The surviving parts of the Brooklands Race Track June 2017 from above, in 4k UHD
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- NOTE: There are many more exciting Videos about Brooklands (and other things) at www.andysvideo...
This video could have been shorter but we wanted to not only capture the historic circuit as it is today, but also the surrounding landscape and buildings 110 yeas after it opened. Brooklands is of course famous for its banked oval circuit which was closed because of the 2nd World War. In the years that followed sections of the track were removed and often built on. Now what remains is protected and this video is a 4k UHD aerial record of the Brooklands Race Track and the ground around it at June 2017.
Please feel free to link to this video and share as wide as possible. Also if you are especially interested in the ongoing work at Brooklands then follow the link above to go to the complete Re-Engineering Brooklands playlist This playlist is a collection of videos I have made about the work that has been going on over the last few years.
NOTE: If you enjoy the videos I produce please take a moment to 'like' and even better 'subscribe' to the channel, it helps us grow. Also remember the best index to my work (divided in subject playlist) can be found at www.andysvideo...
Unbelievable video. Made me very happy to see all of the remains and take it in properly like that. One of my favourite places in the world.
Thanks Brandon known people enjoyed it makes all the effort worth while
My Auntie raced at Brooklands and had her wake there. I missed her funeral but she was the only family member who understood my motorsport activities. Mercedes club held a meeting at Brooklands last year so I had my first visit. I spent three days just remembering all those pioneers. We were on the Railway straight for our club meeting. I walked the banking. It’s thanks to Brooklands museum and to Mercedes there are still actual areas of this iconic venue, not only for racing but for building the Wellington bomber. The UK is such a small landmass we are likely to destroy all historic venues in search of “progress.” Thank you to those who are determined to fight the self destruction of the UK.
Great to hear from you and it is always good to hear that some people appreciate the work done by many of us in keeping the place alive.
Thanks from all the volunteers including myself.
Andy
I grew up with Brooklands in the 50s. My day was a lap scorer there in the 20s. My new wife and I were clearing the undergrowth from the Member's Banking after a one night honeymoon...
It makes me sad and angry that Brooklands, all 330 acres of it, could have been saved when British Aerospace closed. The will of enthusiasts was there, the money was there, the plan for a 'living museum' of motoring and aviation was there - but too many people, who should have known better, wanted it to die with them...
I admire what Brooklands Museum have achieved but on every visit I have cried inside over what could have been...
Yes very true
I would love to see Brooklands restored, but sadly, it's not going to happen. Whoever composed the music to the video got it spot on. It's worth watching the video, just to listen to the music alone. I love this video, I will be watching it over and over again. It should have been made a national monument, but I'm glad to hear that Historic England and the Heritage At Risk register have got what's left, protected. I hope it's around for a good long time yet
I was working up this way the other day and when I saw the banking from the road I was shocked. I never knew this existited. I'd heard of brooklands but didn't realise so much was still there. And the size of the banking is amazing. Thankyou for the footage. Will visit again one day.
Lot more to see in the Museum, but like all the others it is likely to be late summer before it opens again.
A fantastic video documentary. How sad that we get so excited about Saxon, Roman , Norman relics but we can't preserve such an icon of British motor engineering history without building commercial premises on it. Well done to all the volunteers for providing, to my mind, the best example of what made Britain, Great Britain.
Thank you Andy and sadily what you say is so true, but in Brooklands case we did have a small amount of success.
I was there today 09/12/19. Incredible place, I came home a little humbled by how amazing the place was. History, real history 😊
Glad you enjoyed it Andy, you may have seen me that day in the workshop working on my AEC Militant Recovery Vehicle. To really get to know all about Brooklands it needs a lot more than one visit, because the more you find out the more understand just how special it is.
Fabulous video ....... the UHD makes the whole scene come alive!
Especially for me. As a former Vickers Armstong apprentice way back in 1953-55, when we were building Valiant bombers and Viscounts, I remember how it was then, and how one of our apprentice gang tried to take his Morgan 3-wheeler up on the old banking ...... too high, and almost rolled it down to the bottom!
Happy days!
Imagine watching those old cars screaming around on this monolithic race track in the 1930's....I would love to have been born about 1900. And witness so much change and spectacular events.
Excellent video and some excellent footage of this iconic old racing track. Such a shame that so much of it has been lost but we should be grateful that some remains
This is called progress but it's great to see what remains to show the history. This is also becoming the fate of The Bonneville Salt Flats through the BLM's mismanagement allowing mining to continue depletion of the salt to where it is just about unusable. Future generations will be saying "this is where they used to set land speed records".
I know that times change and progress happens, but I can't help but be a little sad seeing this! I live in Orange County California and in the city of Tustin there is the now Closed Marine Corps Air Station. I was stationed there in the early 90's. But seeing this brought back the sadness I felt the day I heard that the MCAS Tustin had closed in July of 1999. I came back in 2000 to see it first hand and I'm not afraid to say I cried, because it was my home for 2 years and I had a lot of Good memories there! Anyway Amazing Video Thanks for Sharing!
Sadly in the UK our heritage and history is slowly being erased by greedy peopls
I have actually been driven round this track a couple years ago in an old Austin Healy hitting speeds of 80 on some of the parts that remain. Amazing!!!
bet that was a right buzz hitting them banks at 80 mph
My father raced at Brooklands, so this gives a good insight to the track. Thanks
Having been to Brooklands museum the last couple of years for the mini day I stumbled across this video and found it very interesting.
I never really realised how big the track was (thinking about it I suppose it had to be) and also never realised how much still existed.
Thanks to all who took the time to put this together ( I know I'm a bit late viewing. lol)
You are not late viewing, some of my Brooklands videos go back to 1985 :-) The track was just short of 3 miles long and you will also find on my channel an updated video of the section where the trees are growing through the track (by Oyster lane) which has now been cleared.
Excellent video! I had the good fortune to visit Brooklands in 2014 and was able to walk along the Members banking, but we did not have time to get over to the Byfleet section. It's an amazing place. Thanks for the UL!
Me again, as that straight after the banking looks to be largely unused, it is tantalising to see how this could once again be connected to the current banking, meaning one could really get some speed up. I have driven the banking in 1996 on the invitation of the then curator Roger Rammage. Great guy who loved my Bellini Special (KSK 362). A truly incredible day... What an atmosphere. Memories of my car sliding sideways down the banking whilst parked! Crazy the scale of it all. Great work... BRAVO.
Congratulations, a wonderful emotive video. A tribute to the great pioneers of motorcar and motorcycle racing in the early part of the 20th century. We should never forget the names of Freddie Dixon, Bert Le Vack, Eric Fernihough, Chris Staniland and Capt Rupert Leveson Gower, to name but a few.
Wonderful video to remind us of the glory days of Racing. Bravo.
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines brought me here. I so wanna go skateboarding on that track. Fantastic video wish the track wasn't incomplete.
Thank you for the video. It brought back many memories from when I worked for LG Mouchel and partners. We worked on the access reactor the Tesco store and I did the calculations for the two retaining walls at 11.10 minutes. I was also involved in many of the works to develop the site, including decontamination( mostly from the aircraft factories) road construction and other projects. It was a mix of interesting work but always tinged with sadness at destroying part of this wonderful place. We would often find fascinating historical documents dating back to the original construction of the track. The housing estate at the end of the video was built ion the site of an old works canteen that was bombed in ww2, some 50 people lost their lives. I hope the museum can continue to thrive and that commercial pressures dont destroy any more of this shrine to motoring and aviation. I have kept the drawings from the retaining walls and photos from the construction as it was a great place to work.
Thanks for your kind words and yes I remember the cutting in to the banking as National Rescue (my Company) head office was in the Control Tower (as it was incorrectly known) with the Trafalgar House Team. If you ever want to do something with the images I would be happy to put them in a slide show and place them on here for all to see.
@@AndysVideo Trafalgar House were our clients. I will try to scan a few of the better photos of the wall construction. I remember there is a "V" notch in one of the walls that was supposed to allow the public to see the construction of the original track. I was never convinced of the idea as all you could see was a concrete slab with sand under it. It is really important that people like you ironical local history like this and your work is really appreciated.
Easy to imagine from this still amazingly futuristic looking concrete structure looming out of the Surrey landscape the ghosts of the old 1920's & the 1930's racers bombing along it still.
Would have also been interesting to fly the drone a low level close above the track at speed to show it from the racer's perspective. Well made film, thx, sped up to 2 the it zips along nicely.
My father used to race there before the 2nd World War, I used to go fishing there, at the lake by one of the banking's, pity it went into decay, what a marvelous piece of history
Very interesting. Brooklands was really the first race track in Europe, it's nice to see the surviving parts of it in this beautiful video. Together with Indianapolis and Monza, here was born the legend of motor racing.
Thanks and you may like to know there is a lot more I filmed there at www.andysvideo.com/
Forget Europe - Brooklands was the first purpose built motor circuit in the world.
Motorsport owes an enormous debt to Hugh Fortescue Locke King...
For anyone with an interest in the Cars, Motorcycles and Aeroplanes that are a part of the history of Brooklands a visit to the Museum is time very well spent. Whilst you are there take a walk up the Test Hill to the Members Bridge where there is a view in both directions of one of the surviving parts of the banking. I have visited Brooklands several times and always found much to see, although I feel rather sad about the missing sections of the circuit. I would have loved to see the fire breathing monsters thundering around back when it was an active race track.
Just in case you don't know Tony there is a lot more Brooklands on my website divided into playlist to make it easier to find what you are interested in - at www.andysvideo.com
@@AndysVideo Thanks Andy. I first found your channel via the items you have up about the Vimy replica. Great stuff
So evocative, and to see so much of the original track intact ……. beautiful!!!
18:38 my childhood right there, sad to see the kart track no longer in use but happy to see its still there.
So sad how such amazing history can just die and be forgotten
I’m just new to the history of Brooklands and racing and it’s wonderful to see that actual parts of the track remain and are protected. Wonderful piece of history. Just imagine the history etched into the straights and banking! If only it could speak!
To those of us who were involved in the 'Track Clearing' group in the 60s and 70s, it did speak...
There was a very real sense of what it had meant to so many people - drivers, mechanics, spectators, aviators and those who worked for Vickers, particularly during the war years...
I had personal memories of it from the 50s and well remember the wandering tinker who, on his visits to Weybridge, set up home under the Hennebique Bridge. I remember sitting on the edge of the Member's Banking and watching the first VC10 fly out and the TSR-2 airframe model that sat for years, after the project was cancelled, behind the Clubhouse.
Most of all, I remember the magnificent sweep of the banking crossing the River Wey and blending into the Railway Straight and the memories of those who had first hand contact with Brooklands...
H.F.Locke King had a foresight, and altruism, that is almost non-existent today.
Brilliant video Andy. I haven`t been here in donkey`s years. Brooklands was a regular thing for myself and Chris Marr on a sunday back in the early 1970s. We used to cut down and remove the trees in the Members Banking and were frequently chased off by the B.A.C. security types. Chris even made a good little film about that section of banking but I suppose that went to Canada with him. The place certainly has changed but I`m glad to see that they haven`t just wiped it off the face of the Earth.
I do love the fact they built around it, instead of completely demolishing the track.
This is true but it had more to do with the track being classed at a National Heritage Monument than the planners conscience I am sorry to say. Although in the early years my company (National Rescue) shared the Control Tower / Club House building with Trafalgar House and some of their guys went out of their way to help preserve things and allowed me to film stuff that was coming down.
Thank you for this excellent video. This is an important recording that documents the surviving stretches of the first British Grand Prix track.
It pre-dated the 'British Grand Prix' by 43 years...
Great video and fantastic music that kind of sets the glorious history of this track It's s bloody shame that parts of this once historic super fast track never survived and that nobody kind of stopped the trees n shrubs from taking over parts of it I can see some parts where needed for roads etc but when you see it from above there is still a fair bit of it left Lets hope one day there is money available to get this track kind of looking again like it used to be back in the 1910s
It is not as bad as it seems Jon I have done an update see th-cam.com/video/xHYtyLeg5PE/w-d-xo.html where some of the worst of the shrubs growing through the track have been removed. The problem is that different organisation are responsible for looking after their part of the banking and there is no real 'enforced' planning to preserve it.
This is wonderful, it stands as a monument. I just stayed at the hotel and was great to see the banking. It must have been amazing to see it in it’s hay day.
I have walked most of the track and it was a wonderful experience people should do it for the nostalgia.
it breaks my heart ... and I'm not even British , it's a shame ... someone should come up with some ideas about it , really ...
the french have just donated a fortune for the rebuild of Notre Dame Cathedral , now without blasphemy , Brookland is pretty much iconic too ...
doncarlo5 its because of non car guys
they see notre dame more significant then brooklands
A very interesting film. It is a scandal that such an important automotive and industrial heritage site has been basically left to rot and have a retail park stuffed into it. Nothing is sacred anymore.
Brooklands racing circuit should have been retained for the nation as a heritage site and used. But instead, just like the railways, it was allowed to fall into disrepair, destroyed, the land flogged off, and roads, industrial lots, and housing built on it. It often amazes me how in Britain we build such magnificent creations only to destroy them. Some call this progress, but I call it the wanton stupid vandalism of fools. And, in many cases of such wanton vandalism, we see in time that the only so called 'progress' that has been achieved in reality is just a means to an end in filling others pockets with money at the publics inconvenience and expense. John Major was still flogging off railway land in the 2000's. I can imagine that Brooklands went the same way.
It was not possible to retain Brooklands following the changes made during WWII - we were in a total war so i think it was a forgivable sacrifice.
Thank you so much for this video. I'm a Brooklands fan and still have my First Edition of Boddy's History of Brooklands Motor Course.
What a fantastic video; thank you for all of
your hard work!
Absolutely brilliant. Thank you, Andy. P.B.
All those quotidian cars and vans and stuff trundling slowly by right beside that ghostly banking...melancholy and eerie. Love it.
Never thought of it like that Steve, thanks for the thought and you kind words - Andy
I worked at bac and had my dinner sitting on the track many times brings back memorys
Philip Poulter that’s amazing!! My grandad worked at British aerospace there making the concords!
@@willkar2398 see if he knew mervin and trevor poulter and George poulter in the battery shop
Awesome footage - thanks for sharing. I particularly liked the Vickers Valiant factoid, removing some of the banking to allow the newly built planes to take-off.
Glad you liked it Peter and you will find much, much more about Brooklands recent past, including footage of some of the last buildings to be removed at www.andysvideo.com
Fantastic video, I didn't realise Byfleet banking was so overgrown.. so much history there.
Back in about 1968, iirc, I was visiting BAC whilst they were building the BAC 1-11. This was well before the Museum, the shops, Mercedes World etc. I drove around to the car park and chanced on the Member's banking! No signs, no fences....it was irresistible. So away we went...in the ageing Ford Thames van I was using as band transport for our Dixieland outfit...up onto the banking...gave her the beans...and managed a fair distance before the track became impassable. Very evocative; just wish I had been in my supercharged MG TC....
I wish you had had a camera!
It was a different world, back then; photography was serious stuff with significant cost, not like today's digital stuff.... Enjoyed your tour of the track, great views....
Point taken. I wonder if you actually drove over the Hennebique Bridge crossing the river Wey ?
@@AndysVideo I remember as an undergraduate apprentice ('69-'74) you were told that if you were found on site with a camera there would be a court martial and you could be shot. Seriously though, security was very very tight, and looking at my training notes there are no photos just sketches. I remember in the plastics dept. making some beautiful mirrors using materials (stretched reflective melinex bonded onto honeycomb backing panels) from the scrap bins, to give to friends. I asked to take them out and was told it was against company policy and they were thrown straight back in the bin !! Interesting to see the track. During the stint in the main assembly shop, parts of which were on the original track, I was told that one night the shift heard a motor bike approach and thought it was on the Byfleet/Newhaw road. Suddenly a bike appeared through the closed hangar doors with a rider in helmet googles etc. He drove straight through the shop and out the closed doors the other end. The shift downed tools and left for the night. I always wondered if it was a "tale" told to all apprentices or there was some basis in "fact".......... those were the days, wonderful memories......(still have photos of my mini on the banking behind the Acoustics Lab, taken secretly of course ;-) )
@@nevilefoster2784 Sightings of the motor bike was a common one and probably still is today. My company National Rescue moved there in late 1984 and were in T151 see th-cam.com/video/qI6B4m4a0Tw/w-d-xo.html and I heard the motor bike in our Hangar! I was in the Control Room and rushed out into the main Hangar area, but there was nothing to see by then. The doors were shut at both ends however and to this day I still don't know what it was we thought we had heard. Regarding the 'Scrapping Things' Policy nothing changed when the site was pulled down the fledgling museum asked for a few of the many tables, chairs and workbenches left in the buildings. They were told "no everything on site has to be scrapped". I am pleased to say however that one weekend the security people accidently left the gates between the site and the Museum open and by an odd coincidence a load of trailers were waiting and were driven into the site and returned an hour later loaded down with Workbenches, Tables, Chairs, Filling Cabinets and lots of other stuff rescued from the many Skips.
Fantastic video! I can imagine the old aircraft-engined cars thundering down the straights and around the banking. Don't be sad about the state of the circuit people. Think of it like the Colosseum in Rome which has been left in original condition for thousands of years.
Wise word indeed, at least we still have some of it and unlike the days of Rome, much film footage of how it was when new.
Talk about a beautiful place to visit. The whole site is breathtaking.
So much history lost for ever, at least some parts of it survive.
Very enjoyable video...the music was well chosen also, many thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it much more Brooklands at www.andysvideo.com
If they could restore the full Brooklands circuit, that would be amazing.
Thanks for that, extremely interesting & a great way to see the harder to reach parts of the track, some extremely deteriorated parts there are too.
I drove my Rover P5B on the members banking once & have the photos to prove it. It was a Rover rally & the open gate to the track was too great a temptation for a few of us, even though we weren't strictly supposed to go on it. Well it would have been rude not to.
How l would have loved to have been there in it's heyday. It really was a massive building project for the time & from the Napier-Railton & The Bentley Boys to walking the dog, it's good to see such a substantial part of the place is still with us, albeit unusable for it's natural purpose.
Let’s all salute the ones who lost their lives there. Seventeen I believe including some spectators.
It was the most dangerous construction site in the UK in its day or so I was told non the less to construct this amazing place in less than a year was an incredible achievement. Many more lost their lives in the war during raids. A more peaceful place today thankfully and certainly a place to visit.
It’s a disgrace that this was simply sold off to developers and Tesco etc, I think it would have been Britain’s Nurburgring. So sad. I visited an open air market here about 20 odd years ago and found myself driving on the banked track waiting in line to get in, it was then I realised where I was and had to stop and get out to take it all in. Such a shame it’s mostly gone . 😢
A lot would agree with you Antonio, but unfortunately so much was removed or built on in the years following the WW2 it would have taken an enormous amount of money to save it. Instead the area which is now the Brooklands Museum was secured to at least keep the most important remaining buildings safe and to tell the story of Brooklands. In case you don't know there is a lot more Brooklands' footage I have made over the years to watch at www.andysvideo.com
And all the money needed to buy the entire site and to save 'what was left' WAS available. There was a plan and the finance to rebuild the Hennebique Bridge over the River Wey, restore the missing parts of the Byfleet Banking, demolish the apprentice school and other buildings on the line of the track and reinstate the surface and all the original buildings, whilst retaining the Vickers and Hawkers buildings that were clear of the track surface.
That was the dream, that was the possibility. A living museum of motoring and aviation in the birthplace of world motor racing tracks and the cradle of British aviation. It was blown out of the water by greed, politics and a bunch of old men, ex-Brooklands drivers, who wanted it's memory to pass with them...
When the Brooklands Society Committee refused to back the plan, it was doomed.
I immediately resigned from the Society, as did almost all of the track clearers who had worked so hard to get to that point...
@@duncanx99
Do you think it could still be possible to rebuild Brooklands ??
I think anything is possible, all it takes is the 'Right' attitude from the right people with money, and this could, i believe still happen !! Never say never .
@@mickclarke4579 In reality no, not now. Too much has been destroyed and built on - there's too much vested interest now - from supermarkets to Mercedes.
When it was up for grabs, the only missing parts of the track itself were the Oyster Lane entrance and the removed section of the Byfleet Banking, the areas that had been built on by Vickers for their offices and the Apprentice School and the Hennebique Bridge over the Wey on the Member's Banking.
All other buildings were original to Brooklands in its heyday (including the Flying School and The Hermitage (Parry Thomas's house on the East side) and the Pit buildings along the Finishing Straight. Some of the other buildings erected by Vickers dated from the war, and were therefore intrinsic to the aviation history, and later buildings were off the line of the track itself and, in their own way played a part in the history, e.g. 'The Cathedral'.
It would have then been possible, if costly, to completely reinstate the track and use it for 'demonstration runs'.
Imagine John Cobb's Napier Railton and the Birkin Bentley again on the Member's Banking. Even at much reduced speed that would have been impressive and to follow a complete lap from the Member's Hill would have been a vision of 'the right crowd and no crowding'.
Any recreation now would, of necessity, be a mere pastiche of what was - the soul has gone and the world has moved on...
@@duncanx99 give us modern Racers tracks like brooklands was we probably wouldn't be street racing. Rules and safety destroyed mainstream racing and were reverting back to our roots.
I was working on site for the construction of Mercedes world and I know it was wrong but I found an unlocked gate and took my van onto a section of the original track. Could have been in a lot of trouble but it was worth it. The banking is savage. Thought I was going to tip the van. Naughty but emotional little experience
I would do the same if i ever got a chance It would just have to be done trying that banking out at high speed
Thank you Andy . Wow What a place !
First class, many thanks for producing this. Visited Brooklands prior to the removal of the hangar, nice to see it as it is now.
Top marks for a fascinating and informative piece of film, with excellent use of a drone.
Wanted one motor mad multimillionaire! Bring back the Bentley Boys!
Great video I visited Brooklands long before the museum opened and before much of the development had taken place. The members bank was still connected to the railway straight by the bridge over the river Wey and if memory serves me correct the railway straight was still connected to the Byfleet bank. Most of the finish straight and the Campbell circuit was still intact too. It's a shame a preservation order wasn't put on it then
Site of British aerospace which closed in 1987 my grandad and brother and uncle worked there!!!
If you look in the Playlist 'Brooklands pre 2000' on my channel or at www.andysvideo.com you will find videos I made of some of the old building and some views from Brian Angliss's Helicopter
Thank you Andy, I really enjoyed that.
I've been here quite a lot! Great place
Wenn ich so etwas sehe bekomme ich Gänsehaut mit viel Tränen in den Augen.
This video is beautifully made.
Fabulous work !! I recall flying out of Heathrow some time ago and getting an unexpected and fascinating overhead glimpse of this hallowed site but sadly couldn't prersuade the pilot to stop or go around again.....
Thanks and you, there is a lot more I have filmed over the years at www.andysvideo.com/
I live next to this track and have never realised how beautiful the area is (weybridge/byfleet)
This is so true Harry I had been a volunteer there since 1985 and it was only when i started flying the drone I noted that. If you want to see more have a look at www.andysvideo.com in the Drone Aerial Footage playlist, you will find more from around the area.
Outstanding video, thank you for this.
I know it most probably never happen but wouldn't it be great if one day they rebuilt the track
Don't know, but you cant drive there any races, because the cars are way to fast for this
Thank you. a very interesting film and very nostalgia. what a shame it closed as a race track, would have been fantastic with todays cars wow!
As you say David it would have been great to do but the deterioration is far to bad. Back in 1986 Damon and Nigel took a Williams up onto the good bit under the Members Bridge, but even that on its highest setting could not handle the bumps.
@@AndysVideo One always needs to remember that it was, fundamentally, a layer of concrete on top of sand, nothing more.
Back in 1906, when the building started, made-up roads were a rarity and there was really nothing much on which to base the construction, besides the vision the Hugh Locke King had in his head.
It was always bumpy, from day one, with the largest of the bumps being where the Member's Banking crossed the River Wey and there's the classic photo of John Cobb's Napier Railton with all four wheels off the ground there.
The bumps were made worse during the war when poles were installed to hold up camouflage netting over the track - a huge concrete oval was going to be easy to spot from the air!!!
Coming in August can’t wait
Thank you very much for this interesting video!
My pleasure!
stunning work, appreciate all the effort behind, the administration stuff...and the brilliant weather :) thank you
Thanks Andy, cracking video 👍🏻
Thanks 👍
Trying to place your old place and the hanger when Nrg was there. Brilliant video
What a great video! Well done!
i’ve been to the mercedes-world, driven on this part of history (the driving experience for U-18s) yet not known i was driving on this historic track. it’s sad to see how many tracks have faltered from what they once looked like =/
Treasure your time doing as the Under 18's are no longer allowed on that bit (except in special circumstances) and you have done something many others would have liked to.
Impressive video. Great work Andy
Beautiful job Andy
Really kinda sad. I imagine it was a beautiful track at one time. Grandstands full of people, the grumble of the engines. All vanished with time. Silent.
Very well done.
Thanks, it was hard work but worth it! You may be interested to know there is a lot more I have filmed around Brooklands at www.andysvideo.com/
Thank you for sharing this.
Brilliant _ thank you for posting.
Thank you ❤
You're welcome 😊
The famous Brooklands Autodrome... I didn't knew that it was so large...
the track was just under 3 miles all the way around the outermost circuit. You can find a lot more videos about it at www.andysvideo.com
My grandfather used to go there when racing was on . He worked at Bentley`s Cricklewood.
If he is still with us show him around my channel where you will find some 300 plus Brooklands related videos.
andysvideo . He's not . He would have been 120 years old in August 2019.
Makes me sad. The first racetrack in England and look what we did to it. It should be a national monument. Nice video though.
I can only agree but after the changes made by Vickers and others there was no chance Racing could ever return there and the sort of money needed to keep it all alive as a mnument was never going to happen. I guess in many way we should be greatful for the Museum site which at least keeps some of the main building alive.
@@AndysVideo Agreed. Brooklands Museum does a great job. I've been there many times.
The first purpose-built race track in the World.
Thank You!
Great film thank you. I didn't know that the track spanned a river!
Yes they built the Hennebique bridge as part of the banking and it survived until 1968 when flood water collapsed part of it and the rest was soon demolished for safety reasons. We take a look at the base of it in my videos th-cam.com/video/bnkyjoEJMGI/w-d-xo.html and th-cam.com/video/42hmqTjVaKQ/w-d-xo.html
This is the first purpose built race track ever, opened in 1907 CMIIW
Brilliant video, very well done. I worked at Brooklands with Cementation during 1989-1990 and drove a tipper lorry on the Byfleet banking! The whole site has changed so much. It was quite a bleak place even then.
What were Cementation doing there at that time.
They were doing ground works and as far as I remember there was a road being built across the site. It was just basically like a waste land back then. I'll never forget taking the 8 wheel Scammell tipper onto the Byfleet banking, it was a surreal moment for me because I grew up reading about Brooklands and Le Mans and the Nurburgring. I haven't been there since, must visit the old banking again. My only regret was not taking a photo at the time.
Just googled it! It is Wellington Way. I hauled most of the ballast to that.
OK I know where you mean as you say it was The construction of Wellington Way at the time my company (National Rescue) had our head office in the Control Tower (Flight School building) and watched you guys putting the road in.
Liked the video of British history. Can Imagine the FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENTS there, in it's Days . . .
Lovely video, thanks for sharing it.
Something quite interesting is that the railway straight is actually used now as a mini driving road course for mercedes Benz world
Really good video, I really enjoyed it, but made me very sad at the same time, I've been to Brooklands a number of times, and couldn't believe just how much has disappeared when I first went there, some years ago now, I think it's utterly disgraceful, that this iconic place, a place where gladiators once fought and died, was allowed to be carved up to build houses, offices and shopping centres all in the name of progress, do these town planers have no soul, in big business though money talks.
Brooklands should have been preserved in its entirety possibly as a living museum, but its too late now, soon we will have no heritage in the UK if this is sort of desecration is allowed to continue, what next building a shopping centre on Brands Hatch or Goodwood, bloody heathens, it disgusts me, this "so called" progress.
It’s impossible to tell from photos or footage just how steep that banking is, you can just about walk up it but you’ll find yourself running or sliding down.
Sadily on the steepest parts which are mostly in the museum site, many people do not heed the warnings and run up only to find that coming down while still standing upright is imposable and leads to a painful fails and on occasions worse!
@@AndysVideo I read that in the guide when I was there today.
Was this the place, used to record the first half of ”Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines”?
Yes and No! It was not recorded at Brooklands, but the area where it was filmed was made to look like Brooklands because 'back in the day that was where many record attempts set of from.
Thank you, this is an excellent video, I wondered how much remained. Quite a lot! And I can see that it is easy to clear away a lot more grass and trees to reveal even more. Give me a shovel and a bin bag and I'll do it for nothing. I can imagine how snotty some of the businesses are for giving you permission, only us Brits are like that. Except that most of the owners of this area probably aren't British any more, are they?
Thanks for the kind words and yes a lot is in walkable condition (or driving if you don't value your suspension). The problem with the business was largely - 1. finding out who was responsible for each bit and 2. the fact that some of them wanted to stall us while they cleared up the bit they were supposed to be looking after!
It would alsoi be nice to have some trees cleared from along the tack and grass plated so you can see where the track was. Maybe the track could be resurfaced.
Great video, thanks
My pleasure!
A lovely vid. A first rate achievement.