Bourne motor racing memorial

The Bourne motor racing memorial

The motor racing memorial

The memorial commemorating Bourne’s contribution to international motor racing and to Raymond Mays can be found on a plot of land on the banks of the river in South Street.

It was erected to commemorate the work which was done in the town to put Britain ahead on the international racing circuits of the world and to remember one of our most famous sons who made it all possible, as the inscription indicates:

To commemorate the motor racing heritage of Bourne, celebrating the centenary of the birth of Raymond Mays CBE (1899-1980). A veritable giant of motor sport, he put the town on the world map of motor racing.

65 years of ERA (1934-1999)
These voiturette racers became renowned worldwide for success in the classes for which they were designed and built, successes which continued into the 21st century with historic events.

50 years of BRM (1949-1999)
The natural successor to the ERA, the BRM, was aimed at the Formula One World Championships in a determined effort to put British cars in the front line of racing. In 1962, Graham Hill OBE won the Formula One Drivers' World Championship in the P57/8 model. This brought the Formula One Constructors' World Championship to the town. Testament to the dedication and professionalism of a workforce comprised mainly of local people. The company was acquired by the Rubery Owen Group on November 1, 1952. Sir Alfred and Ernest Owen, along with their sister Jean Stanley, took much personal interest in its running. Mrs Stanley and husband Louis later assumed full management of the company.
On August 29, 1999, Bourne saw the return of the cars associated with the town. The occasion was marked with a celebration dinner and roads were closed off to allow demonstrations of the racing cars. This memorial was financed with the proceeds of this event.

The memorial cost £10,000 and the basic design was drawn up by Mrs Carol Corliss and the bronze relief plaque was completed by Alex Paxton, a Derby sculptor, who has produced other work connected with motor racing, while the plinth was finished in Clipsham stone by Gary Tegerdine, a stonemason from Langtoft, near Bourne. The site for the monument alongside the Heritage Centre was agreed with the owners, Bourne United Charities, as one of the few accessible places in the town where it could be given public prominence and be seen by visitors approaching the town from the south on the A15.

It has also provided a memorial to Raymond Mays who was cremated when he died in 1980 and his ashes were not preserved. There is therefore no tombstone in the town cemetery alongside those of his father and other members of his family although there is a metal plaque outside Eastgate House where he was born and which became his lifelong home and in the summer of 2002, a new perimeter road around the Elsea Park estate was named Raymond Mays Way. There is also a Memorial Room dedicated to his name in the nearby Heritage Centre and containing a display of photographs illustrating his career and a number of artefacts from his days on the race track.

The official unveiling of the memorial took place on Sunday 16th November 2003 when the ceremony was performed by two men who have long standing connections with the town and its Formula One motor racing history, Louis Stanley, former chairman of Stanley-BRM, and David Owen, chairman of Rubery Owen Holdings. Also present were Tom Wheatcroft of the Donnington Collection of motor racing cars, some of which were on display in the town on the day.

The motor racing Heritage Day in 1999, which is referred to on the plaque, was organised by a committee of local enthusiasts consisting of David Glenn, Paul Futter, Carol Corliss, Rick Hall and John Sismey, the latter two being former members of the BRM workshops team. Mrs Corliss explained: "After the event, it was not anticipated that any profit would result and we were even faced with the possibility of adding to the costs but when the final balance sheet was drawn up, we had almost £10,000 in hand. A good use for the money was discussed and eventually it was decided to erect a fitting tribute to Raymond Mays, the cars he instigated and the people who staffed this world famous concern.

"The memorial celebrates the triple occasion in 1999, the centenary of the birth of Raymond Mays, 65 years of ERA and 50 years of BRM. It all went very well on the day and the weather was on our side. There were no hitches, the cover came off at the unveiling without trouble and no one fell into the river. We feel that it is a fitting tribute and now that their work has been satisfactorily completed, the committee has been disbanded."

By the summer of 2012, the memorial had started to deteriorate. The effects of wind and weather were evident, the top edge was covered in lichen, water stains had appeared on the front and, more importantly, the bronze plaque containing details of BRM, ERA and Raymond Mays had become discoloured and the lettering extremely difficult to read but volunteers moved in to clean it up in readiness for the BRM 2012 Celebration Day which was held in on Sunday 7th October.

Photographed in June 2012

REVISED OCTOBER 2012