Geograph - photograph every grid square

Melbourne hairpin, Donington circuit, 1970

Once upon a time, in the 1930s, the Mercedes and Auto Union cars dominated Grand Prix races, leaping airborne on this narrow and steeply cambered humped straight at almost 200 mph, and heading down to the Melbourne Hairpin, named after the nearest village. That circuit was closed by the second world war, when Rolls Royce built an aero engine plant there.

The photo shows the state as it was in 1970, after 30 years of no use. Although the circuit was refurbished and put back into use a few years later, a new Melbourne Hairpin was built with much less straight each side, and the old one survives far out from the modern circuit.

Sorry about the odd colours - this was scanned from a very old half frame slide.