A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CLUB:
The club has its roots in a slot racing club set up by the members of the social club at the Westland Helicopter Factory, Southall, Middlesex in the late sixties. This was at a time when slot racing was booming and the social club members built themselves a portable slot racing track, which they raced on once a week.
In 1971, Westlands decided to move from Southall and relocate in Yeovil. The slot racing section, not wanting to disband, looked for alternative premises. Several were tried, but eventually the club settled at the Cranleigh Youth Club in Southall. The arrangement here was the slot racers could use the club premises as long as they reserved the first hour of their race nights for members of the youth club.
The club flourished initially, getting several new members from the youth club, but as the seventies wore on, slot racing became less popular and numbers at the club decreased. The club struggled on until 1981 when its membership was down to a hard core of four. Drastic action was required to prevent the club from folding.
The remaining members decided to build a new track and find new premises. They all invested cash into the project, the track was built and the club moved to Windmill Hall, Ruislip under the new name of ARRA slot racing club. With the help of local advertising many new members were recruited. It was also at this time the club first raced commercial Scalextric cars in conjunction with the specialised slot cars that it had previously used.
The club remained at this venue until 1991 when a change was forced upon it and it moved to its current location at the scout hut, Sweetcroft Lane, Hillingdon. Popularity again began to wane. However, in 1996 the club took the opportunity to buy a Scalextric track from another local club. The track was refurbished, greatly improved, a computerised race system purchased and the name of the club changed to West London Scalextric Club.
For the first time in its history, the club had moved away from “slot cars” and was solely a “Scalextric” club. This has all proved to be the best move the club has ever made; membership has risen considerably and the club has for three years hosted the British Round of the European GT Scalextric Championship.
The final link to Westland Helicopters was lost when founder member and chairman Adrian Jacob died in 1998. I myself having being a member of the club since 1972 took over as chairman and hope to lead the club to further success in the 21st century.
Russell Turner, Club Chairman