In November 2022, while I was living at Godstone with my Mum and caring for her, She very kindly bought me an Epson scanner with which I could scan my old negatives and transparencies to create a digital archive of mainly my Motorsport archives.
Now this is, and was always likely to be, a very long job as my negatives are stored by film numerically and date from 1983 through to 2004. My switch to digital camera only happened for the start of 2005. There are more than 2200 films of negatives, though several will not be required for those archives as they might be weddings, portraits, corporate days etc. However, there are a very large number of films that are Motorsport plus some early landscape adventures.
The photo above is of Andrew Gilbert-Scott in a FF1600 Lola T640 that he raced for Pegasus Motorsport in 1983, winning both senior Championships over the season before amazing everyone by switching to a Reynard chassis to win the Formula Ford Festival that year. This photo was on my first day of taking photos on a more serious level than my previous hobbyist years had been. I really wanted to try to make a career. I had been taking photos for my enjoyment since early 1970's and gradually improved the equipment I had to hand, so that by now I was using Canon cameras and lenses.
As well as creating the digital files, I am also producing a catalogue that will enable me to find by driver, car, discipline, circuit, year etc. All very time consuming, but a huge amount of fun is being had as I awaken memories of some great times.
Within this archive I have F1 photos from 1983 through to 1991, some WEC rounds in UK, some World Superbikes and British Superbikes. Many feature British F3, BTCC, Rallycross, and a large amount of British Club Racing particularly FF1600 and FF2000.
This Lancia LC2 was raced in the WEC and is seen here at Hawthorns Bend, Brands Hatch - a corner that has been a favourite of mine since 1983. This angle is in the spectator area and I like it because it affords you a view from above the cars and panning shots here convey the speed of this very quick corner while also showing a nice overall view of the cars.
I have one corner that is my ultimate favourite on a sunny day, but I only discovered that angle since being on digital camera and it is only accessible with a Press Pass- standing downhill from Westfield Corner on the outside of the corner, an incredible view as the cars accelerate out of the corner and downhill cos they appear over the brow and the trees provide a nice backdrop.
Rallycross was a favourite attraction of mine from 1983 onwards, as I became friends with John Welch and enjoyed some trips abroad in addition to covering many British Championship rounds and of course the exciting British Rallycross GP's that were an end of season highlight at Brands Hatch. The Zakspeed turbo powered mk2 Escort above was a spectacular car, with the power helping to induce much opposite lock driving to add to John's already flamboyant driving style. It is seen here exiting Langleys Gap at Brands as he heads onto the Knife Edge section that ran along South Bank.
Further work on scanning and cataloguing continues apace during my spare time, with many more gems sure to be uncovered. All of my photos are available to purchase as Canvas Prints, or various other items of Wall Art and Photo Gifts, or as Digital Files depending on their intended use. If you are looking for a particular driver or car, rider or bike, please send me an e-mail enquiry and I will search and get back to You.
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