Chris Church 1941-2019
The Roedale Slot Car Club was established in 1965 by Reg and Chris Church above Reg’s coal yard at No. 2 Roedale Road in Brighton (perhaps no coincidence that 1965 was the year Chris’s eldest Sarah was born!).
Phil Hemsley (one of the club’s longest standing members) remembers the days of racing in the Mid Sussex League and travelling in Reg’s old Wolsley or Chris’s Mini to race at Cuckfield, Peacehaven & Worthing. A particular favourite was the temporary track in a racer’s living room where, halfway through the evening and to everyone’s surprise, a voice shouted ‘Cooee’ and a hatch opened in the wallpaper allowing his wife to serve everyone with tea and biscuits!
The club room in those days had a roaring coal fire (free coal from Reg!) and the original track was coated with Sandtex so a set of rubber tyres would only last an evening with the remains having to be brushed up after every heat. Phil recalls a spectacular crash one evening that resulted in a car being launched into the fire to be consumed by the flames!
During the late seventies and early eighties, the club continued to thrive under Chris’s leadership and was open two evenings a week – you could set your watch by Chris opening the doors at 7pm. Racing was always highly competitive and Chris was a firm believer of keeping our core classes aligned to the national standards (ECRA/BSCRA). This era also saw the club regularly take its portable track to events across the county and be accompanied by a bunch of youngsters travelling in the back of Reg’s lorry to the location of the day (if we were really lucky, he would sweep it out first!).
A regular event during this period was the annual display at the three-day Model Engineering exhibition situated at the Brighton Centre. Chris worked tirelessly with the organisers along with the preparation, setup and running of the event for the whole duration. He estimated that over a million people had seen our sport and 25,000 people had tried the track over the many years of attendance. One year included the hosting of an Area Round where the finals drew a large gathering of spectators and a huge round of applause for the winners.
The late nineties saw the club relocate to its current home in Coldean lane and once again Chris demonstrated his craftmanship by building the new track that is still in use today. Now into our 54th year, the club continues to race each week as well as being a regular fixture on the Southern 32 and Area round eight calendar.
Chris served as a fireman for all his working life, whilst also being a father to Sarah and Stuart and the Roedale club secretary since 1965. He will be missed by all who have raced at Roedale over the years and we thank him sincerely for eveything he has done.
Phil Hemsley (one of the club’s longest standing members) remembers the days of racing in the Mid Sussex League and travelling in Reg’s old Wolsley or Chris’s Mini to race at Cuckfield, Peacehaven & Worthing. A particular favourite was the temporary track in a racer’s living room where, halfway through the evening and to everyone’s surprise, a voice shouted ‘Cooee’ and a hatch opened in the wallpaper allowing his wife to serve everyone with tea and biscuits!
The club room in those days had a roaring coal fire (free coal from Reg!) and the original track was coated with Sandtex so a set of rubber tyres would only last an evening with the remains having to be brushed up after every heat. Phil recalls a spectacular crash one evening that resulted in a car being launched into the fire to be consumed by the flames!
During the late seventies and early eighties, the club continued to thrive under Chris’s leadership and was open two evenings a week – you could set your watch by Chris opening the doors at 7pm. Racing was always highly competitive and Chris was a firm believer of keeping our core classes aligned to the national standards (ECRA/BSCRA). This era also saw the club regularly take its portable track to events across the county and be accompanied by a bunch of youngsters travelling in the back of Reg’s lorry to the location of the day (if we were really lucky, he would sweep it out first!).
A regular event during this period was the annual display at the three-day Model Engineering exhibition situated at the Brighton Centre. Chris worked tirelessly with the organisers along with the preparation, setup and running of the event for the whole duration. He estimated that over a million people had seen our sport and 25,000 people had tried the track over the many years of attendance. One year included the hosting of an Area Round where the finals drew a large gathering of spectators and a huge round of applause for the winners.
The late nineties saw the club relocate to its current home in Coldean lane and once again Chris demonstrated his craftmanship by building the new track that is still in use today. Now into our 54th year, the club continues to race each week as well as being a regular fixture on the Southern 32 and Area round eight calendar.
Chris served as a fireman for all his working life, whilst also being a father to Sarah and Stuart and the Roedale club secretary since 1965. He will be missed by all who have raced at Roedale over the years and we thank him sincerely for eveything he has done.
