The Park
December ‘22
Somehow, despite a lifelong obsession with motorcycles, racing and a misspent youth in 1980s Scotland, I first became aware of Kirkcaldy’s Beveridge Park as a historic racing venue just a year ago. Recently, I enjoyed the privilege of a winter morning spent in the company of Jake Drummond, Kirkcaldy & District Motor Club (KDMC) secretary and archivist. Jake quickly put me straight, filling in forty years of history and heritage.
Tree lined Victorian path turned race circuit - the layout for 40 years of fierce competition
(Image used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
Although a somewhat shaky defence, I did move south to England in 1984, just over a year after my first (legal) year on two wheels. In that short time enjoying ride outs with Edinburgh pals to circuits at East Fortune, Knockhill and Ingliston, blissfully unaware that serious ‘real’ road racing was still happening annually in a leafy park in the Fife suburbs. And that ignorance very much remained until casually walking my dog through ‘The Park’ in question nearly forty years later.
I could select no finer source than Jake to help piece together my missing chapter. For nearly ten years, he has been carefully collating, curating and publishing the KDMC archives. With input from diverse sources and a broad range of perspectives and participants, the journals now run to six volumes. They weave together stories and photos covering a century of Scotland’s motorcycle sporting history. Of course, Beveridge Park is prevalent throughout the archives but how did it all begin?
Jake took up the story. “After the war, there was a real appetite to get major events in place for folk to feel positive about.”
Colin Campbell sending it to victory, 1953-style at ‘The Park’
(Image used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
It was also true that there was simply nowhere in Scotland for road racers to compete or practice. A good many had found success during the early years of the TT but as speeds increased and proven experience became a pre-requisite for the Isle of Man, Scots found themselves at a disadvantage. Another factor working in favour of the town was the KDMC itself. Well established since its founding in 1922, committee members were not just motor enthusiasts but local businessmen and key influencers. The kind of people that could get things done and clear away the inevitable barriers facing such an ambitious venture. On Saturday 14th August 1948, the Kirkcaldy Grand Prix came to life and a gentle Victorian park - complete with ponds, putting greens and pagodas - hosted ‘the only motorcycle road race in Scotland’. Even the most partisan club members may have believed this would be a one off event but participants, spectators and the town wanted more. The ‘Scottish Road Races’ in Beveridge Park became a firm fixture in the motorsport calendar for forty years.
The irrepressible Dave McBain picks a line through the trees in 1960s prime time
(Image used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
I asked Jake about the ‘The Park’s’ heyday, when it truly thrived and crowds were at their peak. “That would be late fifties, early sixties. Bob McIntyre and his peers were a huge draw, true international stars that everyone wanted to see.” A world class rider with multiple Grand Prix wins, in 1957 the Scot was the first to push the Isle of Man TT lap beyond the 100mph barrier.
Within the KDMC archive, McIntyre’s fierce English adversary and long time friend Terry Shepherd recalls ‘The Park’ as a “nice picturesque circuit…with trees, a bit of a hill and bit of camber.” But also tellingly, “there was always a feeling of tension….with the tight, twisty and bumpy surfaces. In our day we never really thought much about the type of track, we were just happy to race.”
Talent to burn - World Championship stars brought big crowds to ‘The Park’
L to R : Terry Shepherd, Bob McIntyre and George Costain - pictured at the Southern 100 in 1956
(Image from Terry Shepherd & used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
The prospect of current day world calibre talent choosing such a path seems incongruous, but there have always been a few who remain connected to their roots and keen to payback their origins. MotoGP newly wed Jack Miller is spending his current off season racing dirt rack and national superbikes back home in Australia.
Wandering through the park in the present day and visualising the prospect of wheel to wheel racing along these narrow paths; the furniture, trees, steep camber and rugged gutters come sharply into focus. Jake went on to describe his years spent as Chief Marshall. In keeping with all true road circuits from Munster to Macau, “those employing an 8/10s riding style prospered.” Impressing this necessity upon a paddock of mixed experience was a key ingredient to a successful meeting. As the years passed, the collective and practical knowledge of both racers and officials grew. Jake witnessed sector marshals draw yellow flags based purely on engine note, corner entry and speed.
That is not to say that all meetings were without consequence. One particular weekend, Kirkcaldy’s local A&E clinic pleaded with officials to cease the flow of injured riders. Jake recalls the formidable figure of ‘Tubby’ Thompson, club official and circuit commentator calling all riders to the grid to administer a high calibre tirade and ultimatum to all those sheepishly assembled.
Jake also stresses that the good number of names now inscribed upon ‘The Park’s’ Jock Taylor monument pay tribute to passed KDMC members, not racing fatalities. There are however “five too many” racer’s names found separately upon a wooden sculpture, honouring only those lost in competition. Given the risk of the endeavour, the era of racing and the forty year span of the event, this is a remarkable outcome that reflects the professionalism and relentless diligence of all KDMC volunteers involved.
Lasting tributes to both racers and valued KDMC club members alike can be found in Kirkcaldy today
Jake & I discussed the types of public relations challenges that continuing road race events frequently face but he recalls “the local Police and council could see for themselves the efforts taken to protect participants and spectators. There was an enduring view that the races were good for the town.”
In keeping with much of motor sport in general, the growth and popularity of television eventually took a toll on attendances. KDMC events of all types, including local scrambles and road racing, became the stuff of BBC Grandstand & ITV World Of Sport prime time Saturdays in the seventies. Sadly, no broadcast footage of ‘The Park’ road racing remains in tact. Shot on high speed (and presumably very expensive) film, it is just assumed to have been ‘taped over’. Jake did reach out through such media luminaries as the late Murray Walker - who of course held his own family heritage connecting him to so many forms of motor sport - but to no avail. For those holding trackside eye witness memories across the generations, these must be all the more cherished.
A teenage Niall Mackenzie is happy to follow Graham Taylor through ‘The Brae’ at his only appearance at ‘The Park’ in 1981
(Image used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
Centred on any given era, the Beveridge Park archive roll call is a veritable ‘Who’s Who?’ of Scottish racing royalty. Naturally, I immediately become drawn back into the 1980s. Three time British Superbike champion and Scots Grand Prix legend Niall MacKenzie made his one and only appearance at ‘The Park’ in 1981. “I look back now and realise that although I was nineteen years old, I chose to give Beveridge Park the respect it deserves.” Perhaps the impact of having his head stuck in hedges through blind corners in practice or maybe those strident rider briefings were not in vain after all. When the KDMC called time on racing at ‘The Park’ seven years later, Niall was deep into his incredible 500cc Grand Prix World Championship career.
As a prophecy of the stellar popularity of Supersport and Superbike classes to come on both British and World stages, the production classes of the early eighties saw grids packed with bikes that anyone could ride off a showroom floor. Fitting then that the outright lap record, set at Beveridge Park in 1987, will be forever held by Kirkcaldy’s own Brian Morrison, a local racer at that time in the midst of building a lengthy and prodigious national and internationally decorated career.
Kirkcaldy’s own Brian Morrison muscles the big Katana through Raith Bend to the win in 1983
(Image used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
In 1988 the Scottish Road Races took place at Beveridge Park for the final time. Jake recalls that “it was getting to the point where the prospect of a licence not being granted was a real possibility.” The surface and layout was simply no longer suitable for the growing performance of modern machinery and tyre technology. “The bigger bikes were tearing up the track.” Added to the topographical challenges with essential radio comms and the KDMC committee made the reluctant but perhaps inevitable decision to focus future road racing events on nearby Knockhill, a circuit that remains the primary location for motorsport in Scotland.
A grid full of over 500 classics brings 40 years of racing to an end at Beveridge Park in 1988
(Image used with the permission of The Kirkcaldy and District Motor Club Archives)
In truth, Jake and I could have continued for several more hours in reminiscence on all matters motorcycling. His tales and anecdotes are way more than I could ever do justice to through this fanzine and remain very much the domain of the published KDMC archives. Volume One is already sold out and Jake is hard at work on the seventh instalment. For those with an interest in motorsport in Scotland, and indeed sporting history in general, they are an essential and highly entertaining read.
While stocks last, journals can be sourced via the link below.
http://www.kdmc.co.uk/home.html
I am indebted to all the KDMC archive contributors for granting permission to reproduce images but my particular thanks go to Jake Drummond for his time, patience and support, enabling the production of this feature.
