BL65

I think that William Whitehead, known as Buster, was from Yorkshire, England.

I believe that Bill Styring was born in South Yorkshire, England. There was a Len Stewart (possibly sometimes spelt Stuart), born 10 May 1905, Perth, Australia. He rode for Edinburgh in 1930, Wimbledon 1931 and West Ham 1938.

Gote Nordin was one of the best riders in the world in the mid-1960s and a big favourite of mine. I watched him cruise to two consecutive wins with sublime displays in the Internationale at Wimbledon in 1966 and 1967, each time against a field of world-class riders. He also claimed second place in the event in 1965 and but for a fall he might have secured a top three finish in 1964. In 1961 Nordin joined Ove Fundin and Bjorn Knutson on the rostrum to complete a Swedish 1-2-3 in the World Final. Between 1964 and 1967 he had three seasons in Britain, averaging over 10 points per match for National League Wimbledon, then in the British League for Newport and Poole.

Regarding the majority shareholding in Midland Sports Limited, I posted most of the following information in a similar thread about six years ago. In 1924 Allan (often named as Alan) Sanderson, a London based businessman (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. Other members of the Sanderson family continued as directors of the company and were almost certainly majority shareholders. Midland Sports Limited appears to have been restructured in 1992, becoming Midland Sports Stadiums Limited, 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. Hilda Sanderson was the owner of several greyhounds over the years, based at Lythalls Lane and Blackbird Road. 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. It was important to the Sanderson family at that time that a greyhound venue should continue to be available. 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. Regarding Coventry and Leicester speedway, I am sure that Charles Ochiltree would have regretted the loss of the Leicester track when considering the crowds attracted to local derbies between the teams. 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.

Graham was with Cradley Heath from 1967 to 1969, following which he returned to New Zealand. He died on 17th May 1995, aged 55.

I read the Chum Taylor book when it was first published and was a little disappointed that it didn't go into much depth regarding parts of his career, particularly in England. It was written by Geoffrey Miller and maybe he misinterpreted some of the information related to him by Chum as there are some inaccuracies. One that immediately springs to mind is the account of a meeting at Sheffield in 1966, when it claims Chum went through the card. He was actually on the receiving end of a 5-1 against Bob Paulson and Billy Bales first time out and then lost to John Dews in his second race. He did win his other three races in the match, as well as his second half heat and final. It was two days later in the return fixture that his team partner Ivor Hughes received fatal injuries in a track crash. The account in Chum's book about the dispute between the National and Provincial Leagues in 1964 is also vague and ill-informed.

I remember it well.

David Vine also presented 'The Sports Scene' on BBC2 on Saturdays at around 10.00 p.m. during June, July and early August in 1966. The 35-minute programme reported on the day's sports stories and gave the evening's speedway results. It replaced Match of the Day during the summer but was dropped when the new football season started.

The only information to date is that Charlie Monk won Heat 1 of the scratch races, Ken Sharples won Heat 2 and Sharples beat Monk on the line in a close-fought final.

This was an end-of-season individual meeting for which the Bristol management invited riders who had appeared at the track during the season. It was not a meeting for which riders had qualified. It would be better described as 'a championship for northern and midland riders' (plus Roger Wise of Bristol) rather than THE Northern Riders' Championship. The advertisement ahead of the meeting described it as 'a gala night, when 16 "stars" of Northern and National League teams will meet in a Northern Riders Championship'. Afterwards it was reported as consisting of riders whose clubs had been the main opposition of the Bulldogs throughout the season. Of the riders who took part, Jeff Lloyd and Roger Wise had appeared regularly for Bristol during the year. Frank Hodgson, Norman Evans, Jim Boyd, Wilf Plant, Stan Dell, Frank Lawrence and George Craig had also represented the Bulldogs during the 1946 open-licence season.

There was a press release on 9th January confirming that the sponsorship is continuing.

Can anyone provide the following details please? 21st April 1964 - Ivan Mauger's winning time in the Saints Scratch Race Final 12th May 1964 - Sunderland v Glasgow, all second half results 26th May 1964 - Sunderland v Newcastle, all winner's times in the The Roker Park Trophy

It happened when Jim Ryman fell on the pit bend on the first lap. His bike collided with Guasco, causing him to fall. He was then struck on the head by the bike of Roger Brooks who was immediately behind the fallen pair.

Intending to ride again for Poole in 1971, Gordon returned to Sydney at the end of his second season with the Pirates, ready to race in the Australian Speedway season. Gordon was to be based at Liverpool Speedway, but in his first meeting he was involved in a crash when laying his bike down to avoid a fallen rival. He was struck from behind by another rider and suffered severe head injuries. Tragically, he never regained consciousness and died in hospital eight days later on 16th November 1970, a week before his 30th birthday.

A group of Woodcraft Folk have held 4 meetings a week, for different age groups, for nearly 50 years in the hall at one of the schools where I was a governor. They organised games and activities, as well as camps off-site, where they were taught outdoor skills. For years they were never bothered about the letting fees I set as the regional Co-Op paid on their behalf. It was a different matter when Co-Op pulled out, but I had to point out that the school budget couldn't cover the cost of them being there - such as heating, lighting, metered water, cleaning, caretaker's overtime wages. They were still unimpressed. Get Involved - Woodcraft Folk

Until 1965 Walthamstow, West Ham and Dagenham were in Essex, with Lea Bridge/Clapton on the border of Essex and Middlesex.

I have sent you a PM. If you are able to go to see him, I hope he is still well and in good spirits.

My Sunderland correspondent sent me a photo of George in mid-August this year. He looked cheerful, with a lovely smile on his face. The information I received was that he was suffering from dementia and at that time was residing in a care home in Laindon, Basildon, Essex.

There were eight-man teams in 1964 in the National League. Olle Nygren, Reg Luckhurst, Bob Andrews and Ted Ede guested for Oxford once each. Danny Dunton also rode in one meeting. In the Britannia Shield matches Colin McKee appeared 7 times and Danny Dunton once, with Barry Briggs and Olle Nygren guesting one each.

That's correct regarding official matches. I saw George Major ride for the Lions at the beginning of the season. He appeared in a couple of challenge matches before DeWayne Keeter arrived. Dene Davies rode in place of Keeter in two challenge matches at the very end of the season. Norman Hunter also guested in place of John Boulger in a challenge at King's Lynn.

Further information on Clem Thomas. He was born in Healesville, Victoria, Australia, in 1912 and died in 1971.

Not quite, it just feels like it sometimes!

Unfortunately, I have been to almost as many hospitals as speedway tracks in the last 20 years.

I understand that the Luton and Dunstable Hospital replaced The Bute Hospital, which was located on Dunstable Road and opened in 1882.

According to the Speedway News (17th April 1937), the principal reason for Luton not proceeding, even though preparations were at an advanced stage, was a protest from the local hospital, presumably on noise grounds.