Brooklands hosted the first British Grand Prix on this day in 1926, almost 20 years after Dame Ethel Locke King completed the inaugural lap of the new circuit. Today's Great Read explores this "furious driver" who gleefully sped around around the track and played a key role in the early days of the circuit
The story of Brooklands and its creator Hugh Locke King has been made well known, not least through these pages, but perhaps his wife Dame Ethel has not had enough credit for the part she played.
Dr Frank Hanford, now 95, is able to provide us with first-hand memories of the woman who matched her husband's enthusiasm for motoring.
On the opening day of Brooklands – June 16, 1907 – she led the procession, making her the first person officially to lap the track. She flew with some of the pioneer aviators there, constantly attended the racing and oversaw estate and circuit until it was sold to private investors in 1936. Hanford is her great-nephew, and he not only knew her well but went with her to the Surrey autodrome.
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