The Kop Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire. The climb was originally established in 1910 but due to a minor accident involving a spectator on the public road that formed the hillclimb, the last competitive event was held on 28 March 1925. The RAC then banned all motorsport on public roads, making the Kop Hill Climb the last of its kind to be run on the public highways in the UK. Since 2009 Kop Hill has been the focus of an annual revival run as a non-competitive, charity event.

The Kop Hill Climb revival

The hillclimb was initially revived in 1999 by the Town Council and the Bean Car Club as part of the Risborough Festival, and has become an annual event again. Today's revival was kicked off in 2009 and is run along non-competitive lines, to showcase cars and bikes dating back to the competitive era as well as more modern cars of interest and heritage. The event was run by Kop Hill Climb Ltd, which was dissolved in May 2017 and is now run by Buckinghamshire Community Foundation (Kop Hill Climb) Limited with unpaid volunteers managing the event for the Buckinghamshire Community Foundation raising money for local charities. The climb takes part on a public road with a 1:6 gradient leading to 1:5 with a short 1:4 at its steepest at the top of the climb.

The original Kop Hill Climb event

Kop Hill in its original, competitive form became a major event on the motor sports car and motorcycle calendar and many famous drivers and riders took part in the early years including

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

(Talbot 12 hp "Blue Bird"),

Raymond Mays Thomas Raymond Mays (1 August 1899 – 6 January 1980) was an auto racing driver and entrepreneur from Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. He attended Oundle School, where he met Amherst Villiers, leaving at the end of 1917. After army service i ...

(Bugatti),

Henry Segrave Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave (22 September 1896 – 13 June 1930) was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneous ...

( Sunbeam 2-litre Grand Prix) Archibald Frazer-Nash (KimII) J G Parry-Thomas (Leyland) and Capt.J E P Howey (Leyland). Motorsport racing on public roads was banned in Great Britain in 1925 due to an accident at the Kop Hill Climb event when, an automobile left the road and ran over a spectator, breaking his leg. The

Royal Automobile Club The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club. It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, near Epsom in Surrey. Both provide accommodation and a range ...

(R.A.C.) and the

Auto-Cycle Union The Auto-Cycle Union (ACU) is the governing body of motorcycle sport in Great Britain, including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, but excluding Northern Ireland.

(A.C.U.) announced that they would issue no further permits for speed competitions on public roads "for the present" however, their ban was never lifted.

Records

The fastest time recorded for a car was in 1922 when

Count Zborowski Louis Vorow Zborowski (20 February 1895 – 19 October 1924) was an English racing driver and automobile engineer, best known for creating a series of aero-engined racing cars known as the "Chitty-Bang-Bangs", which provided the inspiration for ...

driving a Ballot GP achieved 26.8 seconds, and the fastest motorcycle was in 1925 with

Freddie Dixon Frederick William Dixon (21 April 1892 – 4 November 1956) was an English motorcycle racer and racing car driver. The designer of the motorcycle and banking sidecar system, he was also one of the few motorsport competitors to have been success ...

achieving a time of 22.8 seconds with a 736 cc Douglas at an average of .

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.kophillclimb.org.uk Hillclimbs Auto races in the United Kingdom 1910 establishments in the United Kingdom