both cars and motor cycles and was clearly very competitive though it is not said if “blues” were awarded for this type of sport unlike for cricket or rugby. In 1914 the event was in the form of a relay race and the competition was between five teams of four cars each. Probably not the easiest event to marshal as each car was stationed along the course and as the first car reached the second car the latter set off and so on till the top – probably lots of room for dispute as to precise timing of the “handover”.
The hill ran through one of the Buckinghamshire estates of the Rothschild family and a feature of early events was generous hospitality to competitors and others involved. The road used is still there so you can have a drive and get a sense of what it must have been like.
The book is published by JRB Publishing who published the “The Spiders’ Web” about GN Cyclecars reviewed previously. It is priced at £35 and is available from Chaters but Waterstones have it at £30.
This attractive book is very well illustrated although the authors acknowledge that quite a lot of the pictures are taken from periodicals of the time and the printers have done a very good job in reproducing them. This means we get a lot of images of cars and motorcycles of the times, many of them being otherwise long forgotten.
Publisher: JRB Publishing
Price: £35 plus p&p paperback.
Description: 164 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-9997588-8-2
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