of making the flight. We hear about ‘The Sheds’ where all the secret games happen and no woman is allowed to see. She wonders how, “A man can go in looking relatively presentable and come out covered head to toe in engine oil.” Amy realised however that if she was to fly to Australia she would have to understand how her aircraft worked and that meant working in the Sheds. When she gets to work in the hangars she comes under the wing of Chief Engineer Jack Humphreys and is nick-named Johnny. Indeed, Amy was to become only the second lady engineer, (“The first was that bonkers woman Lady Heath”, comments one of the men). Amy’s sister Irene committed suicide and Amy
writes to her mother: ‘Please try to rest. It’s the folk left behind that have the hard part to bear.’ In consolation she adds, ‘Try to think everything is for the best. She has been saved from illness and troubles, Irene is through with it all. You still have three sisters left.’ Finally Amy sums the issue up thoughtfully, ‘The tragedy about Irene is that to us it seemed so unnecessary but to her it was the only way out.’ And so to the flight, but before doing so Amy
needs to generate funds and goes to Lord Wakefield with her plans: “I need your oil at all the stops along the way.” Asked by Wakefield why she wants to fly to Australia she responds, “I want to make a name for myself in aviation, I want to have adventures.” Admitting these are selfish reasons she also paints a vision of air travel in the future imagining, “...having breakfast in London and dining in Australia”. This she tempers with her father’s advice that we “Must go step by step,” and her flight is of course one of those steps. The flight to Australia has already been achieved by Hinkler in 15½ days but Amy hoped for 13, telling Lord Wakefield,“It is possible Sir, I’m flying in a straight line.” During her conversation with his Lordship
Members’ Bar We are delighted to announce some significant and exciting changes to the Members’ Bar and we hope these will enhance your visits. The Bar has never been so busy and these changes are all designed to make your visit even more enjoyable. First, introducing the ‘Brooklands Sunday
Brunch’, available between 10.30am and 12.00 noon every Sunday morning (excluding major event days). A full English breakfast will be
20
Amy admits to being aware of the dangers, so when we join her on her journey she has had to land in a sandstorm in the Syrian desert en route to Baghdad. There are only two props on stage and during this part of her performance Jenny Lockyer lays the chair on its side with the hat-stand propped on top, thus creating Jason. As the sand- storm whirls around her Amy sits on Jason’s rear fuselage (hat-stand) to keep him from being blown over in the storm and talks to him about their predicament, “All of those people doubting me… trying to break my resolve, how dare they.” She adds, “Why are we doing this? I want to have ad- ventures… I would say those things are definitely happening,” and talks to Jason directly, “
...how I love you.” They get delayed further by a monsoon and Amy apologises, “So sorry Jason… I don’t stand a chance of beating Hinkler’s record now.” The play ends with Amy addressing the Women’s
Engineering Society and talking about how aviation is changing the world, lamenting how aircraft are being developed as “an instrument to kill… Whilst our commercial planes hobble on at 100mph.” She reflects on her flight to Australia, which took 19 days in the end, “What a privilege.” She notes that it was when Jason landed in Karachi, India that the world began to sit up and take notice. At that stage, ‘the typist from Hull’ was two days ahead of Hinkler and the ‘world went crazy for her’. Later she lost time with a crash near Rangoon before finally reaching Darwen. The performance had started and finished with
a period jazz song, ‘Amy, wonderful Amy, how can you blame me for loving you?’ And it was a wonderful performance by Jenny Lockyer for an appreciative audience. Jenny writes and performs songs and monologues
and also works with children, encouraging them in the performing arts. More details can be found on
www.jennylockyer.co.uk
VIEW FROM THE CLUBHOUSE News
available with a vegetarian option. A great way to kick-start a Sunday at Brooklands. Our next major improvement will be full table
service for both food and drinks, including table settings with glassware and cutlery on Thursday, Friday and Sunday lunchtimes (excluding major events days). You can, of course, still order your favourite tipple at the bar. We hope that the introduction of table service will reduce the queuing time at the bar.
Gareth Tarr
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