Buck

I hope that supporters wanting to use public transport to get to Perry Barr Stadium, will find this information useful: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All buses to the stadium from Birmingham City Centre start in ALBERT STREET which is a short walk from MOOR STREET rail station. From the station, cross the road and turn right. Albert Street is the third street down on the left, recognisable by the large carpark on the corner. Bus Number 33 (B'ham to Pheasey) stops outside the stadium entrance. and Bus number 51 (Not 51X) stops at the One Stop Shopping Precinct opposite the stadium. Both have a journey time of approximately 20 minutes. (bus number 51X passes the stadium but doesn't stop there!) Bus numbers 907 B'ham to Sutton-Coldfield), 934 (B'ham to Walsall via Pheasey) 935 B'ham to Walsall via Streetly), 936 (B'ham to Brownhills via Walsall Wood), 937 (B'ham to Brownhills via Boney Hay) and 997 (B'ham to Rushall via Aldridge) are all express services which each have only four stopping places before reaching the stadium, and all stop in Aldridge Road right outside the stadium. All of these routes run at ten minutes intervals and all have a journey time of approximately 8 minutes. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trains leave Birmingham New Street on the hour and on the half hour and have a journey time of 12 minutes. Perry Barr Station is a 5 minute walk from the stadium. Return trains (after speedway meetings) leave Perry Barr Station at 21 and 33 minutes past the hour. The last train from Perry Barr to New Street leaves at 22.21. Trains from Walsall also call at Perry Barr at 12 and 42 minutes past the hour with a journey time of 15 minutes. The last Perry Barr to Walsall train is at 23.12. I hope that

I never cease to be amazed by some of the comments which appear on this forum. I was at Perry Barr last evening, and thoroughly enjoyed the meeting which in my opinion was one of the most entertaining and eventful that I have seen for some time. I was at the stadium for 7 hours and was able to see for myself how much time and work was spent on the preparation of the track which was watered continuously from 6.30 in the morning. Yes, it did dry out towards the end of the meeting but what else do people expect with the long spell of dry, sunny and windy weather we have enjoyed of late? It seems to me that there is a hard core of so-called speedway fans who read negative comments and cannot help jumping on the bandwagon and adding similar ones themselves - being critical just for the sake of it! Birmingham's track curator John Priest does a good job under difficult circumstances which seriously limit the time he has to work on the circuit, and he is assisted by Terry Chrabascz and Terry's son Gareth who both a have deserved reputations for their work on track preparation, so continuous criticism from people who live many miles away from Birmingham and do not attend meetings themselves is unwarranted. I watched the meeting - I haven't watched the stream, but I enjoyed what I saw. Ipswich were the better team and they deserved to win, but Birmingham put up a very good fight and the meeting produced some good racing and a close finish. Of all the supporters from both teams I spoke with afterwards, had enjoyed what they had viewed.

I've also taken Speedway Star for a very long time - since I first followed Birmingham in 1953, and I think they do very well to produce such a good quality magazine - especially during the close-season when there is not too much going on for them to report on. If I have a criticism, I think far too much space is devoted to foreign affairs. Last week there was a double page spread about a training camp in Denmark and this week's edition has an extensive similar feature which has just taken place in Poland. There is also the weekly "Polish Scene" and quite extensive reports of European, Australian, and American events and plans, none of which I find particularly interesting. Rider interviews are tending to be a bit repetitive too - with a big overuse of the description "cool" in too many of them - and I dislike and object to, the growing use of casual bad language in some features. These are generally, fairly minor criticisms and I'd say overall, that Speedway Star is still a pretty good read.

Very depressing to read of this latest development which only mirrors the case of Hall Green Stadium in South Birmingham which is now no more. An application to build houses on the stadium side was submitted to Birmingham City Council. The chief Planning Officer recommended approval, but the Planning Committee voted by 9 to 2 to refuse the plans and to retain the stadium. This was an emphatic decision and should have been the end of it, but no, the Chief Planning Officer re-submitted the application at the next meeting along with a warning that (in his opinion) the Council might be liable for compensation if the application went to appeal, so the Planning Committee gave way, and approved it. A justifiable complaint about the unfairness of the system produced the response that the Planning Officer was within his rights to take the action that he did - a clear example of the one-sidedness of the planning procedure, and of the way that Councils can change and distort matters that don't go the way that they want. This is no compensation for all of the Peterborough people who have worked so hard to try to save their club from extinction, and they have my total respect for everything that they have done. The unfairness takes my breath away!

Yes. Both riders are still with us. Arthur Payne will be 102 on 28th August 2025, and Dan Forsberg will be 91 on 25th March 2025. Two grand old stagers - I watched them both in action and Dan still is my all-time favourite Brummies rider!