Gwenda Stewart on the banking in a supercharged Derby in the 1935 August Bank Holiday Meeting Match race
a single-cylinder motor and its only means of stopping was a single rear-wheel brake. She achieved daily runs of 190 miles and completed the required 1000 miles over the gruelling icy roads of that winter without a spill or breakdown. The following month she gained a second certificate for a non- stop ride of 300 miles. With 24-hour racing banned at
Brooklands, in July 1922 a special twin Double 12 motorcycle and car event took place. Edge drove a Spyker C4 car and Gwenda a Trump-JAP motorcycle. The event attracted considerable public interest and a large crowd gathered around the Members’ Bridge. When her part of the event was over, they lifted Gwenda off her machine and carried her on their shoulders through a throng of cheering fans. She had achieved an average speed of 44.65mph. This became the first motorcycle Double 12 record. At the same time, Edge also created a record by covering 1782 miles and 1066 yards at an average speed of 74.27mph. Years later, and somewhat modestly, she
wrote: ‘The attempt was organised by my then husband as combined publicity for both the car, of which he had the agency, and SF Edge. If I remember correctly, my own participation was mainly designed to attract more publicity. The star turn was Edge, certainly not me.’ In order to participate in motorcycling events, Gwenda was away from home a lot. At the time, she was riding Trump motorcycles that were made in Byfleet. Colonel Neil Stewart was a keen motorcyclist himself and a director of Trump Motors. He often accompanied her, acting as her mechanic. Over time they developed a close relationship and this resulted in Colonel Janson divorcing her in 1923. She then married Neil Stewart. As a sort of adventurous and prolonged honeymoon, they travelled north into Alaska sailing on the mighty Yukon River, leading a very primitive life and depending on their hunting and fishing skills for food. They went down the Yukon on a raft, upon which they had built a cabin. The
28 BROOKLANDS BULLETIN | SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2019
Yukon runs through the Arctic Circle and during the worst months of the winter they stayed at a mission, earning their keep by shooting game for the kitchen. They spent long weeks without seeing a glimpse of daylight, but they did see the Northern Lights flaring across the sky. As the weather eased, they returned to civilisation by hitching a ride with a dog-team.
Record breaking Upon returning to Europe in 1924, they moved to Montlhéry, France to take advantage of its newly constructed banked circuit, which unlike Brooklands it had no noise restrictions. There, in 1925, she and her husband distinguished themselves when together they broke 21 long-distance motorcycle records riding a 346cc Rudge. Gwenda started by streaking off down the straightaway, then she maintained an average of one minute 40 seconds per lap for two hours. She then turned into the pits, where the bike was refuelled and her husband took over
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