Grachan

Lee Richardson's mum used to present the speedway on Screensport.

Spot on Shaky. Second time lucky. I'd quit now while you're ahead if I was you!

He could miss one of them completely and still be guaranteed top.

To everyone else - there's always next year.

Hardly the crime of the century is it!

I've got the dk4 feed with commentry from Radio Oxford. Will they match up time wise though? Highly unlikely.

I'd like to know why tracks have become smaller too. I've always preferred big tracks too. Swindon is now seen as a big fast track whereas it was relatively typical when I started going. The irony is, of course, that as tracks have become smaller, so bikes have become faster. Maybe that would explain the accidents. I only went to Hyde Road a couple of times, both for World Championship events. One was an Overseas Final (I think) won by Phil Collins and the other was when Kenny Carter rode with a broken leg. It was a truly great place for Speedway, though I'm not sure how it would look today if it was still open as I'm sure the wooden stands would have had to come down.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Seeing as nobody has mentioned it - number 8 arrived today with none other than Martin Ashby in there! He says he still sees Broady quite often, but I already knew that. I've often seen them standing together on the Blunsdon terraces. I went to Martin Ashby Motorcycles once to get my FS1-E fixed. It was miles out of the way, but it meant it was fixed by Martin Ashby, so I was well pleased. Would Tommy Jansson have been 1976 World Champ? A possible future champ, maybe, but not in 1976 in my opinion. He was a great rider but PC was ahead of him at World level at that point.

As soon as I saw this thread it rang a few bells, so I've dug out some of my early programmes. The first ever match I went to at Swindon was Swindon v Wolves on Saturday, August 17, 1974. Announcer: Graham Guthrie. The second match I went to at Swindon was a 4TT between Swindon, Exeter, Newport, Oxford on Saturday September 7, 1974. Announcer: John Sutton. This is taken from the 4TT programme of September 7 1974. Graham Guthrie It is with deep regret that we have to announce that Graham Guthrie passed away on Saturday, August 31st. It was typical of the man that he had battled bravely against serious illness over the past months and was still able to inject his own brand of humour into the proceedings. It is fair to say that from the time he joined us in 1965, Graham had established himself as an integral part of the Blunsdon scene and was unique in his style as an announcer. To his family and friends we extend our sympathy. He will be sadly missed by all who had the good fortune to know him.

I liked Bert Harrison at Swindon, but that's probably because he lived just round the corner from my mum and dad and announced my birthday once.

Nigel, I've sent him an e-mail to tell him about your post. Thanks.

The good thing is that no matter how old I get or feel, I will always have the satisfaction of knowing that TMC left school, worked for the MOD and had the 'you've been to Poland so you must be a spy' interrogation a year before I did. It must be hard being 45. Forty-four is so much younger. Actually, I just realised I'm still 43. The first sign that you're getting on a bit is when you have to mathematically work out how old you are rather than knowing it automatically. I'm a year younger than I thought! Result (as those young people say).

Thanks Tigerblade. I have to say, by the way, that the more I look at the back row of that Stoke picture, the more it looks like a line of geezers headbanging to 'Born to be Wild' at the local village disco.

Yes, tell us more Tigerblade. Inc-de-ly. I ju- reali- it- no- Ray Bales who loo- li- Norman Collier bu- Graham Edmunds.

And there was me thinking it was one of Status Quo!! Interesting, also, to see how some of the old riders have aged. It's wierd. You don't see them for 30 odd years, and they turn up looking like someone famous. Okay, Malc Simmons, Terry Betts and Paul Woods don't look much different, but when did Mel Taylor become Peter York? And Ray Bales looks remarkably like Norman Collier. Then there's David Gagen without a feathercut. That's so wrong. How can you have David Gagen without a feathercut? He's now morphed into Joe Brown, while Ian Turner looks like he's about to burst into the chorus of 'Agadoo'. Also, Bobby McNeil. I've often wondered how Bobby McNeil might look these days. I was expecting him to have aged in a similar way to Charlie George of Arsenal. But NO!! He looks like he should be Chancellor of the Exchequer - a kind of cross between Nigel Lawson, Gordon Brown and Geoffery Howe. Hope his cocxyx is okay these days. It has also suddenly occured to me after looking at page 10 that John Louis now looks remarkably like Tommy 'TV on the radio' Vance. Amazing.

Hi Falcy, I don't know about the whole meeting, but there is various snippets from the 1973 Daily Mirror meeting on some of the Belle Vue History videos from the BelleVueZoo website. Maybe it would be worth getting in touch with see if they know how to get hold of the meeting. I think I have one or two races from the meeting from these videos, but not a lot.

Coincidentally, I took a job for the MOD a year later and had the same interrogation. Three people came to my house to give me a grilling, just because I had been to Poland, and it was also brought up in my job interview. As if a scruffy 16 year old Engineering Apprentice was likely to be a Soviet spy because he went to a Speedway meeting in Poland! It was a great British crowd there that year - as though everyone knew it would be PC's year. His victory even made both the front and back pages of the Daily Mirror. I bet that wouldn't happen these days.

I went, though not on that train you mention. I went Tee-Mill tours, with a guide called Alf who supported Hackney. Want to see my pictures? Look HERE. (not the most interesting in the World unfortunately!) My memory is a bit hazy too, as I was only 15 at the time. Let's see what I can remember at the drop of a hat. Stopping in Warsaw (I think) and having a crowd of locals gather around the bus. We soon became quite a tourist attraction. Someone on the bus decided to show Page 3 of The Sun to the gathering hoards, who quickly waved their disapproval. Pickled gerkins and stale bread rolls. Every damn meal. Possibly the most uncomfortable hotel beds ever. I remember in the hotel someone pointing out that the picture of Bob Kilby on my tee shirt was going the wrong way. I knew this, but had hoped nobody would notice! There was a disco in the hotel and I remember them playing Suzi Quatro. Old fashioned even then. We went into the town, which I guess was Katowice. People looked at us with disdain, but then became really friendly when they discovered we were English. They explained that they had thought we were German, and they didn't like Germans. The Stadium crowd was a mass of grey with soldiers on the end of the each line. The only colour was in our section, which was full of English fans. Our coach ran out of diesel on the way back. Everyone had to get out and push, but I was asleep and missed the whole thing. There is a photo somewhere of everyone pushing and waving, with me on the coach with my sleepy head against the window. A VERY rough crossing on the way there. Nearly everyone on board the boat was sick over the side, but for some reason I was fine and spent the time in an almost empty disco. 'Mississipi' by Pussycat was played. Rory Gallagher was on tour in Poland at the time. I remember seeing a poster. There were some Leicester fans on our bus who were particularly impressed with this. I missed a few days school to go, and started the 5th years a few days late. This made me officially cool. Funnily enough, I can't remember that much about the speedway other than Egon Muller taking a massive great fall while in the lead. I was really impressed with Egon in this meeting and always rated him afterwards. I think he was set to score 11 points before rearing up and coming off. I also remember watching it on TV when I got back and spotting my banner being waved about. It was an England flag with the names of Peter Collins, Malcolm Simmons, Doug Wyer, John Louis and Chris Morton, which I made myself. This is the closest I ever came to being famous. Funny that the Final where Peter became World Champ sticks in my mind mainly for Egon Muller falling off, but memory does these strange things sometimes. If I think of anything else I'll add it later.

I did send an e-mail to the website where the 'Money for Speed' information came from to see if there was any way of viewing it. They didn't know, but suggested the British Film Institute, whose website is http://www.bfi.org.uk/collections/rvs/

That was called 'Rider Control', which was definitely around in the 1970s. I can't remember the exact time of the introduction on averages to define team strengths, but I'd guess it was late 70s/early 80s. The limit was much higher then, though. I think it used to be around the 50 point mark.

IMDB (If you click on 'more' you'll see it has Arthur Mullard in it!)

Well, there's a thing. There's more HERE, and you can actually view clips from the film - but only if you are in a School, College or Public Library! Unfortunately, I am in none of these 3 places.

No, nothing to do with the USA Team from the 1980s, but 1933 film featuring Speedway. We all know 'Once A Jolly Swagman', but has anyone heard of this one - edited by David Lean no less!? Review taken from HERE. Take a look at some of the names of the 'players'. There's some well known Speedway names there. Money for Speed (1933) Brash Aussie newcomer, Cyril McLaglen, threatens to steal the limelight from speedway star John Loder. Loder tries to nobble him by setting him up with a guaranteed heartbreaking woman. The mechanics of the script are a little dreary, but boy does the speedway action make up for it! Director Bernard Vorhaus scraped together the £7000 cost of the picture by getting the thrills and spills of actual speedway on film. These sequences with editing by David Lean (who also has an uncredited bit as a journalist) form the core of the film. No other picture captures the atmosphere and excitement of one of the great spectator sports of the 30s. McLaglen is adequate as the dupe, but the dramatic demands of the plot are a little outside his range. Loder, playing bad for a change, has never been sexier. The undoubted star of the film though has to be 15 year old Ida Lupino as the femme fatale. Other actresses might have gone way over the top in this role, but she effortlessly underplays. She knows she has no need to get the camera's attention. No wonder Hollywood snapped her up. Money for Speed was listed in the BFI's Missing Believed Lost search. A dubbed French print and a subtitled German one was discovered. Rediscovering Money for Speed has made this search worthwhile. It's not a world classic, but it's a breath of fresh air compared to so many of its contemporaries. I can't think of an American B picture of the same period with half as much oomph as this. Money for Speed gives the lie to the belief that quota-quickies were a blot on this country's film heritage. Script: Vera Allinson, Monica Ewer, Lionel Hale Director: Bernard Vorhaus Players: Moore Marriott, Marie Ault, George Merritt, Sam Wilkinson, Ginger Lees. (with the co-operation of: Ginger Lees, Frank Arthur, Jack Ormston, Colin Watson, Tom Farndon, George Greenwood, Bluey Wilkinson, Jack Parker, Vic Huxley, Eric Langdon, Tiger Stevenson, Ron Johnson, Billie Lamont, Wal Phillips, Frank Varey, Cyclone Danny, John Hoskins, Alec Jackson, F. Mockford, E.J. Bass, A.J. Elvin)

I remember that. It was great. The way we celebrated Crumpie's maximum you would have thought Swindon had won.