cityrebel

Charlton used to be owned by London Stadiums Ltd, who also owned Park Royal and Wandsworth dog tracks. My mum worked in the racing office at Wandsworth. I think Charlton eventually ended up in the hands of the dreaded GRA, and like West Ham the writing was on the wall.

A lot of speedway fans like myself, are also football fans. Saturdays will definitely impact upon me at the start and the end of the speedway season. Coupled with Eastbourne's promotion, some difficult choices will have to be made by yours truly.

Len Silver tried to run speedway at Charlton dog track in the mid 1960's. Very few photographs exist of the stadium. I know it was just off the Woolwich road, close to the Valley football ground.

My mum saw speedway at Walthamstow. I worked there a few times during my career in dog racing. It was a really nice art deco stadium that seemed classy. It was the beginning of the end for London dogs when the stow shut.

I'm a regular visitor to the site. It has a wealth of information for the London speedway fan and collector. It's well worth a look.

What about the cavalcade of speed meetings that were run at the White City throughout the 50's. Speedway was among the many featured sports.

Although the event at paradise park has been very successful in recent years. It will never match the sense of history i felt when it was staged at the Kings Oak pub. The venue was not big enough for purpose, but the nostalgia made up for that!.

It's already dead in London and the majority of the south east. I've always backed my local tracks, but I'm in the minority.

Decent drills don't come cheap!

Thanks for the info paul. You can't beat a good history lesson. I might see you next sunday, i haven't decided yet.

From my ever fading memory paul, Romford did have a mesh fence on the home straight.

If i run out of bog paper, i might find a need for his article.

Hammerin' round confused a lot of us trying to read it. Did the author ever go to watch racing at West Ham.

They must have paid Len a few bob to take control of the stadium. A new leaseholder is the only chance speedway has of returning to Hoddesdon. I'm not holding my breath.

I wonder where that leaves Rye House stadium. Maybe it will be sold to pay off the creditors.

George Hunter the scotsman and George Hunter the ex Lakeside rider.

I remember seeing Barney have a punch up with Martin Dixon up at Middlesbrough. It was well worth the admission money!

It's a shame that Kent can't run on fridays now that Lakeside have gone. No school on saturday for the kids and an extra 30 minutes to allow for any hold ups.

Hard to argue with that.

Where did i put my card!

Nail on the head!

Unless costs come down across the board, speedway will struggle to survive as a professional sport. The fans can't afford what the promotors want and the promoters can't afford what the riders want. It's a vicious circle that has to end eventually.

1970 to 1980 for me. Tracks galore in London and the South East. The loss of West Ham in 1972 and Tommy in 1976 were the real low points of the decade for me personally.

You are both correct. When i worked at Wimbledon back in the 1980's, they were both working at the stadium for the cleaning company. They were also top riders in the old NL at the time. I wonder how many professional riders combine jobs these days.

I would highly recommend Langham's hotel which is right on the seafront. It's a 4 star hotel which includes a superb breakfast in the price. You will need to book online to get the best deal.