The Holme Moss 100 website listed many of the original participants of the 1920 event including local driver Edward Ramsden Hall of Milnsbridge. Now for those of you who don’t know Milnsbridge it is a small township near Huddersfield and it is famous for, very little. During the Industrial revolution its magistrate sent Luddites and coiners to a new life in Australia. For the car enthusiast there is Huddersfield Mini Spares but little else, In its hey day it was a thriving textile centre and generated significant wealth for local mill owners. Edward Ramsden Hall was the heir to one such fortune.
He used his wealth in the pursuit of gentlemanly pleasures including motor racing and other sporting endeavours. He is famous for being the only driver to successfully complete the full 24 hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race solo, a feat he achieved in 1950.
Hall started motor racing in 1922 and was a prolific amateur competitor at many venues including Donnington Park, Shelsey Walsh, the Isle of Man and the Mille Miglia until his retirement in 1951. He favoured races that demanded stamina and is mostly remembered today for his multiple drives in the 410-mile (478 from 1933) RAC Tourist Trophy, on the ( Ards Circuit ) in Ulster, where he competed every year from 1928 to 1936.
For 1934 Hall asked Rolls Royce to modify a Bentley 3.5 litre which they initially refused to do because the company had long since quit racing. Reasoning that as this car was a private entry failure would not reflect badly on the factory so Rolls-Royce assisted Hall by increasing the output of his engine from the standard 114 bhp to a more useful 131 bhp. His wife was his “verry efficient” pit manager although a private entry, Rolls-Royce supplied a support team. Hall came second.
The car was the first competition car built at Rolls-Royce since the car built for Charles Rolls which he had driven to win the 1906 TT, and it was also their last. When the series came to an end in 1936 Hall had accumulated 3 second places in it (1934, 1935 and 1936), each time setting the fastest race pace (78.40 mph, 80.36 mph and 80.81 mph respectively), and each time defeated only by the handicap system. The final version of the car had a 4¼-litre engine producing over 160 bhp and a 40-gallon fuel tank behind the seats, enabling him to complete the distance without stopping.
Hall had entered the 4.5 litre Bentley into the Le Mans 24 hour race in 1936, but the race was cancelled. The car was then driven in the second post-war Le Mans 24 hour becoming the first (and only) man to drive solo for the entire distance, despite having a co-driver in the pits ready to take over. He completed 236 laps, which equals to nearly 3,200 km (2,000 miles).
Hall was also a member of the victorious Great Britain two-man and five-man bobsleigh and also contested the 1928 winter Olympics finishing ninth overall.
I have been driving through Milnsbridge for over 50 years and had no idea such history existed. It would be an interesting achievement to celebrate with a plaque or a statue.
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