EXIT                        A "Wild and Woolly" Collection                   EXIT

This set of photographs has been kindly offered by Peter Griffith, President of the Northampton Motor Cyclist Club.  Copyright, in the first instance, is that of the NMCC.  Nearly all the pictures are from Wild and Woolly Boxing Day races, held at Fisher Close field, off Stoke Road, Blisworth.  The first few are from 1950s and 1960s (with crash helmets) while those with "pc" in the filename are pictures from pre-war postcards (no crash helmets!).  There are further pictures in the "Occasions" section of the George Freeston Group.

The original W&W was held on a Sunday and staged across fields to Shutlanger with a lap length of about 3 miles.  This is intriguing as one can envisage a "out run" along the entirety of Nunn Lane but where did the return path go?   Since 1929 it has been held on Boxing Day and confined to one field in which the course crosses Fisher Brook six times - once over its culvert and five times across its muddy banks.  The race has been organised by the NMCC for longer than can be remembered and there was a collection each time for the Northampton General Hospital.  The war years were missed, of course, and in 1946 the race was brought forward to October so as to avoid petrol rationing.  From the 1980s it was still held but located elsewhere in the parish where, unfortunately, there is no muddy stream.  In Fisher Close the race was tough; "rookies" would settle for just the practice runs or perhaps enter but scarcely complete one lap.  Modern bikes have well protected ignition equipment and so the hazard of stalling in deep water would not be so worrying.

Unfortunately, for the 2011 run of the event the venue has had to be moved to Market Harborough.  This has happened because the year-round tenant of the field that was used could not carry the cost of clearing up and re-establishing the grass crop so that the field could be successfully farmed through the rest of the year.  An alternative venue will be sought for 2012.