The legendary Rope Works Circuit

history of HARLEY SCRAMBLE - chapter 2: THE legendary ROPE WORKS CIRCUIT IN MOSMAN PARK, WA

Photos: [Left] Photographer Jack Lorimer’s breathtaking color panoramas from the peak of Monument Hill Park in 1952; [Top right] Kalgoorlie legend Bill Watson in the 1951 Harley Scramble; and [Bottom right] crowds could get close to the action and view most of the circuit from single vantage points.

A natural circuit with spectacular climbs and descents with brilliant vantage points

Tucked between Cottesloe and Leighton beaches and the Swan River, the circuit became a legendary battleground for Australian motocross.

The Rope Works circuit was situated in a natural valley of open grass and sandy terrain, close to Cottesloe Beach, with a high sandstone ridge running along one side. The track wound back and forth across the flats to up and down the steep cliffs (called slides) providing spectacular climbs and descents to a series of short straights along the opposite side of the valley that included a quarry section to add more variety to the circuit.

According to The West Australian newspaper, “the course included 75 different bends, 25 hairpin turns, eight slides, seven sharp ascents and about 200 smaller bends. For the greater part, the track is only about a foot wide.”

The original start line was located half-way along the main road from Perth to Fremantle. Sections of the track were named, including Melrose Slide (after co-founder Aubrey Melrose) and Casey Cutting (after Glen Casey, who mapped out the circuit with Aub).

The track was so punishing on machinery that that competitors took to locating spare wheels and chains around the track for a better chance to finish.

In the early years of the event, rope gangs were placed at the top of the highest hills, armed with ropes and grappling hooks, to haul stricken riders to the top if they lost momentum on the climbs and to avert blocking the riders behind them. This was not necessary in the post-war years as the machines became more powerful, speeds increased and the race became a full-on speed event.

In 1932, the course was adjusted and a clearing made of over 300 meters to allow for more spectators and more vantage spots. Within a decade of its inception, the Harley Scramble had evolved into probably Australia’s first natural terrain motocross track.

Due to the nature and length of the course (approximately 100 kms, with a lap distance of 4.2kms taking about six minutes during the post-war era) riders had to be very fit and their machines well prepared . With the course particularly hard on suspension, gear boxes and clutches, the rate of retirement was always high, so finishing the race was a major achievement.

Interstate riders contesting the Harley Scramble in the 1950s and 1960s hailed the circuit as the best in Australia at the time.

Photos: [Top] Helpers with ropes assisting a rider up a steep incline on a sandy hill climb at the Rope Works in 1939; [Centre] Riders prepare for the start of the 1963 Harley Scramble. The start line was located on the Fremantle side close to the Rope factory; and [Right] Victorian Les Sheehan, who just returned from racing in Europe, in action at the 1955 Australian Motocross Championships. The Eastern “staters” hailed the circuit as “the best in the land” at the time.

Rope Works circuit prior to World War II

Image – A map of the Rope Work circuit in the 1940s.

Prior to World War II, the Rope Works circuit at Buckland Hill in Mosman Park looped around Monument Hill and was close to the Dairy, Rope Works factory and Perth to Fremantle Road, where the original start-finish line was located.

With quarrying expanding and housing developments gradually taking over, the track continued to shift. Then during World War II, Buckland Hill was taken over by the military where they built underground tunnels, cannons, and fortifications.

This forced the removal of sections west of Monument Hill after the war when racing resumed.