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Club History
The
Formation Meeting of the Berkshire Automobile Club was held on
Saturday 19th December 1903 at The Great Western Hotel in Reading.
Thus it is one of the oldest surviving motoring organizations in the
country,
junior in age to the Royal Automobile Club (the R.A.C.
founded 1897)
but senior to the Automobile Association (the A.A.
founded 1905). Its first
Chairman was Sir Gilbert Clayton East, Bart.
and its President was Field
Marshal the Rt. Hon. Earl Roberts KG VC.
At
that time there were 140 known motor car owners in Berkshire and
membership of the Club was intended for automobilists resident in the
county and its neighbourhood. The Club focused on the 1903 Act of
Parliament which regulated the use of motor cars. Its annual
subscription
fee was 2 guineas and an entrance fee of 1 guinea was
imposed after
January 1904. In that year, as a result of the Club's
activity, 124 fewer
Police prosecutions for motoring offences took
place in the county.
The
first Annual General Meeting was held in January 1905 with 87
members
present. The committee complained about the lack of repair
to roads
in Berkshire. Subsequent meetings were held at principal houses
of
members in the area such as Shiplake Court, Hardwick, Englemere
House
and Greenham House.
Events
which were held over the early years included motor gymkhanas.
Garaging and repair facilities were arranged in recommended garages
in
principal towns in the area and a Legal Defence Fund was set up
for the
defence of members. The first typed AGM minutes appeared in
1910.
During
the First World War the Club provided motor cars for various
purposes
such as the conveying of military and police personnel and
taking
people to and from hospital. In 1914 the Club gave a donation of
£100 to The Red Cross Motor Ambulance Fund.
In
the 1920s and 1930s the Club flourished. It issued certificates for
good
and first class driving and supplied tickets for the use of
parking facilities
at local garages. In 1924 the Chairman complained
of road hogging in
which "dastardly acts of bad driving were
sometimes seen ". Other
complaints reported by members were
Passing on a bend, Careless
emerging from carriage drives by servants
and Driving on the wrong side
of the road.
The
Club had a Private Enclosure at Henley Royal Regatta for which
tickets cost 3/ with an additional charge of 2/ for tea. In
1923 325
members and their guests attended and 60 boats were hired.
Further
events evolved including cricket matches between teams made
up of
members and their sons and in 1931 a tennis tournament was held
for
members.
There
are no records of Club meetings between 1941 and 1946, during
the Second World War, and subsequently activities and the number of
members dwindled. In 1953 a Garden Party, attended by 45 people,
(tickets 4/ ) was held at Phyllis Court Club at
Henley on Thames
to
celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Club. During the following
years
the Club became less active; it had less to do with motoring
and its
facilities at Henley Royal Regatta ceased. It remains in
being primarily
as a luncheon club of some 25 members who meet
annually.
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