Brighton and Hove Motor Club

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Brighton and Hove Motor Club (BHMC) is best known for organising the Brighton Speed Trials. It began in the early 1920s as the Brighton and Hove Motor Cycle and Light Car Club. The earliest known reference to BHMC is 3 October 1925, and its sixth AGM was on 12 January 1926 at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton. In 1932 the motor cycle side split off. In the 1920s BHMC ran speed trials at Lewes; there were no Brighton Speed Trials from 1925 to 1931. The 1926 Brighton to Beer Trial for the Mayor's Cup was planned for 26–27 June. In 1927 there was a proposal to build a motor racing circuit on the Downs at Portslade near Brighton; the club secretary, C. Laurence Clayton, was also secretary for the track management, Brighton and Hove Motor Racing Club Ltd. The track was never built. An informal race at Brooklands was held on 5 September 1931. A plan for a Brighton road circuit was revived in 1934 but did not happen. In 1938 The Autocar called the Brighton-Beer Trial a classic, with Sydney Allard among the competitors winning a First Class Award. The 1939 Brighton Speed Trials were set for 23 September but canceled due to the war. After the war, the club looked to restart events, including a post-war hill climb; Clayton Tunnel Hill was considered but the idea didn’t go ahead. The club ran a hill climb at Stanmer Park, Brighton, on 5 June 1948, won by Bob Gerard in an ERA, but he crashed after the finish line and no more events were held there. In 1948 BHMC moved to premises in the arches under Dukes Mound on Brighton’s seafront and has stayed there. Besides the Speed Trials, the club runs other car-related and social events.