Mr. Clemens

We must give you life We prayed that you might live Now we must give you life There will be those bearing gifts greater than mine But I will play for you on my drum My gift lays within these lines There is no other place One can be But at your side now There are no other commitments Anyone can have now But to be there with you Before that day On that day And thereafter It is a matter of pride That each and everyone of us Stand by you now You are the one Who entertained us We were your audience The wheel has turned Now we must perform for you We cannot disappoint you We cannot let you down We cannot stand aside And watch you drown We cannot simply forget you Turn our backs and walk away It is a matter of our honour That we help you find your space We prayed that you might live That you would come back to us The same as you were It is now given to all of us To take you where you want to be There are those whose gifts Will be greater than mine All of us can give you Some of our time Those who watched you Those who rode with you None of them have a reason To be somewhere else All of us are responsible for you All of us have an obligation To rise to the occaison When called on to do so Champions of Speedway Where will you be on that day It is a matter of pride It is a matter of our honour That we give you the space That you might recover The best of you That you will walk with us again As you did once before There may be a promoter who owes a rider something A debt that can never be repaid There maybe a rider who did something they regret They can bever take back We can atone for what we have done By helping another Someone that you would call a brother We prayed that you might live Now we must give you life You have lit a torch to guide us Your song has struck a chord In all of us Some will bear gifts Greater than mine But I will play my drum for you My gift is in these lines Recorded Version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNCNn40VT4

Glad you liked it Richard. I am sure I will get there in the new year sometime to assist All the best for Xmas and that great 2015 you all need there

My pleasure

Glad you liked it Gustix. I used to write these reflections on the meetings I went to regularly and post them on the BSF. I haven't seen much speedway in the last 2 years though for one reason or another, so there's nothing for me to post most of the time. People say post elsewhere other than the BSF but I always found the BSF set up suits the length of them best. I also posted for people to have something different to read than the norm.

Scunthorpe Amateur Meeting Sunday 17th December 2014 Or Richard Hollingsworth’s 115th Dream It’s a long time since I visited Eddie Wright stadium for an amateur meeting. Circumstance always dictates whether it’s convenient to do so or not. It wasn’t convenient in the past as I worked Sundays the day most of these meetings are held. Since I retired though, I can do what I want when I want, so I decided to go in November. I didn’t though but decided I would in December, seeing Richard was asking for assistance at the track. I also had another motive for going, to get rid of numerous speedway books programs etc I had gathered together during the 70’s and 80’s. Numerous people have asked me why I wanted to unload all this stuff. Reason is they were gathering dust in the attic, we are having a clear out and the speedway memorabilia weren’t the only memories being passed on to those who may (or may not) appreciate them. You would have thought it would take about an hour to hand out all this stuff but it took six hours. Saturday 6th December was a fine crisp day. I hoped Sunday 7th would be the same, but it was windy wet with a promise of better weather in the afternoon. It always seems to rain when I go to these amateur meetings. In the past I stood on the third bend of the track with red flag in hand, waving it at riders flying (or crawling) by as the need arose. Not that some took any notice if you were waving the flag or not, but people who have read these articles before will be aware the problems it caused and how it was resolved. But on this day I didn’t get near a red flag or the third bend for that matter. Arriving at the stadium at 10 am, the wind and rain suggested there might not be any meeting at all. In contrast to the weather, the full car park and activity going on suggested those who had come were expecting to ride. In the end the weather settled down and it turned into a fine day, in more ways than one. It was nice to reacquaint myself with Richard and his wife. I advised him I had things to get rid of and when I had I would be there to assist. Problem was who was I going to give all this stuff to? I had numerous programs mostly those of Halifax, Sheffield, Coventry, Ipswich and Belle Vue, along with programs from defunct tracks such as Wimbledon, Reading and Long Eaton. I had a fistful of programs from a load of other tracks to give out also. I also had a good few British League Riders Final programs along with all those World Final Programs. There were also old ‘Speedway Stars’ and a few ‘Backtrack’ magazines. But where did one begin with the ‘Great Speedway Give Away’ and what kind of reaction would I receive when trying to give someone an early Christmas present? First thing I wanted to do was find someone who would appreciate the Halifax/Bradford programs. Wayne Carter came to mind. He did a sterling job teaching people to ride bikes. Struck me as a man of infinite patience, did Wayne, to do a job like that, as consistently as he does, for has long has he has and still happy to do more. Most likely he wouldn’t have much time to talk to me as he was busy doing his thing that day. I approached him explained I had Halifax/Bradford programs to give him if he wanted them. I was surprised at Wayne’s enthusiasm in receiving them. I imagined he would have said he’d already got all that kind of stuff and that he was busy. Far from it, he was willing to chat about things Halifax and we did speak of Kenny Carter. Wayne spoke of his interest in the 1982 World Final. I asked him if he had a program of that event. He said not. I said “You have now, I have one in the car I will fetch it.” I fetched him a few other things too, well you have to give these things to the interested, don’t you. When I handed him the 1982 program, it struck me he was thinking, is this for real. Not that he was thinking I was pulling some practical joke. It was the cover of the program, it’s not much to look at and it was easy to think ‘this is not a program’. But it was. I asked him, by the way, if he had the 1981 World Final program. He said not, “you have now”, said I. The interesting thing was a young rider was talking to Wayne as I arrived back, with the programs. Jordan was his name. He was looking at the programs, as I handed them to Wayne. I think he realized what they were, by the look on his face. Jordan departed and I spoke further with Wayne for a short while asked him who the lad was, then I went back to the car, for another load of memorabilia. Finding Jordan, I asked him if he was impressed with the 1981 program. It seemed that he was, so I said “well there’s one for you too”. I had two 1981 world final programs don’t ask me why, I have no idea. After that I went looking for other interested people. The idea was to give them all out to the young people who were actually riding that day. Hopefully they would recognize them as significant pieces of interest along with the book they were given. Perhaps they would inspire them to reflect on the achievements of those past riders, in detail, and to emulate what they had done. There was the odd program for the older speedway supporting person. I hope those two old Cradley Heathen programs reached the person I was told they would. I asked a number of people there if there were any Cradley supporters at Scunny that day. No one seemed to know of anyone, or of anyone, who knew a Cradley supporter. It struck me, there was something of an air of, ‘we try not to talk about Cradley Heathens supporters, if at all possible mate’ in the answers to my question. I try not to talk about a lot of things if I can help it, so there you go. I had got rid of some stuff by the start of the first part of the amateur meeting. Problem was there were still three boxfuls of stuff in the car. I thought it doesn’t matter I will help them out in the second half. I should have got rid of it all by then. I said to Richard, about two hours into the meeting, “you wouldn’t think it would be so hard to give stuff away. Would you”!!! But we soldiered on walking round the pits area handing out bits and pieces to those who seemed as if they’d appreciate this kind of thing I was advised I ought to put it all on E bay. I did put some records on there, sold them, then got complaints from female recipient, who e-mailed they were ‘devastated’ because they weren’t playable. You are devastated sweetheart when someone dies of cancer or gets killed in a road accident, not when some bleeding records have a few scratches on them. It was said quite clearly on the description they weren’t in mint condition, but in good playable condition. Just as all this speedway stuff is in good condition, but not in mint condition as recipients will testify no doubt. Cutting a long story short E bay told us recipient would have to be refunded if their complaint was upheld. We advised E bay to tell recipient to simply send them all back regardless. When they were returned then they would be refunded. Needless to say they weren’t returned. The moral of this story seemed to me that one sells something on E bay, recipient pays then a week later complains to E bay, re lack of quality etc. E bay then implies to seller recipient will be refunded immediately, because of their complaint. This is fine, only problem was said recipient not only wanted to be refunded but also wanted to keep said ‘useless records’. Nice work if you can get it!!!! My response to that of course was ‘F..that for a game of soldiers’, send ‘em back. Presumably E bay resolved this as recipient was given while December 1st to respond and didn’t. Therefore I decided I would just give all this speedway stuff away instead, noble or what eh? There was more satisfaction in handing all of it to the riders at Scunny. What ‘devastated of Kent’ didn’t know was I would have took all those records to the dump it site, if my son hadn’t have advised me to put them on E bay instead. I won’t be putting anything else on E bay. People have asked me, how the riders and their parents reacted when they were handed things. They reacted in the manner expected, a little bemused by this person approaching them. But the riders were there to ride and active in getting their machines ready for the track. Realizing that I spoke to most briefly then moved on. Others took time to talk and it was a pleasure giving them things and knowing they would be appreciated. Finally they were all handed out and I had time to watch some racing and take stock of the general situation at Scunthorpe speedway. Most times when I went to the amateur meetings, there was always a shortage of people willing to help out. Looking round the track, I saw they had the requisite amount of people needed to make it all work. It seemed to me there would have been no room at the inn for me anyway. I know that thought isn’t true but I did think if there were regulars there, they might take exception to me shoving my way in. I hadn’t been to Scunny since 2012. When I started going to the amateur meetings they ran them in the afternoon from 1pm to 5pm. Later on the changed to the new routine with a section in the morning and early afternoon and second half through till 6pm. When using the old format they ran between 60 and 70 races. With the new format they run over a 100 races in one day. I think they rode 100 races on Sunday. What anyone has to be impressed with is the professional way the meetings are run. It is obvious that it operates like a well oiled machine. The riders go out to race while the next riders assemble at the gate ready to go out as the previous come off the track. It goes on like this all day nonstop as it must to get through all the races and to satisfy all the riders, who have come from far and wide to race. All of this is down to one man and that man is Richard Hollingsworth. Richard won’t take credit he’s not that type of person, to do so. But it is he who is the lynchpin of it all, around which the rest of it revolves. The reason it works is because all those who turn up to assist with the meeting realize how dedicated Richard is about speedway development. They apply themselves to making the meeting work BECAUSE they understand what Richard is doing and want to assist in helping Richard make it happen. The riders and those there to help them also realize what Richard is trying to do and they respond by being ready to race when they should be ready to race. The truth of this is self evident because if any of these parts malfunctioned then the rest of it would fall apart. Anyone who rides a speedway bike or mechanics for anyone who does ride knows this. One of the reasons I went to Scunthorpe on Sunday was because I am aware of the problems they are having there regarding the viability of running speedway after 2015. I said I was going while it was still there to go to. The only thing I really ever disbelieved involving speedway was when it was suggested to me that Halifax speedway was in danger of closing circa 1986/87. I didn’t believe it would close because I thought the very idea of Halifax closing was insane. It was the best speedway track in the world (in my opinion) reason when I went there every Saturday, rather than go to Hyde road to watch Ivan, Soren, Peter, Chris Morton, Chris Pusey et al. It was 27 miles from where I lived to Halifax and 27 miles from where I lived to Belle Vue. I could have gone to either, but I went to Halifax. I thought it was insane that anyone would let Halifax close. I thought anyone who let it happen was insane, but it happened and it can happen to Scunthorpe speedway. The moral of the tale being you can work your little cotton socks off, you can be as dedicated as the rest of them. You can produce a slick well oiled machine, run a 100 races and say to one and all ‘top that if you can’ but if no one is interested you can end up closing all the same. I write, I have lost count of the number of times people have asked me why it is I am not famous. I know the reason. Years ago in 2002, my house was renovated, Clive the builder who did the job worked on the house for six weeks. We got on well because I let him get on with what he was doing without questioning him every five minutes on how professionally he was doing what he was doing. I played music all the time, music taped from the records I had, so I didn’t have to play the records and wear them out. Reason I knew there was nothing wrong with them when they were sold, so stitch that ‘Devastated of Kent’. One day, for some reason, I played Ben his young worker some songs of mine I had recorded, while Clive was away sizing up their next job. Ben was amazed when he asked me who actually recorded the songs I was singing and I told him they were all mine and that I had thousands of them. Clive returned and I said to Ben, ”don’t say anything and see what he says when he comes in”. Clive walked into the living room cocked his ear and listened. I said ‘now then Clive, who is that singing”? I have never forgotten his response which was “well tha’s no need to say it’s thee, tha couldn’t sing like that to save thi life.” I advised him to listen again and he realized it was me. Clive thought to himself for awhile then said, “Can I ask you a question”? I said “and what question is that”? Though I already knew what is question was. “Why aren’t tha a multi millionaire”? And I said “I will tell thee why I am not a multi millionaire Clive. Because no one is interested in what I have written, that’s why Clive, if you really want to know mate. It’s the price you pay for writing the songs you want to write and not ‘commercial’ songs.” In other words if there is no response to what you do, some would say, there was no point in doing it. I never subscribed to that thought and neither will Richard Hollingsworth. No matter how long the day of racing is it inevitably all comes to an end. The meeting concludes with a trio of finals for the different classes of riders. I had saved three books to hand out to the winner of the final and the runners up. How fortunate it was I had three books when I found out there were three finals. I told Richard he could give one to each winner. I don’t know how two of them were received but the winner of the middle final of the trio of finals, seemed genuinely pleased to receive his book. It is actually signed by Ove Fundin and Barry Briggs and Jason Crump too, if I recall correctly. At the end of the meeting I actually got time to speak with Richard and asked him how things were at Scunthorpe. He confirmed that things were as serious as the general public were informed they were and if things didn’t pick up in 2015 there may not be any speedway in 2016. No doubt Richard will contrive things to continue to run some kind of speedway there. It’s down to the public in the area to respond to the plea for sustained support. I don’t know what the answer is. I know what kind of speedway I want to see and that’s all I will say about that. Now the wheel turns full circle and I go back to the beginning of the tale and the process of divesting myself of speedway memorabilia. I said I had a number of world final programs. I had most of the programs regarding the world finals of the 70’s and those of 1981 and 1982. I also had a vinyl recording of the 1974 world final, for me the best world final I ever saw. Anders Michanek was superb that day. Problem was not only had I to find someone who would appreciate it but someone who had a record player to play it on. I was asking around if anyone had a record player. It didn’t take long to realize it had to be an older person most likely to have a record player. I was asking “do you have a record player mate”, getting a negative most of the time? Then this old guy in leathers walked past. I asked him he said he had one. I asked him if he wanted a record. He asked if it was Mantovani? I said, “near enough mate it’s Michanek”. He finally realized what it was about and said “I went to that final” I told him so did I and now you will be able to relive it. I hope the bleeding thing plays ok don’t you. Besides the worlds final programs mentioned above I had two others I was trying to find the appropriate person to give them to. Reflecting on all those I had given previous out to I decided there was only one person I would give them to, Wayne Carter. He’d been thrilled by those already given to him, so I thought I would thrill him some more. So once again I approached him. He smiled an expectant smile as I approached, no doubt thinking to himself ‘what’s be bleedin’ got for me this time’? The main prize Wayne that’s what!!! “This program Wayne”, I said to him as I held out a 52 year old program, “is a bit special Wayne. It’s a 1962 world final program, so handle it with care.” It took him a few moments, I think to compute who won that world final, but he realized in the end. Now you would think that would be the best bit of the day, but it wasn’t. I had another world final program from the 1960’s. The other program was a 1965 world final program. “Who won that final”, asked Wayne? “Bjorn Knutson”, said I. Wayne looked puzzled, “never heard of him”!!!. I wanted to say, “well he’s probably never heard of you either, so there you are,” but I didn’t. But Wayne was perturbed that there was a world champion he had never heard of before. I told him he’d retired aged 27 that he rode at Southampton with Barry Briggs for a time. He wasn’t aware of one of the ‘Big Five’ of the 50’s and 60’s. I told him to google him then he would be able to fill in the blanks in his knowledge. Then with all that it was time to go, so I went. Who knows when I will go again, as the ‘Strolling Bones’ once sang ‘this could be the last time, maybe the last time I don’t know’.

In other words a pool of riders

It's a different kind of sunlight these days, down to lack of ozone layer perhaps? When I was truck driving in the 70's and 80's you could drive with the sun direct in front of you and it would be a problem but something that could be coped with. I wore photo-chrome glasses and they alleviated the problem to a great degree. These days I have noticed the sun appears to be brighter and sharper. From where I live you drive down the road and turn right. I have noticed that if when make that turn at approx. 9:30 am, on a fine sunny day, and the sun is direct in front of you, you literally can't see a thing.

Reading a book called 'Never Had It So Good' A History of Britain From Suez to the Beatles Dominic Sandbrook Abacus Books A Passage on Page 130 Speedway was a popular spectator sport, second only to football; it attracted 6 million observers annually and boasted a track in almost every large town. In cities like Birmingham and Coventry, where the motorcycles were actually manufactured, there was tremendous interest in the thrilling speed and excitement of speedway races. The book is a good read in general.

Ever decreasing ???

One of the great riders - best wishes

Possibly in 2006, I was at Belle Vue, walking towards the pits, with my nephew. As I walked around, out of the corner of my eye, to my right, I saw a kid sat on a wall. Just as I was in line with the kid, he got up and dashed across right in front of me. There was no doubt he'd done this intentionally. I said to my nephew, 'Did you see what that pig ignorant little beresford did just then?'. My nephew smiled and said, 'do you know who that pig ignorant little beresford is?' 'No,' said I. 'It's Tai Woffinden', said he. 'I don't care who he is,' said I, 'he's still a pig ignorant little beresford'. He was hailed as the new wonder kid in those days, one who could do no wrong. Having followed the sport for 40 years I have seen wonder kids come and go without making the mark they were expected to do. After that episode at Belle Vue, at the time and since I have never written a word about him. I thought I would wait and see what he could and would do as time went by Since then, of course, the lad has gone through trauma, trial and tribulations, which mould the character and temper the personality of those who endure these experiences. The fact the lad won the world championship last night, and elevated himself 'amongst the gods', indicates he has got to grips with his temprement, come to terms with the flaws in his character, overcome them all. As such he will have made his family proud non more so than his father, who no doubt is smiling down on him as we speak Well done lad, there is nothing like redemption and such a trophy, as you have now, is the living embodiment of that redemption.

You'd expect them to do the decent thing and give it to the Englishman

You are held in great esteem by a lot of people RIchard. All of those words spoken in support of you are the truth of the matter. You might never know what people really think of you and what you do, if not for situations like this. For example, I come to Scunthorpe to help out at the meetings when I can. I have said before that sometimes I have to motivate myself to actually get in the car and drive down there. One of the main reasons I do that is because I think to myself Richard needs a bit of help with what he's doing. He needs that piece of help so that what he is doing can take place, in the proper manner it should. I am sure there are others who go there to help, with the same type of thought in mind. Thus are all the pieces of the jigsaw fitted together to create the circumstances that riders can hit the track and do their thing. Onwards and upwards - as Saint Paul said - (among others) - shake the dust off your feet and don't look back

Scunthorpe Speedway's 74th Saturday 17th November The meeting that never was – or who’s been digging holes in my track?? The word was that it was on - but it wasn’t - but never mind eh!!!! It’s always an adventure going to the Eddie Wright Theatre of Dreams. Twice, on the way down I almost found myself involved in 2 crashes on the motorway. First was when a transit van type almost chopped the front end off my car, on the M18, as they decided they didn’t want to be in the lane that led off down to the A1 turning. They wanted to be in the same lane I was, so they cut across the front of me, instead of pulling round behind me and overtaking. Second was up off the slip road leading onto the M180, as you go round the roundabout to the right. The piece where the road is in two lanes put siphons into one lane and you turn left onto the M180 proper. The car from the left coming down M18 from the north decided to come up their slip road – straight across the roundabout without stopping, almost running into the car in front of me and my car too. I believe even now they pulled out without stopping because they thought they’d got the right of road. But they didn’t. But not to worry Sunny Scunny was only a few more miles away, I knew I would survive to wave a red flag another day. I drove down under the triumphal arches that adorn the Eddie Wright Theatre of Dreams and there were muck heaps everywhere. There was half-a-dozen muck heaps on the left that filled the car park with mountains of soil it was like an Everest of muck. There was muck on the track too, piles of slimy mud everywhere you looked. What a mucky old place it was the Eddie Wright Theatre of Dreams. But not to worry eh!!! The sun was out the sky was blue, wouldn’t be long before there would be racing too, and little old me, with his flag of red, watching people, going round the bend. But it was soon evident that racing wasn’t going to take place. There was something seriously wrong with the track. The track staff was doing their best to see what they could do about the problem facing them. People were thinking that it must have been heavy rainfall causing the problem, turned out that wasn’t the case. As far as I am aware it was because there were ruts – holes in the track that weren’t apparent to those concerned till the meeting was almost ready to start. Rider safety always being paramount there was no choice but to call off the meeting. Everything was sinking in a sea of mud. But was it a wasted journey, no it wasn’t. I met old friends there, we chatted about this and that. No one I could see around me was really complaining about the lack of a meeting. People seemed to realize that something had gone wrong. There are always positives in these things. It’s a lesson learned that is embedded in the mind, that leads to the phrase ‘it won’t happen again’. It was something that everyone could have done without. The truth is though it won’t happen again unless something catastrophic happens that no one can for tell. There is that extra blessing too, there was plenty of muck there to fill in the holes. As the say ‘every cloud has a mucky lining’!!!!! If nothing else, being at the Eddie Wright Theatre of Dreams did give me the chance to congratulate Richard face to face regarding the Premier League Championship win. This is a job well done by a man managing a team to victory, an important step forward and up the ladder for Richard. Extra special because he has had to follow in the footsteps of Kenny Smith, who was a charismatic character, none of us who knew him will ever forget. Richard has charisma, not the type that Kenny was known for. Richard’s charisma is of the more understated variety. He is a man with a dynamic personality whose sole desire is to drive things forward and to get things done. The meeting today was intended to be another example of driving things forward. Some might thing that it all came to a juddering halt, perhaps it did, but sometimes coming to a halt can prevent a disaster occurring. It’s a lesson learned and I am more than certain it won’t happen again, because Richard is all about professionalism. Kenny Smith has secured his place in speedway history. Richard Hollingsworth will secure his place too. Not because he won a league championship and perhaps more to come in the future. What Richard is about is building something that will last, building something permanent that will benefit riders and supporters alike for years to come. Winning that league championship was a quantum leap for Richard. I had no doubt, while I was looking at that celebration picture, on the front of the Speedway Star, that Richard while basking in a certain ‘glory of the moment’, was thinking to himself if I can be part of this achievement, then all the other possible achievements, I have in mind, can become realities too. I don’t doubt that Richard will keep on striving to achieve all that is possible. Today was one of those days, the day itself will soon be forgotten, but the lesson learned Richard will never forget.

Hello Richard, I will use this vehicle to offer you my congratulations on winning the league title. I have not said anything about it before, as usually when I do it tends to put 'the mocker's on things, so I thought I would wait for a positive result before mentioning the play offs. Sounds as if it was a good meeting and both teams rode well. So congratulations to both teams for making it the event it should be. Now having said that, I want to get down to the really important issues involved with Scunthorpe speedway at the Eddie Wright Theatre of Dreams. Ever since this new thread appeared on the BSF I have been contemplating that phrase 'New Improved Format'. I have contemplated it from a number of points of view and finally come to the obvious and only conclusion to what it actually means. What the 'New Improved Format' actually means is this :- Next time I come to the Eddie Wright Theatre of Dreams - the cafe will be open and I will be able to get myself a bleeding sausage sandwich and a cup of coffee!!!!!! Once again Congratulations Richard and all those involved at Scunthorpe Speedway. King Kenny will be proud. I still have the 'Order of Service' (program - if that's the right word). I was going to file it away with all the speedway memoribilia I have. I keep it in a drawer where all my current paperwork is. When I am leafing through it looking for something, there is his face looking at me. I say hello to him as I have done just now. I also said 'what do you think of that then mate'? His look said "Now for the Elite League Title, when we do it we will have the 'Full House'" All being well, I will see you week on Saturday - take care!!!!

After I posted it Gary - it did strike me that there might be a lot of paperwork involved So perhaps not

I don't mind standing there for the duration Richard. The way I see it is - If I am going to die somewhere It might as well be on the centre green at Sunny Scunny than anywhere else Hope to see you sooner than later

Brilliant!! Cheers Montie glad you liked it Brilliant mr Clemens , I enjoyed our chat and after you went I finished with a race win ( finally).. Look forward to seeing you again and reading your meeting report.. Bye for now . Gary. Sorry I missed that race Gary - glad you made it in the end. Hope to see you again soon take care Yep that sausage sandwich - it leaves a sour taste in your mouth - well at least it would have done if the shop had have been open tee hee One of these days I will have to do some red flagging at Newcastle and do a report about your place. We can always dream Take care Dave

Amateur Meeting Number 72 Saturday September 8th 2012 The Elastic Band Broke – and kept on breaking It’s been a long time since I made my way to the Eddie Wright Speedway play ground. You can forget all about speedway quite easily. You don’t go for a long time, the thought recedes to the back of your mind, time passes by and once again it’s years since you have been. I have Sunday and Monday off, this meeting was on Saturday, so I thought I’d go there and reacquaint myself with what speedway is, or what I thought it was. Having not been for at least 6 months, it always takes a lot of motivation to hit the road. The weather forecast said the sun would be shining it would be a brilliant day. I was hoping it would be and we would soon find out. I was going to e mail Richard I was coming, that I would be bringing rain and a cold wind, because otherwise, I wouldn’t feel at home. It was a sunny day on Friday when I thought that thought. I thought it would be a good idea to have a laugh. Not a problem when the weather forecast said it was going to be a wonderful day on Saturday. Just as I sat down to write that email an ominous black cloud appeared overhead, I changed my mind about that e mail after all we didn’t want to tempt fate, did we? It was a steady drive down, no rush to get there, a meal along the way, to set me up for the day and it was a good job I did. The coffee bar was closed, so there was no chance of a sausage sandwich today. It was a good job I brought my flask of coffee and sandwiches with me, wasn’t it!!!!! Eventually I arrived, driving down the final bumpy few yards into the stadium car park. I noticed the gate was closed. Could it be the day’s meeting wasn’t going to be on? Had I driven all this way for nothing? I realized one gate was closed the other one open, a deft trick or is that daft, to confuse an old man, unsure in which direction he was heading. There were vehicles there, signs of life, people in the car park, glancing my way, looks on their faces saying, who are you? It was great to be alive and at the Eddie Wright Speedway playground once again I thought I ought to go and get myself a program of the day’s events. I knew there would be over 60 races to be run, there always is. People were queuing, at the office to sign in. A lady stood at the head of the line saying she’d forgotten her highlighters. I checked to see if I had brought mine. I waited patiently in the queue. Richard was sat there, oblivious to my presence, showing off his knobbly knees, a tribute to the shining sun. Then all of a sudden he spotted me, welcomed me home like the prodigal son. He didn’t have a fatted calf for me, or a sausage sandwich already cooked and wrapped up in a lovely bread bun. No he had none of this for me, what he did have was a program and when I asked him if he needed assistance this day, I knew he would have a red flag with my name written on it. The track it looked very wet to my age old practiced eye. It looked like a mud swamp a lumpy gritty mud pie. I was sure that the sun that was shining would soon dry it all out. Also as my aged limbs now ache a lot, I found myself a chair that I could sit upon. The days are done when I can stand up on that centre green, for hours on end freezing my whatnots’ off. I sat there for quite awhile, and then a little while longer, I was waiting for the meeting to start, for as you know, the absence of speedway in my life, makes me all the more fonder for it to begin. The clock, and time itself ticked by and eventually you wonder why, at 15 past the hour of one, the meeting wasn’t underway. More to the point there was something missing, that something, all good flag wavers rely upon and that is a good red flag to hold in your hand, to wave the passing riders by, in case one of them fall off. It was obvious something was amiss as Richard stood pensive at the gate. “Oy Richard,” shouted little old me, “where’s my flag mate without it I am redundant and I might as well not have come.” Struck by that indisputable logic, and the fact no one else had a flag to wave either, Richard bolted into the pits like a mighty steed, soon returning with a handful of flags said, “here they are take your pick”. I said, “Even though it appears standards are slipping Richard, it’s a no contest mate, it’s a red flag for me.” Finally and at long last the meeting began, with heat four, don’t ask me why, but I knew though, the young men riding weren’t those I thought they were, I did think this was a new way of organizing a meeting , to make it more exciting. The young lads out first got to grips with the track, those who followed ended up in a heap on the first bend. The track was greasy but it wouldn’t be long before clouds of dust would rise up and those lads were back on their bikes again. There are those who ride each time I come, some there simply for fun. There is the older end, someone told me there was a man, aged 66, there come all the way from Edinburgh just to get to grips with that greasy track. Some of the racing can be monotonous, other races can be thrilling and there are those that can be downright boring. All ages come there to learn the trade and to see what they can do. There is a place there for you, if you want to have a go. There is always room for new blood at the Eddie Wright speedway playground. I met an old trouper there who paints pictures of speedway with his camera and his paint brush. It had been a long time since I last saw him and it it’s always a pleasure to reacquaint myself with this speedway artist. We compared notes on physical ailments and realized then each time we met we were a little bit older. Good job it was a warm day for I am sure we’d freeze if the weather were colder. There also was the master of track maintenance, the owner of the track, riding round on his grading machine. He drove the water truck to spray on the track when the dust began to rise once again. It took so long that I thought he ought to drive it through the fence on the fourth bend, just for old times’ sake. As he did once before when he lost his way on the track he owned. Once the racing got underway, you would have thought things would run smoothly and we would get through the scheduled 67 races in the 4 hours allotted. It was then that the elastic band broke. How did I know the elastic band was broke? A voice from the starting line, in the direction of Richard shouted, “The elastic has broken.” That’s how I knew, little old perceptive me. “Where is the elastic,” shouted a plaintive voice across the dusty track? There didn’t seem to be an answer till someone shouted back, “in the box.” I expected someone to shout back, “in which box?” I was going to shout back, “The one in the cupboard in a house far away, you’ll have to send someone to fetch it and hope they get back with it today.” I didn’t of course because that would have been stretching incredulity to stretching point. Tee Hee !!!!! The racing resumed and as I said to the man, whose name I always look for, when Richard posts the names, of those riding that day. “I always look for your name, said I to Gary O’Hare, “for when you are there I always know I will see some top class racing, before the day is through.” The problem of Gary, of course is, as he himself pointed out, because he was a former rider, everyone there saw him as someone they had to beat. Nice for those who stand on the side and watch the day go by. Not for those who have to ride against those who have something to prove. All the more incredible when you realize, has Gary said to me, “I only ride once a month, sometimes it’s hard to get into the groove, the way I would like to do.” There was impressive riding from Henning Loof and Tyson Snow. Being able to see that kind of riding makes it all worthwhile travelling the 60 miles I have to do, to get to see these men at work. I still can’t get my head round the fact that local people aren’t queuing up to help out at the track. If Halifax had been round the corner from me when their track was open and they were running meetings like these, I would be biting their hand off to let me help out. Then that race came around when there was a bad crash on the first bend. A rider came off and according to the way people were rushing around, it seemed to me the rider concerned had his foot trapped, somewhere in the bike. There was a lengthy delay before they were taken into ambulance. Time had moved on at this point and I had to leave at 5pm. They had to send for an ambulance from the hospital. I decided to leave as it was 4:30 pm and I knew by the time they restarted the meeting, I would have to go any way. As always I was glad I had moved my aching bones, out of the familiar, to reacquaint myself with this sport of ours. There is always someone there to reminisce about what had gone before. Better we agreed to have something to talk about other than the hot topics of today. These days it seems the same old topics are recycled over and over again, giving the impression speedway is a sport going nowhere, except to where it has already been. It’s a circular thing, if you see what I mean. As Richard says, it is good to see new young faces appearing at the track. There is always hope for the future when they turn up. There may even be those who criticize the fact there were 2 young children there riding round the track. They could not have been more than 5 or 6 years old riding round on their very tiny bikes. The announcer was almost apologizing that they were riding 4 laps. Though it didn’t matter to me, they were, as it gave me a chance to sit down, have a sandwich, drink my coffee and ease my aching bones. You never know we could have been looking at a new world champion, in embryo. I had to go, don’t know when I will return it must have been over 6 months since I last saw some speedway racing. In that time, as we all know the elastic band has broken in speedway in so many ways and for one it has broken permanently and for all of us, none of it will be the same again. I drove past the ambulance as I was leaving the track. I could see they were transferring the unfortunate rider, to the ambulance that had come from the hospital. I hope all is well and the injury is not bad and the rider will return to ride again. Meanwhile I returned to the mundane all those things that prevent people from doing what they like to do most. I will be there again one day, don’t know when that will be, at the place that gives me the opportunity to breathe the air around the sport I love and always will. Audio version

Might have left you stone cold but ranks as best final I ever saw

Of all the well deserveds there have been - this must be one of the greatest well deserveds ever. Congratulations Greg Hancock

It's not Jersinski is it No I didn't think so - mine's a bitter