New home for Hizzy
Friday, July 4 2008
The Steve Hislop commemorative exhibition, which celebrates the life and achievements of the late Borders motorcycle champion, has found a new home at Hawick Museum in Wilton Lodge Park.
The popular ‘Hizzy’ exhibition is now being housed alongside a display in the museum dedicated to the town’s other racing hero – Jimmie Guthrie, the 1930s motorcycle ace.
The original ‘Hizzy Room’ opened in Drumlanrig’s Tower in Hawick in March 2004 and proved to be a very popular attraction among locals and visitors. Earlier this year, the opportunity arose to create a new exhibition at Hawick Museum alongside Jimmie Guthrie’s exhibition.
Scottish Borders Council’s Curator of Hawick Museum, Shona Sinclair explained: “With agreement from Steve’s family and friends, the decision was made to create a new Hizzy Room in Hawick Museum. We already have a display dedicated to Jimmie Guthrie so it seemed fitting to unite the remarkable stories of two of the greatest motorcycle riders of their generations under one roof.”
In the new display there are hundreds of items on show including Steve’s collection of trophies and prizes, race memorabilia and racing kit.
Although much of the material comes from the original exhibition, there are some impressive new features including a series of photographs showing Steve’s ‘greatest crash’ and his last racing motorcycle - the ‘R1 Virgin Yamaha’ which was specially made for Steve when he rode for the Virgin Yamaha Race team in what was to be the final stage of his career in 2003.
Executive Member for Sport, Culture and Community Education, Councillor Graham Garvie, is confident that locating the exhibition at Hawick museum is one that will attract many visitors: “As well as the two exhibitions now under one roof, there are also the marvellous memorial statues of both men situated close by in Wilton Lodge Park. This is something new and exciting for fans of motorcycle racing and is another great visitor attraction for Hawick. I do hope many locals and visitors to the region will take the opportunity to visit such a fantastic exhibition.”
The new display is now open to visitors although the official launch has been planned for Sunday 7 September to coincide with this year’s annual Steve Hislop Memorial Run. The memorial run is a spectacular event, launched five years ago, which attracts between 500 and 1000 motorcycle riders to the town.
The museum is open from April-September, Mon-Fri 10-12 & 1-5, Sat & Sun 2-5 and October-March Mon-Fri 12-3, Sun 1-3.
Admission is free.
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