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by Mike Hayward
At the end of June 1998, members of Falcon Motor Club
celebrated the club's 50th birthday, with a celebration run.
It started at the pub the club was named after, the Crown and Falcon,
nestling in the High Street of the small Hertfordshire town of
Puckeridge. The run then followed a route that traced the club's
history, passing many of the venues that had been used over the last
fifty years.
Falcon started with just a handful of enthusiastic
members, one of whom was the late H W Tucker-Peake (Tucker), who went on
to become the club's first chairman and competitions secretary. Tucker
devoted a tremendous amount of his time and energy to Falcon and was the
club’s President when he so sadly passed away.
One of the first events the club promoted, after it
was recognised by the RAC in 1949, was a Closed Trial. This started a
long tradition of Falcon trials. A speed trial at Tewin Water,
Hertfordshire was held in the Summer of 1950. Funds were tight, so
members pledged to cover any loss the club made. The event was a great
success, with an entry that included one Colin Chapman in his Lotus Mk2,
and members were spared any personal expense.
In the Autumn of 1950 the club took another step
forward with the end of petrol rationing. This meant that events could
now take place on the road. The trial was made a Closed Invitation event
(today’s status is National). The trial took place in the
Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire area and was held on the 5th
November, so naturally was called "The Guy Fawkes". Even in
those days the sections were doctored, as reported by our long time
secretary, and now Club President, Ron Warren in his book 'Behind the
Falcon Badge'. To make the restart line better on Tatmore End a small
water trailer was towed up just above the line and the contents were
then released.
Over the next few years more events were added to the
calendar, Driving Tests (now called Autotests) and another sprint was
held at Hundson. This disused airfield was not used for long as the
runway started to break up so we moved to Tempsford in Bedfordshire.
Over use by motor clubs and motorcycles meant this venue was lost in
1955.
In the summer of 1956 and again in 1958 another
restricted trial was organised. The major problem of trying to run a
trial at this time of year is finding a course that is not completely
over grown, so in 1958 we moved this event to March. What else could we
call it but the March Hare Trial. An appropriately named trophy was
titled the Mad Hatter.
Falcon were also running Rallies
such as the Mardlebury and The Zelly. However, in 1958 when organisers
were being sought, it was suggested that perhaps the ladies might like
to have a go. The challenge was taken up and The Rally Venues became a
regular fixture, with the ladies as sole organisers.
Ever since the loss of Tempsford, the club had been
looking for another suitable venue for its speed event. In 1958 a venue
became available to run the club's first ever Autocross. This started a
long history of Falcon’s involvement in this branch of the sport. The
first event was held near Stevenage. By the early 1960's a new venue was
found at Dowsetts Farm, Colliers End, where many more successful events
were run, including rounds of The Players Number Six Autocross
Championship. In 1972 a new and exciting venue was found In the grounds
of Knebworth House, the stately home of the Cobbold family. This venue
was the only registered Autocross Venue listed in the RAC Blue Book.
Other events were also held there such as 2CV Cross
and Speed Cross. The Course in Knebworth Park was designed by one of our
committee members and now Vice President, one Peter Harper, who is
probably better known as an International rally driver for the Rootes
Team. He was a stalwart of Falcon for many years and was one of a team
of first class organisers that included Tommy Bridger, a top notch
Formula 3 driver, Derek FIeming, a trials driver and the owner of
'Primrose' and Desmond Scannell, who for twenty years was secretary of
the British Racing Drivers Club, and became known as one of the foremost
organisers of motor racing in the world. Another Falcon faithful was
John Tucker-Peake, brother of Tucker - who also played an important part
in Falcon's history, serving on the committee for many years and playing
an important part in the back-up team. John T-P was also the builder of
the 'Runner Bean', the 1956 Ford Pop which is now being driven by Clive
Kalber, who made the trip from his home in Cornwall in the 'Bean' to
take part in the club's Birthday Run adding enormously to this very
special day.
A man who would not forgive me for not mentioning his
part in Falcon history is Ron Warren, who for twenty one years served
the club as secretary, as well as driving his Dellow as part of the
Falconers Trials Team. Ron, together with Tucker and Derek Fleming, won
the MCC team award on several occasions and is still actively enjoying
his motor sport, regularly enjoying trips to Le Mans. As well as being a
Vice President of the MCC, he is President of Falcon. Falcon is very
well known for inventing new events. One such was called the Falcon
Express. It was originally arranged as a sprint in 1959, at Snetterton
but a clash of dates forced a re-think. The rules at the time said that
a Driving Test must not exceed 200 yards in length, so with Snetterton
providing so much space we laid out tests 199 yards long. The
competitors loved it and the Falcon Express became a firm favourite.
Another firm favourite event was born in 1967, called
an Autopoint. This involved a series of mini Autocross courses set out
in a field, the idea was to keep expenses down by running the event
under an Autotest permit. I suppose today you would call it an All
Forward Autotest. So successful was this event, that a couple of years
after its conception, it attracted an entry of over sixty for a closed
to club event.
In the late fifties, there were
more and more clubs being formed. Falcon recognised the importance for
these clubs to get together. Over a period of some eighteen months, our
secretary Ron Warren wrote many letters to exchange views. Ron was able
to call a meeting in early 1958. At the second meeting in July 1958,
Falcon were one of twelve clubs who formed The London Counties
Association Of Motor Clubs the end of our trials as well. In a bid to
stimulate Interest in trials, Tucker ran a Conducted Trial in the
Berkhamsted area, again with little interest.
Then in 1982 the club suffered another devastating
blow when Knebworth Park announced its intention to redevelop the site
used for our Autocrosses. A frantic search began to find
a new home for the Autocross.
After several false alarms, the club approached Chess Valley MC with a
view to use their Mursley venue. They agreed and Mursley became the new
home to Falcon Autocross. By now the only other events we were running
were Closed to Club Autotests. With a falling membership it was becoming
more and more difficult to attract entries. The Autocrosses were somehow
successful. Regular friends of the club turned up to marshal, and our
Clerk of the Course, Terry Fisher, would travel from his home in
Barnsley, to take charge. To help with costs we were joined by the Mini
Cross Drivers Association, who put on their own event in between the
Autocross runs.
By 1994 the club was at its lowest ebb. Membership
had fallen to thirty seven with only one or two attending club nights.
Despite this we still managed to run one Autocross and five Autotests.
Then came the salvation. Local trials enthusiasts were feeling their
needs were not being met at other local clubs and held a meeting to
canvass opinions. Falcon representatives suggested that Tucker’s old
club could be used as the focus for local trials activity and the rest
is history.
Within weeks Falcon ran its first PCT for many years
at Edlesborough near Dunstable, then in May a trial held at Great
Brickhill, was titled "The March Hare Trial". By the end of
that year the membership had risen to sixty four. It was decided not to
run an Autocross in 1996 as there were no club members doing Autocross
any more. However, a small team of marshals went to do their stuff on
Baddaford Lane, on the MCC's Exeter Trial, and for the past two years
have marshalled Clinton on the same event, braved Bareleg on last year's
Edinburgh and provided a big team on this year’s Crackington. All this
in addition to having an average of seventeen crews on recent MCC
events.
Today Falcon has one of the most active trials
memberships in the country. There were forty Falcon members either
competing, marshalling or organising on last year's Edinburgh Trial,
with the same number expected this year. Membership is now a 100 strong,
and, earlier this year, Falcon ran its first RAC Championship Production
Car Trial at Brickhill, which attracted an entry of over forty. Club
nights are now regularly well supported and an Autotest series attracts
a good entry for every event. Earlier this year the club experimented by
running single venue "Mini-Classic" at Edlesborough, and there
are tentative plans to run a real road Classic in the Hertfordshire and
Bedfordshire in 1999.
Three years ago Falcon was on the verge of folding.
Today things couldn't be more different. The commitment and enthusiasm
brought to the club by the new members has turned the club around. This
couldn’t have been more evident than on the Birthday Run, where the
atmosphere was full of optimism for the future. Happy 50th
Birthday Falcon.
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