The highs and lows of Pendine Sands: Ten things you might not know

  • Wales

It's ninety years to the day since a new land speed record of 146mph was set by Sir Malcolm Campbell on Pendine Sands near Carmarthen Bay.

The anniversary is being marked with a slower run of the original car along the original route, driven by the original record holder's own grandson, Don Wales.

The Pendine sands beach stretches for seven miles and has long served as a venue for car and motorcycle races.

Amy Johnson and her husband, Jim Mollison, pose with both sets of parents before the couple attempt to fly non-stop from Pendine Sands, to the US. Credit: PA

It may seem peaceful, but the beach has seen lots of activity over the last century. Here are ten things you might not know about Pendine Sands:

  • Sir Malcolm Campbell was the first person to use Pendine Sands for a world land speed record attempt and set a world record of 146.16 mph on September 25, 1924.

  • Campell then broke that record in 1927, surpassing the150mph barrier.

  • Welsh engineer J.G Parry Thomas was the first driver to die during a land speed record attempt on the sands on March 3, 1927.

  • Parry-Thomas's car was buried in sand dunes near the village of Pendine after the accident. It was excavated in1969 and restored. The car is now on display at the Museum of Speed in Pendine Village.

  • In 1933 aviator Amy Johnson and her husband took off from Pendine Sands to try to fly non-stop to New York but crash landed in Connecticut.

  • Geographically, the sands lie in a fault zone and in 1983 a 5 magnitude earthquake caused some disturbance in the area.

  • In June 2000 Sir Malcolm Campbell's grandson Don Wales set the UK electric land speed record at the sands with a speed of 137 mph.

  • In September 2013 motorbike racer Guy Martin broke the UK speed record for a bike ridden in the slipstream of another vehicle. He hit a top speed of 112.9 mph.

  • On May, 7 2015 British actor Idris Elba broke the historic 'Flying Mile' record set 90 years earlier by Sir Malcolm Campbell.

  • The Ministry of Defence acquired Pendine Sands during the Second World War and used it as a firing range. The beach is still owned by the MOD and is partly closed off during the week for operations.