Vintage Speed Trials

Grimsthorpe Castle

Report and images by David Gowshall

28th August 2021

The opportunity to enjoy a day out photographing vintage cars and motorcycles in rural Lincolnshire with my wife and youngest daughter, who needed no excuse to attend in period dresses, and who both looked stunning in their 1930’s outfits, was not one I was going to turn down.

My eldest daughter, disappointed she couldn’t attend and justify a new outfit in the process, had the consolation of being able to attend Silverstone over the weekend and a date with the legendary Valentino Rossi, competing in his final British MotoGP.

Living close to the east coast invariably involves having to drive westwards down the most boring piece of motorway (M180) in the UK on my motorsports photography expeditions.

But on this occasion the journey took me southward down to Grimsthorpe and away from the tedium of the motorway.

Taking the scenic route, rather than that recommended by my Sat-Nav, was thoroughly enjoyable as it took in the entire length of the Lincolnshire Wolds.

Which is recognised, with much justification, as an Area of Outstanding Beauty. 

So onto the Speed Trials, this was the first time I had fulfilled the role as an official Media Representative at an event since the early 2000’s.

I had provided coverage of rally driver Jonny Milner’s progress in the British Rally Championship and Network Q Rally.

On arrival at Grimsthorpe Castle I eagerly sought out my Media Pass, which was going to allow me privileged access to areas not available to the many spectator photographers attending the event.

Grimsthorpe Castle is set in its own Park, spread over 3000 acres, designed by the famous landscape architect “Capability” Brown.

The Park was originally the southern edge of the great Lincolnshire Forest. 

The Castle, which stands on a small hill overlooking the surrounding countryside, forms the centrepiece of the Estate and is the perfect backdrop for the annual Vintage Speed Trials, which were first held in 1903 by the Lincolnshire Automobile Club in the old deer park.

Over a century later, the 2021 Speed Trials featured in this report, are highly successful in reviving the spirit of pre-war speed trialling, featuring pre-war cars and motorcycles, and evoking the nostalgia of these early gatherings.

The atmosphere, helped enormously by the appearance of the sun, and created by many of the spectators and all of the volunteer officials attending the event wearing period clothing, generates a gentile and elegant occasion for all to enjoy.



The timed runs, which take place over a short straight section of one the Castle’s tree lined avenue’s, got underway promptly at 10 o’clock and featured a wide array of vehicles, all beautifully turned out

Most, with a few exceptions, completed all their runs without incident, but as the day went on a few mechanical gremlins emerged, which is not surprising bearing in mind some of the vehicles taking part were in excess of 115 years old.



Although winning was important for some, for most of those “competing”, the times recorded seem to be of little importance. The opportunity to show off their prized cars and bikes, even looking out for friends in the crowd, being the main priority. 

Throughout the day spectators enjoyed the opportunity to check out all the vehicles taking part in the trials close up in the paddock, located alongside the timed “track” and the castle gardens, as well as those being exhibited in the castle’s courtyard. 

The grounds of the castle provide an idyllic location for a picnic lunch and the lengthy lunch break provided plenty of opportunity to find a spot in the gardens to relax.

Open the picnic basket and partake of a sandwich or two and a glass of wine or an ice cream. 

Throughout the day and competing in parallel with the main event held on the Castle’s tree lined avenue, were the Cyclekarts, who used the estate road, overlooked by the Car Park, which was filled with classic cars, leading to the lake for their timed runs.

These vehicles are 2/3 scale vehicles, driven by 200cc engines, inspired by pre-war racing machines and are hand built using modern materials. 

Amongst the vehicles competing in the main event, one in particular, the 1936 supercharged 2 litre ERA, stood out, its astonishing acceleration and speed ensuring it comfortably won the Class N honours.

It covered the short and straight speed trial circuit consistently in just over 20 seconds.



This was the first time for a number of years, an ERA car had taken part in the Trials, and was a reminder of the connection between this car manufacturer and the town of Bourne. 

Bourne - The birthplace of British Motor Racing

The Grimsthorpe Castle Speed Trials and the nearby town of Bourne, just four miles away, share a unique link to motor racing and Formula 1 Grand Prix racing in particular, which warrants inclusion in this report. 

During the late 1920s and early 30s, international Grand Prix motor racing was increasingly dominated by Italian, French and German cars, with British manufacturers being notable by their absence. 

It was in response to this, that, in 1933, wealthy amateur driver racing driver, Humphrey Cook, approached Raymond Mays, a leading hillclimb and trials driver.

He almost certainly took part in the Grimsthorpe Castle Speed Trials in the 1920’s, proposing the establishment of a new British marque - English Racing Automobiles.

As a consequence, English Racing Automobiles Ltd was founded by Cook, Mays, Murray Jamieson and Mays’ good friend Peter Berthon in November 1933, in Mays workshop, at his home in Eastgate House in Bourne.

The plan was to manufacture single seater racing cars capable of upholding British prestige in Europe and competing against the major international names in motorsport.

Cook, being a wealthy gentleman racer was the financier, Berthon took on the role of designer, Jamieson provided the mechanical input, and Mays, who was already a highly respected driver with many years behind the wheel of racing cars, the driver.

This team were the founders of today’s vast British motorsport industry of excellence that dominates F1 racing today.

E.R.As were soon scoring notable victories against many established marques and less than two years after forming in 1935 at the prestigious Nürburgring, E.R.As took an incredible first, third, fourth and fifth place in their first major international event. 

E.R.As used 1.1 litre, 1.5 litre and 2 litre supercharged engines competing in the Voiturette classes, todays equivalent of Formula 2, and due to their relative small size they were particularly suited to hill climbs which drew crowds at that time in the hundreds of thousands at various venues, including Shelsley Walsh, the circuit guide for which is featured on the Pistonclick website, where Mays won many honours over the years.

Mays had a lifelong ambition to see his country succeed at the top level of international motor sport and during his thirty year driving career became one of E.R.A.’s most notable drivers, winning the British Hill Climb Championship in 1947 and 1948 and the Brighton Speed Trials for four years between 1946 and 1950 in his trademark black E.R.A. R4D.

After the war Mays was the driving force behind the formation of the BRM racing team, which operated from a workshop on the former site of the gasworks in Bourne, and which went on to record many successes in pre-war Grand Prix racing, winning 12 Grand Prix’s and providing the car that Graham Hill used to win the F1 Drivers World Championship in 1962.

Reminders of both Mays’ and Hill’s connection to the town are reflected in street names, with the towns by-pass known as Raymond Mays Way.

It would be nice to think that Mays, who died in 1980, is looking down with satisfaction and a big smile on his face, knowing his ambitions for Britain to be at the forefront of motorsport on four wheels have finally been met, with Lewis Hamilton having been crowned World F1 Champion seven times and six of the ten teams currently competing in F1 being based in the UK.

His small workshop in Bourne can rightly lay claim to being the birthplace of British Motor Racing.