Something new in Ballyrobert
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Something new in Ballyrobert by Robert Ashby as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Something new in Ballyrobert
Image: © Robert Ashby Taken: 23 Nov 2014
Recently installed point of interest at Ballyrobert crossroads. This commemorates the first international road race to be held in Britain immediately after the end of world war 2. It was won by Prince Birabongse of Siam, now Thailand, known generally in the motor-racing world as 'Bira', driving an ERA, and by a narrow margin after a hard fought battle with British driver Reg Parnell in a Maserati. Not sure if the vehicle on display represents the winning car or is just a generic representation of the type of cars raced back in the days when men were men and racing cars were built like small lorries. There's no mention of it in the information panel close by. Ballyrobert's most famous son was one William Miller, born 1931, who went on to become screen actor Stephen Boyd, winning a Golden Globe for his performance in Ben Hur and appearing in many notable films during his career. He died of a heart attack in 1971 and is buried in California. There's more than meets the eye to the unpreposessing little village of Ballyrobert.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
54.717344
Longitude
-6.004044