Bert Harkins

Glad you and many others enjoyed the day today despite the weather, Sean and glad to hear that the kids enjoyed going round the Wildlife Park. I must admit that whenever I visit the Museum, I also wander round the Park to see the animals and say 'Hello' to Rocky the Tiger (Glasgow or Sheffield?) Regarding Ivan; When the great man is in UK, I am sure he will be visiting the Museum, even if it is only to make sure that we have kept his bikes clean and polished! If we get an exact date when he will be there, we will have the details in Speedway Star. By the time he comes over, his new book will be ready so he will be promoting that around the country and probably at the Museum too. Thanks to everyone for coming out and supporting us on such a wet, cold and windy day, Speedway supporters are tops and I am only sorry that the tracks did not come along to promote their fixtures for the new season, but maybe that is too easy to promote your club in front of hundreds of fans free of charge? Talking of free of charge, thanks also to Park owner, Peter Sampson for giving us free entry today for our Celebration of Speedway 2010.......Roll On Next Year!

Crikey,.......20 years!! It doesn't seem that long ago since James was the young up-and-coming Scot, flying around the various tracks looking like the next Scot to take on the world. Good Luck with the Testimonial, James, you deserve it and I hope the weather stays fine and you get a great turn-out.

SUNDAY 21st FEBRUARY 2010, 10am to 4pm,......That's the date for The Celebration of Speedway at Paradise Wildlife Park and entry to the Park is FREE for Speedway fans on that day. Just tell the Pay Cabin that you are going to the Celebration of Speedway and you will be admitted f.o.c. If you have not yet visited the National Speedway Museum, then this is a great opportunity to do so and to join the big pre-season day out for all Speedway fans. Win tickets for the British Grand Prix at Cardiff in our prize draw and have your photograph taken sitting on a Speedway bike. With any luck, you may also hear the sound of some unsilenced Douglas, Jap and Jawas machines being fired up and get that nostalgic whiff of Castrol 'R' Racing Oil in the air. Apart from the Museum, the Collectors' Fayre, the displays of bikes, rider interviews, barbeque, and meeting old and new friends, you can also visit the Wildlife Park f.o.c. and enjoy seeing the other Tigers (not Sheffield or Glasgow), but the magnificent, 'Rocky' and all the other animals which are so well looked after in the Park. Check out Speedway Star for details. Paradise Wildlife Park is signposted from Junction 25 of the M25, so, to alter Uncle Len Silver's motto from Hackney,................"Make It A Date, Sunday, AFTER eight (am)!"

Forgive me but I have been out of the country for a few weeks and I have just been told about this thread regarding Scotland on the Forum. It's true that in the past, Scotland was represented at FIM World Best Pairs and World Team Cup events and were not disgraced. In fact, Jim McMillan & myself qualified from Belle Vue to the World Best Pairs Final in Sweden and Scots such as the late, great, George Hunter, Brian Collins, Bobby Beaton, etc., always put on a good show against international opposition. The reason I have been given for Scotland no longer being recognized by the FIM is that we do not have an FIM-homologated track north of the border, so we have to be part of Great Britain in official World events. Scotland were, as mentioned earlier, moved aside in the FIM events to make way for the USA and now our riders can only ride for 'Team GB' (why not call the team, 'England') so the standard is much higher than we have in Scotland at the moment. However, although we are not up to true 'World' standard these days, Scotland could be very competitive against teams such as Germany or USA (without Greg of course!) and it would give the young riders of all of the teams some very valuable International experience. We did have a short Test series against England Under-21 a few years ago, and I thought it had been a great success but unfortunately, it was not continued in the following seasons. We just have to convince promoters that putting on a fixture with a 'Scotland' team would pull in the crowds. I am sure that with riders such as James Grieves, William Lawson, Andrew Tully, Derek Sneddon, Adam McKinna and Sean Stoddart, with Gary Beaton, Cal McDade, James McBain and Kieren Morris in the wings, we could be a crowd-puller in Tests vs. Germany or USA and don't forget that MANY years ago, we had a "Haggis-Bashers" Scottish team which raced against Wimbledon and wore kilts over their leathers for the parade. Yes, the Scots are a colourful bunch and once you buckle on a St. Andrew's Cross body colour on a Scot,.......Watch out for fireworks! In the past, Scots were always very popular when racing in Germany, so perhaps we will be able to meet 'Bavarian' and his fellow countrymen with our "New Scots" this season. Bert Harkins

I don't know what happened to the guy who wore pyjamas over his leathers on a wet night, perhaps he was "sleeping at the gate"? I believe that he also wore a pair of swimming trunks OVER his leathers when the long zip on his one-piece leathers broke one night! A bit draughty in The Trossachs! I do, however, remember, Jimmy Cox, "The Buckskin Kid" with his long frills on the sleeves of his brown leather Buckskin jacket. I seem to remember that the leather sides of his "puding basin" helmet were painted white. Ian Hoskins always had nicknames for his riders and I remember, as a wee schoolboy in Glasgow, watching the Novice Races at Glasgow White City with riders with such great names as, "Leap" Primrose, "Red" Monteith and "Whaler Joe" Ferguson, so called because it was rumoured that he went to sea catching whales in order to raise some money to buy a Speedway bike. Today's riders are still showmen,.......Fancy coloured Kevlars and just look at the spectacular wheelies they can achieve, something which was virtually impossible to do on the Japs and Jawas of yesteryear.

Just come across these posts on Bill Landels and as Ian mentioned, he emigrated to Australia in October 1967 after getting married to Liz, the Edinburgh Speedway Beauty Queen! I know, as I travelled out with them on their Honeymoon on the Italian ship, "The Fairsea" which, going through the Bay of Biscay and The Australian Bight, it certainly was anything but, a "Fair Sea!" (Imagine taking a 'Chaperone' on your honeymoon!) Bill a former Scottish Grasstrack Champion as well as Scottish Speedway Champion, was the star man for several years at Sydney's Liverpool Speedway and also on the big and fast Sydney Showground with it's concrete "safety" fence on the pits corner and he could beat all comers on the big, fast Australian tracks. Bill and Liz are still happily living in Australia and paid a return visit to the UK a couple of years ago and, as mentioned, during his racing days, rode for Australia in Test Matches, probably the only Scot to race for the Australian national team. Also the post about Old Meadowbank and Ian Hoskins style of promotion. Yes, that man was the ultimate showman and gave the fans plenty of value for money entertainment both on the track and on the centre green, unlike today's meetings which do not even feature a Second Half. The Edinburgh fans certainly got their money's worth every Saturday night.

Just take your Longjohns and your Goretex waterproofs and the GP boys will give it a go! Crumpie needs everyone's support!

NEW ARRIVALS. Check out the new model Speedway riders from Poland now on sale at the Museum Shop for only £5.00. Featuring all of this year's Grand Prix riders, with their coloured Kevlars and GP race number, they are real collectors' items. Also GP programmes from Italy and hopefully next week, from the last GP of 2009 in Bydgoszcz where we hope to see Crumpie crowned as World Champion for the third time,.....He deserves it this year. Haggis

Glad you enjoyed your visit to the Museum, Ian, it's nice to have positive feedback (we welcome any comments, good or bad) and I hope that you will make the journey down from "Sunny Sunderland" again sometime as the exhibits are always changing. The next stage is to extend the Museum by moving one of the walls out and hopefully this will be ready in time for NEXT year's High Beech 'Celebration of Speedway' at the Park in February 2010.

Would you like to visit the Speedway Museum at Paradise Wildlife Park and have a discount ticket which gets you in to both attractions at a reduced price? If so, buy Speedway Star which has a discount voucher on page 44 giving you entry for up to six people on production of the advert. No need to cut it out and damage your magazine, just take Speedway Star along and show it at the Pay Cabin for your discount. Obviously, some supporters were not too happy about having to pay to get in to the Park, especially after contributing to the earlier collections to build the Museum, but as it is situated within the Wildlife Park, and owner, Peter Sampson has given us the land and much of the building materials and labour free of charge, there has to be an entry fee. It is a great value day out, just ask anyone who has visited the Museum and in the Park, you can get up close to the tigers, lions and even the meerkats. Paradise Wildlife Park is signposted from the Junction 25 of the M25 and is open from 9.30am to 6pm in summer and 9.30am to5pm in winter. Further details from 01992-470-490 ext.218 so head for Paradise and enjoy the History of Speedway from the days of High Beech to the days of Ivan Mauger and Jason Crump.

Thanks to all the fans out there who contributed to the building of the National Speedway Museum at Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, without you, there would be no Museum. The feedback from visitors has been very encouraging and the amount of memorabilia loaned or given to the Museum has been excellent and now the time has come to expand and be able to show even more bikes, leathers, etc. The trophy collection of the late, great Simon Wigg would fill a museum on their own. Planning permission is going ahead for an extention which will take over the part originally intended as an outdoor pits area, so this will give us much more room for display.. Once again, funds have to be raised but this time there will be a Grand Draw withthe opportunity of winning some great prizes which will include;- 2 Tickets for a London Show with overnight accommodation included.. 2 Tickets for the British Grand Prix at Cardiff with accommodation included (and remember how expensive Cardiff hotels are during the GP weekend.)) Feeding the Tigers (not Glasgow or Sheffield) at Paradise Wildlife Park and a tour of the Park with overnight accommodation at the Marriott Hotel. Plus other prizes still to be announced. Tickets are only £1 each or £5 for a book of five and will be available around some of the tracks or from Elaine at the Speedway Museum, TEL. 01922-470-490, Extention 218, EMAIL speedwaymuseum@pwpark.com or check the Museum website, www.speedwaymuseum.co.uk It is hoped to have the extention ready and have the official opening ceremony at the Celebration of Speedway event at the Park on 21st February Please support this good cause and help the Speedway Museum go from strength to strength.

I see that "Topcat" mentioned Jack "Red" Monteith, who at the time had red hair although not any more. Ian Hoskins always gave his riders some fancy nicknames. How about;- Leap Primrose a second halfer at the old Glasgow White City. Or "Whaler" Joe Ferguson, another 2nd halfer who went to sea as a Whaler to earn money to ride Speedway,....True! Also Jimmy "Titanic" Tannock "Atomic" Tommy Miller "Bengt Mudeguard" an Edinburgh novice pretending he was Swedish to get some second half rides at Edinburgh! "Bat" Byrnes (Glasgow Tigers) Brian "Pogo" Collins. Harry Darling (any relation of Alsitair?) Peter Prinsloo (owner of a high class portaloo) And what about that well-known gardner, Trevor Hedge? Or the not-so-aptly named, Colin (and Troy) PRATT? There is also a WSRA (World Speedway Riders' Association) member called Ken Wrench, but I don't know if he was a mechanic! Ex-Referee, Lew Stripp (did he?) Also the late lamented Chris Pusey whose surname caused some raised eyebrows at Costa Mesa as in the U.S., that name had nothing to do with kittens! Big Jim Fishback (California, USA) Rayleigh's Terry Stone who was a Stonemason to trade. German World Champion, Egon Muller, also known as, "Egon Chips" And did anyone mention Norwegian, Odd Fossingen? And what about Pete Gay? Coventry, I think. Or Austrian, Alfred Sitzwohl (Six Volt) who rode briefly for Edinburgh That's enough for now. Haggis (Now THERE'S a name to conjure with!)

C'mon, Snyper, you are giving us Scots a bad name! The team is Great Britain but all the riders in it are English (even Tai), so you can't really complain when some people mistakenly call the team, 'England'. Once we have a Scottish rider in the Great Britain team, (I hate this 'Team GB' title), THEN we can complain if it is called, 'England'. We used to have a separate Scotland team in FIM events, World Team Cup, World Best Pairs, (where we qualified for the World Final in Sweden) and we were recognized as a separate Speedway nation, but now the FIM says that we have to come under the 'Great Britain' banner. The goalposts have been moved since those heady days. To be recognized by the FIM, we need to haven FIM-approved track in Scotland and somehow I cannot see that happening, but there are still behind-the-scenes moves to try to get Scotland back into the qualifying rounds. Anyway, let's wish the BRITISH team, All The Best for Poland and try not to be too negative when a rider doesn't score as many points as you would like, this is World Championship Speedway and no-one can become an overnight sensation these days.

You ask about a decent Scottish, Welsh or Irish rider??........How about Double World Champion, Freddie Williams from Wales? Or Jim McMillan, George Hunter, Ken McKinlay, Tommy Miller, etc from Scotland? Ireland? well, they don't have any Speedway tracks and the Irish only rider I can remember is Dom Perry of Wimbledon. Also, the Scots trying to regroup and who knows,.....Maybe we could take on Slovenia or the 'American Dream Team' and put up a good show. Haggis

OOPS! SORRY FOR TYPING ERRORS........I WAS IN A HURRY! Haggis

Just an update on the Speedway Museum at Paradise Wildlife Park. If you check out the World Speedway Riders' Association website, www.world-sra.org.uk and click onto 'Museum', you will see some more photos and stories from the Museum and also from other WSRA activities. Remember, if you were a rider (no need to have ridden elsewhere in 'The World'), or mechanic, promoter, etc., then the WSRA would like to hear from you. Thera are lunches and get-togethers all around the country from Scotland to Bournemouth plus the big annual Dinner/Dance at the Leicester Marriott each yea, so there is bound to be something near you, so chaeck out the WSRA website for membersgip details. Haggis .

As one who enjoyed Wembley back in the '70's and at World Finals before then, I always enjoyed the old Empire Stadium, but now Cardiff is THE place for the Grand Prix. Sure, Wembley has the famous name which used to bring in plenty of sponsorship from outside our sport, but what is there at Wembley now? A nice new stadium but nothing for the fans to do or places to meet before and after the GP, unless you want to meet up with your fellow supporters in a trading estate. Cardiff has plenty going for it with plenty of bars, cafes and restaurants within walking distance of the Millenium Stadium and the Cardiff Bay area. Hotel prices are a big problem, but BSI are working on that for next year. It would be interesting to have a big Speedway meeting at Wembley, but somehow I don't think the crowd would be very much more than the 42,000 we got at Cardiff, so my vote for the GP is to stay at Cardiff.

Yes, the referee was Frank Ziegler from Germany and to exclude 10 year old Reece Downes from what really was a demonstration race can almost be classified as "Child Abuse". The poor little lad was in tears and I am sure I would have been too if it had happened to me. It was a fantastic opportunity for the youngsters to perform in front of the biggest crowd of their young lives and the ref spoiled it for young Reece. Hopefully, some of the lads will be back in 2020 as fully fledged Grand Prix riders and show us what they learned from being at the British Grand Prix in Cardiff.

I just happened to come onto this site and saw that all the threads were about the misuse of alcohol at Cardiff and nothing about the meeting itself. It is really sad to see that that something we prized as a "Family Sport" is being ruined by these people who cannot go to a meeting to enjoy the racing, but have to get drunk and spoil it for everyone else around them. Cardiff is not a cheap event to attend so these people who spend so much on alcohol, must have more money than sense. There was enough action going on on the track without the extra fighting in the stands, so I think the only solution is to ban alcohol completely from the GP and, as others have said, refuse entry to those who are already too inebriated. This may upset many of the true fans who like a drink during racing, but surely it is the best way to go to save our reputation as a family sport?

Thanks for the info, Bob, and give my thanks to Brian for making the Sunderland posters, we will display them with pride in the Museum! Haggis.

Yup, I saw Tommy Miller riding for Glasgow Tigers at the old White City stadium when I was just a wee laddie Glasgow Tigers' fan in short troosers! (or kilt). White City was a big track, around 440 yards, with long M1-type straights and tight hairpin corners, and I always remember that Tommy with his highly polished black leathers and white socks over his black boots, was lighting fast from the gate and had an "armchair" style, throwing his bike sideways as he crossed over the starting gate every lap and sliding 3/4 the way down the straight and into the corners under full control. Most riders at that time waited a bit longer before sliding into the corners. "Atomic Tommy", as Ian Hoskins called him, was unbeatable around White City and won all his races from the gate, scoring maximums every week, so he was not my favourite Tiger at the time. That was "Hurri-Ken" McKinlay, who used to gate dead last and finish first and was always spectacular to watch. In his later days with Leicester and West Ham, Ken was one of the fastest starters in the sport, so it just shows that "Practice Makes Perfect"! Haggis

Don't worry, Ian, Sunderland ARE part of the Speedway family. I will check that the Sunderland poster is on display and thanks for sending them in. Haggis