cityrebel

i agree, watching the west ham bombers in 1972 was not the same as watching the hammers in 71. same venue different team.

the track in 1984 was reduced in size from 345 yards to 320 yards. i believe this was done because of the position of the lamp standards on the bends. as for the hackney kestrels they were no different than the west ham bombers or the dreaded eastbourne dons. two wrongs don't always make a right. as a lifelong wimbledon fan myself, i refused to go to arlington when we moved there. what could be worse, it would be like arsenal groundsharing at white hart lane!.

well you learn something every day. i remember going to a couple of bank holiday morning meetings at rayleigh in the 70's. i asked my dad who is a keen angler where the weir was and he told me he had no idea.

my point was that 1983 was the last season of racing on the original circuit. 1984 was a new team and a new track, just as it was in 1996.

hackney was a great racing track up until 1983. when crayford moved in and they altered the shape and took away some of the banking, it was never as good as before.

my most vivid memory of the wick was attending the coldest meeting ever staged in this country!, the golden jubilee in 1978. i was still feeling cold two weeks later!.

hi martin i think you would get better crowds if you changed the format. i would have gone this year when it was announced as a 4tt. i stopped going when it changed from a team event to pairs. a lot of supporters don't like pairs or individual meetings these days.