30th October 2008

We Had Joy, We Had Fun Arnie Gibbons' very personal account of the last meeting at Smallmead and the memories that were revived by a night of nostalgia. Hopefully Arnie will be able to report on the opening of the Racers' new track in early 2010.

Track Pix: Long Eaton Philip Dalling feels the pictures we have on the site of Station Road are a little depressing, so he's dug out a couple that show the stadium in happier and busier times.

Tony Webb wants to know more about Alec Mosely - former mechanic and engine tuner at West Ham and Ipswich - Can You Help? We've just added the first Hungarian speedway link to our links page - Speedway Fun. Good to see that both Zoltan Adorjan and Sandor Tihanyi still seem to be in action.

Ian Muir Martin on Riders to Remember: Colin Caffrey: "I enjoyed this article very much. I never saw Colin race but here is the bread and butter Speedway Rider if you like. To my mind THESE are the people who make Speedway the Sport it is. World Champions are all very well - but - without people to beat when racing - they are nothing. It should be remembered that EVERY Rider from Conference League to Elite League and beyond require courage even to mount a Speedway Bike. Those Superstars NEED people like Colin Caffrey - THEY are the REAL HEROES of Speedway. All of us should remember that." SaS on Kingsmead Stadium: "Brought back great memories; the Crusaders were just the best. The miles I put my poor old Morris Minor through in the name of supporting Canterbury - worth every penny and every mile." Gilles Mercoer on Scott Collier: "Scott, You're doing a great job. Keep up the good work." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

23rd October 2008

Faith Restored by Bydogoszcz Dave Green thoroughly enjoyed Saturday's final Grand Prix of the season and suggests it helped make up for what was a largely dull series.

California Poppies Reunion 2008 Bob Cole attended the recent reunion at the Berkshire circuit that operated in the fifties. Here are his pictures of the day.

Track Pix: Vastervik Training Track As promised last week, here are Charles McKay's pictures of the training track at Vastervik. Charles assures us that the cars are removed from the track before pratice commences.

New website justspeedway.co.uk hopes to raise the sport's profile. The webmaster only discovered speedway last season and wants to let us others know what they're missing out on.

Bryan Tungate on The Complete A-Z of British League Riders: "The a-z by Matt & Hugh is a real collectors item. In years to come it will be much sought after. The "non-print" side of things is quite in order as far as I am concerned. They have done the work and deserve any income from it instead of people helping themselves at will. Anyhow plenty of peple have printed stuff from the past without doing any work on the factual side of things. Speedway evolved from other passtimes, it was not invented by anyone, as has been written for years. A number of present day "researchers" are having difficulty getting this put right so to protect the research & money that Matt & Hugh have put in on this project is to be applauded by all." Henrik Andersen on Warzone Speedway: "I wounder if there is any stories about Morian Hansen in the book. I know he did some speedway riding in Germany when he was there as an RAF officer, or was it during the occupation?" Click here to leave your own feedback

 

16th October 2008

Smokey Stratton - A Can You Help Special Dave Gifford is researching the life and times of Spencer 'Smokey' Stratton and would like to hear from anybody who can help. In this article he gives us a summary of Smokey's career and identifies the areas that he'd particularly like more information on.

Dream Team: John Potter John has supported Edinburgh Monarchs since 1966 and it's from those Meadowbank days that he's drawn the majority of his team. The 'Ladybank Express' lines up at number three in this interesting selection.

Track Pix: Vastervik More pictures from one of Charles McKay's trips to Sweden, this time of Vastervik. Next week we'll bring you pictures of the training track that sits alongside this one.

The chap above is Scott Collier, a Canadian rider and firefighter who's out to raise awareness of the TOMA Foundation for burned children. Scott missed this entire season through a knee injury but will be back on track next year. This picture of Scott, and his special 'Fire Bike', appears in "Hamilton's Hottest" a charity calendar to raise funds for the good causes the firefighters' union supports.

John Callaghan on The New Sydney Showground: "The Track Length is a remarkable (by UK standards) 557 yards. " Tracy Holmes on Previous Feedback: "Denny Becker! So grateful to be put right. If he sues, he may hire Denny Crane!!!" Cary Cotterman on Previous Feedback: "'Denny' Becker? Mr. O'Connor must be thinking of another rider. The American rider's name was always spelled "Dan" or "Danny" in programmes. Track announcers always introduced him as "Danny". The excellent Costa Mesa Speedway website (www.costamesaspeedway.net) has a section of vintage photos, one page of which is devoted to Becker. In several of the p ictures, "DAN" can be seen clearly, sewn onto his leathers. " Terry O'Connor tells us that Danny Becker's real name is Dennis, though it seems he's always been known as Danny in speedway circles. Click here to leave your own feedback

 

9th October 2008

Riders to Remember: Colin Caffrey Bill Elliot on his good friend 'Caff', a man who has been ever-present for the Glasgow Tigers these last thirty years - whether as rider, electrician or bus driver!

More on the A-Z Another look at the recently published volume one of the Complete A-Z of British League Riders cd/book. In this article author Matt Jackson explains why the book is not available in paper form and Ian Muir Martin gives us his opinion on the publication.

Track Pix: The Ekka Tony Webb visited the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds for a recent vintage speedcar event and took these pictures of this magnificent venue. John Titman was present and put in a few demonstration rides on his thirty year old Weslake.

Artist Jim Blanchard's latest work is this action painting of Hans Andersen. It will be available at the end of the month and 640mm x 500mm prints will retail at £29.99 plus £3.50 p&p. Hans has agreed to sign each of the prints. Check out jbsportsimages.co.uk to see what else Jim has available. THE THIRD ANNUAL CALIFORNIA-IN-ENGLAND SPEEDWAY REUNION is on Sunday October 12 from 11am. It takes place at the old track at California Country Park, Nine Mile Ride, Finchampstead, Woking RG40 4HT from 11am. In the 1940s and 1950s, the track was a feeder team to Wimbledon Speedway. More details from Stuart Towner 020 8397 6599.

Robyn Regan on A History of Long Eaton: "It is lovely to read this article. My great uncle is Ray Cresp. As kids he would come home for the traditional Christmas reunion at his sister, Marie's house in Melbourne. We knew Uncle Ray lived in England but had no idea what he did. He wasn't a boastful man and it is amazing to see what he achieved. I for one am very proud of him. " David Horner on Once a Jolly Swagman pictures: "I recently bought a copy of Jolly Swagman. I recommend it, it's a great movie for all speedway fans." Click here to leave your own feedback

 

2nd October 2008

Jack Young's Bike - Restored Neil Burston has lovingly restored a bike that once belonged to the great Jack Young. Join us for a look at some pictures of the bike and to find out a bit of the history behind it.

Kiwis in the UK Tony Webb is collating a list of New Zealanders that have raced in Britain and he needs your help. Please take time to look at his list as it presently stands and send your additions and corrections to Tony. The list is in PDF file format, so you'll need to have Adobe Acrobat Viewer installed to be able to see it. Tony's email address is: binbooks@iinet.net.au

Track Pix: Nelson There's no denying that this article is basically just pictures of a wall, but that wall used to be part of the pits at Nelson's Seedhill Stadium and proof of its former use remains. Thanks to Gerald Howarth for sending in the pictures.

Thanks to Jim Henry for forwarding the above picture of some former Wimbledon riders together at a recent function. The men in question are Tommy Sweetman, Ronnie Moore, Ivan Mauger and Bobby Andrews. If you've missed Jeff Scott's on his recent book signing tour, but you remain keen to get your hands on his most recent work - "Concrete for Breakfast" - then why not order direct from his website at www.methanolpress.com? While you're there, take time to read his entertaining blog where he regularly shares his thoughts on the current state of the sport. Jamie Dixon's father has come up with a novel approach to fund raising to support Jamie's racing. Check out his ebay auction for full details.

Derek Watson on Riders to Remember: Sean Courtney: "Sean was one of those riders that every side needs, a team man, someone who may not be a tall scorer but could pull a heat win out of the bag when it was really needed. I also remember Neil McFarlane saying that Sean was one of the main reasons for Tigers' winning the league in 1994. Probably says it all!" Rab Drake on Whatever Happened to Tracy Bray?: "Just been on a four day training course with Honda cars. Tracy was my instructor...amazing guy, tells good stories!! Couldn't understand us boys from Scotchland though!!!! Hope you get to read this Tracy....All the best mate and thanks for a great week!!" Terry O'Connor on Riders to Remember: Danny Becker: "His name was, and indeed still is, DENNY BECKER." Click here to leave your own feedback