norbold

So, in the meetings I saw him in he scored at an average of 8.15 (including bonus points). Not bad, but not quite Big Five status.

No, because I was asking about New Cross home matches.

Yes, I know he won that, but I didn't start going till 1960! Do you have any stats for Craven's appearances at New Cross before I start working through my programmes to see how correct my memory is?

Without looking up statistics and going purely from memory, all I can remember about Bjorn is that he seemed to win every race he was in at West Ham! I can't really remember him team riding, but I don't think he was as selfish as Briggo or Ove in the sense of knocking his own team mates out the way to get to the front - he was already there! I saw Peter Craven mainly at New Cross and I don't think he ever really got to grips with the track. I always thought, purely from seeing him at the Frying Pan, that he was the worst of the Big Five, though that certainly wasn't the case looking at the overall statistics. So, I don't really remember him team riding much as he was struggling himself a lot of the time.

Sorry, is this a new rule that you can bring in a tactical substitute when you are tied?

Put them on the centre green like the first meeting at High Beech.

This is going to be a testing three heats for Kelvin's maths!

Yes, sorry I've taken so long to answer your question BOBBATH, but I agree with the above comment on Ove Fundin. Even though he is now a good friend of mine, I have to say he was just as ruthless as Briggo and was not one for team riding!

For me, I think the highlight was the 1975 season. John Berry assembled a team of completely local riders - John Louis, Tony Davey, Mike Lanham, Mick Hines, Trevor Jones, Ted Howgego, Dave Gooderham and Billy Sanders, by now fully domiciled in Suffolk. Just those eight riders were used all season and they carried all before them, with Ipswich winning the league for the first time in its history. I can't think there has ever been a team anywhere made up completely of local riders that so completely dominated the league.

When I wrote my small booklet on Briggs and Moore, I spoke to a number of Wimbledon riders about this very subject. Their view was unanimous. Moore was the greatest; Briggs treated them like one of the opposition! This is what Bob Andrews said (and it is fairly typical of them all): "...he {Ronnie] knew I could gate. He said "get to the first bend first, and leave a gap at about a foot from the line, if I need to I will come through." Bob said that's how they got a lot of 5-1s. He went on to say, "I then had a season riding with Barry - oh my God! I would gate, then leave a foot of room in case he wanted to come through. Usually, by the next bend, he would not just come through, but he would hang me on the fence. Briggs was a selfish rider."

Helmet camera - aaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Farndon did fall a lot in his early days. It was probably due to his leg trailing style of riding as he leaned his bike over and nearer to the ground than other riders of his time. The other reason that his scoring wasn't as high as it perhaps might have been was he suffered from engine failures. In the days before riders had armies of mechanics and helpers in the pits, Farndon just wasn't very good at machine maintenance. It was said that Freddie Mockford used to send someone round the track after every one of Farndon's race to pick up the bits that fallen off his bike during the race.

I absolutely agree that record books don't tell the whole story. Chunky asked me earlier whether I thought Tom Farndon was as good as Ove or Bjorn. I really can't answer that. Obviously I never saw Farndon ride. But I do think he is a good case in point where record books in themselves don't tell the whole story. Again without looking them up, I would say that the record books would show he did not have quite as good a record as other riders of the pre-War era, Bluey Wilkinson for example. However, reading contemporary newspaper reports and other eye-witness accounts, I don't think there is any doubt that he was idolised like no other rider in the history of the sport. It was of film star proportions. Does that make him the greatest and therefore greater than Fundin, Mauger, Rickardsson, Zmarzlik? I don't know. Probably not in terms of achievements, in fact certainly not, but in terms of what he meant to speedway as a whole, then probably yes. On the points you raise, E I, I always consider the 1960s and early 70s to be "my" era for speedway. I used to go two or three times a week, went to all the big meetings, followed the goings on avidly in the speedway press and so on. To my mind, Ove Fundin was just the absolute greatest rider of my era. Again I don't know whether that can be backed up by record books and statistics, in fact probably not when compared to Mauger, but there was just something about seeing Fundin ride. The absolute thrill of seeing the master in action. Mauger never gave me that same feeling. In a funny way, he was just too professional and efficient. As far as Ronnie Moore is concerned he was, as you say, probably the most naturally talented of the lot. He could ride the inside, the outside, slow races down, speed them up, do everything you could with a bike. He was a great team man and would always look for his team mate to shepherd him home. To Ronnie, the team was everything and I think, in a way, this was his undoing when it came to individual events. In spite of his near perfect bike control, he did not have that ruthless streak of a Fundin or a Briggs and I think that's what led to his probably not winning as many World titles as his talent should have won him. There is one other rider I would like to mention and that is Jack Young. I only ever saw him in the early 1960s when he was well past his best. But older supporters I knew used to reminisce about seeing him in the early 50s and many thought he was the greatest rider they had ever seen. In two successive weeks in 1961, he won the King of the South Cup and the Tom Farndon Memorial Trophy at New Cross and he was absolutely stunning. In the course of these wins, he beat Briggs (twice), Fundin, Moore (twice) and Knutson. He was absolutely brilliant and showed what he must have been like in the early 50s at his peak. I always consider it a privilege to have got this glimpse of Youngie at his best and understood why the older supporters rated him as the best ever.

Thank you, Chunky. I'm glad my memory is still holding out!

I had the great honour of seeing Bjorn destroy the opposition week after week at West Ham in 1964. He was immaculate. However, over the period you mention, I would have to say that Ove was the dominant force, not just over Bjorn, but over every other rider. Now off to check the record books to see if they confirm my memory of those times.

Go for it, Chunky. It's the sort of thing I would like as well.

I think you are correct about the source of the pungent smell. However, I don't recall Branston ever being manufactured in Hackney. In my time in London, it was manufactured in Bermondsey near where my Mum was born and brought up. Branston was made by Crosse & Blackwell. I don't think they were ever responsible for Bovril.

Being from the area and therefore having a number of books on Hackney, I thought I would delve into this Bovril controversy a bit more. It would appear that Bovril was at one time manufactured in a factory in nearby Shoreditch and that when the Olympic Park was being constructed, dozens of old Bovril bottles were found on the site and it is thought that there must be literally thousands of old Bovril bottles buried in Hackney Wick on the site of the old refuse tip there. Maybe the smell was still coming up out of the ground!

As well as, not instead of.

Also a large Clarnico factory. I wonder if they were experimenting with Bovril flavoured chocolates....

Yes, he won two races in the West Ham v. Glasgow match in 1968. In the first he beat George Barclay, Barry Crowson and Brian Whaley and in the second he beat George Barclay with Oyvind Berg falling and Stan Stevens having e/f. In his other two races that night he came last.

West Ham v Glasgow April 1966... Bill McMillan 3 rides, 4 points. West Ham v Glasgow August 1965...Bill McMillan 3 rides 2 points. West Ham v. Glasgow August 1968...Bill McMillan 4 rides 6 points

I was going to say much the same thing. Like you, I must have seen him a number of times. I'm sure stats don't lie and you must have a good reason for saying he did well at West Ham, Beirao, but I don't really remember him there or any stand out performances.

Yes and she did. That's why I can't understand it!

Talking of Facebook's strange quirks. I have just been informed by them that a comment on a site I administer has been take down because it goes against community standards. This is the post in question: "We left in 1982, it was a great place to grow up and have fantastic memories of being there with my mum and dad Rose & Lou." This was on a post about Jaywick. As you can see this undoubtedly breaks all sorts of rules, though I have to admit I am not quite sure which ones at the moment. In addition, the comment was posted in February this year, so it has taken them four months to get round to removing it. Who knows what damage and mental anguish could have been caused to members of the page I administer by this scurrilous comment before they took it down?