The first club hillclimb on the Rushforth Road hill was held on 22 April 1956. Timing equipment had been built so it was no longer necessary to have the finish line in sight of the start. This enabled the original course to be lengthened to include two curves and extend the climb well beyond the sight of the start line. The length of the course was recorded as 0.63 miles which is 1014 metres. The clock for the timing system was a 2 second sweep stopwatch enabling timing to one hundredth of a second and traffic lights were positioned to control the start. Twenty four members entered for this closed event and the Daily Examiner reported 350 spectators enjoyed the event. Fastest time of the day went to Kethel Rooke driving his EKR Ford. The time of 43.9 seconds established the first record for the Rushforth Hill. The trophy for the outright winner was donated by George Weiley and points were awarded to the placegetters in the 5 classes forming part of the Annual Point Score Trophy donated by Dr Hugh Harris.

The second Club hillclimb, held on Sunday 29 October 1956, formed an official part of the Jacaranda Festival program. The Daily Examiner reported a crowd of 600 spectators. The Jacaranda Queen, Narelle Drinkwater, was driven over the course at competition speed by Kethel Rooke, driving his EKR Special. The Matron of Honour and the Jacaranda Princesses were also treated to the same experience in other competitor’s cars. Tom Cronin was the most spectacular driver of the day with his very fast but well controlled slide around the final bend. His exploits in his Holden earned him the title of “Leadfoot”. The day proved to be expensive for me driving my MG TF. An excess of exuberance led me to exceed peak engine revs resulting in a dropped valve which destroyed the piston. Fastest time of the day of 44.7 seconds was again recorded by Kethel Rooke.

The first open hillclimb was held on 27 October 1957. This event, on the first Sunday of the Jacaranda Festival, was again included in the Official Jacaranda Festival program. The Club had been granted full affiliation with the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport after serving a one year probation period so was able to accept entries from other clubs for the first time. This event marked the first appearance of the 69 year old Sydney driver, Ted Ansell, driving his much admired Fiat Abarth. Noted Brisbane driver, Max Volkers, (Holden) and Club member Noel Hall in his Vincent powered Ralt were also appearing for the first time. A total of 25 entries were received. The Daily Examiner reported a crowd of 2500 attended the event. Fastest time of the day went to Kethel Rooke driving his EKR Ford breaking his previous record set in April 1956 with a time of 43.1 seconds. Noel Hall driving a newly acquired car recorded a time of 43.4 seconds. Club member Tom Cronin in a Holden recorded the third fastest time with 46.1 seconds to beat the experienced Brisbane Holden driver Max Volkers in the Sedan Car Class.

The Rushforth Hillclimb was a narrow gravel surfaced road with the typical pronounced camber of rural road. It was a very challenging course and experienced competitors who had previously competed only on bitumen surfaces had difficulty adjusting their driving technique to record times equal to less experienced drivers who had competed on the Rushforth Hill at the previous closed events.

An open hillclimb was again held as part of the Jacaranda Festival on 2 November 1958. The Daily Examiner reported a crown of several thousand. The Club had prepared the road surface prior to the event at weekend working bees and a water truck was available to water the course at the end of each complete run. The improved track conditions resulted in very fast times and records were broken in every class. Once class record was lowered by 11 seconds; Des West from Wingham lowered the Sedan Class over 1600cc record to 42 seconds. Kethel Rooke was again prominent in the results with a new Sports Car record of 39.1 seconds. Fastest time of the day and a new outright record went to Noel Hall driving the Ralt with a time of 34.9 seconds. These times are remarkably fast for the 1014 metre gravel surfaced hill with a steep initial section and two sweeping bends to the finish.

The final event on Rushforth Hillclimb course as held on 8 November 1959. This event was titled the North Coast Hillclimb Championships and was again a part of the Jacaranda Festival program. The reason for the abandonment of this now legendary hillclimb is not recorded. The probable explanation is approval for the use of this section of public road was no longer available although the Club continued to use other public roads for quarter mile sprint events until 1963.

Spectator safety was a major concern as crowds of up to 3000 lined each side of the course with no barrier separating spectators from competing vehicles. Spectator behaviour was exceptionally good and directions given by Club marshals were followed in good spirit. Marshals were distinctly dressed in white overalls with the Club title across the back in red lettering. Spectators stood as close as 4 to 5 metres from a competing car and were crowded 3 to 4 deep. Cars were reported at speeds exceeding 80 mph (130 kph) on he final section of the climb. It was testimony to the driving skills of the competitors on the gravel surface that the many events on this hill were concluded without any major incident.

Twenty three entries for this event competed in 3 sedan classes, 2 sports car classes and a racing car class. The absence of Kethel Rooke driving his EKR Ford cast a shadow over the results. Kethel became ill while competing in a hillclimb at Kempsey and died later that day in Kempsey Hospital. The Club had lost a stalwart and motor sport a great competitor. Fastest time of the day was set by John Hough driving the Ralt recently acquired by Noel Hall. The time was 36.08 seconds. Brisbane driver John French in a Repco Holden lowered the Sedan Car over 1500cc class record by more than 5 seconds. French’s record time was 37.88 seconds. The previous class record, held by Des West, was 42.0 seconds. Ted Ansell at the age of 71 again was a competitor, this time in a NSU Prinz. The Jacaranda Queen, Barbara Burgess and the Official Party attended the event. The final Rushforth Hillclimb was described by the Daily Examiner as the Club’s most successful event..

The Rushforth hill is a sad sight today. The section of the road from the turn off from the main road to beyond the start line has vanished. In its place is now a deep gully several hundred metres in width caused by major erosion. The remaining road surface is in a neglected state and the fence once used for the timing system connection and spectator boundary has been removed. It is hard to imagine that crowds of several thousand people once watched in awe as the intrepid competitors, driving on the limits of control on the heavily cambered and uneven gravel surface, roared up the hill leaving a cloud of red dust at speeds exceeding 130 pkh. Competitors and spectators were not deterred by the lack of facilities as none of any sort was available. The events were held during a Sunday afternoon and consisted of three timed runs for up to 25 competitors so were usually concluded within2 to 3 hours. The Club sold programs for one shilling to support the event.