BROUGHTON - BRETTON MOTOR CLUB

                                  THE CLUB                     

Broughton-Bretton motor club are members of the M.S.A (Motorsport Association), the A.N.W.C.C. (Association of North Western Car Clubs) and the WAMC (The Welsh Association of Motor Clubs, and have members of all ages. We met regularly at the New Inn, Pontblyddyn, Flintshire, North Wales.   

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We meet at the New Inn every Thursday round about 9.30pm. Why not come and joins us one night.

Both Dave and Sandra Hunt, the landlords, of the New Inn, will always wish you a warm welcome, whether you have come for the a drink or the New Inn's famous 3 courses for a £10 Deal, which they have every Saturday night.  There Sunday Lunches are fantastic and great value for money,  2 course £7.95 or 3 course for £9.95. The New Inn caters for families as well couples. The choice from the bar includes the usual commercial beers as well as different guest beers every week. 

MEMBERSHIP

Membership cost £10 for the year (Jan-Dec). This enables you to take part in many events held under the ANWCC and WAMC (MSA license depending) as well as club events

Membership Form (PDF Format)
Membership Forms (MS Word Doc Format)

CLUB HISTORY

Broughton – Bretton Motor Club has now been in existence for more than 65 years, formed in 1945 and has always existed in the North East of Flintshire in the Broughton area, the club met at the following various Inns.

 Club Meeting Places:
Glynne Arms Broughton - 1945- ?
Fox and Grapes Hawarden - 19?? to November 1955
Phoenix Hotel Sandycroft - November 1955 to November 1958
Red Lion Hope  – November 1958 to 1966
Coed Talon Inn – 1966 to 1995 (April)
The Crown Llay – 1995 (April) To 1997 (January)
New Inn Pontblyddyn 1997 (January) To present

 There have also been short stays at the Halfway House Caergwrle and the Glynne Arms at Hawarden but our stays at these places were short lived. As a consequence of ‘no fixed abode’  there is no logical place to go and seek records, various club officers have kept their records safe whilst in post but there is scant information to be found from the early or indeed the later years of the club’s existence.

There are several threads which provide continuity from the early days of BBMC the original club magazine – MAGNETO has retained its name through to today and I’m sure today’s editor has just as much trouble in acquiring articles as all the previous editors have struggled. The BBMC club programme today includes ‘Natter and a Noggin’ night just as the club programme in the 1950’s did.  The club still meets every Thursday night as it appears to have done since its inception. So some things don’t change, just the people.

I am indebted to Jim and Brenda Lowe of Saltney, both of them ex-members of BBMC who participated in the motorsport and social activities of the club in the 1950’s. Jim had kept a complete set of Magnetos covering four and a half years from January 1955 until July 1959 and also photographs from the era plus some memorabilia. The information in those magazines has enabled me to bridge the knowledge gap from our current oldest members who joined BBMC in 1958. I must also mention Earnie Jones a club member from the 50’s who has shared my enthusiasm to discover the club’s history and has provide a great deal of information

 The earliest record of the Broughton & Bretton Motor Club is a set of club rules that states the club was formed in 1945, the rule book was copied and updated in 1965, we also have a letter written in 1969 from Bob Jones in response to an invitation from Meg Edwards to the 21^st Annual Dinner Dance, in which Bob provides the names of some of the founder members of the Club. The first meeting place was the Glynne Arms in Broughton, hence the name BROUGHTON – BRETTON. Almost certainly the club members would have all been motorcycle enthusiasts and a good number of the early members worked at the De Havilland Aircraft Factory (now AIRBUS).

Throughout the 1950’s the club prospered and organised many motorcycle trials and scrambles as well as day and night rallies, motor cars became a feature of the club in the mid 1950’s and the enthusiasts for either form of transport lived quite happily together. The committees at the time were supplemented by a “Motor Cycle Club Captain” and a “ Motor Car Club Captain” and both came together on rallies. The military tone of the day could be seen, the Club meeting place was referred to as the  ‘HQ’ . Annual scramble events were held at Hawarden Park courtesy of Mr Gladstone with all profits made being donated to charities of Mr Gladstone’s choice, it was not uncommon to see crowds of up to 3000 people attending these events at Easter, Whit and the August Bank Holiday.

The 1960’s saw the demise of the motorcycle element in the club and by 1965 no motorcycle events were organised, but the swinging 60’s saw young men with more money and the advent of the ‘GT’ badge on performance saloon cars and the club prospered and grew continually right through the 1970’s , under the steady hand of John Morgan the club became a highly respected motor club in Wales and were asked to organise an manage special stages on both the Welsh and the RAC rallies for many years.  Although we did not realise at the time, this was a golden age of road rallying with 200 – 250 mile all night events being two a penny in the wilds of Wales before we were invaded by rally unfriendly immigrants .

 The 1980’s saw a demise in the fortunes of BBMC, without going into detail a split in club  in 1982 saw the club being relatively dormant and but for the continuing interest shown by the few who continued to turn up every Thursday the club would probably have died.  But carry on they did and in the early 1990’s a small number of BBMC crews began to carry the banner in road rallies, this small activity drew in more members who also competed and the club gradually grew in strength  and once more became vibrant. The 2000’s have seen a resurrection in the club activities and the organising an open Road Rally in 2005 - The Firefly,  saw the club presented with the Jack Romain Trophy for the Best Road Rally in Wales, this feat was equalled in 2006 when the award was again presented to BBMC for the 2006 Firefly Rally.