There were three reasons to go out that night. First, to see a presentation
by Jeremy Rivers-Fletcher on the life and racing career of his father. Second,
the new silver jubilee regalia that I had ordered would be there and finally
it was a lovely evening and it seemed criminal not to go with the top down
and the wind in my hair (it was a bit chillier going back though the full
moon showed the country side wonderfully). In fact there was a fourth reason
which I did not know Maurice and Eileen had prepared cakes for the interval
which were more than just yummy. So of I went to Flixton village hall and
an excellent evening it was to.
This was an absolutely fascinating talk given by Jeremy Rivers-Fletcher the son of A.F. Rivers-Fletcher, "Rivers". Actually most of the evening was taken up with three films made by Rivers and these were 1951, 1959 and a film covering Rivers motor racing career from 1951 to 1965. Jeremy was able to add considerably to the films with comment and further stories about the life of Rivers. Perhaps the most important of these stories was how Rivers got into his first race. The rules for the Grand Prix at Brooklands had changed such that Malcolm Campbell had to have a passenger in the race, officially a mechanic. Rivers was asked to be the passenger as, at fifteen, he was small enough to fit in the car.
The impressive thing about the talk and films was that the audience really did not need to be a motor racing enthusiast to enjoy them. The evening opened a door on a bygone age made more interesting by the fact that it seemed so long ago and yet is actually a mere fifty years ago. What a change those fifty years has seen. Drivers, such as Stirling Moss and Graham Hill seemed to be far more versatile in those days. In the films drivers were seen to be testing a car, driving in a grand prix, a sprint, a hill climb and so on. These were all in different cars as well so the drivers had to quickly get used to a completely strange car while racing! They seemed constantly busy.
It is difficult to pick out the best parts of the evening but I think particularly charming was the clowning of Norman Wisdom who was Rivers’ next door neighbour. The children’s race should also be mentioned. After the serious racing was over the driver’s children were allowed to race in pedal cars. You can just see this happening after a formula one race today can’t you. Well perhaps not and I think motor racing is the poorer for it.
Jeremy brought with him the helmet that Rivers was wearing when he had a crash that left him with permanent brain damage and it is a testament to Rivers that he still carried on public speaking despite a permanent speech impediment. Having looked at the helmet and seen the crash on film I think he was, perhaps, lucky to be alive and yet he still carried on racing. The drivers of the first three quarters of the twentieth century were certainly brave men. We only have to think back to that era and remember the men who did not survive to assure ourselves of that.
This was a great evening and many thanks to Maurice and Eileen for its organisation as well as for providing the cakes.