100 Year Centenary of the Famous Maurice Harvey

100 year centenary of the famous Maurice Harvey win at Brooklands in 1923

                                                                                                                                                                                                        
Forty Two South West members recently gathered around the grave of Major Maurice Harvey, to celebrate the rather brief life of the most successful Alvis racing driver who 100 years ago in 1923 was the outright winner of the JCC 200 Mile Race at Brooklands driving an Alvis 12/50 at an average speed of 93.29mph. This extremely high- profile international event was  clearly pivotal in putting Alvis on the motoring map.

The memorial took place in the pretty village of St Keverne near the very bottom of Cornwall where, following coffee at the White Hart Inn, we all made our way across the village square to the parish church and through the beautiful churchyard and congregated in front of a simple headstone. A brief and most moving service was then conducted by Reverend Terry Axe who described the outstanding motor racing successes of Maurice Harvey whilst also highlighting in some detail his mental state in later life caused by gas poisoning suffered during his time in the trenches and his subsequent experience as a prisoner of war during WW1.

It was then back across the village square for a welcome buffet lunch at the White Hart  before embarking on a tour across The Lizard visiting The Chocolate Factory at Mullion before visiting the outstanding beauty spot at Kynance Cove after which we all went our various ways.