The Sheffield & Hallamshire Motor Club and Light Car Club was formed in 1904 and is one of the oldest clubs in the country.

It was formed by a few friends to further interests of the 150 motorcycle and light car owners in the Sheffield district. During the first few years the members enjoyed trips to places of interest but from 1906 onwards more organised events at national and international level took place and the club had great success in a number of road trials.

By the early 1920s the Sheffield & Hallamshire Club was now becoming a force to be reckoned with. 1920 appeared to be the year that three and four-wheeled vehicles were more and more taking to reliability trials and these were often to be seen along with the solo motor cycles competing for the premier awards.

By now the name of the club had spread to the continent and a challenge was put out by the Belgian Liège Motor Union for our club to send out riders to compete in sporting trials. This association was to continue until the Second World War.

With the introduction of Basic Petrol Ration, motorsport came back to life. The Club organised a Grass Track in Hillsborough Park at the request of the Council on behalf of the Sheffield/Eindhoven Fund. On the day there was a programme of three hours of racing thrilling the crowd of 3,000 with the favourite Speedway stars of the time taking part.

By September 1945 the R.A.C. were taking an active part in post-war motorsport and the Club were invited to send a delegate to Pall Mall for discussion on the sport. By March 1946 the sporting calendar was getting full introducing such events as the Bemrose, the Victory, the Shann Cup, T.C. Harrison Park Trophy and other events.

In 1947, with membership now past the 250 mark, it was decided to split the Club into Car and Motor Cycle sections with a controlling Management Committee.

The events organised by the club were now becoming more varied. The names of some of these events still exist today: The Rally of the Dams, Motor Racing at Gamston, Classic High Peak Sporting Trials, Scrambles at Mayfield, Kenning Test Trial, Night Rallies, Sporting Trials, Driving Tests, Hillclimbs, Navigation Trials and an Autotest together with the Peak Trial for motocycles which is still going strong today.

With the demise of the Racing Section by 1959, the Bike Section was mainly involved in trials and scrambles although in November of that year the Club ran a televised event at the Mayfields course.

During the 1950s and 60s, the club was represented well at home and abroad. Club members competed in the Monte Carlo Rally and later the RAC Rally. Cuth Harrison entered the Tulip Rally in a modified Zephyr.

1960 saw the introduction of a new type of motorsport to the Club - Karting or Go-Karts. The car park at Fletchers' Bakery was the first venue for a demonstration. Interest was high in S & H at that time.

Jean Owen
(Past President)