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BUCKLERS LEAD - OTHERS FOLLOW |
  
 PBH
1
R.A.F.Halton "Pit Crew", circa 1955. Left to right: W/Cr
J.C.Lane, Chief Tech. Hillyer, W/Cr French, ?, Fred
Gibson, ?, Bob Durston, ? . Their Buckler '90' car was
sponsored by the main driver, Air Commodore Tindal-Carill-Worsley
and the car was assembled and maintained by the
engineering apprentices at Halton. Air Commodore G.
Tindal-Carill-Worsley previously owned and raced the
first Buckler Mk.5, ERD 96. The photo, circa 1955, has
been kindly supplied by his son. Where is she now?
The Search For PBH 1 by Stan Hibberd
Peter Silverthorne and I searched all around the area of
RAF Halton and further afield, for the missing Halton
Buckler, we visited Halton and met the the then CO Group
Captain Mike Evans, he tried to find out for us where
the Buckler had gone, the nearest we got was a sentence
in the "The Halton Magazine" of summer 1963 which said
"fortunately we were able to sell the cars at quite a
reasonable figure", the cars were of course the Tojeiro/Climax
and the Buckler 90 PBH 1.
The same magazine also mentions that the new owner had
collected the Tojeiro/Climax but alas no mention of the
Buckler, the money raised from the sale was used to buy
Kiel Karts for the RAF apprentices to race.
Peter and I also met Geoffrey Carril-Tindall-Worsley for
a very long lunch, and talked about his Halton and
Buckler days, Geoffrey checked at that time with DVLA
whether the famous number plate was in use, the answer
was not then.
So that is as far as we have been able to get, perhaps
the internet can do for us what it did with the other
Carril-Tindall-Worsley Buckler ERD 96, find it's present
owner and whereabouts, I have always been convinced this
car will still be around somewhere, whoever bought must
have been fully aware of it's interesting history.
MJones_Buckler_90
A letter
just received from Chris lane - thank you
 PBH1
Joe Lane driver Silverstone Buckler 90
I stumbled upon your web site whilst looking for Air
Commodore Tidal Caryl-Worsley.
I am one of Joe Lane's sons and as a schoolboy I had joy
rides in PBH1 around Halton and at Chalgrove airfield
where she was tested. Dad was the OC No.2 Technical
training Wing at Halton and 'hosted' the building and
running of the Buckler until his posting in April 1955.
The car was bought as a kit and the running gear was, I
think, all Ford with an E93A engine and Ford 8 head.
The car was tested at Chalgrove airfield which had a
tarmac perimeter track (Halton is/was all grass). In the
beginning it suffered persistent overheating and it had
to transit between test site and base with a jerry can
of water to top it up carried in the back. (I think, in
the end, it turned out to be the wrong rating of the
water by-pass valve in the cylinder head!).
It was registered PBH1 leading to the apprentices
calling it 'poor bloody Halton'.
It was driven usually by the Air Commodore and sometimes
by his wife (who had been a driver in an all-women
Bentley team in the 30's). Dad drove it once at a
meeting at Silverstone (picture attached).
It was going well when we left Halton and there was talk
of a second car being obtained. Sorry I can't help with
its present whereabouts.
Regards
Chris Lane
This photo was rescued by Eric Pettigrew. Photo also
shows 930BMT a MKV Buckler
Many Thanks to
David Curnock who has written with his
memories of PBH1
This was passed to me by
a friend and fellow ex-Halton Apprentice, Ed
Austin, in New Zealand, in response to a
request by David Montgomery of the Register.
Unfortunately I have no idea of the
whereabouts of the 'Halton' Buckler, PBH
1, - I was serving overseas around the time
it 'went missing' - in fact, I didn't know
it had been disposed of until some years
later.
I was a member of 'The Halton Stable', as
the motor club was known, between late
1956-57. So named due to our premises being
in the old stable block in the grounds below
the Commandant's house (Air Commodore T-C-Worsley).
The club was also sometimes referred to,
unofficially, as Scuderia Wendover. Along
with the Buckler, there was a Tojeiro-Climax
with bodywork by Rochdale Panels (if my
memory isn't playing tricks), and the
bare-bones of an incomplete Austin 7
special.
Air Commodore T-C-Worsley was indeed the
leading light in providing the wherewithal
so that us poor Apprentices could get
involved in motor racing/engineering, but
NOT driving, however, as we were forbidden
to drive any motor vehicle during term-time.
Many of us were too young to do so, anyway!
Funding for the club was provided by various
sponsors, including Castrol, Aeromodeller
magazine (we carried their poster on the
side of our support vehicle, an old service
ambulance). We also got spark plugs and
Dunlop racing tyres from manufacturers and
suppliers.
When I last saw PBH 1, it had the 1172 Ford
sv engine with an Aquaplane cylinder head.
There was a move afoot to fit it with an ohv
conversion - no idea whether this was done.
There was a metal tonneau over the passenger
side of the cockpit that was fitted for
some, but not all, race meetings - it was
left behind in the workshop on more than one
occasion. The car was finished in British
Racing Green.
During my time with the club, it was driven
mainly by the following drivers: Chief
Technician Hillyer, Sergeant Cornish, Flight
Lieutenant Bartle, Squadron Leader Candy,
all pilots. There were others - names
escaped, sorry. Squadron Leader Candy was
my Squadron Commander in No.2 Wing.
We, the apprentice members drew lots, or
were rostered, to 'passenger' the cars to
and from the meetings, mostly at Silverstone
but sometimes, Brands Hatch. Most guys
seemed to prefer the Tojo (Tojeiro-Climax)
as it looked more 'modern'. My straw was
drawn for a trip to Brands Hatch, driven by
Sgt. Cornish. The journey was quite an
exhilarating experience that literally
took my breath away, there being no
windscreen on the passenger side on race
days, a pair on Mk8 flying goggles helping
to keep the flies from the eyes, but not
from the teeth! The seat on my side was a
cushion from an old aircraft seat - can't
remember a backrest!
Even though the roads were relatively quiet
in those days, the inevitable traffic lights
and tail-backs of slow-moving vehicles
caused its cooling system to complain -
there being no fan for the radiator.
We stopped to let it cool and add water on a
couple of occasions. However, it was quite
quick, and made light work of passing other
vehicles when the opportunity arose. Don't
remember winning too many (any?) trophies on
the track, though.
Sorry this didn't shed any light on the
whereabouts of Poor Bloody Halton - best
wishes in your endeavours!
Just
to clear up the sponsorship subject - as you
rightly stated, there was no sponsorship
actually on either the Buckler or Tojeiro
cars. Advertising (as it was called then!)
was in the form of posters on the side (Aeromodeller) and
rear of our support vehicle only. Adverts
also appeared in the programmes for air
shows and open days, etc.
Unfortunately, I don't have any personal
photos of my time with the car club - no
money for a camera in those days, although
my pay during that particular time was
around £1.20 at today's equivalent.
David Curnock - Bristol Oct 2006
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