UPDATED APRIL 2024

Brooklands was the world's first purpose-built motor racing circuit, constructed at Weybridge, Surrey in 1907 and was more than a great sporting arena. Brooklands was the birthplace of British motorsport and aviation, home of Concorde and the site of many engineering and technological achievements throughout eight decades of the 20th century.

This talk covers the history of Brooklands from 1906 to present day! That's 118 years of history to be exact ... and counting!

This talk is designed as a spin-off to our original Brooklands talk and the role Brooklands played in the development of Concorde. It is based on the first hand experiences of Sir George Edwards, who led the British team throughout the formative years & customer delivery.

Part one covers the background to Concorde beginning in 1956, then through the formative years of the Concorde Project in 1960's up to the the first passenger services in 1976 & 77 and the politics encountered along the way! It briefly touches on the retirement of Concorde in 2003.

The second part of the talk covers the brief life of the Brooklands Concorde G-BBDG (Delta Golf) - the forgotten Concorde - and her involvement in the test programme, which led to the granting of the C of A in December 1975. We then cover her post flying career & subsequent 18 month cosmetic restoration at Brooklands & opening to the public in 2006.

Sir George Edwards was very much a self made man & the dominant force in British civil & military aviation between 1945 and 1975.

He began his career on London docks before taking up a post as a Design Draughtsman with Vickers Weybridge in 1935 working under Rex Pearson & Barnes Wallis. From there he progressed through the ranks to become Managing Director of Vickers, then ultimately Chairman & Managing Director of British Aircraft Corporation.

His name is synonymous with the Vickers Viscount, the worlds first turboprop airliner (which bridged the gap between piston-engined & pure jet aircraft) & Concorde.

He was knighted in 1957, and awarded the Order of Merit in 1971. From 1964 to 1979, he was pro-chancellor of Surrey University. He was a keen cricketer,  yachtsman, a countryman and a lover of music but his deepest passion - apart from aircraft - was painting; in later life, he was delighted to have a work accepted for the Royal Academy summer show. 

For 30 years Sir George Edwards was very much the dominant force in British civil & military aviation between 1945 and 1975. 

His name is synonymous with the Vickers Viscount, the worlds first turboprop airliner (which bridged the gap between piston-engined & pure jet aircraft) & Concorde. 

During his time in the industry he was responsible for a number of other civil aircraft including the Vanguard, VC-10 & the BAC 1-11. This talk covers his involvement with the::

● Vickers Viscount - The worlds first turboprop airliner

● Vickers Vanguard - The Vanguard was introduced as a successor to the Viscount just before the first of the large jet-powered airliners, and was largely ignored by the market. Only 44 were built

● The VC-10 - The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance routes from the shorter runways of the era and commanded excellent hot and high performance for operations from African airports. 

● BAC 1-11 -  was a British short-range jet airliner widely used from the 1960s to the 1990s. The One-Eleven was conceived by Hunting Aircraft and developed by the British Aircraft Corporation when Hunting merged into BAC along with other British aircraft manufacturers in 1960. 

Sir George Edwards was responsible for a variety of civil aircraft - most notably Concorde. 

In addition, he was also responsible for a number of military aircraft - the Valetta multi-Transport, The Varsity Trainer, the Vickers Valiant (the worlds first ever V-bomber) & the ill-fated V-1000, whose cancellation he described as the 'biggest blunder of all'. 

● Vickers Valiant - was a British high-altitude jet bomber, and was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" nuclear weapon equipped strategic deterrent in the 1950s and 1960s. In later years they were used as air to air refuelling tankers until being finally retired in 1965. 

● V-1000/VC-7 - was an intended jet-powered cargo aircraft that was designed to meet a requirement issued by the British Ministry of Supply which sought a strategic transport for the Royal Air Force (RAF) to support its strategic bomber fleet, particularly the V-bombers. In 1955, by which point the prototype was already largely complete, the Ministry of Supply decided to terminate the V-1000 project in mid-development.

TSR-2 (Standing for "tactical strike and reconnaissance Mach2") - was a cancelled Cold War strike and reconnaissance aircraft developed by the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The TSR-2 was designed to penetrate a well-defended forward battle area at low altitudes and very high speeds, and then attack high-value targets in the rear with nuclear or conventional weapons. 

This new talk tells the story of TSR.2 from the perspective of Sir George Edwards, who led the consortium selected to build it, which led to the creation of British Aircraft Corporation. It forms the final talk in the series, which tells the story of the background leading up to TSR.2, it's development & the events & circumstances, which led ultimately to it's cancellation & the politics encountered along the way. The last section of the talk, also looks briefly at the effect TSR.2's cancellation had on the newly established BAC, which was very much a 'life after death, but only just' scenario.

This latest talk has been eight months in the making and the presentation lasts 70 minutes, but gives a very detailed & gripping account of TSR.2.