norbold

That's very sad, TTF, that you should take sport so seriously....

Thanks for that, keith, an interesting snippet. But what about Crasher Coxhead?

Oh god! Norbold don't I actually am the proud owner of his record "Speedway" So you're the person who bought it. I often wondered who it was... ;-)

Reg was one of my favourites too (him and Jimmy Gooch). He was also my favourite at West Ham. I was very upset when he was swapped for Olle Nygren. A great character with a great singing voice (!) if I remember correctly...

I'm with you there Star Lady! Jason Crump for this year though.

OK, I know we've done this before (nicknames), but I was reading an article on 1929 by Denys Jones in the latest article of Vintage Speedway Magazine and I was struck by the colourful names employed in the early days of the sport. These are just some of the names of riders who appeared in the Northern League (English League) in 1929: Dusty Haigh Buster Breaks Skid Knock Slider Shuttleworth Nobby Kendrick Sprouts Griffiths Skid Pelvin Crasher Coxhead Smoky Stratton Bronco Dixon Yank Harrison Skid Skinner Speed Formby Bunny Wilcox Riskit Riley Smoke Robinson Skid Hanley I wonder what Crasher Coxhead did to earn his nickname? And as for Smoke Robinson, didn't he later go on to be a singer..... Where are they now??? Sigh!!!

A crash at Natestved in Denmark mid way through the 1954 season left Ronnie Moore with a leg in plaster and his knee broken in five places. After two months out of action Ronnie managed to qualify for his fifth World Final despite the handicap of a still mending leg. On World Final night itself he was wearing a metal brace to support his broken knee.

Ronnie Moore WON the World Final with a broken leg.

As I said on another thread if Crumpy hadn't run out of fuel in the Slovenian Grand Prix he would now be at least 13 points in front. I just hope he wins as he deserves it.

I now have a very rich Polish work colleague!

Should be fascinating, DavyH. Do you have a name for this rider?

Better to have Wimbledon in the Conference League than no Wimbledon at all. Let's just take our time on this one, eh and let the crowds build round the success of the Dons in the Conference arena?

Damn! You've spotted my weakness....

There isn't much in the way of general statistics. There are a few year books by Peter Oakes - 1991, 1993 and 1999. Other than that there are more specific histories like the "Speedway in ..." Tempus series and Robert Bamford's World Championship History. Hope that helps.

I think the Pride of the East started in 1957 at Norwich. The first few winners were: 1957: Ove Fundin 1958: Peter Craven 1959: Peter Craven 1960: Bjorn Knutsson 1961: Peter Craven 1962: Bjorn Knutsson Now you can dazzle them with your knowledge at King's Lynn!! ;-)

Thanks for the info, sm. I have a colleague at work who is Polish and a speedway fanatic. He has just put £20 on Gollob because he says the track is being prepared specially for him (Gollob that is, not my colleague). What a surprise, eh?

Is there any more news on Crumpy's injury?

That's a very interesting article, pf, but I'm not sure about the dates. As far as I know, Lionel Van Praag, for example, was not one of the very early Australian arrivals in this country. He came over in 1931 when the sport was fairly well established. Bluey Wilkinson was earlier, but not one of the earliest. 1929 I believe was his first year in this country. Still, some good stuff and you must be excited to find your father was one of the pioneers.

But it is Norway! How much is going to the right airport worth?

If you want to go on Wednesday 1 October and come back on Sunday 5 October, you can get free flights to Oslo from Ryanair. Just thought I'd mention it.....

In the photograph I have of him he has a little goatee type beard. I'll e-mail you a copy if you let me have your e-mail address.

There's a good one of him in "Speedway in the South East" I believe...

Perhaps your uncle Ted saw a ghost, Shazzy. Nothing would surprise me where Tyburn is concerned!

I have been trying to remember why I thought Tyburn Gallows was no longer with us and have just discovered where I got this - obviously erroneous - information from. He is marked as such in the 1999 list of members of the Veteran Riders Association. (It's the latest one I have). Does anyone have a more up to date list where this has been corrected? Steve? And yes, Tyburn Gallows did ride for Canterbury in 1968. In fact he took part in the first-ever race in the British League Second Division, lining up with Lex Milloy against Taffy Owen and Ken Eyre of Belle Vue Colts. I won't embarrass Shazzy or Steve by revealing the score!

Don't know if this is the right thread to continue this but I can highly recommend kiwi's magazine. I've taken out my subscription. (Have you got my letter yet?). It's very well produced with lots of interesting info on New Zealand riders in England or at sea in Maury Dunn's case! Well worth the £10 subscription.