The Bourne 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 consists of a plinth worked in Clipsham stone and a bronze plaque 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 site was agreed with the owners, Bourne United Charities, in order that it could be seen by visitors approaching the town from the south on the A15. It was officially unveiled on Sunday 16th November 2003 by two men who have long standing connections with the town and its Formula One motor racing history, David Owen, chairman of Rubery Owen Holdings Ltd, and Louis Stanley, former chairman and joint managing director of BRM.

It 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 motor racing Heritage Day in 1999 was organised by a committee of local enthusiasts consisting of Carol Corliss, David Glenn, Paul Futter, Rick Hall and John Sismey, the latter two being former members of the BRM workshops team. Mrs Corliss explained: "After the event, we had some money left over and as Bourne did not have one, we decided to build a lasting memorial and we chose a site where it could easily be seen by the public. It 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 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."

NOTE: An illustrated biography of Raymond Mays and his development of the BRM
can be found on the CD-ROM A Portrait of Bourne. 

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