Ross Garrigan

Bill Kitchen told a story about Jimmy Gooch diving from the crow's nest of the liner Otranto into the ship's swimming pool while on the way to Australia in late 1952. It sounded a bit of a "tall tale" to me and I asked Eric Williams who was on the same ship. He said it didn't happen and just couldn't have happened. It made a good story though!

Eric's daughter Linda would like to know if her Dad had a nick name when racing in the UK.

William Eric Williams was born on November 17, 1927. He resides in Mackay here in Queensland. I have put section of the email I received from Mackay yesterday on The Speedway History Forum in Eric's section on the Post War board. It makes sad reading. Eric didn't want people to know how ill he has been for quite some time. It has been one of the great pleasures of my life to know Eric and to work with him on his memoirs. I am compiling and forwarding to Mackay daily the messages coming in for Eric from his many friends and the readers of his wonderful stories. Should anyone wish to send Eric a message, my email address is rjgarrigan@ozemail.com.au

Eric was allowed home from hospital today but is very ill.

Below is a copy of the email I have just sent out to over 30 of Eric's "speedway family" as he calls them: - What terrific news I have just received. I will copy and paste the entire email from Jenny. Jenny really deserves a medal. Her family have been just wonderful to Eric. Ross. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Ross, Have just this minute returned from visiting the "Little Welshman." He was absolutely delighted with all the wonderful e-mails & best wishes he's been receiving & feels very humbled & thrilled with his adoring publics' kindness. Rob has him on a new treatment regime - quite what I am not certain, but he is feeling & looking a good deal brighter. I took him a bottle of 12 year old single malt whiskey yesterday & he even managed to partake of a wee dram with the good doctor - medicinal purposes only of course :-).His nausea & vomiting seems to have settled as well & he is able to eat a little which will help him regain a little strength. The nurses all love him & make such a fuss of him which he absolutely loathes of course & now they are all giving as good as he gives. A very entertaining spectacle let me tell you!!! He is thrilled with the 18th & can't wait to see what photos you'll come up with.I think that means you have the green light to proceed. His comment on your 19 jottings are as follows "Ross, this is delightful entertainment, it's no wonder Freddie Rogers doubts my involvement." Keep up the great work Ross & keep those e-mails of encouragement rolling in!!! Kind regards Jenny

Yes Jim, Eric is a tough character. The number of messages I have received from Eric's "speedway family" as he calls them has surprised me. A lot of the messages are from people who have grown to love Eric through reading about his adventurous life. I have forwarded all the messages to Jenny who will print them out and take them to Eric today. That Seventeenth Collection of his stories you mention is the first of two collections dealing with what was one of the highlights of Eric's life, his trip to New Zealand as a member of the England touring team. What happened while he was there had a profound affect on his life.

Although still experiencing some pain, Eric is in good spirits and has had a little to eat.

Eric Williams was admitted to hospital this morning. He has been unwell for quite some time and has been battling his illness with the same spirt he demonstrated when racing on the speedway track. Should anyone want to send Eric a message, I can get it to him. My email address is rjgarrigan@ozemail.com.au I should get some more news on his condition during the next 12 hours.

Matt, I have been in touch with John and it is all sorted. The photo will appear in Eric's story.

Bob, I've just been speaking to Eric on the telephone and I asked him your question. No, Eric never raced in the same team as Aston Quin either in the UK or in New Zealand. The interesting thing Eric did mention though is that Aston eventually came to live in the same city in New Zealand as Eric lived - Hastings.

As far as I know Ian is OK. Ian, Freddie and their sister Kate all keep in touch with Eric. Eric was thrilled to receive telephone calls from both Freddie and Kate during the last few weeks. He also receives regular telephone calls from Reg Fearman and Bob Andrews. Ivan Mauger has also telephoned Eric twice in the last month or so.

Don't forget Jack Young accomplished the feat of winning the Farndon Trophy as a Division Two rider while at Edinburgh.

Bob, I can't really answer your question as Eric did some racing in New Zealand and there is a possibility he may have raced in the same team as Aston at some time in that country. Eric spent quite some time (some 5 weeks) in company with Aston on the ship voyage to Australia in late 1952. He tells a couple of stories about Aston in his recollections of that trip. Aston was crowned "Diving Champion" of the liner Otranto on that voyage, as well as taking over the role of "shipboard pest" in Bruce Abernethy's absence. You'll have to wait for the 17th collection of Eric's stories to find out the comical sequence of events which led to Aston receiving that diving title. I will put your question about Aston to Eric when I speak to him later in the week. The jury is still out as to whether Aston's name was "Quin" or "Quinn". I think there is one "n" and Bob Andrews emailed me this morning saying that that is what has been suggested to him in New Zealand. Bob, your copy of the Sixteenth Collection is a week or so off appearing in your inbox. Cheers, Ross.

Yes I did check them Bob. Aston must have been somewhat of another Bruce Abernethy (full of mischief) going by what Eric Williams has told me about him. I have now been sent a photo of Aston so I'm quite pleased about that. Eric will love seeing it.

I have searched, without any success, for a photograph of New Zealander Aston Quin who rode for St. Austell in the early 1950s. Is there a St. Austell speedway historian? Can anyone help me at all please?

When I wrote about the 1951 World Final in The Jack Young Story I included the following: - ***************************************** I found some comments Jack Biggs later made concerning his own performance on World Final night most interesting: - “Having made two consecutive races in the fourth and fifth heats I felt a recurrence of a back injury sustained at Fleetwood a couple of months back. As the meeting went on it grew worse and it seemed at one time as though I had been kicked by an elephant. After the 14th race I knew I had only one point to score to win the title. With that one point preying on my mind all the time and my back still aching, by the time the final race came round I was just a bundle of nerves.”

Bob was 84 years of age, and yes, he rode for Norwich and was a World Finalist. In 1949 Bob was one of three Adelaide boys who ventured to the UK for the first time. All three had very successful debut seasons. The other two were Merv Harding and Jack Young.

On Monday March 16, Bob "Bakey" Leverenz passed away. He will be fondly remembered for his fine performances on racetracks in the UK and Australia.

You mentioned Den Cosby rode for Wembley in1952 - he was a member of the Wembley team in 1950 when Eric Williams first went there having moved up from Second Division to First Division. Eric and I included a 1950 Wembley team photograph in the most recent of the collections of The Eric Williams Story. If you want a copy, email me and I'll send it. rjgarrigan@ozemail.com.au

Thanks to speedyguy and tigerowl for their responses. I decided to email John Chaplin and see if he could help. Just in case anyone is interested in this topic, here is section of John's response to my query: - "Further to my earlier e-mail. There were no bonus points as such and a maximum was described as 'The Lot'. Points dropped when a rider finished behind a team mate were never counted in a rider's total, so when a rider was unbeaten by an opponent, that was what was said. Hope this helps. John"

Here is a poser for the history buffs. If a rider in 1949 scored 10 points from his four rides in a match, winning on two occasions and finishing second to a team mate in his other two races, was his score referred to as a maximum or paid maximum or neither? These days I find in print a score such as that referred to above mentioned as both a maximum and a paid maximum. I don't know the situation back in 1949.

Thank you. One of those gentlemen has contacted me, and I've emailed the other.

I know this is a long shot, but one thing I’ve learnt in life is that if you don’t ask, you’ll never know. Eric Williams and I have been discussing his horrific racing accident at Perry Barr in the very early part of the 1948 season. He spent quite a long period in hospital and was visited while he was in there by some of the Birmingham supporters. What I would like to know is the best way to go about trying to contact any of those who either visited Eric in hospital in Birmingham or were at the track on the occasion of the accident. I thought maybe a Birmingham website if someone can suggest one suitable. OR maybe someone reading this may know a person who followed Birmingham in 1948. We have the printed reports of the accident, and Eric recalls what caused it, but after that his mind is a blank on the subject. He remembers the coming together of the two motor cycles but nothing of what happened then. Any suggestions please?

For the information of anybody who has been following the links to the collections of Eric Williams' stories I have been placing on this Forum, I will not be doing that any more. We have decided to create a mailing list for those interested in receiving the collections as we finish them. Eric and I have done 6 collections. Copies of all are available by emailing me. We have just about finished the Seventh Collection which contains vivid descriptions of Eric's first attempts at riding a speedway motor cycle at the Rye House training track. Eric also tells more of his highly amusing stories. The Eighth Collection will feature Eric's debut speedway season in 1948 and he tells of the frightening accident he had which cut his season very short. He will mention the great Australian rider Graham Warren. Eric was present to see Graham's astonishing debut racing appearance in England. In fact, he was in the pits on that occasion. My email address to obtain copies of previous collections and/or to be placed on our mailing list is rjgarrigan@ozemail.com.au

asturmer, I have a photograph in my collection taken of the Australian team which rode against the touring Swedish side in 1990-91 in a Test Match here in Brisbane. Alan Rivett was one of the Australian seven. The others were Western Australian super star Glenn Doyle, Troy Butler, Craig Boyce, Mick Poole, Todd Wiltshire, and Phil Crump. I can scan and send you a copy if you would like one. It is a glossy colour photograph so it may not scan perfectly. My email address is rjgarrigan@ozemail.com.au