The roaring 40s and the flying 50s – true glory years revisited at Goodwood
Peter Redman is staging his very own Goodwood revival – to coincide with this weekend's huge celebration of the venue's rich motor-racing history.
Peter was a 16-year-old among the crowd on the very first day at the motorsport circuit in 1948, a day which has left a huge mark on his life.
He tells the story through to 1960 in Goodwood Remembered, a new volume filled with his own sketches, cartoons and photographs.
Its release has been timed perfectly to coincide with the big wave of nostalgia which is just about to hit.
"I was at that first meeting in 1948," says Peter, who grew up in Bognor and now lives in Petersfield.
"My older brother and his friend were going along, but I had had an interest in motor racing since I was about five when my uncle used to go to Brooklands (in Surrey), the first purpose-built track in the world.
"This uncle used to come back to our house for a meal or a drink and chat about it."
And young Peter was hooked – even more so after attending that historic first meeting.
"The atmosphere was marvellous, really wonderful. It was like a family party, everybody talking to everybody else even though they had never met them before.
"And I think that was a big reason for the success. It wasn't just about what was happening on the track. It was the whole atmosphere of the place.
"I assume the then Lord March was trying to create what he had seen pre-war at Brooklands. They decided that Brooklands was never going to reopen after the war. The problem was that during the war they had built an aircraft factory on the site. I think Vickers occupied a huge part of it.
"That first meeting was in September 1948 and there was another at Easter the next year. Between 1948 and 1952 or 1953 I don't think I missed any of the meetings there at all."
But then work started to get in the way – though Peter remained a regular for a good number of years to come, camera and sketchbook in hand.
More than 150 of his photographs from the late 1940s and 1950s are reproduced in Goodwood Remembered, as are more than 50 of his sketches of cars and drivers of the period, plus 13 of his cartoons.
Between them, they help bring to life Goodwood's motor-racing glory days between between 1948 and 1960.
As well as the images, Peter includes all sorts of interesting snippets, from Bernie Ecclestone's second place in a 500cc race to world champion Juan Manuel Fangio nursing an 'off-song' Cooper-Bristol into sixth place in a Formula Libre race.
Surprisingly, Peter never intended the project to become a book.
"In 1999 I had a fairly major heart operation and spent the next 12 months sitting around not doing a lot. I started scribbling the notes that form the basis of the book, really only for the benefit of my grandchildren and my own children."
But with the Goodwood revival coming up (tomorrow to Sunday), a much, much wider audience now looks guaranteed.
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Weather for Chichester
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 22 C
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Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 19 C
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