Poignant photos of Cornwall’s last raceway

Photographer Becky Tyrell went down to the fading banger and stock raceway to meet a community desperate to keep it alive.

In January 2021, Becky Tyrrell was driving in her car along the idyllic northern coast of Cornwall on her daily commute to work. Having flicked through a few radio stations, she settled on the local news. One story piqued her attention: the United Downs Raceway, situated by the village of St Day, and the last remaining track for banger and stock car racing in Cornwall, was closing for good – with a “shinier tourist attraction” looking likely to replace it.

“I just thought about it and it didn’t sit well with me,” Tyrrell says. “It felt really unjust and unfair – it moved me, and I felt for the longstanding local community that have kept it alive and put so much passion and love into it.”

When Tyrrell was a teenager, her parents would often take her younger brother to the races at United Downs on the weekend, where old vehicles are often rescued from scrap, gutted, and filled with new parts to make them track worthy.

She would decline the invitation, choosing instead to be “out partying” – but having gone to many races as a small child at other tracks, she knew the importance of the raceway to local community members. Tyrrell decided to reach out to the man who had been running the track for over 20 years, asking if there was anything she could do to help as a photographer.

He invited her to visit and in March 2021, just a couple of months later as the UK gradually eased restrictions, Tyrrell went to the first race since before the pandemic. “It was an absolute sensory overload,” she says. “Bright colours, loud noises, revving engines – you’re like: ‘Whoa, what is this?’”

Since then, she has made regular trips to the United Downs Raceway and, armed with her camera, she has been photographing the drivers, fans and most of all, energy of a day at the banger and stock car races. Now a number of her shots from her visits are presented in her newly published photobook The Last Raceway.

From children as young as seven years old gearing up to drive their small karts, ’90s banged-up hatchbacks in the aftermath of a crash, to relaxed onlookers camped out on chairs watching the action unfold, the pictures capture the thrill that keeps the community involved so enthralled. For the small number of people who participate in banger racing and stock car racing, it’s a hobby that often tip-toes the edge into being an obsession, with hours upon hours and thousands of pounds of cash spent fine-tuning their vehicles.

“It’s a real passion sport,” Tyrrell says. “Most of these people have day jobs and then they work on their cars in the evenings. They all know each other, and they all drive around the country every weekend.”

Since the radio announcement Tyrrell heard in January 2021, the United Downs Raceway has so far survived closure, yet the threat remains. For the past 50 years, the racetrack’s lease has been renewed once a decade, although Tyrrell alleges that when it was up for renewal again two years ago, once the council had heard that there was another interested party in the site, the lease has only been renewed for a year at a time.

In its place is a proposed “bio-thermal rum distillery”, which would serve to attract tourists rather than local Cornish folk. It’s a story as much about gentrification in the county, with second homeowners and AirBnB hosts sending rents skywards. “I’ve got a wider fire driving me,” says Tyrrell. “Whereas in the city you might have job opportunities, most of our jobs revolve around hospitality and the tourist industry at minimum wage.

“Then you see the rents rising more in line with cities and most of us are just really struggling,” she continues. “For the track itself, it was nice to find that home somewhere permanent [so] if the worst happens and we do lose it – there is a part of it living somewhere.”

The Last Raceway is published by Guest Editions.

Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram


Ad

Latest on Huck

Crowd of silhouetted people at a nighttime event with colourful lighting and a bright spotlight on stage.
Music

Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists

We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.

Written by: Zahra Onsori

Indoor skate park with ramps, riders, and abstract architectural elements in blue, white, and black tones.
Sport

In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme

Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.

Written by: Zahra Onsori

Black-and-white image of two men in suits, with the text "EVERYTHING IS COMPUTER" in large bright yellow letters overlaying the image.
Culture

Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?

Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.

Written by: Emma Garland

A group of people, likely children, sitting around a table surrounded by various comic books, magazines, and plates of food.
© Michael Jang
Culture

How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography

The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Silhouette of person on horseback against orange sunset sky, with electricity pylon in foreground.
Culture

The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth

Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Couple sitting on ground in book-filled environment
Culture

The British intimacy of ‘the afters’

Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.

Written by: Ella Glossop

Signup to our newsletter

Sign up to stay informed from the cutting edge of sport, music and counterculture, with personal takes on the state of media and pop culture in your inbox every month from Emma Garland, former Digital Editor of Huck, exclusive interviews, recommendations and more.

Please wait...

Accessibility Settings

Text

Applies the Open Dyslexic font, designed to improve readability for individuals with dyslexia.

Applies a more readable font throughout the website, improving readability.

Underlines links throughout the website, making them easier to distinguish.

Adjusts the font size for improved readability.

Visuals

Reduces animations and disables autoplaying videos across the website, reducing distractions and improving focus.

Reduces the colour saturation throughout the website to create a more soothing visual experience.

Increases the contrast of elements on the website, making text and interface elements easier to distinguish.