Shadders

Twenty years ago the BBC were forecasting a new ice age, ten years ago they told us the ice caps would have melted by now. I would rather trust a Staffordshire bull terrier with my testicles than listen to anything the BBC has to say. The Met Office forecasts are very hit and miss too.

Tend to agree with you about the scoreline. Bandits fans have a tough few weeks coming up with Poole and Glasgow yet to visit. Can only see a couple of wins coming against Birmingham and Plymouth and even that I wouldn't say are gimees. Met office have 60-80% chance of rain around 5pm, lasting for 90 minutes or so, so we could be seeing speedway at Shielfield in September for a change. Could do with some of that heat they've been getting in the Med the last couple of weeks

Not great when the track staff and first aiders outnumber the crowd

It’s bright and the clouds are high over the track at 5pm

Bought a season pass. Where can I go to get my head tested?

I follow a guy on FB who posts up his programmes. You can get results and reports by following Wightlink Warriors Shale Track Racing Club

Me? Never!! I was just looking at green sheets. Is he injured?

I forecast an early postponement by lunchtime Saturday. Looks like we’ll be getting September speedway at Berwick for a change

Steve Boxall. Scored well on IOW during the week, beating Ben Morley and Lee Complin. Unsure what his CL average would be. My guess would be Jake Mulford

I came up for the Rockets three meeting northern tour about 10 years ago. We saw 2 heats at Edinburgh on Friday evening before it was rained off. The Saturday meeting at Berwick was rained off at lunchtime. On Sunday we were travelling up the A1 towards Glasgow when we were told it was off, so we turned round and headed to Newcastle to see the Bandits race there. That was called off before we’d even crossed south of the border!

Meeting off

Steady rain since around 4pm, more to come tomorrow. I anticipate an early call off

Nah, it’s not the same as having in a proper pie & mash shop. 70p in the North Bank in 1975.

We debated whether or not to get season passes this year, in the end we decided to and now regretting it. We certainly won’t be next year if the Bandits are running and the team looks as bad as it does this season. We’ll pick and choose fixtures. I never thought TJ would live up to that 9 point average, but frankly he’s been pathetic. Add to that 2 riders racing with injuries and it’s gonna be a struggle. At least Hook is an upgrade on Stoneman

With a much reduced fixture list they’re trying to cram as much in to the summer months as possible

I fear another home defeat.

I was watching a video on YouTube about Stoke Potters from the early 60’s. At the entrance it had “adult admission 2s 6d.” Converted to decimal and calculating for inflation, that’s £3.70 in todays money. The going rate for second tier speedway now is around £20.

Berwick vs Rye House, August 2012. In heat 2, both Robert Ksiezak and Rob Branford crashed in heat 2 for the Bandits. Kziezak took no further part in the meeting, Branford managed to race in the rerun, but withdrew after. They were already using RR for Seb Alden, so basically rode the meeting with four riders. They still won 50-39.

More points from RR?

£24 for double headers last year? That’s a hell of a price hike. Wouldn’t be so bad if there was someone like Bomber racing, worth the admission alone when he missed the gate. This lot doesn’t entertain

£30 a head poorer. I’ll be honest, if I didn’t have a season pass I’d be thinking twice before attending

He only rode about 40 yards of it.

Berwick was the same when I used to come up on Rockets Northern tours in the 2000’s. Track was bumpy as hell. No visiting sides enjoyed coming up here. Now it’s super smooth and a lot more inviting

That was awful. Three home race winners tells you all you need to know. Embarrassing

Rockets northern tour around 10 years ago . Friday: Edinburgh, 2 heats, then rained off. Saturday: Berwick rained off mid afternoon. Sunday: Glasgow. Rained off while we were en route from our base at Berwick, so we turned round and headed for Newcastle where the Bandits were racing. That was called off before we’d even got as far as Berwick.