Celebrating 100 years of tethered hydroplane racing

H. H. Groves, the legacy

Having started serious research into the life of H.H. Groves we followed up every piece of information and lead that related to him or any items of his that might have survived. From the GRO we established that Irene had died in 1990 and Kenneth in 1996 and we knew that Herbert junior had made himself known to avid aviation historian Mike Beach, during an exhibition at the Brooklands Museum in Weybridge. We tried to contact him via the 2mm Association, only to discover that he too had sadly passed away in March 2008. This left us with the basis of a story from what could be gleaned from various magazines, but then occurred the most amazing stroke of luck imaginable. Groves’ youngest son John, of whom we were totally unaware, made contact with the MPBA historian Peter Hill and set in motion, not only this article, but complete updates of the story of Fred Westmoreland and ‘Evil Spirit’. In the 6 months since the original contact it has been possible to establish that many of the items built by Herbert Groves are still in existence, which all added to the general excitement.

The first artefact to be identified was the original twin cylinder flash steam from Groves’ 1912 monoplane already referred to. This turned up at a swap meet some years ago and its discovery was reported in an issue of Model Engine World. Amongst the archives were several photos of the plane and of the actual motor installation.

Photo's of the engine and comparison with Groves' original drawing by courtesy of Ken Croft.

The story of the 24" miniature hydroplane developed into a 96 year ‘saga’. Built in 1911/12 and then passed to Mr Jones in 1938 it was reported in the October 1951 issue of Model Ships and Powerboats, that it had been rediscovered in a Liverpool junkshop around 1947. In the early 60s, a copy of this magazine was given to Peter Hill who wondered what had become of the boat since then?

About 1990 Howard Jackson turned up at one of the Birkenhead hydroplane regattas with a very early flash steam hydroplane that had belonged to a friend of his and lain in his workshop for many years. Jimmy Jones thought that it might be significant and referred Mr Jackson to Peter Hill who instantly identify it as the Groves Miniature boat, that he had seen all those years ago in the magazine. Peter arranged to collect it from Birkenhead and it was eventually placed in the Pitsea Museum and described in Model Boats for April 1993. Following the redevelopment at the museum, the boat was retrieved so that John Groves could see it for the first time in 70 years. The Westmoreland archives also produced the only contemporary photo of Herbert Groves with the boat, as well as a series of views of the engine. The engine has been refurbished and runs at some 6000 rpm on 25 psi air pressure, but the steam generator and blowlamp are in too dangerous condition to risk using.

Model Boats for May 96 included two photographs of a boat labelled ‘Irene III’ record-breaking hydroplane by H.H. Groves. In fact it was the second of the metal hulled boats passed on by Westbury in 1938, referred to as ‘Irene IV’, but actually the 1920 ‘Berti’. It had been passed to the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers at some stage, and remains in their safekeeping.

Motor that powered  Irene II, III and IV . 24.25mph Irene IV.	Now identified as 'Berti' last run in 1922.

Of the later aeroplanes that Groves built, the family have retained one of the original versions with the engine gearbox unit, along with another IC powered model, both still in the fitted wooden carrying case.
This is not quite the end of the story of Groves' aeroplanes as there has been a great deal of discussion and conjecture about the origins of an almost identical airframe that surfaced some ten years ago and has since been completely renovated.

The 2½" gauge Fayette locomotive had remained with Bert Groves until his death and its whereabouts is still known, but the larger ‘Pioneer’ had effectively vanished until John Groves’ nephew did some detective work worthy of Hercule Poirot. Of the Lutz family we could find no trace whatsoever, but as it transpired; this was because they, like so many others with Germanic sounding names, had changed their name. Peter Groves was aware of the name change however, and with this information was able to trace George Lutz and Edna Westmoreland’s son Ken who was living in Essex. Amazingly Ken still had ‘Pioneer’ plus the original track from the garden in Kingsbury and the trucks that everyone used to ride on. In addition he had the complete Westmoreland archive as well as a great deal of material from his own family that he was happy to share.

The 'Rydes Vale Quarry Line'  was recently written up in Model Railway Journal #185 as a tribute to Bert Groves. The family was able to  confirm, that not only did the layout and the locos still exist, but that it was hoped to restore it for display at the 2010 Model railway exhibtion.

George Noble broke Evil Spirit’s record in 1922 so ending the Groves influence on tethered hydroplanes, yet Herbert Harry Groves has left a very rich legacy that covers so many aspects of modelling and innovation from the earliest pioneering days, to devices that we still take for granted.

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Many thanks go to Peter Hill, Ken Croft, Ken Lawton, Janet & Peter Groves, and especially John Groves for making this article possible. To Norman Billingham and Mike Crisp of the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers for providing photographs of 'Berti'. Special thanks  to Nigel Hancock for his research and information on the Irene series.

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