Barrie McBride

I have never been a racer I am just an enthusiast who takes delight in trying to capture motor vehicles of all shapes and sizes. Born in Palmerston North, my father had worked with motorcycles prior to marrying my mum. He had, I understand, a wonderful job with motorcycle retailers Midland Motors where he worked on speedway motorcycles as well as road going bikes. He tells of having worked on a speedway bike for Dan Higgins patriarch of the Higgins Contracting empire and wheeling that bike from the workshop to the track. He gave up attending speedway when two riders, including his good friend Howard Tolley, died after an accident at Palmerston North speedway.
The first motor racing event I attended was at Levin. My uncle and aunt were going and asked me whether I would like to go. Memories of those first few meetings are hazy and I have no photographs to show for back then. However I do remember Reg McCutcheon and his Normac Special also a black Alfa Romeo single seater which seemed to be driven by a number of different drivers.
Photography began with a Box Brownie. I progressed from that to a Voigtlander 35 mm and then to Praktika with a 105 mm lens. Pictures, then, were restricted by how many rolls of film I could afford. There was also no guarantee that the picture taken was any good. How wonderful it would have been to have had digital back then.
Living, as we do now, in the Hutt Valley my viewing as been either the Targa when it has passed through the region or the Classic event at Manfeild in November - the Whittakers event.