FEATURE
The Hertfordshire County Automobile & Aero Club
The Hertfordshire County Automobile & Aero Club( HCAAC) was formed on 3rd December 1903 as the Hertfordshire Automobile Club – but its original aim was to band together the county’ s motorists and fight the increasing number of speed limits that were being imposed.
The sporting side developed quickly, however, and it held the first Aston Hill Climb in 1904, running it for more than 20 years. It also pioneered Motor Gymkhanas on the Watford estate of the Earl of Clarendon( a club Vice-President), in company with HRH Lord Louis of Battenberg, the Earls of Essex and Verulam plus Lord Robert Cecil.
In the early 1900s, the Club also organised a number of‘ balloon chase’ events, in which competitors in cars had to follow a manned balloon as it drifted across the countryside. That led to the addition of the‘ Aero’ in its title in 1910, while the motorcycle section also flourished until it was dissolved in 1923.
The loss of the Hill Climb event in 1925 came as a shock, but a loyal core of members kept the Club going under the chairmanship of Humphrey Cook, who financed the building of ERA racing cars. The club restarted competition in 1938, with speed trials at Beechwood near Markyate, and two more events were run at this Hertfordshire country estate in 1939.
After the Second World War, the Club benefited from an influx of young members, many of whom worked in aircraft production at the nearby De Havilland and Handley Page factories, and this led to a period where enthusiastic organisers and competitors supported the Road Rallying boom of the 1950s and‘ 60s.
events, including a round of the British Hillclimb Championship, until its closure in 1962.
As Road Rallying became more restricted in the late 1960s, the Club benefited from its long experience in organising night trials. The Nocturne, which ran annually from 1951 to 1990, was a light-hearted‘ hunt the marshal’ map reading event run in ordinary family cars, and preceded the modern‘ Navigation Scatter’ events.
The mainstay of the club for the last 35 years has been organising Sprints, and from 1968 until 1976 the HCAAC was one of five Clubs that ran events on Silverstone’ s Club Circuit before rules changed to permit only racing. That connection has been maintained through the Eight Clubs consortium, which organises races for amateur drivers there every year.
Duxford airfield was another venue used for Sprint events until the Air Museum took over in 1975, while two sprints were run at Upwood airfield near Ramsey in 1977 then, from 1980 until 1989, North Weald airfield became the Club’ s sprint base, with a one-off sprint run at Debden airfield in 1982.
In 1990, the Club returned to Debden and began the series of events on the 1.1-mile course, variants of which have been used twice every year since, often attracting about 100 cars, while the original‘ Aero’ connection is kept alive by visits to London Gliding Club at Dunstable and its involvement in the Aircraft and Cars‘ Race Day’ at Shuttleworth.
The 1921 Bentley TT that won the Jay Cup at Aston Hill on 16th September 1922, driven by W. G. Barlow. Current owner Richard Frankel will be at Aston Hill in May, when the car will hopefully be reunited with its original award( made from 100 ounces of silver)
A 1913 GN KIM 11 1098cc, entered by Jonathan Rose for this year
Speed events were also organised at Tewin Water, Ramsgate, Harleyford and Brands Hatch, and the club also ran the first Westbrook Hay Speed Hill Climb in 1953, continuing to have exclusive use of this venue near Hemel Hempstead to run https:// www. hertscountyaac. co. uk
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Revolution- April 2025