Sheleagh Aldersmith

Sheleagh before the 1963 Monte

Sheleagh Aldersmith was a British driver and navigator in the 1960s. She competed in the Monte Carlo Rally many times between 1960 and 1970.

The first success she had at the wheel seems to have been a win in the Cowley & Wilson Trophy in 1957, a navigational event with driving tests and a quiz element organised by the Buckingham and District Motor Club. This had followed a second place in their "Spring Sprints" navigational rally. Her car is not recorded.

Some time between then and 1960, she started competing in stage rallies. A 1962 Worthing Herald news article from 1962 has her as "rally driving for the past two years".

Her first international event was in 1960. She teamed up with the multiple French champion, Claudine Trautmann (then Vanson) for the RAC Rally, driving a Citroen ID19. This was despite There was some confusion over whether they had actually started, but they made progress in Scotland until rolled, having stopped to help Claudine's future husband, Rene Trautmann. Sheleagh continued as a driver of the team's chase car. At the time, some said this was her second RAC Rally. 

As co-driver to Rosemary Seers in 1961, she entered an Triumph Herald in the Tulip Rally, held in the Netherlands. They were 73d overall, seventh in class, from 113 finishers.  Rosemary then switched to an MG Midget for the car-destroying Liege-Sofia-Liege Rally, which had eight finishers. The Seers/Aldersmith car was not among them. It had lost its exhaust system on the Resia Pass going into Italy, then gradually lost power until it expired at Sofia. The lack of an exhaust meant the the car's floor pan got very hot, particularly under the co-driver's feet. Both Sheleagh and Rosemary burnt through the soles of their shoes and had to jump out of the car at time controls. To add insult to injury, they received a speeding ticket in Yugoslavia.

They also drove an MG together on the 1961 RAC Rally and the 1962 Monte, although they did not finish either event. The Midget's gearbox broke on the RAC Rally.

In April, she came to the rescue of Irish driver Pat Barr, who found herself without a navigator for the Circuit of Ireland. Sheleagh answered an advert in the motoring press and cancelled another rally in England the help Pat out. They drove a Mini, but finished over the time limit and were not classified.

She did her first international rally as a driver in 1962, taking on the Tulip Rally, driving an Austin Seven wiht David Howick. She seemed equally happy working with male and female team-mates and was aiming for the mixed team award this time. On the way, she took her friend, Mrs Stromwall, as an additional, unofficial navigator; Mrs Stromwall wanted to visit her daughter in Bruges. Sheleagh was 88th overall.

Teaming up with Pat Barr again, but switching seats, she tackled the Tulip Rally again in 1963. This followed an ignominious exit from that year's Monte, when her road car broke down as she tried to get to the airport on her way to Ostend, the radiator bursting on co-driver Jean Aley's driveway. Later, she tried the Spa-Sofia-Liege event again, driving a Mini for the first time. She and co-driver Michael Nesbitt, a racing mechanic who owned the car, did not finish. The Mini's suspension, brakes and clutch were defeated by poor Yugoslavian roads near Titograd, now Podgorica in modern Montenegro.

Another Monte in 1964 began in Minsk, where she spent some time visiting local hospitals to compare conditions with the UK. She used the a Mini from the same garage as the one she shared with Michael Nesbitt, but had Elizabeth Jones as her co-driver this time. They got as far as the Alps without too much trouble, despite snow and bad Czech fuel, but the Mini was ailing and they went over the time limit trying to finish a special stage on an icy road.

Switching seats with Nesbitt again, she entered the Spa-Sofia-Liege again, but it continued to beat the, the car's radiator giving out this time. 

Another navigating job that year was helping Bill West on his first international rally, that year's RAC Rally. His Mini was a production model, as opposed to the Nerus-engined Hares Garage car Sheleagh was used to. They finished, in spite of changeable weather, including blizzards and fog in Scotland and northern England. The car's suspension had problems and the fan belt came off twice.

1965 was a quieter year. Sheleagh and Pat Walton had another go at the Tulip Rally in a Mini, but did not finish. This was a new car for her; she had elected not to enter the Monte to allow time for it to be prepared.

1966 was also relatively quiet. Sheleagh had been down to co-drive for a garage owner, John Barnes, but a bout of sciatica meant she had to drop out. It was also suggested that the Mini they were hoping to use had too many spotlights to be legal as well.

Another co-driving job came in in May, when she sat beside ED Jenkins for the Austrian Alpine Rally in a Mini. Their finishing position is unknown. 

The Mini was her chosen car in 1967 as well: she and Carolyn Tyler entered the Monte Carlo Rally, described as Sheleagh's sixth attempt. The car was hers, and she and Carolyn had tried it out on the Isle of Wight in October 1966, in a local rally. They won the Coupe des Dames. Unfortunately, they were non-finishers in the Monte itself.

She was set to drive in the RAC Rally with Susan Porch, until it was cancelled due to foot and mouth disease. Susan just wanted to get to the finish, in order to be eligible for the 1968 Monte. 

As a navigator, she entered two more rallies in 1967, in two separate Minis. She partnered Australian Lyndon McLeod for the Tulip Rally and Christopher Coburn for the Alpine Rally, although neither team finished.

Her partnership with Christopher Coburn continued for another two seasons, always with her in the navigator's seat. In 1968, they drove a Mini on the Monte, her seventh edition and his first. Their rally ended stuck in a bramble bush, going over the time limit in order to free themselves.

Their final event together was Sheleagh's last international rally. It was the 1969 Monte, driving a Vauxhall Viva. The alternator became faulty shortly after the start and they did not finish.

A hospital doctor and consultant in physical medicine, she was usually referred to as “Dr. S Aldersmith”, and has been described as "formidable". That said, she told the Worthing Herald in 1962 that her parents would not allow her to learn to drive, and she had to wait until she had qualified until she began "eight years ago". She had been practising medicine since at least 1954, when she worked in Nottingham. This was after she contracted polio in 1952, which must have necessitated time off work and sporting activity. She later lived in the south of England, at Rustington. She was sometimes a member of the circuit medical team at Goodwood, Silverstone and Brands Hatch, and the first woman to serve as a medical officer at the British Grand Prix.

As well as motorsport, she took an interest in flying and gliding and was one of the donors towards the 1954 World Championship Appeal Fund.

She died in 2002, aged 78. Her given name appears to have been "Sheila" on her birth certificate, but she used the spelling "Sheleagh" to refer to herself.

(Image copyright Worthing Herald)

Elizabeth Jones

Liz in 1964, in Minsk

Elizabeth Jones, born Rosemary Jones, in Newbridge, Wales, raced a Mini and other cars in international saloon races in the 1960s. She always raced under her own family name, and was often referred to as “Liz” in race reports.

She graduated from the Cooper Racing School in 1960, as one of its six most promising students. She was thirty years old, and was probably one of the oldest in the group. Using a car run by the School, she entered some Formula Junior races that year, and finished eighth in a race at Silverstone.

In 1961, she moved on to GT racing, in her own Austin-Healey 3000. She raced at Snetterton twice that year, and was second and fourth in class. In September, she took part in the Autosport 3 Hours, also held at Snetterton. Her finishing position has been lost, but she was racing against Porsches and Jaguar D-Types. According to Christabel Carlisle, a rival of the time, she took part in at least one Ladies’ Handicap race at Brands Hatch that year.

In 1962, she stuck with BMC-made cars, but exchanged the powerful and brutish Healey for the first of her series of Minis. She entered some rounds of the British Saloon Car Championship, starting at Silverstone. Her Mini was a Cooper model, prepared by the Downton Engineering team, an established tuning company. She was fourth in class at Silverstone, then twelfth overall at Aintree, in the British Grand Prix support race.

She was thirteenth overall, and second in class in the 1962 Brands Hatch 6 Hours in 1962, alongside Alan Mann and Tony Hegbourne in a Ford Anglia.  This was a double drive, as she also recorded a DNF in her own Mini, which she was sharing with rally driver, Pauline Mayman.

1963 started in a similar vein. She was fourth in class in her first BSCC race, also at Silverstone, also in a Mini. Her second appearance was at Crystal Palace, for the Small Car Trophy, and she was seventh overall. Unusually, four female drivers started this race, including Christabel Carlisle, whose career took her in most of the same directions as Liz. At Silverstone, for the Grand Prix support race, she joined up with Alexander Engineering, another preparation and tuning firm, driving one of their Mini Coopers. Unfortunately, the car developed mechanical trouble, and Liz had to retire. Her second outing in the Alexander Mini, at Brands Hatch, ended in a 16th place.

In the middle of the season, she took part in the Brands Hatch Six Hours, driving for Alexander Engineering, in the Mini. Her team-mate was the Finnish rally champion, Timo Mäkinen. They were 18th overall. Early on, Liz led her class, but bad weather and hard-charging other drivers dropped them to second, behind John Aley and Rauno Aaltonen.

Liz also accepted another one-off drive in the Tour de France, in a Mini, but a works BMC Mini this time. She was sharing the car with Pauline Mayman. Christabel Carlisle was slated to be part of the team, but did not compete in the event. The engine of the Mini did not last until the end.

 For 1964, her partnership with the Alexander Engineering team continued. In the BSCC, it was something of an underwhelming year, with some non-finishes. Once again, her best race was the Small Car Trophy at Crystal Palace. Liz was fifth, in a race completely dominated by Mini Coopers, like her own. Otherwise, her strongest finish was at Brands Hatch, in the Guards Trophy meeting. She was fourteenth overall. Throughout the season, a rivalry between her and Anita Taylor, who also drove a Mini, was stirred up a little by the press. It was true that Liz and Anita were sometimes competing directly for places, but other drivers, including Anita’s brother, Trevor Taylor, were often involved.

Alexander Engineering also provided a Mini for Liz for the Brands Hatch 6 Hours, which she shared with the American driver, Denise McCluggage. They retired, due to an accident. This was not a race for the Mini; several of them fell by the wayside, or underachieved, in this wet race.

In July, Liz seems to have accepted a drive with the British Vita team for the Spa 24 Hours. She shared a Mini Cooper with Harry Ratcliffe, but engine failure on lap seven put paid to any chance of success.

She was also a rally co-driver, who sat beside several different drivers in the RAC and Monte Carlo rallies. The cars were BMC models. She began in 1962, in major rallies anyway, sitting alongside Daphne Freeman in the RAC Rally. The car was a Mini. In 1964, in another Mini, she accompanied Sheleagh Aldersmith for the Monte Carlo Rally. Sheleagh, competing alongside the BMC works drivers in a private car, joined the team in starting from Minsk, in Belarus, which was then behind the Iron Curtain. They did not finish. After her circuit career ended, Liz continued in rallying, and took the wheel herself in the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally. Her co-driver in her Mini was Patricia Ozanne.

Her motorsport career seems to end here. Some time later, Liz moved to America, and became a well-known breeder of Mastiffs, under her married name of Degerdon. In 1989, she was charged with animal cruelty by the US authorities, and remains a controversial figure in the Mastiff breeding world.

She returned to the UK, where she continued to live until her death in 2010, at the age of 70.

(This post is heavily indebted to the research of Radnorian.)

(Image from http://minicoopers68.blogspot.co.uk/p/1964-rallye-monte-carlo.html)