Fifties Friday: Castle Combe Circuit under threat and a move to Ashton Court?

On this day in 1959, the Evening Post reported on the annual dinner of the Wessex Centre ACU’s annual dinner and dance at the Grand Hotel in Bristol.  Castle Combe Circuit had been in use for nearly a decade and it was in desperate need of some repair.  Amazingly, there was talk of building a racing circuit at Ashton Court!  Would this 1.46 mile circuit have been the outcome?  The elevation change would have been astounding!  66 metres of vertical ascent and gradients of around 11% in each direction would have been quite the challenge.  By comparison, Spa Francorchamps doesn’t exceed 10%, even at the dauntying Eau Rouge and its average ascent of 135 feet per mile is also eclipsed by the 150 feet/mile of Ashton Court.  Did we narrowly miss out on our on Bristolian Spa?

Anyway, I bet you’re excited to see how the Evening Post covered the event…

Of course, this wasn’t the first time the idea had been suggested as the Evening Post reported in 1957 from our annual dinner, where Dick Caesar suggested it could hold the British or European Grand Prix!  Sadly, despite the proximity to Bristol, Ashton Court is not actually in Bristol and that appears to have put an end to it.  Fortunately, the suggestion that it becomes housing did not materialise in the following 68 years.