BL65

I understand that Ivan's grandparents moved to New Zealand from Guernsey, but I have no information on Stan's ancestry.

Although unusual in the UK, Mauger is a common surname in Guernsey and Jersey (Channel Islands), with Norman origins.

I remember that in 1966 Roy Trigg scored 11 out of 15 for Hackney in a league match at Oxford which was abandoned after 6 heats. In the re-staging he scored 17 out of 27. Little surprise when he joined Oxford the following season. 28 out of 42 (67%) was not a bad effort over the two meetings.

The records show that the winning run by Vic Duggan was not April/May, but started on 23rd May, with his sequence of 39 winning rides ending with a defeat by Bill Longley on 11th June. Split Waterman beat Duggan in a scratch race final on 29th August, but that only ended a sequence of 7 consecutive wins for Vic.

The information I have is shown below: Silver Helmet: Fred Tuck vs Dick Geary (2-0, probably Bristol as I have details of Geary’s home leg at Fleetwood) Bristol April 30th Both legs Wilf Jay vs Fred Tuck (locations need confirming as Newcastle & Bristol as well as dates) Bristol 4th June, Newcastle 7th June Both legs Wilf Jay vs Frank Hodgson (again locations probably Newcastle & Middlesbrough – which was the venue Jay couldn’t race at due to injury ?) Newcastle 12th July. Jay then broke his leg later in the meeting and could not contest the second leg which should have been staged on 22nd July, with the title declared vacant by the Control Board. Frank Hodgson vs Stan Dell (2-0, probably Middlesbrough as I have details of Dell’s home leg at Birmingham) Middlesbrough 22nd July Decider between Frank Hodgson & Stand Dell (location and date). Fleetwood 10th August Bronze Helmet: Bob Oakley vs Cyril Roger (have the Exeter leg details so need the return leg) Southampton 27th April Alf Bottoms vs Cyril Roger (have the Exeter leg details so need the return leg) Southampton 8th June Gill Blake vs Joe Bowkis (details of both legs needed, though the home legs should have been at Stoke (Hanley) and Poole respectively). The Control Board gave Wally Green until 7th September to confirm his fitness to meet Bowkis in the 'August' match race, but he was not able to take part. Hanley 23rd September. Bowkis broke his collar bone in the first race of the first leg and was unable to compete in the second leg due to have taken place at Poole 27th September. The Control Board ruled that the first leg became void and Mitchell was nominated to replace Bowkis. Gil Blake vs Mick Mitchell (details of Blake’s home leg needed as I have them for Mitchell’s Hull home leg) Hanley 30th September

Bruce Cribb took 3 of the R/R rides for Boulger at home against Swindon in April 1976, scoring 8 points from them in his total of 17 from 7 rides, in another match the Heathens won 40-38. Bruce also took 3 R/R rides for the absent Persson in October 1976 in the home meeting against Ipswich, giving him an extra 6 points in his total of paid 16 from 7 rides. Cribb was a busy man that season taking 8 rides in the Midland Cup match at Coventry in April (3 R/R for Boulger and a tactical ride) and 7 rides at Exeter in May (including 3 R/R for Persson). Boulger also had 8 rides at Coventry in the league match in August, including a tactical ride and 3 replacement rides for Persson.

In 1976 a rider with a lower average than the one for which R/R was operated could take 3 extra rides. Ironically, Boulger's average had increased above that of Persson by the following week and he would then have been restricted to just one R/R ride.

In a double header at Swindon on 9th October 1965 Barry Briggs scored 12 from 4 rides against Belle Vue, followed by 15 from 5 rides against Wolverhampton, the extra ride taken as a tactical substitute. Belle Vue had a dreadful away record that year so there was never going to be an opportunity for Briggs to take a tactical ride against them.

Not that I recall. I do have the various magazines but have not gone back to check. They would have been picked up for the Researcher website though if they had been reported.

Press reports indicate that there were at least three meetings staged at Melton Mowbray in 1950. On Sunday July 16th 1950 there was a junior meeting, with teams comprising the Lions and the the Tigers, followed by Melton Lions v The Panthers on 27th August 1950 and Melton Lions v The Rest on 17th September 1950. Lions lost 39-45 to Panthers and lost 37-47 to The Rest. The Panthers team in the meeting on 27th August was made up of riders from Long Eaton, Leicester and Coventry.

Not quite every time, he lost one, to Ron How, when Oxford visited on 16th June. How beat Knutson in heats 1 and 6 of the league match, although Bjorn was off a 20 yard handicap. How scored a 12 point maximum, then went on to beat Knutson in the Bonanza and in heat one of the the scratch races, although Bjorn qualified as fastest second and beat Ron in the final.

Following the 1953 Wembley World Final there was a comment in the Speedway News that the wet conditions had not suited Jack Young and his gating was so bad that he was fighting from behind most of the time. There had been comments about processional racing at Custom House during that season and perhaps Young and others, particularly those who were slow out of the starts, felt that by taking the bends in it would make for better overtaking prospects. Nevertheless, during 1953 Young averaged 11.48 in team matches at West Ham and that included dropping 6 points in one meeting against Norwich when he had two pointless rides out of five, so he clearly wasn't experiencing too many problems on the 440 yards circuit.

Further to my comments in post #33, confirming Norbold’s account Speedway Star reported on 23rd January 1954 that 'Even some of the Hammers' riders complained about the size of the circuit and star man Jack Young once went so far as to state that he would seek a transfer unless the track were made smaller'. With the West Ham track reduced in size and with the Hammers staying in the First Division, there was a further twist when Speedway Star reported in the 3rd April 1954 edition that on returning to Britain Jack Young had written to the Control Board stating that he wanted a transfer, with Norwich his preferred destination. Writing in the Star, Eric Linden suggested that an agreement between Norwich and West Ham might include Aub Lawson returning to Custom House, but both riders subsequently stayed with their respective teams. Ironically, the West Ham track had been reduced in size from 440 yards to 415 yards and Young then indicated a preference for the larger 425 yards Norwich circuit.

A letter to the Speedway News editor in November 1953 asked about changes to shorten the Custom House track, with the response being that the speedway authorities were anxious to proceed but were awaiting approval from the greyhound authorities, who were the stadium owners. At the end of December 1953 Speedway News reported that Coventry track manager Alf Elliott had been loaned to West Ham to carry out the alterations, with work to begin in January to shorten the circuit by ‘roughly 30 yards’, by widening the bends and thus leaving the football pitch intact by not taking anything away from the sides of the pitch or changing the track straights. The report went on to say ‘It is thought that the wide bends will greatly improve the racing, for Alf is after the same effect he achieved at Brandon last winter – an equal chance for the rider on the outside and the man on the line’. Coventry and West Ham were both operated by Alan Sanderson, hence the connection. Speedway News reported that the Speedway Control Board met on 12th January and rejected a proposed breakaway by West Ham, Wimbledon and Bristol to form a London and Provincial League. Jack Young is understood to have been one of two leading West Ham riders who had indicated to the Speedway Riders’ Association that they would not remain with their team if the proposal went ahead. At the same meeting on 12th January, West Ham asked how the Board felt about stock car racing and were told that the Board had no authority to grant approval as this was a matter to be dealt with by the R.A.C. The greyhound company, as stadium owners, had been approached by stock car representatives only to be told that the rights of all motor sport at West Ham were in the hands of Mr Sanderson. It was also reported that at that time the Greyhound Racing Association was against the use of their stadia by stock cars. The lead article in Speedway News 10th February 1954 edition accompanied a picture of the West Ham track alterations which were in progress. The article by Len Went started with ”Too much processional racing” was the cry at the quarter-mile Custom House circuit last year. The article went on to describe the nature of the work, as well as Alf Elliott’s experience as a rider at Sheffield, Wombwell, Poole and Oxford, followed by his track alterations at Wigan, Cardiff, Aldershot, Oxford, Coventry, Poole, Wombwell and Ringwood. The picture showed Jack Bibby, Pat Clarke, Reg Fearman and Alf Elliott working on the track alterations. The sequence of events outlined above suggests that the West Ham speedway authorities decided on track alterations in the latter part of 1953, well before any arrangement was made for stock cars to use the circuit and the West Ham proposal to join a newly created London and Provincial League was the main cause of Jack Young’s discontent, resolved when the Control Board rejected the idea.

The rider with white boots is Len Silver of Exeter, leading Derek Strutt of Rayleigh in heat one of the Southern League match at Rayleigh on 27th April 1963. Strutt fell and was excluded. Exeter won the meeting 50-28. The meeting at Newcastle on Saturday 27th July 1963 started at 2.00 p.m. enabling races to be televised on the day. It was actually a Provincial League fixture, not a challenge as described in TV Times. Exeter are also wrongly described as 1963 K.O. Cup winners, but they actually won the trophy in 1962.

Regarding the reference to greyhound racing at Blackbird Road and the precautionary introduction at Brandon in 1978 following the initial interest by Barratt Homes, it should be noted that Hilda Sanderson was the owner of several greyhounds over the years, based at Lythalls Lane and Blackbird Road.

In 1924 Allan (often named as Alan) Sanderson, a London based businessman (edit: owner of London Lubricants) and racing driver, purchased the house and 200 acres of land at Selsdon Park in Surrey for £13,000. In 1925 the house was converted to a luxury hotel, operated by Allan and his wife Hilda until 1960, when their son Basil took over the running of the hotel and a golf course which had been added in 1929. The hotel was sold by the Sanderson family to Principal Hotels in 1997. Allan Sanderson formed Midland Sports Limited in October 1936. Initially the shareholders are believed to have been Allan and his wife, although various family members and members of the Ochiltree family were involved in later years. A mortgage was taken out in 1937 and this may well have been to fund the purchase of Brandon Stadium. Allan Sanderson died in 1968, following which Charles Ochiltree, as Managing Director, took the lead role in running Brandon Stadium. Midland Sports Limited appears to have been restructured in 1992, with shareholders comprising Basil Allan Sanderson (until 1996), Mrs Shelagh Sanderson (until 1997), Charles Ochiltree (until 1998), William Peter Gilmour (until 2002), Mrs Linda Ochiltree and Martin Ochiltree. Allan Mark David Norton Sanderson was also a shareholder from 1996 to 2002. From 2002 onwards the sole remaining shareholders appear to have been Linda and Martin Ochiltree. Just after the war Allan and Hilda Sanderson acquired Lythalls Lane Stadium in Foleshill, Coventry, from Coventry Greyhounds Limited, the company which had built the stadium for greyhounds and speedway in 1928. The running of the stadium continued under the name of Midland Speedways Limited from 1950 and after greyhound racing became less profitable it was sold by the company for redevelopment at the end of 1964. When Allan and Hilda Sanderson purchased Leicester Stadium, Blackbird Road, in 1950 the track became part of Midland Sports Limited. Charles Ochiltree took a minority shareholding in the company and had a role as General Manager of Midland Sports Limited. Barratt Homes made an offer for Leicester Stadium in 1978, but this was not accepted. However, greyhound racing was staged at Brandon from September 1978 and this suggests that the venue was seen as a replacement for Blackbird Road, which was an established greyhound track. Midland Sports then finally accepted a bid from Barratt Homes, with the sale completed in 1984. The Sanderson family would have been the major shareholders at that time. When Allan Sanderson was granted a licence to operate at West Ham in 1952 a deal had to be agreed with the stadium owners. With the National League struggling for teams in 1964 Midland Sports Limited was involved in reviving West Ham. Reg Fearman states in his book Both Sides of the Fence that in 1950 the stadium continued to be owned by the Greyhound Racing Association. I understand that the GRA still operated at Custom House until the stadium was closed for redevelopment and probably continued to be the owners up to that point.

Regarding the first Sanderson involvement, a press release in October 1951 stated that Speedway Stadiums (1946) Limited would not be continuing to run speedway at West Ham in 1952, mainly due to falling attendances. The directors of Speedway Stadiums (1946) Limited were Arthur Atkinson, Tippy Atkinson and Stan Greatrex. Walthamstow were keen to move up from Division 2 to replace West Ham in the top league, but this move was scuppered when Alan Sanderson, already involved with Coventry and Leicester, agreed a deal with the Custom House stadium owners to promote speedway. He then ensured there would be an increase in spectator interest by acquiring world champion Jack Young to lead the team and appointing John S. Hoskins as manager.

Perhaps Chris Manchester, Bernie Leigh, Tyson Nelson and Martin Scarisbrick could also be considered, assuming the historic county boundaries are used and the Metropolitan boundaries are ignored.

Yes, I will email them to you, probably after the weekend. Update: sent 02/07/17

Ake Andersson of Glasgow 1968 and Lars-Ake Andersson were not the same person. My 5, in no particular order: Igor Plechanov Boris Samorodov Mieczyslaw Polukard Andrzej Pogorzelski Andrzej Wyglenda

I have the programmes from both meetings but they will need to be retrieved from archives, I will let you know when I have them to hand.

Presumably you have Southampton 62 The Rest 33 on 27th March, The Butlin Trophy on 2nd June won in a run-off by Ronnie Moore from Jack Geran and Peter Craven after they tied on 13 points, England 52 Australasia 56 on 8th September. 12th May Fundin 14 and How 14 tied for first place, with Crutcher third on 12. There was no run-off, although in a top scorers scratch race Fundin won from Maidment, How and Taylor. 16th June Crutcher won with a 12 point maximum, with the meeting run over 16 heats, Jack Geran and Ronnie Moore were next highest scorers on 9. The results of the tour matches on 23rd and 30th June are confirmed. 7th July the meeting was won by Crutcher from Peter Moore and Ron Mountford. 11th August the meeting was won by Peter Moore with 14, from Ronnie Moore and Cyril Roger, both with 13. 22nd September was Southampton 66 Continentals 42.

The totals tally with the results in my programmes and those reported in the magazines. I can confirm that the meeting at Swindon on 25th April was called off after a day of heavy rain and the meeting at Poole on 1st May was also rained off, as recorded in the Swindon programmes afterwards.

Correct.