Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s motor bike scrambling was an extremely popular sport and the Downs provided an ideal place to hold these meetings.
In February 1978 such an event was organised by the Southend & District Motor Cycle Club and covered by ITV World of Sport.
Riders came from all over the country to take part and we are indebted to Geoff Blower, who was Chief Marshall on the day, for supplying us with the following information.
It can be seen from the following programme that there were a few riders from S.E.Essex but the majority came from further afield.
As with all events there has to be rules and regulations and Geoff has also supplied us with a copy of these also shown below, to help understand what the competitors had to be aware of. The documents also include information on the prize monies awarded and official entry forms.
The final 2 documents outline the responsibilities of the Course and Flag Marshalls, along with a rough sketch of their positions and those of the TV cameras.
Finally we have a selection of photographs taken on the day which give an idea of the conditions the competitors had to contend with.
Geoff was employed in those days by Ford Motor Company and his hard work in organising the day’s events was recognised by the company giving him centre spread in the Ford News as can be seen from the cutting below.
Comments about this page
Add your own comment
I have been searching for information about the Hadleigh scrambles from late 60s to late 70s after coming across an old video on YouTube. I belonged to the Southend club at that time, and rode Eastern Centre events. I know the name Geoff Blower, but can’t remember if it was the club or from Fords (I worked at Dunton from 68 or 69 until I got early retirement in 2004). Anyone from the area who was about all those years ago, should go look for that video. It is easy to find.
Add a comment about this page