Firle Hill Climb is a disused

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

course near

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, East Sussex, England, sometimes referred to as Bo Peep Hill Climb. The event was celebrated on 20 September 2015 by the Bo Peep Drivers Club. In 1966 ''The Autocar'' reported: " The hill covers 600 yards, and if the weather is fine the setting is really superb."

History

The situation faced by the racing motorist in England after World War Two was bleak.

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

was permanently closed and

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...

was out of action. Two other obstacles were petrol rationing, which was not abolished until 26 May 1950, and an acute shortage of tyres, the R.A.C. having banned retreaded or remoulded tyres from competition. The search was on for a place to race. The Bentley Drivers' Club found Firle.

W.O. Bentley Walter Owen Bentley, MBE (16 September 1888 – 13 August 1971) was an English engineer who founded Bentley Motors Limited in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft an ...

attended the race here in 1951. The BARC event held on Sunday 2 June 1957, was run in conjunction with the BARC 11th Annual Rally at Eastbourne, a 50-mile road event held the day before, starting at the Grasshopper Inn near

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. It is recorded as early as t ...

, with intermittent driving tests, including one at Butts Hill, Willingdon, and then on to Eastbourne, via Beachy Head. A steward of the rally was Captain A. Frazer-Nash, M.I.Mech.E. On 14 September 1958 Tony Marsh set an unofficial record of 25.31 sec during a demonstration run: "He chose to run in the big twin Cooper rather than the Formula 2 car, the former being less of a handful on Firle's somewhat bumpy surface." A report from 1965 states: "Once again, many of the hill records were lowered, including the absolute record for the hill, which came down from 24.45 seconds, set up by Miss

Patsy Burt Patricia Mary "Patsy" Burt (10 July 1928, Chelsea, London – 4 October 2001) was a British motor racing driver. During a long and varied career, Patsy Burt won many British national-level competitions, and was the first female driver ever to w ...

in 1963, to 23.87 seconds standing to Gordon Parker in a Cooper Climax. Patsy Burt did her utmost to retain her title but was unable to better 23.97." On 12 September 1965,

Jack Sears Jack Sears (16 February 1930 – 6 August 2016) was a British race and rally driver, and was one of the principal organisers of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon. Biography Sears was popularly known as "Gentleman Jack". His son David is a ...

driving a Bentley 8-litre set fastest time of the day by a Bentley. David Good,

BRM British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...

, set the track record of 22.78 sec on 28 May 1967,''Autosport'', 9 June 1967, Page 940. a record he holds in perpetuity, as the course closed at the end of the season. Bopeep Lane 2010

Firle Hill Climb events and past winners

Key: R = Course Record; S/C = Supercharged.

Footnotes

{{coord, 50.8258, 0.1225, type:event_region:GB, display=title Hillclimbs Defunct sports venues in East Sussex Defunct motorsport venues in England

Hill Climb Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

History

Firle Hill Climb events and past winners

See also

Footnotes