Anybody who has any interest in motor racing in this country will know
that most of the major circuits in this country started off as airfields,
Silverstone being the obvious example. However very few people know that
Haddenham could well have become Britain's premier motorcycle racing
circuit soon after World War Two.
With the closure of Brooklands to
racing due mainly to the large number of aircraft being built there by
Vickers, the British Motor Cycle Racing Club, (‘Bemsee’), was soon looking
for a new circuit. One of its members was Guy Lawrence the Director of
Chartair and he came up with the proposal of using Haddenham’s perimeter
track for racing. Although narrow it was of a good smooth surface and had
easy run-offs onto grass in the case of a competitor losing it on a
corner. The proposal was snatched up and a number of meetings and other
grander plans were made. Unfortunately from the word go residents of the
local village made their objections known even to the point of calling
those who might possibly attend "the scum and riff-raff of London". There
were also objections to the fact that the meetings were to be held on
Sundays, which was later to be one of the reasons for Haddenham racings
downfall.
