Close your eyes and imagine a place where the thunder of engines once drowned out the world’s noise. That place was Brooklands. Born in 1907, it wasn’t just the planet’s first track built purely for racing cars – it felt like a cathedral dedicated to speed. Picture colossal concrete banks, soaring over 30 feet high, curving like giant arms. Drivers hurled themselves around these curves, flat-out, with nowhere to run if things went wrong. Pure, terrifying commitment.
This was where legends were forged and records smashed. Think about John Cobb wrestling the monstrous Napier-Railton to nearly 150 mph… or Kay Petre hitting 134 mph… in the 1930s. Those weren’t just numbers on a page; they were acts of unbelievable courage, long before modern safety gear existed. Just raw skill and nerve against concrete.
But even the fastest stories have an ending.
The last race echoed in August 1939. Weeks later, World War II swallowed Britain whole. The glorious engine roars faded, replaced by the grim snarl of warplanes. The mighty track was carved up – sacrificed for factories and bomber runways. Tanks and bombs, not racing tires, cracked its famous surface.
What Remains Today: Echoes in the Green
Wander the site now, and you’ll find ghosts. The massive Members’ Banking still stands – a steep, weathered curve of concrete, slowly being reclaimed by trees and ivy. You can actually walk its tilted surface, feel that impossible angle under your feet, and almost sense the ghosts of speed.
Scraps of the Byfleet Banking and the Finishing Straight linger too, though you might find parts buried under industrial estates or supermarket car parks. A modern footbridge arches over the ruins like a silent observer, giving you a view down onto moss-covered slabs where tires once screamed.
Even the old Test Hill is still there, where they’d trial cars’ climbing power. It waits, steep as ever, challenging visitors near the museum.
Keeping the Flame Alive
So much is gone, but thanks to the passionate folks at the Brooklands Museum, a vital heartbeat remains. They’ve fought to preserve this unique slice of history – both the racing and the aviation stories that came later. You can explore:
- The original, elegant Clubhouse
- Restored wartime aircraft hangars
- That iconic Test Hill
- A saved stretch of the Finishing Straight
- Protected chunks of the legendary banking itself
A huge restoration push a few years back (2015-2017) even uncovered long-lost bits, shifted old wartime buildings, and breathed new life into the site. Now, you can stand beside the very track where giants raced… or even step inside a Concorde they’ve preserved there.
The Beauty in the Decay
What’s left today isn’t shiny or perfect – and that’s what makes it powerful. Moss fills the cracks where rubber once gripped. The sharp tang of petrol and oil is gone, replaced by the damp smell of earth and leaves, mixed with distant traffic hum. But the soul? That’s still thick in the air.
Walk those quiet, overgrown curves. Listen hard. Not with your ears, but deep in your bones. You might just catch it: the phantom roar of engines pushing the limit, the distant echo of a cheering crowd, and that chilling, beautiful silence that followed a record run. It’s a place where history whispers, if you’re quiet enough to hear it.
