whowasthatberntpersson

The Bristol video sounds interesting, I only ever heard negative comments about Eastville, what was the racing like? By the way there was a meeting at Wimbledon which was held as part of the world games quite a few years ago , absolutely blinding race between Alan Grahame and John Cook, two real hard chargers.

JB was one of my first speedway hero's also. I remember the one man shows at places like the Shay, where despite an eighteen point maximum Cradley United still got a thumping from the Dukes. He's a really nice Guy too.

I actually met Olle Nygren recently, still a nuggety yet fit looking type of bloke even at 70..ish.

If we are going to go back to 1973, this would be my team, it includes no less than 6 World Champions and a World Number 2; Bruce Penhall Erik Gundersen Anders Michanek Billy Hamill Greg Hancock Jan O Pedersen Bernie Persson Could any other club come close to that? Belle Vue maybe? Hard to keep out the likes of Wiggy (Another World Champion), Alan Grahame (One of the best team men of all time), and so many others including Boulger, Crossi, etc.

1. Bruce Penhall 2. Billy Hamill 3. Erik Gundersen 4. Jan O Pedersen 5. Greg Hancock 6. Alan Grahame 7. Simon Cross More world champions in such a short space of time than any other club in history. Arguably the greatest team in history (1983). Unbelievable KO Cup record. fantastic racing track. Brilliant following. The Heathens will be back, sadly it won't be at Dudley Wood, but the memories live on.

Great idea Dick (where did you get that name from?) Any comments re the book from the late great PC's widow would be interesting.

It was very early seventies, Cradley v Coventry at Dudley Wood. I was very young and pestered my old man to take me all the time after that. All I remember was the huge crowd and the big rivalry between the two number ones, Bernie Persson and Nigel Boocock, oh and I was always amazed by the legendary Scotsmans Bank, where hundreds of fans watched for free.. The rest is history, I'm still hooked.

Bruce got "So much stick"because he was so blatant about what he did, pulling wheelies and making it so obvious he wasn't trying. There were plenty of Cradley fans who weren't happy about it either, Bruce could of won the meeting, and many fans had spent alot of money travelling to see him win or at least try to win. Believe me the green and white masses copped some stick that day too. However Bruce was an immensely gifted rider, up there with the very best I would say.

Anyone who remembers Howard Cole from his Cradley and Kings Lynn days may be interested to know that he finally retired from his post speedway profession last year. Howard was a Mathematics Head at one of the top schools in Sydney. I saw him last year and he was easily recognisable from his speedway days, minus the green and white striped woolly hat.

Is Alan "Big Al" still running his motorcycle business in Birmingham? He also has a Son doing well in Junior Moto. Last I heard Alan had received injuries riding the moto X sidecar.

There is a Peter Craven book listed at Amazons Online, however it is only available to pre order. Does anyone know when this book is likely to be released?

Handlebars are a very important part of speedway history. I've learnt so much from this (Or the previous closed thread) However i still can't work out if Egon's Long Track bars were higher than other bars at the time. Oh, were kelly Moran's smaller or did they just seem that way because he was so tiny. He's on the comeback trail by the way. The complexeties of it all

The late Chris Pusey wore one. Of course Neil Collins carries on the tradition. I've also got a great shot of Ole Olsen wearing one during his Wolverhampton days.

What have I been missing here? This thread's great, it goes right out wide sometimes but we always seem to get our wheels back inline.

I wish I had to say that once in a while (No references to other leisure activities please.)

Speaking strictly as an anorak, I prefer the little petite ones we have now but years ago the big macho ones were great, although those swaying scarves took away the machoism a little. I'm taking nothing away from Ove though, apparantly he can still do the business, don't know much about Sverre but he's highly regarded by the more mature observers. Now no more micky taking, this was a serious thread.

Good evening handlebar heroes, its much quieter tonight, and I had my anorak off ready to go racing, Mutley's on my side Dick...lol.

You forgot "Attitude Problem"

Well I bow to your expertise and superior knowledge, and admire your tact and admiration for the average speedway fan trying to participate in a discussion. I could of swore thats what this board was about.. You know best, so thats the end of that. A little hint though, before you give abuse, try to find out who you are abusing.

Thats the last time I buy any prints off you...are you sponsored by crayola?...lol

So what you are saying is the different shaped Long Track handlebars weren't positioned higher than conventional bars, ie-raised (the hand is holding the handlebar in a higher position? I think they were, take a look.

Can any of you Hawks fans remember the 1981 British league match against Cradley, Hackney used Bobby Schwartz as a guest (can't remember who for), not a good choice under the circumstances, Bobby was a real favourite with Cradley fans and good friends with Penhall, so it wasn't too surprising when he dropped valuable points when maybe he shouldn't of. This meeting came after the Thames TV Trophy which was televised live earlier in the evening (Penhall won it) Whilst I'm at it, the 1977 Hackney v Cradley League match also springs to mind, is it still the biggest home reversal for the Hawks? I thought Waterdon Road was a great little racing strip, whatever happened to Hawkeye?

I was watching the 1981 and 83 world finals on video recently and I noticed how Egon Muller's handlebars were raised compared to the much straighter modern designs. Its before my time but I remember seeing some footage of a Russian team riding in Scotland, they had very distinctive handlebars also.

I heard recently that Kelly was making a racing comeback in the States.

A question for the many speedway fans who followed racing at tracks that are now defunct. So where do supporters of clubs like Cradley, Birmingham, Halifax,Hackney, leicester Bradford, etc, etc. now get there fix?