The caption on this old postcard reads: "The celebrated Motor Track, Madeira Road".
The road we know as Madeira Drive was once a carriage road, which ran from the present roundabout to Brighton's first pier, the Chain Pier, which came ashore just where today's colonnade of shops is.
In the early 1870s a new seawall was built along the foot of the cliff and the road which ran along the top of it was known as Madeira Road.
In 1905 Harry Preston, owner of the Royal York Hotel in the Old Steine, and who was both a motoring and flying enthusiast, proposed to the local council that Madeira Road be resurfaced with tarmac, and be the venue for a Motor Race Week. The event was a great success and the top speed achieved was a very impressive 97 mph!
The National Speed Trials have continued ever since, and today is a one-day event in September.
The name change to Madeira Drive seems to have come about after the First World War.
