Aintree Britain's forgotten F1 venue

Before Red Rum was thrilling the masses in the Grand National, Liverpool's world-famous racecourse shared its facilities with racing cars. For Mike Doodson it holds fond memories

- Mike Doodson

Just how good was Aintree, the circuit situated six miles north of Liverpool’s city centre? Created on the hallowed precincts of the Grand National horse race, it opened to international-class motor racing in 1954, with plenty to recommend itself. It offered good public access (railway station a short walk away) and convenient facilities. This included restaurants and covered grandstands - benefits of the venue’s long-established equestrian heritage - which would bring in discriminating patrons.

The early GPs there attracted substantial crowds, with the 1955 event reputed to have drawn a race-day attendance of 150,000. Curiously, it was not to last. Two factors which contributed to the collapse of the Merseyside idyll, following a non-championship F1 event in 1964, were safety concerns (lack of runoff areas) and the boom in car ownership, which worked in favour of more remote track rivals.

There were other negatives which counted against Aintree, not least among them the sickly aroma from the British Enka (artificial textile) factory on the nearby Ormskirk Road. Flat and grimily industrial, it lacked the scenic charm associated with continental circuits.

The Aintree Racecourse was opened in 1829 and had been hosting the Grand National steeplechase race since 1839. It would become one of the greatest horse races in the world.

The management of the racecourse had been in the hands of several generations of the Topham family since the 1840s. In 1932 the property became the responsibility of 47-year-old Arthur Topham, who had no interest in carrying on the family tradition. By chance, his wife, a former vaudeville performer and actress, was happy to step in.