The following is a short blog about a much travelled tray.
The Golden Jubilee tray consists of six ceramic tiles listing every race winner on the TT course since the races started in 1907.
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| Golden Jubilee tray |
Not just any tray mind, but one that started a journey from the Isle of Man in 1957 at the Tourist Trophy motorcycle races. 1957 was a very important year in the history of the races, initially because it was the Golden Jubilee year of the event, but subsequently because it was the year the 100mph lap was finally broken after many years of trying.
It took the combination of two of the all-time greats to achieve this feat, Bob McIntyre and the 500cc Gilera. Bob had already won the Junior TT on a 350cc Gilera earlier in that week and all eyes were on him to see what would happen in the Senior. As always he did not disappoint, with record lap of 101.12mph he caught the earlier starting 1956 winner John Surtees on the MV Agusta and won the race in convincing style.
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| Winners enclosure - Bob McIntyre & John Surtees |
However not everything went Bob’s way over race week.
The 250 Potts Norton that he was to ride in the Lightweight TT went well in practice and put up good lap times, but suffered a major engine failure and could not be repaired in time for the race.
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| 250cc Potts Norton |
He also suffered a misfiring sparkplug in the Junior TT, causing the Gilera to run on only 3 cylinders for some of the race, which meant he had some catching up to do. With a high starting number Bob also had to pass a considerable number of slower riders in front of him, but when the Gilera cleared he was lapping at over 97mph. Again trouble struck in the Senior race, pulling away from the pits he was hit by a stone on the forehead causing an open wound, but he pressed on regardless. At the end of race week, Bob McIntyre was the acknowledged hero of the Jubilee celebrations and anyone that had been there, wanted to take something home to remember it by.
Graham Walker, Editor in Chief of Motor Cycling magazine, BBC commentator and a fine rider in his own right, realised what he had witnessed and took the tray back with him to present to his local club, the Southampton & District Motorcycle Club.
Graham was a very fine rider indeed and won the 1931 Lightweight TT on a 250cc radial-valve Rudge. Along with Ernie Nott and Henry Tyrell-Smith, he was a member of the official Works Rudge Team and given his size, turned in some wonderful performances on such a small bike.
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| Graham Walker after winning the 1931 250cc TT |
At the time the Southampton & District Motorcycle Club was a very active and well supported sporting club, running trials, scrambles, grass-track and road-races throughout the season.
Notable members included Alec Bennett, Syd Lawton, Arthur Wheeler, Len Harfield, Cyril Qantrill, Don Rickman, Peter Williams and Neville Goss of the ACU. The club was responsible for the development of Thruxton airfield as a racing circuit and ran all the motorcycle meetings there at both National & International level.
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| S&DMCC members |
In1955 they introduced a 9 Hour Motorcycle Endurance Road Race as an opportunity for British manufacturers to demonstrate the reliability of their machines. This was changed to a 500mile race in 1958 and was very popular with manufacturers and spectators alike. So much so that Velocette and Triumph named their top sporting models after the Hampshire circuit and the success they achieved there.
Social gatherings were held at their Woodside Avenue clubhouse in Eastleigh from 1972 until 2013 when it was demolished and a housing estate built on the Council owned site. The Golden Jubilee tray hung on the wall of these premises until they were finally vacated. The club headquarters then moved to smaller premises at the Cranbury Centre, again in Eastleigh and continues there to this day.
And what now of the tray?
Luckily it was rescued at the time of the exodus and has found a fitting home with an old friend, a 1932 250cc Rudge. Hopefully Graham Walker would approve.
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| 1921 - 250cc radial-valve Rudge |
