On a Panther through Africa

10 March 2025

90 years on - The remarkable story of two women motorcyclists in Africa

To celebrate Women's History Month this March we present a series of articles on women and motoring. In this feature we explore the story of motorcycling pioneers Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron.

Nestled among gleaming racing machinery and superbikes in the National Motor Museum’s motorcycle gallery are two small, somewhat battered, motorcycles. One is a 1965 175cc BSA Bantam, the other a 2013 Honda CRF250L.Both tell remarkable stories of adventure, and both were ridden by remarkable women.

Mary Seivier rode the little BSA round the World between 1967 and 1976, in the process becoming, we believe, the first British woman to circumnavigate the globe on a motorcycle. The somewhat larger Honda (affectionately named ‘Rhonda the Honda’) covered 74,000 miles on a four-year circumnavigation by Steph Jeavons from 2014 to 2018, becoming in the process the first British woman to motorcycle on all seven continents. These riders were, however, far from being the first British women to undertake overland adventures by motorcycle.

Elsewhere on this website we have marked the achievements of Miss E Watson and Miss Gwendolyn Adams early in the twentieth century Another remarkable adventure was undertaken ninety years ago this year by Theresa Wallach and Florence Blenkiron.

Wallach was an engineering graduate, Blenkiron a secretary; both were accomplished racing motorcyclists. In April 1934 Florence Blenkiron became the first woman to lap Brooklands at over 100mph on a motorcycle, receiving one of the coveted British Motor Cycle racing Club’s (BMCRC) Gold Star awards, an achievement that Theresa Wallach would emulate five years later. Both were members of the International Motorcyclists Touring Club, and both yearned for a big adventure. They set their sights upon Africa. Florence, or ‘Blenk’ as she was known, had family in South Africa and thought that riding to visit them might be a way to fulfil their wanderlust. Many doubted they would succeed.

They chose a 600cc Panther Redwing with a Watsonian sidecar for the journey, although both manufacturers took some persuading to support the expedition. Many ‘experts’ thought the journey impossible, believing they couldn’t cross the Sahara on an air-cooled motorcycle. The combination was named ‘The Venture’ and a small Watsonian trailer, upon which a tent could be erected, was towed behind.

The duo departed London on 11th December 1934, waived off by Lady Astor and the High Commissioner for Southern Rhodesia. An uneventful trip through France to Marseilles and a rough sea crossing saw them in Algiers, where they started the process of seeking official clearance from the local French colonial authorities.

Their journey across the Sahara started on 26th December. The 1800-mile crossing took a month, following rough desert tracks as the combination crawled through the rutted, rocky surface, which Blenk described as “being like an enormous, ploughed field”. They dealt with many punctures and various breakdowns, the first just 300 hundred miles into the desert when Theresa spent five hours repairing a broken sidecar mounting bracket. The sand and dust prove too much for the engine, which eventually seized and the last few miles out of the desert were achieved with a tow from local tribesmen. A six-week delay ensued as they waited for replacement con-rod and bearings to arrive from England.

Wallach And Blenkiron (Wikimedia Commons)

By March they were in Nigeria, the first people to have ever reached the country via the Sahara on a motorcycle. The onward journey to East Africa was again punctuated by breakdowns. The front wheel collapsed near Lake Chad, and it took five days to find a local repair shop that could rebuild it. The repair was only partly successful, the rebuilt wheel was out of true which rendered the front brake ineffective.

The grasslands of East Africa proved nearly as difficult to cross as the desert, with tiny seeds clogging the engine which required a further rebuild on a tea plantation in Uganda. Fortunately, the roads improved for the last 3,000 miles or so and rapid progress was made to Victoria Falls and on into South Africa. They reached Cape Town on 29th July 1935.

The intrepid motorcyclists planned to return to London overland via the same route. However, Theresa developed a fever, and was advised to return to the UK by sea. Therefore, Blenk undertook the journey home solo, using a second Panther/Watsonian outfit, named ‘The Venture II’, but this time unencumbered by a trailer. She reached the Sahara but decided not to attempt the desert crossing on her own, transporting the combination on a desert bus instead. Blenk reached London on 9^th April 1936.

After their return to Britain there were no fanfares for their remarkable achievement, no fame for being the first to cross the Sahara on a motorcycle outfit. Florence Blenkiron served in North Africa and the Middle East during World War two, variously driving ambulances and trucks. She worked for the YMCA in India after the war, and it was there she met her husband, Kenneth Kingaby. After returning to the UK, they eventually took up farming.

Theresa Wallach returned to motorcycle racing. She spent seven years in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps, later the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as a driver, then as a despatch and escort rider. A qualified engineer she later worked in military transport workshops. Theresa moved to the USA in 1947 and, after various adventures, ended up in business as a motorcycle dealer, specialising in imported brands. She also set up a motorcycle training school and was one of the founding members of the Women’s International Motorcycle Association (WIMA) . In later years she wrote about the African adventure in the book The Rugged Road, a recommended read for anyone who would like to know more about this truly remarkable adventure.