Mynydd
Eppynt race circuit by Geoff Thomas
I
had a call before Christmas
from fellow member and old mate Bill Purnell of Pontywaun who many will
know as
a Vincent expert and general hard rider. He was searching for
information about
the old Eppynt race circuit and this caused me to do some research.
I
knew the layout of the circuit
quite well, in fact the Dragon Tour used a section of it in 2004 but I
had
forgotten what little history of it I ever knew. What I found made an
interesting story.
At
1500 feet above sea level, the
circuit was high on Eppynt Mountain
on the Army
ranges west of Sennybridge. It was on public roads in a special
category which
were, and still are, totally controlled by the military. Access is via
the A40
Brecon to Llandovery road at Llywel just west of Trecastle. A minor
road which
soon becomes a dual carriageway lane leads northward across the ranges
towards
Tirabad and the start was about 4.5 miles from Llywel at a left
junction. There
were some army buildings, now demolished, at the junction which was
known as Dixie’s
Corner.
The
anticlockwise circuit
continued on the Tirabad road for two miles or so. Then a couple of
hairpins and a wide left
sweep brought it
back at a lower level with a final sharp left turn and a rise back to
Dixie’s. The total
length was 5.2 miles and the width
varied between 16 to 25 feet with many undulations and swervery. All
the roads
still exist and any ride on them today will tell you how demanding it
was as a
race venue.
At
the end of the war there were
no sites available for road racing, other than perhaps some limited
opportunity
at Cadwell Park.
The main pre-war tracks of
Brooklands and Donington Park were
both out of
operation. The law forbade any closure of public roads for racing
purposes.
However, within a few years the enthusiasm, drive and determination of
motorcycle clubs had “discovered” and set up nearly twenty circuits on
private
land, airfields, parks, army camps etc. Road race meetings were held
almost
every weekend from April to October and the sport of short circuit
racing
became immensely popular.
Two
of the circuits were in South
Wales. Aberdare Park was
very short at
less than 1400 yards but Eppynt was the longest “short circuit” in the
country. It was the
brainchild of the Carmarthen
and Builth Wells Clubs who were able to
persuade the War Office to make the roads available. The site was
remote and
exposed but the going was superb and the terrain made natural
grandstands for
spectators.
I hate to think of the logistical
difficulties of carrying the marquees, fencing, signing and countless
essentials up the mountain, to say nothing of sweeping miles of
mountain road
but the club members managed all tasks successfully. The circuit was in
operation
from 1948 to 1953 inclusive and with excellent organisation; it drew
good
entries and large crowds.The
country’s
best riders were attracted to the events which came to be known as the
mainland
Mountain TT.
I
have a book on Short Circuit Racing
in 1950 and the Eppynt results for 6 May of that year show that Les
Graham [348
AJS] dominated the Junior and Senior races with Cyril Sandford [Velo],
Maurice
Cann [Guzzi] and Fron Puslow [BSA] also
winners. Pip Harris
[596 Norton] was the
Sidecar winner, with Cyril Smith and Bill Boddice also entered, all on
Nortons.
Fastest lap of the day was by S T Barnett at 70.65mph.
I
was also able to find that the
speed trials for the Trophy and Vase teams before the International Six
Day
Trial in 1948 were held at the Eppynt circuit and most of the names
brought
memories of my avid reading of the Blue ‘un and the Green ‘un of the
time - Alan
Jefferies, Vic Brittain, Hugh Viney, Ray Alves, Jack Stocker and in the
Vase B
team was Fred Rist who was the BSA dealer in Neath.
For
much more information
including the results for all races, every year, with photographs and
video
clips, have a look at - www.silverdragons.co.uk. which I believe to be
mainly
the work of Taff
“the horn” Isaac.
