Lincolnshire Automobile Club

As reported by the Lincolnshire Chronicle

February 2nd 1912

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The annual meeting of the members of the Lincolnshire Automobile Club was held on Friday afternoon at the Guildhall, Lincoln , Sir Hickman Bacon Bart (president) in the chair.

The accounts were presented and showed a gain of £7 7s 2d on the year. Subscriptions had brought in £303 9s, and the motorcycle section affiliation fee had produced £10 16s. There was in the bank £66 1s 10d on current account and £200 on deposit account.
The annual report showed that there were now 286 members, 36 having come in during the year. No competitions had been held during the year, but there had been meets at Elkesly, Scawby and Brocklesby.
The motorcycle membership was 101.

Sir Hickman B.Bacon was re-elected President. The eleven Vice Presidents were elected, Mr W. Embleton  Fox being added. The committee were re-elected en bloc, Mr A.A. Paddley was again chosen as hon. Solicitor, Dr Godfrey Lowe hon. Secretary, Mr E.R.Simpson hon. Treasurer and Mr J.S.Streets hon. Auditor.

Lord Yarborough was accorded a vote of thanks for entertaining members at Brocklesby.

At the last annual meeting a Sub-Committee had been appointed to inquire into the condition of roads in some parts of the county especially in the neighbourhood of Louth and Alford, which Sub-Committee had forwarded several reports, and these had been collated and forwarded to the authorities concerned. Several letters on the subject were read by the secretary.

Major Fowler wrote that the roads around Louth were in a shocking state and that the authorities still persisted in putting on stones in small patches. The roller appeared about a fortnight afterwards and there was no common sense in the method. The Major declared that the roads were to awful for words.

 

Dr Howes (Horncastle) wrote that the roads around there were one mass of loose stones, put on in patches so arranged that it was impossible for a motorist to miss them. Considering the amount of taxation (motors and petrol) he thought it was shameful and he laid blame on the County Council for not compelling a universal system of road mending. The letter recommended all motorists to pay their licences another year in another county.

 

Mr T. Montague Winch from Louth wrote from Legbourne Abbey regarding the main roads around Louth. There is no adjective or expletive in the English or any other language that can adequately or briefly describe their condition except “Damnable” this is quite mild and has no influence with the authorities in this district who are oblivious to complaint, sarcasm, irony and humour. Referring to the road from Louth to Mablethorpe, Mr Winch described the scattering in November of sharp flint granite and slag in small heaps all over the roads. In 300 yards from his front gate there were no less than 25 little mounds. The method of rolling these he considered very unsatisfactory. The letter went on to say that thousands of the rate payers money is being wasted from incompetence, ignorance and neglect of studying other methods. Whoever in his senses thought of hiring a steam roller for a season when one can be bought for the same money? I and R Fowler have got some 40 motorists to transfer the whole of their licences outside this county in the hope that someone will emulate Rip Van Winkle and be awake to his responsibilities as a member of the C.C. Concluding Mr Winch attacked the rotten and antiquated system, the hopeless incompetence of the method and those responsible for it, the passing of the accounts for payment on the ground of reckless extravagance and waste.

Mr W. Embleton Fox, Chairman of the Lindsey County Council replied to the criticisms contained in the letters.

It was difficult to find, he said whether the criticism was intended for main roads or district roads. The County Council were not responsible for the district; they were as powerless as the man in the street over the outlay. He would admit that some of the main roads were not as good as they might be and as he would like. But these complaints were generally of a spasmodic character. He might run over a road one week and find it all right. But another week he might go over the same road and discover it to be all wrong, because they have begun to repair it. Roads must be repaired. They must therefore, have loose stones, or the remedy was to have an enormous number of steam rollers to follow up each small section and that at the moment was out of the question. They must be patient and be content to go by steps. The improvement during the past ten years had been enormous. Further improvement was desirable, but they must be content to go by degrees.

 

He had run his car 2,000 miles in the last four months over Lincolnshire roads and had not had the slightest tyre trouble and had included in that this road to Louth which he agreed was now in a bad condition. He had pointed out in some districts the culpable neglect of putting down stone in large patches unless they had a steam roller handy, but the difficulty was to persuade these rural district councils to have rollers there. They asked why should they do it?

Mr W. Embleton Fox finished his address to the members with

All ratepayers were not motorists, and as a motorist himself he knew the feeling aroused by the reckless driving of some motorists in the country. It was not a ha’poth of good in this world getting too far ahead of public opinion. The gradual improvement in roads was likely to continue, and at a greater rate than it had done. All they could do was to have patience and be thankful for what had taken place. It was unfair continued Mr Fox, to take one small space in their great area and that being bad, damn the County Council for all its works; surely some credit was due to the Council for the good roads they heard nothing about.