THIS MONTH... In 2023
Kop Hill in Princes Risborough will be closed to local traffic on the weekend of September 16/17 for the annual Hilllclimb – but this is one road closure you don’t want to avoid. Classic Bike’s very own Rick Parkington has enjoyed the experience as a spectator and as a rider
Kop Hillclimb has a dark past and a bright future. Adopted for motorcycle sport in 1910, with the cars following a little later, an accident in 1925 involving a car killing a spectator ended not only this event but also all closed roads motor sport in the UK. Revived as a charity event in 2009, matters went full circle when just a few years ago its safety record and success (an astonishing £107,000 was collected last year, contributing to the present £977,000 total) proved instrumental in the closed roads ban being finally lifted.
So, apart from being a good cause, what’s it all about? In the distant past, this part of the Chilterns was bare hillside, but now the lane climbs through a cool green tunnel of overhanging woodland. With a gradient rising gently at first but gradually increasing to one in four near the top, it provided the perfect location for vehicle tests at a time when the ability to crest all hills was a major selling point for manufacturers. But by the mid-’20s bikes and cars were climbing indecently quickly and not surprisingly the outright record average speed of 81mph, made by a Douglas in 1925, still stands. This figure would seem unbelievable iftheriderwhosetithadn’tbeenMiddlesborough wild man Freddie Dixon, a completely fearless TT and Brooklands legend who famously once fixed a mid-race puncture, ripping off the
