cityrebel

west ham was demolished in 1972 to make way for housing. i remember my dad taking me there to the british final in 1970. we sat in the upper tier of the main grandstand with the wooden seats where you got a great view of the whole track. happy days!

i was also at the wick that night, but to be honest i'd forgotten all about timmy joe sheppard!

gordon parkins arrived at west ham in 1970 to replace dave lanning. i remember him standing on the centre green with christer lofqvist before his debut for the hammers. this was my first ever meeting at custom house and lofqvist became one of my favourite riders despite me being a dons fan. i could not believe some ten years later in 1980 during my first visit to boston hearing gordon parkins on the mic again, a very unforgettable voice.

what about the brandonapolis that doubled up as the ole olsen farewell. it looked like a massive crowd that day, am i right in thinking it was 1983.

thanks iris you beat me to it. us dons should stick together!

i remember going to the meetings at hackney and wimbledon. i'm sure they were double headers with the junior grand prix being raced after the league matches.

when was the last time racing was held at grenoble. the year i went the weather was so mild it was a struggle to stop the track from thawing out!.

i thought boston was a great race track until the stock cars went in there and ruined it. the two things i remember the most was gordon parkins on the microphone and the hot peas stall!

i've just checked my list of ice racing tracks i visited in the 1980's. how many of these still stage racing. berlin frankfurt inzell grenoble alkmaar assen deventer eindhoven groningen heerenveen

i remember the meeting at wimbledon well. hull put in a good performance with half a team and the dons really had a hard time winning the match.

hi eddie i know it was one of the lions fixtures you missed, but there was 20,000 at wembley for the reopener against hackney in 1970. the thing i remember most about this meeting was the live lions on parade!

i used to enjoy going to the groveway but it was a real pain to get to by train. the nearest station was bletchley which was either a long walk or wait for an unreliable bus service. elfield park was nearer the new milton keynes central station, still a fair walk but not as far as the groveway. i liked going to both tracks but will it ever return, who knows.

i have found a greyhound racing history website that states - dog racing was first staged at hoddesdon stadium in 1935 and ran until its closure in 1957, the dogs then moved to rye house stadium. was there another stadium located in the hoddesdon area and not part of the rye house site. if there was maybe this is where some of the confusion comes from regarding the two speedway tracks.

another really long bus journey i used was the number 30 from putney bridge to hackney wick. sometimes it took over 2 hours to get to waterden road. in the end i got fed up with it and got the tube instead.

i used to live in garratt lane and get the 220 to white city every week. it used to drop you right outside the stadium in wood lane.

thanks for solving that mystery.

that is why i started this topic. in the homes of british speedway book it gives no reason for the move.

so the site of the go kart circuit was only used for two seasons in 1958 and 1959. does that mean that the current track is still in the original stadium that opened in the 1930's.

the alley you are talking about was mead path. it is no longer there having been built on a few years ago. i do agree with you though it was pretty scary down there, you would have to be very brave or stupid to walk down there after dark.

does anyone know why rye house moved from the now go kart circuit to the present track in 1958.

all the wimbledon fans telling cyril maidment to use brad oxley in a last heat decider at the abbey in 1981. the dons shared the race and won 40-38 but still finished bottom of the league.

well i've enjoyed going to both venues. i'm just glad us southern based fans and collectors have somewhere to go to get us warmed up for the new season.

as a londoner i would like to see a grand prix at both venues.

i thought hackney pre 1984 was a decent racetrack, although not in the same class as west ham!.

the three wimbledon dons brad oxley, gene woods and bobby ott!.