Surrey’s supreme speedbowl

The Brooklands race facility, in Surrey, was Britain’s first purpose-built motorsport complex, opening in 1907. It was instigated by pioneer sporting automotive enthusiast Hugh Fortescue Locke King, greatly assisted by his wife Ethel, the determined lady helping to bring her husband’s dream to fruition, as well as saving him from bankruptcy.

Hugh was born on October 7, 1848, the son of Peter Locke King, who had inherited a substantial amount of land from his own father and had also been busily buying more too, all in and around Weybridge in Surrey. Peter died in 1885, with his estate, then valued at £500,000, passing to Hugh.

In 1873, Hugh Locke King was called to the bar, though it’s reckoned he probably never practised. In fact, it seems he didn’t ever really have to work for a living, enjoying an opulent lifestyle, which continued in much the same untroubled vein, especially