Pensilva. Home of the Champions.

Gather round. Adopt the Japanese Tourist position and wield your camera worse than Larry Wetthebed with the opportunity to catch a driver in a silly position. Board the open top bus and join me, your guide for this tour of Cornwall's biggest village, and a village of paramount importance to sport of stock car racing.

The entry to Pensilva from Launceston and Liskeard, on the right hand side behind the house in view, is Trelawny Gardens. I lived at 20. I lived there until the age of 12, dreaming of being World Champion.

Pensilva (pen-sil-va) is a village situated in South East Cornwall, approximately 4 miles from Liskeard, and approximately 20 miles from Plymouth. Situated in the Parish of St Ive.

The parish used to be a large rural area with wooded valleys and the population was sparse with the largest village being St Ive itself.  However the demography of the parish was radically altered with the mid Victorian mining boom centred around Caradon Hill. South Caradon Mine situated just over the parish border was at one time the largest and most prosperous copper mine in the world and miners flocked to the area seeking employment in the 1830’s to 1850’s, especially as at this time the mines further west were beginning to fail. On the very edge of the moor under the shadow of Caradon Hill a mining settlement was established, originally known as Bodmon Land it is now called Pensilva. As the Caradon mines began to fail (from the 1870’s onwards), the population fell as many left the area to find work with a large percentage of those emigrating, mostly to Western Australia.

South Caradon Mine, One of those engine houses ended up on last years calendar y'know!

Then a big development happened in 1961. The Tamar Bridge opened, and with it the floodgates into a relatively untapped area of Cornwall, as now, the town of Plymouth became a commutable distance away as the Saltash Ferry had been replaced by the bridge.
Since then the village went through a dramatic building programme and expansion, with the village near on doubling in size during the 1960's. It was the archetypal village, butchers, bakers, candlestick sellers, various shops and the pub- the Victoria Inn. For many years, it was Cornwall's largest village
But perhaps it's most famous son is the 4 times Brisca Formula 2 World Champion - William Mervyn Batten. It also happens to be the village in which I grew up in.

And lo, The history lesson endeth there.

Bill at Newton Abbot circa 1970

Bill started going racing mechanicing for local racer Sylvan Pook, and he'd follow him to Newton Abbot, Pennycross and St Austell, before in 1969, getting his own car and having a go. And, unless you've just started watching stock car and think Moodie is the greatest, Batten did it all long before Gordon, sweeping all behind him.

My stock car love started in the interregnum during Batten's retirement, so the importance to me wasn't really drummed home to me until 1988 when Bill made his comeback. Little did the 7 year old Jonny know who he was. As time came on and Batten moved to Devon (spit spit). But as the rapidly growing Jonny found out, Bill lived in the very same village during his dominant times. Hang on, there's a girl in my class called Batten. I only found out when I was invited round for tea round at her's (when I was 8, anything went) and found a picture of Bill. Who's that, asks I, that's my Uncle Bill says the girl. Christ on an actual bike. Wow, her uncle was a great F2 driver, but I bet he's not as good as the Luscombes. Her dad was called Bill too, it was often a Cornish tradition to give all boys the same first name but be known by their middle name. Something went wrong there!

Also in my year at the local Primary School which I went to was Mark Guinchard (183). He was a die hard Gooner, and me, being a Spurs fan, didn't get on! At the same time former English/National/European Champion and one time console controller guru, Lee Gunichard (ex 258/121) was probably tearing up Higher Road in a supped up Escort or something. Their dad owned a garage and if there was one place that summed up stock car racing in the village, it was Marshes Garage, slap bang in the centre of the village.

It was in the 1970's and 80's where Bill Batten would go and get his brakes done. Sylvan Pook (ex 584) the 1972 British Champion worked there, along with apprentice boy Mike Lampshire (ex 137/22). Indeed with it's prominent position many a revving engine could be heard up the road.

The life and soul of any shindig in Pensilva is Bill's sister Mavis, aka Mave the Rave. A stalwart of the village shop, she's a proper character, and many a time I've gone up for a drink or something to eat and bumped into Mavis, and lost a fair amount of time chinwagging about Bill and the racing. In fact the longest one was possibly post the Barford World Final win in 2004, when Bill took his long awaited 4th World title.

A bit further up the road, is the estate that dominates the village. Glen Park. During the 90's both Neil Lampshire (737) and Dave Gregory (ex 367) lived there.

The local area isn't immune to the Pensilva stock car scene.

4 miles down the road you had the Hoopers, not Neil (676) and Adam(ex696), but Garry (ex686) and Tony (ex527) in Tremar, and then go on the Lanson road, through Upton Cross and down the hill, and you reach Darleyford. Home of the Deebles, originally 1978 World Champion Jeremy (ex530) and Paul (ex685), but now Liam(785), Adam(685), Matt(530) and Amy-Louise (ex985), and their cousin Jason Walters (540), and their near neighbour Simon Edwards (430).And if you go through a few back lanes - lo, you're at the home of Lord Higman of Menheniot (778).

Even in the doldrum years of Cornish stock car racing, when the nearest track was Newton Abbot, the village and surrounding areas would provide a fair few drivers to race, in fact it was the southern outpost for Brisca - St Day was feral at the time and St Columb, well, was only a pipe dream. When St Austell ruled the roost, it was a hive of activity, but when Fairway Furniture and Cornish Market World came along, the enthusiasm and support died a death, and other pastimes came along.

If I had a pound for everytime some who said to me "Stock car eh, I used to watch that at St Austell, ...do they still do that at Newton Abbot", I'd be typing this from my Australian ranch, as promoter of WisCA F2. Fact is that Stock Car is probably the 2nd biggest spectator sport after Rugby in Cornwall - we don't have a football team of note, the two dogs that watch Truro City et al, don't even threaten a quiet St Day.

I'd like to know if there is such a village with an equally rich stock car heritage....