Preface continued
THE HISTORY of the
MIDDLESBROUGH & DISTRICT MOTOR CLUB
PART 2
4 of 97
George Butt Craig.
No History of the Club would be complete without reference and tribute to George
Butt Craig, a principal of Craig Taylors, Shipbuilders, Thornaby. He worked like a
trojan on the course of the early Saltburn Speed Trials before the roping off was let
to a contractor and subsequently the local Council. He did attend subsequent Speed
Trials, traveling by sea, by aeroplane, by motorcycle, by car and by shanks's pony. In
1920 a new revolutionary motorcycle was brought out - the A.E.C., a flat horizontally
opposed twin with an integral gearbox. George acquired one of these and was seen
to be running it in on the stand at the foot of Ormesby Bank prior to one of the Hill
Climbs. On the occasion of a visit to Runswick Bay in a red Itala with a full
complement of passengers he took the car down on to the beach and re-ascended
the hill, which in those days was in a very rough condition. It was reputed that he
almost shot some of the passengers out as it hit one of the bumps. He was an
irrepressible joker. We have a photo of him playing in the first motorcycle football
match in a mutilated hat. He could be relied upon to create a considerable panic in
any hotel where the Club was staying.
Another character in those far-off-days was Jimmy Jobborn who hailed from the
Midlands. In addition to competing in Speed events he, in his later years, assisted
other members to tune their engines and it was a byeword that "Jimmy Jobborn had
breathed on it". He died in 1953 and there is a clock in the Bar to his memory.
I have gone into some detail of Competition winners in the immediate post-War
years as these riders were undoubtedly the "pioneers",
As I have researched through the Minutes, Annual Reports, copies of the Journal
produced during the 20 years covered in Part 2, I have been conscious of the
difficulty I have found in writing a continuous and interesting story. I am sure that the
reader will find on occasions passages are out of their context and my only excuse is
that often days have elapsed between the dictation of part of one year and the
remainder, which inevitably resulted in the disjointment which I am conscious must
be found.
I hope that those who may peruse this Record in the future will at least consider that
my efforts have been worth while.
May 1973
A.V.B
