Robyn1972

and isn't a thread started by someone to wish a rider LUCK in the GP an inappropriate place to be discussing it?!

Hmmmm....glad I didn't go above 75 on the way to Swindon the other week then!

I wouldn't panic until wednesday's post has been and gone if I were you - if they haven't turned up by Thursday then is the time to follow the instructions on the site I should imagine.

Suggestion spanky - stick them on in their individual years not all as one batch.!

with all the cash that the FA has ploughed into the new stadium I can't see it being likely that they'd be willing to go through the hassle of having the corners of the pitch lifted etc. I also suspect that if they were going to stray away from football they could get a higher fee from a big rock concert.

Oddly enough, I think that this season they ARE being tougher. There does seem to be a lot more races pulled back now for "unsatisfactory start" and you also hear the announcement that the ref is warning the rider in XX to keep still at the start. The truly annoying thing is when an opposition rider moves at the start and then one of yours reacts to it and gets excluded.....GRRRR!

See thread in Speedway general discussions regarding another attendee.......

Ipswich have a meeting the night after VV, but nothing the night before. If I get the chance to speak with Chris tomorrow I'll ask him if he intends going along.

First one for me this year, and my Husband is coming along as well so that's 2 more! Can't wait - have heard so much about the whole experience I'm counting the days now!

Judging by the looks of your teams over the years Steve - are you sure you don't mean home of foreign speedway?!!! Poor Poor scotty tonight - he must have been gutted at not making the semis after those battling rides to get there. A MUCH better night for him tonight though. Was also pleased that Hans DID make the semis, but I still think that the champion this year has to be Tony. I said prior to the first GP that I thought this would be his year for his 6th, and I'll be sticking with that! Thought Lindback's gestures when he was excluded were a bit pointless (bit like he was in that heat, really! ) - a fair call from the ref though watching the line Lindback too from the start he really tried to lean on Scott but in the end he came of worst. Never mind - plenty more years for him yet - he'll learn! Rider of the night would have to be Zagar though - fantastic to see him doing so well and obviously so pleased with himself too - brilliant!

nice response there Bryn - well said. As for the earlier comment about Andy being a dirty rider, again I can only say that in my opinion there is nothing further from the truth. graham are you sure you're not confusing Andy with someone else? I'm not being sarky there - I honestly do wonder as there was not anything dirty about Andy's riding, and to describe him as the "King of the Knock off" is misguided at best. There were a few riders around at that time who fit into my mind as being pretty dirty, (I'm not going to name names but I should imagine there are a good few who remember their NL speedway from the late 80's who would come up with the right names if I said Mildenhall & Rye House!!) but Andy would not be one of them. I was sorry to hear about Andy's injuries - he was a fine rider at NL level and with the same kind of turnaround in fitness and determination as Dave Norris seems to have had over the past few years, could have cracked the top level. I do recall that he said around the time of his benefit meeting though that there was no question of him being able to get back on a bike again ever, as it would literally be putting his life on the line - now he's a family man I would think that would be a risk he would never be prepared to take. Best of luck to him, whatever.

Tigerblade - would be nice to finally meet you after all these years - you'll have to let me know. As for where we're sitting - got our tickets through the Ippo supporters club so will be with like-minded individuals! haven't a clue where - it was on the site but I didn't take much notice.....!

15 years ago - blimey - doesn't seem that long! That was a bloomin' long trip, but well worth it! See here... Scoie @ Glasgow

Anything from 1990 Robyn1972 would be fantastic. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> OK - needless to say I will be at Ipswich tomorrow night and Arena on friday (weather permitting - surely Leigh can't be unlucky again?!) but will send some over the weekend.

i have looked through my pictures and this is the only one i can find that has Roland in ... it's at a Hackney training morning in 1988 and i am about 90% sure number 24 is Roland. number 29 is Ian Cox and number 21 is me <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah - I'll back you on that Steve - would recognise those 'orrible leathers anywhere!

I was doing LOTS of portrait stuff around 90/91 - I know I have some decent stuff of Dave Hamnett as I did a couple of rolls of film for him. Just checking my album - I can do you a couple of Dave, at least one of him with Tim Korneliusson........Scoie, Paul Whittaker, Michael Warren, (Including one of him in the famous "He's not my Dad!" T-shirt!). I also some some poor quality pictures from '88 end of season celebrations - an extremely shale-covered and very young Mark Loram for example.... Bizarrely I can't find ANY pics of Roly......at least none that he would thank me for providing to you! Let me know which if any of the above would be of interest and I'll get scanning!

I assume the proposed "superdome" development never came to anything? Such a shame - a track I never got too which I would have loved to have done.

From the last few years of Hackney running this time..... - are you going to (or have you) contacted Roland Pollard? Lost touch with him a few years ago now and would love to see him again!

Sadly Robyn, he succumbed to "The Big C" <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's really sad. Thanks for explaining Bryn.

Yes, two of my uncles are looking forward to the reunion for those from the earlier era only. They went to Hackney from 1936 to 1939. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Robyn 1972, the Re-union will be celebrating Hackney Speedway from the pre-war days right up until the end including the Kestrels. Mr Norbold seems to think it's only for the earlier era! Where he has got that idea from, I really do know! Hopefully most of the riders you have listed Robyn will be there, however Michael Warren died a couple of years ago. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks for that Paul. I hadn't heard about Micky - what happened?

One question - this reunion still sounds like a great idea but is it solely going to be for those from the earlier era? I only got introduced to speedway in 1987 so the Kestrels are "my Hackney". Paul Whittaker, Moggo, Chris Louis of course, Thommo, Schoie, Micky Warren...... Terry Heath's kids - June and I were good mates - she and I had the loan of an old bike that she used to ride at training school on a saturday. Great fun! Lost touch with her years back. Remember the gang of us going out with terry in the coach to do the run back to Stratford after the meetings - we would all sit on the back seat on the way back to the stadium with Terry screaming round the bends in Carpenters road trying to scare the crap out of us!

I'd be interested in this for sure! Would be great to see a few old faces again.

LOL - yes - it could get a bit like that sometimes! I used to get the bus from Walthamstow to Leyton high road - then walk from there to the stadium......a lovely walk on a sunny saturday for training school, not so nice on a dark Friday evening though! It would be lethal now as you would have to cross all the slip roads onto and off of the new A12 - not a route I would fancy using! The worst Places I ever tried to get to by "walking from the station" were Mildenhall anhd Ipswich - both a Bloomin' long way from their nearest stations I can tell you! Like a fool I believed the person who told me it was "only" 3 or 4 miles to Foxhall.....hmmm! More like 6 as I now know! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hey, small World Robyn, I've got relations darn the 'stow. I got the tube to Bromley-by-Bow and therefore had to go the other way to you. As you couldn't walk down the duel carriageway you had to go round the backstreets and that was no fun. You say it's six miles from the track to the station in Ipswich, but how far is it in Mildenhall? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ahh - but I gave up walking at about 5 miles that day....happened to chance upon a phone booth with a local cab company's card in! £5 well spent if you ask me?!!! Every second person I speak to at speedway seems to know Walthamstow. CrazySue spent a lot of tiome there when she was younger, and a chap I got friendly with at Ipswich this year and knew I knew from somewhere, turned out to have been at School with me!

LOL - yes - it could get a bit like that sometimes! I used to get the bus from Walthamstow to Leyton high road - then walk from there to the stadium......a lovely walk on a sunny saturday for training school, not so nice on a dark Friday evening though! It would be lethal now as you would have to cross all the slip roads onto and off of the new A12 - not a route I would fancy using! The worst Places I ever tried to get to by "walking from the station" were Mildenhall anhd Ipswich - both a Bloomin' long way from their nearest stations I can tell you! Like a fool I believed the person who told me it was "only" 3 or 4 miles to Foxhall.....hmmm! More like 6 as I now know!

Seems amazing now, but when I was about 17 (before I passed my driving test) my weekly trips by public transport were Monday - Reading Wednesday - wimbledon Thursday - Ipswich Friday - Hackney Saturday - Sometimes Arena Essex Sunday - Rye House. Looking back now I'm amazed I could ever afford it, but at the time the main advantage I had money-wise was that, being short, I appeared much younger than my real age, so I used to get into tracks all over the place at Child rates. The year I passed my driving test I arrived at the pay-booths at Arena Essex proudly at the wheel of my Red & Silver Fiat 127, and came face to face with the same woman who'd been letting me in at child prices on a regular basis all season! Oops! Another good money-saving trick that I recall for going to Ipswich on the train was to buy an open return which was slightly more expensive than the cheap-day option, but had the advantage of the return portion being valid for the next three months, so long as you didn't get it punched on the train. It was very rare that there was a ticket inspector on the last train back from Ipswich, but on the occasions that there were, my favoured method of avoidance was simply to feign sleep. They never used to fret about waking you up to do the ticket! This then enabled me to buy the considerably cheaper single ticket for the next few weeks! I should add that this is NOT something I would consider doing these days - but this was before the days of prosecution for fare evasion! Another good one was when they were doing rebuilding work at Liverpool Street in 1991. I arrived at the station at a run as usual straight from work - headed to my usual platform, and jumped on board the train. about 30 seconds before departure there was an announcement which omitted Ipswich from the list of stopping places. In a panic I leapt off the train, leaving my brand new Witches jacket on the overhead rack! By the time I realised what I'd done the train was leaving. Upon finding a member of staff, I was told that the announcement was wrong, and that was the train I should have got anyway! As a result I was allowed to get the Intercity (Norwich) train which would get me to Ippo only 10 minutes later, AND a call was put in to the driver of the other train to put my jacket off at Ipswich! I left the Intercity at Ipswich to be met by a smiling station Manager holding my jacket! (AND I made it to the track on time!)