norbold

But if he hadn't been there we wouldn't know and we would remember them for some other reason. They wouldn't be remembered as the Olympics Jesse Owens missed.

Absolutely, Rob. The American clean sweep in the 1937 Speedway World Championship is much quoted as well as Jack Milne's individual win that year. Does anyone know, remember or care that arguably the greatest rider of that period, Bluey Wilkinson, missed the final due to injury?

Olympic Games 1980 and 1984; Wimbledon 1973. All proved that the event is bigger than individuals or even whole teams.

You're beginning to sound like Muddlo, SCB.

Over two days without a mention of Darcy Ward or Middlo. Ooops! Damn!

Perhaps Darcy can be an expert pundit. He can explain what riders get up to the night before a GP.....

Sweden? There are far more English riders.

And of course, you're not actually comparing like with like as Walthamstow (if that's your 6th London track) was in the 2nd Division, so you should also count Hackney in the Provincial League in 1964, making three London Clubs, not two.

Still irrelevant to the subject under discussion. In any case in 1964 Hackney, West Ham and Wimbledon were all open and joined in 1970 by Wembley. So for the first two years of the 1970s there were four London tracks open.in the British League.

If you've never eaten there how do you know you detest it?

As it happens you are wrong. It's Goddard's that's almost opposite Douglas Way. Manzes is on the corner with Lamerton Street.

The op was talking about the 60s and 70s, so it's quite immaterial that the Sun wasn't around in the 1940s/50s.

There is a Manzes on Deptford High Street, also Goddard's. Both of them are still there.

Nice to see the book reached no.2 in Amazon's best selling philosopher biographies. Never thought of myself as a philosopher before, but it does have a nice ring to it....

Indeed. Manzes is still spoken of in hushed and reverential tones by the Pie & Mash cognoscenti....

My dad used to bring home the Evening News from work every night. One evening, the 11th May 1960 to be precise, I looked at the paper he brought home and saw that New Cross were racing Norwich that evening. I said, "Can we go?" He said, "Yes." The rest is history!

I remember the Daily Express Spring Classic as White Knight says, but I don't recall a meeting where every race was sponsored by a different newspaper.

Damn! I've been outed.

45 days?

I lived right next door to Clapton Greyhound Stadium. We certainly knew all about it on Thursday and Saturday evenings...

When I first mentoned Hackney and unwittingly started off this controversy, that was the period I was really thinking of - pre 1984.

Writing books gives me something to do in my retirement.

I understand there is a brilliant new book being published today. All about growing up in Hackney in the 1950s and 60s and contains a part about going to speedway in the 60s and how the author came to be named after a speedway rider...Looks good. More info here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pie-Mash-Prefabs-1950s-Childhood/dp/1784181234/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425542499&sr=1-1&keywords=Norman+Jacobs

According to Peter Morrish's book, the Newcastle v. Sheffield match was not restaged.and the points were awarded to Newcastle.

I'm sure there must be a joke there somewhere about a pickled onion..... Snap!