norbold

P.s. The 1964 Ullevi World Final Programme also has double s.

The 1961 Malmo World Final programme has it spelt with double s.

This is true, Steve. Even authoritative books such as Speedway in London spell it Knutsson with double "s". However, I understand that the correct spelling of his name is with one "s" but when he came to England the programmes and magazines spelt it with two and he couldn't be bothered to correct it so he just let it go. ooops - overlapped with you there, Jim!

Hmmmm.....

And his name is Knutson.

Allen Trump told me that he has some pre-War correspondence between Sir Arthur Elvin and H.R. "Ginger" Lees, in which he wrote to Lees as "Dear Ginger", so his ban on the name in Wembley programmes didn't extend to his personal correspondence.

Further to my comment above, Billy Galloway and Keith McKay put on an exhibition race with two of the local riders at Audenshaw on 3 March 1928. The race was won by McKay after Galloway suffered engine failure. Although I have seen no report of the race it could be that Galloway at least (given Ross's remarks regarding McKay) practised sliding in this race, which, if so, would beat the second High Beech meeting by just over a month as the first time broadsiding was seen in Britain.

I don't know about other tracks. Sir Arthur Elvin refused to use the name "Ginger" in Wembley's programmes as it was a bit "downmarket"! He insisted on Lees having his initials, H.R., printed in the programme. I don't remember seeing any away programmes of the period featuring Lees. Interesting point!

Yes, that's true. Of course it was expected that Galloway and McKay would demonstrate the art of broadsliding at the first High Beech meeting but, owing to the nature of the track, they were unable to do so. Galloway also suffered from another difficulty and that was that he was unable to use his own bike and instead had to borrow Freddie Dixon's Isle of Man TT machine with road racing gearing. Even worse for Galloway was the fact that he never managed to get out of bottom gear because, as he said afterwards, he didn't know how to. This also shows, of course, that the bikes had gears as well as brakes at that first meeting.

There's only one Morian Hansen...as the song goes.

Yes, Maldwyn Jones and Eddie Brinck are credited with "inventing" broadsiding in America in the early 1920s, long before either the West Maitland meeting or the High Beech meeting. As far as I know the brakes had come off and sliding the norm in Australia well before High Beech; though when it first happened in Australia I am not sure. High Beech was a dirt track, though, like Droylsden, not made for sliding. At the end of the day, top Australian promoter, A J Hunting, told Jack Hill-Bailey (the promoter of the High Beech meeting), "My boy, you're all wrong - this isn't the way to run a dirt-track meeting." The official ACU report of the meeting made a number of recommendations including widening the track by a further 16 feet and also recommended that "certain parts of the track be rolled at intervals, and then raked over to a depth of two inches in order to retain sufficient looseness to permit skidding." It was probably at High Beech's second meeting on 9 April that broadsiding was seen for the first time in England when Australian Digger Pugh and two British riders, Colin Watson and Alf Medcalf, showed how it was done. The Motor Cycle magazine commented, "For the first time in this country real, honest-to-goodness broadsiding was seen..."

Steve Langton and Tiger Hart both rode at Eastbourne in 1930.

Merv Harding Doug McLachlan

As has been said above, Ron, I suppose it depends on what you mean by speedway. Even at Britain's "first" meeting at High Beech there was no sliding and the bikes had brakes which were used as it was considered "unethical" to put your foot on the ground. When did the brakes come off? That's the question.

Leif Berlin rode for Wolverhampton 1975-6.

It was Jens Erik Krause Kjaer Also Bengt Norregaard

Denmark Baltzar Hansen Jan Henningsen Kurt Pedersen Preben Rosenkilde and the little known Jan O Pedersen..

Just a minor point - it's Doug Davies not Davis.

Well, you were warned!

Hilary Buchanan and Jack Bishop rode for White City (London) Buzz Hibberd rode for West Ham

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Welcome to the BSF, Ross. About time you found us!

The biggest gates for speedway were just after the War in the late 1940s. There were probably three main reasons for the decline in gates. 1. Entertainment Tax. Although sports were partially exempt from this tax, which at one time, in the early 1950s, went up to over 60% of gate money, speedway for some strange reason wasn't exempt as it was classed as a trial of speed and not a sport. 93,000 people witnessed the 1950 World Final with £22,600 being taken at the gate. If it had been a football match the total tax bill would have been £3100, because it was speedway the tax bill was £10,200. This was, of course, being repeated at all tracks up and down the country. The tax was crippling many smaller tracks. Either the promoters had to absorb it, which most couldn't, or they had to put admission prices up, which drove people away. 2. Television! 3. Just after the War people were looking for some excitement after the long dark days of the War. Speedway fitted the bill admirably, but, as time went, on I think the sheer excitement element of it palled for many people and just left the hard core supporters. Life was returning to normal and there were other things to do...

I'd go along with that, Ian.