By Charles Reynolds

Charles Reynolds continues his account of what he heard at lunch with British Hillclimb Champion 1958-60 David Boshier-Jones.

The next RAC hill-climb championship round of 1957 was at Bouley Bay in Jersey in mid-July. This was another new hill for David at 1011 yards, much of it on concrete which had been laid during the German occupation with an S bend and 3 hairpins. The concrete was incredibly slippery and the organisers were often obliged to cancel the event if they though it was going to rain. David finished 5th in his class which he thinks wasn’t bad considering the unique nature of the hill. After the meeting the family had a good holiday in Jersey, something which then came a bit of a tradition.

David missed the next RAC round at Craigantlet and took the V-twin to Shelsley Walsh on 31 August where he won the ‘up to 1500 cc racing car’ class but didn’t perform well in the championship runs. This event wound up his hill-climb programme for the year with him finishing 4th in the championship. The racing arrangement with Robin Jackson hadn’t worked that well and he decided to concentrate purely on hill-climbs in the future.

David and the Cooper-JAP negotiate the tricky dog-leg through the ‘çourtyard’ at Bo’ness near Edinburgh – year not known

The 1958 season kicked -off with the traditional May meeting at Prescott. The weather was perfect, the orchard was in blossom and David took BTD with a new hill record of 42.27 secs.

The 2nd national round was at Shelsley Walsh a week later. In total contrast to Prescott, the meeting was thoroughly wet and in the slippery conditions David was 2nd to Tony Marsh’s Cooper.

Then in July he went all the way to the next national championship round at Rest-and-be-Thankful. This was a long two-day journey for them, using the old A6 over Shap Fell in Westmorland and via Glasgow to Arrochar near Loch Lomond. David enjoyed the hill though; it was very fast on a bumpy but mainly straight road (originally Roman military) where you had to make sure the car landed squarely without backing-off. They used Continental tyres at the time which were quite compliant and helped absorb some of the roughness. The main straight lead to a left hander and a tight hairpin before the finish. Tony Marsh, who was David’s main rival, was at Rheims contesting an F2 race that weekend, but his other close rival Michael Christie was in Scotland and David managed to beat him by over 1½ secs.

The following weekend David went to Westbrook Hay near Hemel Hempstead north of London for a club event where he took BTD and then had a two-week break before the annual visit to Bouley Bay which was at the opposite end of the British Isles from Rest-and-be-Thankful. Here he managed to accumulate worthwhile points as neither Tony Marsh nor Michael had entered, and he managed to set both BTD and a new hill record.

In the nature of the dispersed British Championship, next was Craigantlet in Northern Ireland in August and it was here that David made what he calls the one major driving error of his career; he was going for the hill record on his second run when, with the engine revving hard to try to clear an annoying misfire, he misjudged one of the corners on the high-banked public road course and overturned the car. He was taken by ambulance to Belfast General Hospital where, on the way, he recalls having to tell the driver to damned-well slow down – he was driving like a kamikaze pilot and had already nearly caused a few incidents at junctions. David was kept in for observation at the hospital then released after a couple of days, battered and bruised but sound.

Thankfully, the car wasn’t too badly damaged as two weeks later it was at Shelsley. Here Tony Marsh was entered and just beat David, taking a new hill record. Shelsley is a power hill and David always felt as if his car was struggling going up to the Esses and then over the line, so making up time through Crossing and Kennel at the bottom was critical.

From the cover of the Castrol Achievements Yearbook for 1959 – David Boshier-Jones’ second championship year.

The conclusion of his year was at Prescott on 14 September where David made BTD after breaking the hill record on 3 successive runs and comfortably beating Tony Marsh. He had won his first RAC Championship at his favourite hill, the nearest major venue to home, with a garden party atmosphere and in fine weather. He records that he was elated! Ten events in the year was well under half the number of 500 events he had contested three years earlier. Nonetheless, he had enjoyed the year, the car ran reliably, and he had achieved his goal for 1959.

With car reliability and competitiveness being excellent the previous year, David decided on another season on the hills for 1959 with the Cooper, keeping the services of Robin Jackson to look after the engine. As a ‘warmer’ he went to Lydstep Haven on 21 March and finished 2nd to Tony Marsh for both BTD and in the ‘up to 1500cc racing cars’ class. Prescott was the first RAC championship round and, as can so often happen, the meeting was very wet..

The championship car on a very neat, if open, trailer

Shelsley Walsh in June was thankfully dry and this time David again set BTD and beat both Tony Marsh and David Good. Like Michael Christie’s, David’s Cooper was beautifully prepared and he drove it with great verve – he suffered from a congenitally deformed right forearm and hand but managed to hold the steering wheel with that arm whilst changing gear with his left hand.

Bouley Bay was the next championship event, followed by Craigantlet. In Jersey David again set BTD after David Good crashed on his first run and Tony Marsh was absent. Whilst in Ireland, following a wet practice, the road dried and David broke the hill’s long course record at 1min 8.74 secs. In the championship, he was now uncatchable and managed to win at Shelsley in August, setting another hill record of 35.47seconds, before then winning again at Prescott with another BTD.

The year 1959 had been outstanding and again the car ran exceptionally well. David had now succeeded in what he had set out to achieve and although work pressures and family commitments were ever greater, he still enjoyed his motorsport and decide to continue for another year. The 1960 May Bugatti Owners’ Club meeting was the last on the original Prescott course and although recording BTD, the time of 41.52 secs was slower than his 41.00 secs record which he knew would now stand in perpetuity. Then on 5 June the first meeting incorporating the extended Etores Bend was held and David set a new BTD at 52.48 secs to beat David Good.

The calendar cycle was now familiar and next came Shelsley in June with another BTD before the long journey up to Scotland for Rest-and-be-Thankful on 2 July. Another BTD and a new record of 53.19 secs was the reward, comfortably faster than David Good. Later in July at Bouley Bay David again set BTD with a new hill record.

David Boshier-Jones with his immaculate Cooper JAP.

In August, Great Auclum was included in the championship; this was an unusual hill which started downhill and included a banked corner. It was very short at 440 yds, tree-lined and it attracted a big crowd of spectators being close to Reading and Slough. It’s now a housing estate! Again, Boshier-Jones managed to beat David Good and also made BTD. He gave Craigantlet a miss that year as he was already so far ahead in the championship and next went to Prescott on 11 September where he scored another BTD and was fastest in the championship run-off ahead of David Good. He had managed to win his 3rd consecutive RAC Hill-climb Championship competing in just 7 events in that year.

David Boshier-Jones says his early years had been fraught with mechanical unreliability whilst he learned the ropes, yet his career had gone on to include over 120 races and hill-climbs in 9 years. Looking back, he says he very much enjoyed the specialist nature of hill-climbing. “It’s a sport where you’ve got to be immediately switched on – there’s no time for daydreaming” he has told Loose Fillings. “I had had just one major incident and avoided involvement in several accidents in the rough and tumble of close fought racing which was F3 at the time. So, come 1961, I decided to ‘hang up my helmet’ and concentrate on business and my family.”

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