Slightly OT! Whilst the funding and planning for this project – some £2Million I understand and against the background of the £12Million being spent on the Titanic themed maritime museum at the Guildhall – elsewhere in Southampton the City Council seems reluctant to safeguard the heritage it already has.

The SS Shieldhall built in the 1950s for Glasgow Corporation and later used by Southern Water has been preserved at Southampton since the late 1980s. Now, along with many other historic ships, it is under threat through lack of funding.

Details from the BBC today:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-12112086

SS Shieldhall site:

http://www.ss-shieldhall.co.uk/Shieldhall/Welcome.html

Chaps, could I recommend you to “Motor Racing circuits in England, then and now” by Peter Swinger. Apparently post war racing all started at Gransden Lodge in 1946 at an event held by the Cambridge University Car Club. It was the former home of 405 Squadron and was a satellite of RAF Tempsford. Other airfield circuits (apologies if they’ve already been mentioned) were Boreham, Catterick, Davidstow Moor, Debden, Elvington, Full Sutton, Gamston, Ibsley, Linton-on Ouse, Lulsgate, Ouston, Pebsham, Rufforth, Thornaby and Whitchurch. Oh and BTW did anybody mention Silverstone?

And, don’t forget Turnberry in Ayrshire!

This was used briefly in the early 1950s although many SW Scotland learner drivers should also be grateful for the opportunity to practice on its abandoned peri track!

Could have been a major motorsport venue given that it has a world class hotel and British Open golf course. Until the 1960s it even had its own railway station. Just the sort of “facility” that Bernie craves now. On the 23rd August 1952 it even hosted a non-championship F1 race that was won by Reg Parnell in the BRM V16. There were two entered, the other for Ken Wharton, and there was also the famous Thinwall Special V12 Ferrari (painted green) for rising star Mike Hawthorn. The World Championship was run in 1952 and 1953 for Formula 2 so the outmoded BRMs were entered in the various F1 and Formula Libre races that were a major feature of UK (and some European) venues at that time.

More on Hawthorn’s Ferrari here:

http://forums.autosport.com/lofiversion/index.php/t1021.html

As an aside, I assume that the other well-known (at the time) Scottish circuiit, Charterhall, near Duns was also an airfield?

I wish they would stop the hair brained ideas down in that area and throw some money into something like the Upper Hill Swift instead!

Hear hear! Or, indeed, WK198.

Southampton seems consistently to either miss opportunities or go completely over the top on expenditure – especially on “arts” projects at the expense of heritage – and are not alone amongst Britsih cities in that. “Think Tank” at Birmingham springs to mind. About 20 years ago, there was a solid proposal to expand the Maritime Museum and to relocate it to a new development adjacent to Ocean Village. This came to nought.

Now, the funding has recently been agreed to convert and expand the existing Guildhall to incorporate a maritime collection of which the RMS Titanic story will form a major part. The location is OK but why ignore the opportunity of locating the museum next to Southampton’s waterfront. Then you could see real ships too! I’m not even sure if any full size vessels will feature in this hugely expensive project. It’s all very well attracting capital funding but what will happen if, in the long term, visitor numbers are unable to support its revenue income.

BBC report on Southampton’s new Titanic musuem:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/8592492.stm

At the Beaulieu Autojumble last weekend, one of the stalls had a very lovely Armstrong-Siddeley Siddeley Special on a trailer to which was also bolted this Napier Lion.

Apparently, the idea is to put the engine into a 1911 Napier chassis for VSCC events but using only the centre block and removing the other two with, presumably, blanking plates. The unwanted components will be kept as jointly held spares with this unit’s former owner who has another Lion installed in, I think, a Bentley chassis.

– nothing heard – and now the Liquidators take possession from a week today FB

Just wondered, in view of the liquidators moving in tomorrow (10th September), if the final airframes have now found homes. My particular interest and concern is Swift WK198.