John Retter visited Brooklands last weekend where there was an event to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the first motor race in the UK.

These are his words and photos:

“It came as a surprise to me to learn that there was a race on 29 Nov 1897. It was a bit of fun, even if the weather was rather cold, apparently the same as the weather in 1897!”

“All the participants rode trikes. Given each had around 1 1/2 hp, they were not fast by conventional standards, but they were still trying! The commentator did add that they all employed a Victorian version of supercharging to assist their performance and this was otherwise known as peddling!”