Caerphilly motorcycling legend Malcolm Uphill to be remembered with plaque

Campaigners have raised more than £2,000 for a plaque to honour legendary motorcyclist Malcolm Uphill.

The Malcolm Uphill Commemorative Committee has taken delivery of the plaque, which will take pride of place at the Railway Station Square, Caerphilly town – opposite the pub named after the local biker.

Uphill, who was raised in Trecenydd, was the first man to average over 100 mph for a lap of the Isle of Man TT on a production motorcycle with a Triumph Bonneville 750cc in 1969.

He passed away in 1999, aged 64 from asbestosis.

In 2010 a group of motorcyclists bemoaned the lack of a suitable tribute for the man and decided something needed to be done.

At that time there was only a single commemorative brick on the Tommy Cooper Walk of Fame and it was felt that Malcolm deserved a more prominent memorial.

A committee of six people was set up chaired by town councillor Ed Talbot, himself a keen biker.

A meeting decided that donations would be invited but his would only cover part of the cost of well over £2,000.

To raise funds a local company, Reinspire of Taffs Well, was engaged to print T-shirts.

The design for the shirts was adapted from that of the proposed plaque by Lee Jones of Broomfield St, Caerphilly.

The shirts were sold at bike meetings, jumble sales and anywhere else that the committee could find an outlet.

By the autumn of 2011 there were sufficient funds to pay for the manufacture of the plaque.

The committee was also instrumental in the naming of the JD Wetherspoon pub after the biker.

Richard Williams, Treasurer of the Malcolm Uphill Committee, said: “We give our thanks and appreciation to donors great and small, especially The Caerphilly Motorcycle and Light Car Club, Llanbradach and Bedwas and Trethomas Community Councils.

“We also thank the hundreds of people who bought T-shirts and helped make this a successful project. We are still awaiting a date for installation of the plaque and hope to mark the occasion with a mass ‘ride out’ of motorcycles this summer.”