norbold

No.

I remember the 40th, steve!

Oh right, thanks. Well, we've got another five years yet to plan for that which probably means, if British Speedway runs true to form, somewhere around 1st Feb 2028, they'll start to think about it….

The 100th anniversary was probably many years ago, steve!

I suppose we are going to have to put up with this erroneous nonsense all year now! "Eurosport "The 2023 FIM Speedway Grand Prix calendar has been confirmed as venues across eight different countries host FIM Speedway World Championships action in the sport's 100th season. "A century on from the first speedway event in 1923, the sport’s current generation of stars will mark a huge anniversary season with another epic year of 500cc, no-brakes, wheel-to-wheel racing on the most famous stages."

Ove has been my favourite since my very first speedway meeting in 1960, even though he was riding for the opposition! He scored an 18 point maximum for Norwich against New Cross that night. His sheer class put him head and shoulders above the other riders and he continued to be far and away the best rider at New Cross in 1960 and 1961 (apart from two memorable nights when Jack Young somehow found his early 50s form). There was also the memorable occasion in 1967 when I took a group of fellow students from Norwich, who knew very little about speedway, to the World Final and said I was supporting Ove, and, as none of them knew much about speedway, they duly joined me and did so as well. Of course, as we know, he won in spite of being past his best by then. It was quite a party we had that night! It is still my opinion that of all the riders I have actually seen, Ove is the greatest. His sheer determination, skill and will to win, in my opinion puts him above Mauger, Rickardsson and anyone else. In the last 20/25 years or so, I have come to know Ove personally and count him as a good friend. He is a real gentleman and very modest about his own achievements. He continues to show a real interest in the sport and is willing to spend hours talking to fans and supporters in general. The only other Swede I would speak of as a favourite of mine is Bjorn Knutson. I only really saw him for the one year he was West Ham captain, but, again, for that year, he was class personified and a firm fan favourite.

The 1963 final was the first one I went to. I was sitting with my friend next to a group of Coventry supporters who we chatted to during the meeting. Perhaps we met in another life, jrs!

One would have been helpful at times!

Excellent lunch at the King's Oak today to celebrate the 95th anniversary of speedway in this country. I found myself sitting between Bert Harkins and Jim McMillan with Len Silver on the same table. Len, who is 91, was in great form with plenty of stories and anecdotes. The after-dinner speaker, who gave an illustrated history of High Beech, was good too!

Cheers, Bob.

Indeed it is. But that's because it sold so many first hand copies that statistically some were bound to turn up in charity shops later. I can't say I have any complaints!

Mine. "Pie 'n' Mash & Prefabs. Still available on Amazon and at all good book shops.

Youngie was a real master at New Cross. Although past his best by 1960, he was able to beat anyone at New Cross, including the "Big Five" and frequently did. I'm not sure I agree about Craven. I have to say I was never that impressed with him during my first two years of speedway (1960 & 1961) at New Cross and never thought he was in the same class as Fundin, Briggs and Ronnie Moore (and Youngie!) Of course he was but never seemed to be at New Cross.

This was indeed Briggo's view. Bjorn Knutson, on the other hand, thought the quickest way round Custom House was the inside. To settle the matter they had a match race one evening with Bjorn off gate one and Briggo off gate three. Almost as soon as they started they swapped positions with Bjorn going round the outside of Briggo on the first two bends. The race was won by Bjorn, thus proving Briggo right!

My two home tracks, Steve.

I have just heard from my good friend, man in black, Terry Stone, who tells me the first annual get-together at High Beech was in 1992. So I am prepared now to correct the speaker in case he makes a mistake in his speech.

A question. This year will see the 95th anniversary of the first meeting at High Beech. A special lunch is being held by the WSRA on 19 February to celebrate this event, with, I understand, an excellent guest speaker. Because it is a special anniversary, this year's celebration is being held at the original home, King's Oak. Since 2009, the annual celebration has been held at Paradise Wildlife Park, site of the Speedway Museum. Prior to that it was held at the King's Oak and organised by John Chaplin and Peter Lipscomb under their "Vintage Speedway Magazine" banner. The question is, does anyone know when John and Peter first organised the annual event? In which year?

469 at the home fixture against Luton Town on Saturday 6th December 1930.

Done my bit, though we didn't get off to a good start! The presenter of the programme, Steve Scruton, rang me on Wednesday to ask me if I could take part in the programme. He said the only track he knew about was Rayleigh and asked me if I ever went there. I told him that I only went there once or twice. So, he started off the interview with me this morning by saying he understood I was a regular at Rayleigh and must have lots of memories of the place that I could talk about. Doh!!!

The tracks I have on my list to talk about are High Beech, Dagenham, West Ham, Rayleigh, Walthamstow, Lea Bridge and Arena Essex/Lakeside. Romford is a bit of a funny one because it was in Essex until 1965 but, there was no speedway there until 1969, by which time it was in London! Although there was a team called Romford before the War which operated from the Dagenham track. The researcher I spoke to, thought I also ought to mention Rye House as it is very close to Essex and a lot of Essexians (or whatever we are called) would have gone there.

Tomorrow morning (10 December), starting at 10 a.m., BBC Essex will be broadcasting a programme about lost Essex sports stadiums. As part of this, at about 10:30, I am being interviewed about the lost speedway tracks of Essex. It is a phone-in programme, so it would be good if any of you could phone in with memories of speedway in Essex.

Yes, but don't mention it too loudly as we will probably get a string of posts about Jimmy Gibb from someone.....

Better than me. I only managed runner-up at Pontin's, Isle of Wight in 1992!

Without giving too much away, I am older and still play competitive table tennis. My team captain is 84! Must be an old boys' game.

Absolutely well worth it. Both the Museum and the Wildlife Park are worth a visit on their own, let alone getting to see both.