Re-Birth of BMX in East Kent
Report: Alan Humphrey
Pictures from Stevehaleimages.com except one from Tony 'Ratty' Waye
BMX racing in Herne Bay was in its heyday in the '80s when the old track there ran races regularly under the banner of the "Herne Bay Flyers" in Region 11. The old track fell into decline as the sport's popularity waned and it seemed likely nothing more would happen in the area. When the Youth Club at Hersden, just a few miles inland, had Steve Jenks build a four-man track in their grounds about five years ago the interest was rekindled. Lots of Old School riders started crawling out the woodwork and dusted of their old steeds to race in a local series there. And with them came their children and so the sport started to gain momentum in the area again. 
The little track at Hersden was fun but others wanted more and the thoughts of Russ Parsons and Steve Bodey were on bigger and better things. The local Herne and Broomfield Parish Council had a piece of wasteland previously used as a land-fill site and latterly occupied by travellers. They realised that if they regenerated the area they could get grants to offset the costs. But what could they build on such a piece of land?? Consultation with local residents (that'll be Russ and Steve, Olly Small and Roy Binks) revealed a desire for somewhere to ride BMXs and so was born the idea of a track to be coupled with the rest of the area being landscaped as a dog-walking area. Phil "Hudu" Charnley was selected as the right man for the job and he drafted a track design almost four years ago as he sat round a table with the local Councillors and outlined his proposals. They liked them and so the story began.
Nothing is ever easy in this life and the discovery of near-extinct slowworms caused a delay of almost a year whilst they were excavated and relocated. The track was to be the last part of the works being undertaken by landscapers as it was closest to the access road. Tons of earth were brought in to create a mound into which the track would be built. This raised the earth level to a height such that the sea can be seen in one direction and a local windmill in the other; an idyllic location in a picturesque part of the 'Garden of England' county of Kent.
Amidst great secrecy, to keep the BMX fraternity unaware of developments, Phil Charnley came down from his Sheffield home and took up residence nearby in a caravan for five weeks. Working closely with the landscapers and the local East Kent guys the track started to take shape. It very quickly progressed such that in November 2007 it could be ridden, albeit the surrounding area was still a building site. When news first broke that the track was rideable the fraternity started turning up in their droves. Without exception the feedback was very positive.
Hudu had created a masterpiece; challenging, different and great fun to ride. "Some really good lines, good jumps, awesome lips. Something for everyone!" said Dan Clifford. The Parish Council funded the purchase of a start gate built by Jim Lacey but the club still had to find money to buy an air-ram mechanism, compressor and generator plus all the other items required for track maintenance. The National Lottery's Awards for All came to the Club's rescue with a generous award plus local pharmaceutical company Pfizer Ltd., best known for Viagra, helped out with some much needed cash.
On May 4th 2008 the Parish Council officially opened the area with unprecedented local interest, possibly aided by the appearance of local BBC weathergirl Kaddy Lee Preston who agreed to 'cut the ribbon' and ride the track. More than three hundred people flocked to the track in Ford Road, Broomfield to see the opening and hordes of locals took part in some impromptu races. And to help the publicity further Kaddy had a picture of the event as a backdrop to her broadcast the following week. Herne Bay, or to be politically correct, Herne & Broomfield BMX, track had arrived!!
Just a week later the fledgling East Kent BMX Club held their first race meeting, Round 3 of the SOUTH Summer Series - a real baptism of fire for such a new track.
And so the 11th May arrived, the first full Regional race meeting was about to take place. The weather was great and the riders from all over the Region turned up to bring the rider count to a staggering 184 which was even more surprising as the fixture clashed with the neighbouring East Anglia Region's inter-regional at Mansfield. The track had been well prepared beforehand and trackbuilder Phil Charnley was on hand to see how his 'baby' worked under race conditions. And worked it did!! With some superb fast, close, action-packed racing taking place all afternoon. 
Local lad Dan Pullen is just 12 years old and sponsored by Tibbs Cycles of Canterbury but ran against much older riders in 16 Expert and won the group over all with two fine wins. In 19+ it was Richard Cawood who looked set for the A Final win after a trio of moto wins but he hadn't reckoned on Wayne Richardson storming to victory. The Masters class saw a battle all day between Jason Lewis, Martin Parker and Russ Parsons with some interesting manoeuvres taking place in the berms but it was Parsons who romped home the A Final winner after leaving carnage in his wake in the second berm. 40+ Cruiser was arguably the most exciting class all day with 14 riders battling for moto results to get them through to the A Final. Mike 'Dialled Bikes' Wong didn't make the main final but was handed a surprising B Final win as riders fell before him. Jon Moore, Keith Wilson and Tony Slater battled it out for the main final with Moore showing his supremacy.
The feedback from this inaugural meeting has been nothing but positive and bodes well for later in the year when East Kent BMX Club hosts the Southern Championships on 28th September and as it's currently a solus date there should be lots of out-of-region riders in attendance.