chunky

A better name would have been the Chigley 'Wigglies"... Their line-up was: 1 - Flack (Capt) 2 - Pugh 3 - Pugh 4 - Barney McGrew 5 - Cuthbert 6 - Dibble 7 - Grubb

Exactly!

That is my point... There AREN'T 20 heats, and there ISN'T an interval.

I must admit, I wasn't a great fan of what I saw. It seemed like it was in slow-motion, and it sounded like lawnmower racing...

Can't say I've ever seen ANY meeting from Terenzano, but I watched that one yesterday. The track looked pretty good, but I couldn't believe the trouble they were having.

So, let me ask you... You would be much happier doing a 600 mile round trip to see a meeting, and have it be over and done with within 45 minutes?

1) They are NOT paid for by the spectators; it hasn't been that way in years. They are paid for by the promoters, who bankrupt themselves in doing so. If they truly were paid for by the spectators, they'd be riding for 7 quid a night... 2) They USED to go out to entertain. Unfortunately, speedway has gone the way of many other sports, and the only thing that's important to most riders is making money. Oh, and pretending they are some international sporting superstar. 3) Readjusting chains is NOT boring. In fact, it can compare quite favourably to some of the racing I see...

Yep, I spent a lot of time on the 220 too! I was never as regular as you, but I loved my visits there...

I actually designed and painted one myself. It was hinged with a perspex cover so I could still watch racing without having to look away to avoid getting a faceful of shale!

I just got one from each track I visited in the 80's. Looking at it now, I'm not sure why as they were all basically the same thing; certainly nothing unique about any of them, other than the colours.

I got one from there in the 80's, and it was like most of the others; a vinyl covered board that folded in two.

Definitely the opportunity to take in several meetings in a week, and particularly bank holiday weekends! Driving down the motorways seeing other cars with speedway stickers, and everyone honking their horns! Bumping into the riders at the motorway services. Decorating coaches on the away trips.

...was a Thursday too. It was when we lost our Tommy...

Sad news. My parents were friends with Ernie; nice guy...

Can't say I remember Larry on there... Having said that, I don't remember the Shay clip, but then again, that was after my BP-watching days.

Burns died after crashing at Toledo in 1921.

That's actually where I first read about it too! While the tracks were relatively cheap to set up, can you imagine how much wood you need for a mile-long track - and many were longer than that! The main issue was durability, particularly as they weren't just for bikes, but for cars. The life of a surface was only about five years. Outside of major refurbishment, the tracks needed constant attention, and were often repaired from underneath while racing was going on! Advancements in technology meant that racing became too predictable, as races were invariably won by the fastest machinery. Now, where have we heard that before? So, they began to switch to the more unpredictable dirt-tracks, often using trotting tracks. I never understood why they started out with the massive undertaking of building huge motordromes when it was easier and cheaper to use a field...

Here's something that some of you (particularly iris123) may find interesting... Board-track racing (huge steeply-banked ovals - and sometimes circles - constructed from wood) was huge in the US from 1910 until the 1920's, and is considered one of the forerunners of speedway on this side of the pond. The Playa del Rey track in California opened in 1910, and was followed by dozens of others around the country. In fact, we had a couple here in the Cincinnati area, with one in Sharonville (a couple of miles from where I work), and the Lagoon Raceway in over the river in Ludlow, Kentucky. The tracks soon became known as "Murderdromes" due to the amount of fatalities, which included several of the leading riders. Worse than that, a number of spectators were to lose their lives, with a major tragedy occurring at the Lagoon Raceway in July, 1913, when Odin Johnson was killed, along with seven spectators. One of the biggest names in the sport was Eddie Brinck. Sadly, Brinck was to lose his life in August 1927, during a race in Springfield, Massachusetts. Last week, I finally got around to visiting the AMA Hall of Fame inductee's grave up in Dayton.

It was Hickmott! You realise that was 41 years ago? That was when Johnsy scored 16+1 at Hyde Rd, and beat PC three times...

Well, I did find a couple of items online that were attributed to the poster from Penge... I did have a look to see if I could find any other info, but I have mislaid my copy of "British Speedway Leagues 1946-1964". If anyone has a copy to hand, there might be something in there.

The Speedway proboards site also has him starting in 1950.

I think that when I see things like talent shows on the box, and even in sports: "You were my hero when I was growing up!" and, "As a kid, I always wanted to be like you!" It's that people think that way, but boy, can they sting - and yes, I've had that experience too! American dart player Danny Baggish (who is playing in the PDC now) came up to me a few years ago, and said, "You probably don't remember me, but I was one of those kids you used to give free dart flights to!"

I work at a local bar a couple of times a week, and whenever things like Bohemian Rhapsody or Jean Genie come on the jukebox, I'm one of the only people in the bar that remembers it when it first came out!

Hans is one that screws me too. 29 years ago, but I still think of him as a modern rider. 29 years before that, and Harrfeldt and Nordin were only starting to ride for the Dons...

I thought it was me, so that makes me feel better! With regard to Steve's comment, I had a problem like that when I turned 30; ten years ago, I was a sprightly 20-year-old, and and ten years time, I'll be an ancient 40! Now I'm 58, I'm positively crapping myself... It's not just speedway that ages me, but music too. When I was a teenager, the Beatles were "oldies" to me. Now, I think of OMD as recent...