"Many happy weekends as a kid riding around the Sheffield junior track. Great memories and started my love of speedway in the late 70s and early 80s. Many thanks to the Glover family - Ray, Carl, and Leon - for making us so welcome and for the great days"
"Another piece of info regarding the gent who attended the gates at West Ham....... There is a video similar to the one about the closure of West Ham Speedway and in the video there is footage of the gatekeeper seeing a van out of the premises from I think 1960. It is in colour too. Also in the video is the greyhound starter and chief track an Tommy Lyons...... Such a traditional place"
"An excellent and informative article from John Hyam regarding the Tebby family. Indeed, even people of my advanced years (almost 63) would be hard pushed to name another Tebby other than Jim. Never a star, but always a trier, and a loyal servant to the Dons. Shame that "Sid" couldn't find a place for him in 1973. Jim Tebby's passing at a relatively early age was another sad event in speedway history."
"What an unsung hero Jim was for the Dons, really enjoyed his team riding and invaluable points scored, often unexpectedly. Very approachable jolly man and highly underestimated. Thanks for the memories Jim RIP."
"In my opinion he was the finest ever to wear the Hunters Bib. Even after he retired he would walk the Terraces at Blackbird Road and chat with the Supporters!"
"Great to see the pictures of my place of work in the late 70s. The stadium boss then was Mrs Bullock who we referred to as Mrs B, lovely lady. I worked on both tracks, and my work colleagues were George Fowkes, Rich Lee and Craig Peberty. I'm back home in Wiltshire now but have very fond memories not only of the stadium, but of Leicester in general.Ffine people, friendly & welcoming, very sad to learn of its demise, but a place and people I'll never forget."
Only a week to go until this year's meet up in Berkshire. Here's all the info you need if you're thinking of going along.
Well done to our old friend Robert Rogers for getting speedway a very generous mention in this week's Newham Recorder. Here are some scans from the paper, if you click on the images you can see them in a larger size.
"I am currently making a replica of West Ham Stadium main stand. I love reading about the stadium and I think it is without doubt the best ever built purely for oval sports!
I have a wealth of knowledge on the whole stadium. The photograph in the postcard with 'West Ham Stadium' written on the roof is an old example of photo editing / airbrushing. This photo was taken of the England v Australia test match in 1947. For some reason they edited the photo, removed one of the tracks, put writing on the roof and superimposed more people outside in the car park! Why this was done is unknown but I have the exact same original photo.
Another interesting fact is that the well known photo of first bend action involving riders from England and Australia was taken the exact same day. I am currently obtaining as much info and photos as I possibly can to help me finish model. I will then display it at various events etc.
I currently have a dilemma of whether they were proper seats or simply benches without backs on the upper tier? Also this tier of seating was totally deserted on dog nights... how spooky that must have seemed!
I often wonder if any of the stand survived to be re-erected at another sporting venue and would love pictures of the stadium itself, or being demolished. I have good knowledge of the interior of the stand/ offices but have never seen photos taken from within, any help would be greatly appreciated. Please contact Jason on 07742 024414 or jasontotti@hotmail.co.uk"
