Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

i remember when...


Guest BilaHora

Recommended Posts

feel lucky that i have some fantastic memories from years gone by ...

i remember September 1982 when when we lived in Raynes Park near Wimbledon .. we had a new gas heater fitted by British Gas, and when he was finished the bloke who fitted it saw on the sideboard (had em in those days ) the programme from the Los Angeles world final we'd been to and mentioned he did a bit of grasstrack ... we got chatting about stuff and the bloke turned out to be Steve Schofield.

 

my journeys across London to Hackney in the Friday rush hour traffic were always eventful for one reason or another ... having cyclist ride into the car door as it got thrown open, running out of petrol on Whitechapel Road, getting hit by a Volvo ... twice... same one ... within 5 minutes ... lots more

 

 

as a kid watching speedway bikes being cleaned on the driveway and wondering why when you pulled the clutch in, the back wheel would move ... but on the track you had to let the clutch out to make the bike move ... baffled me for years that one.

also riding up and down the road racing my brother on our push-bikes with playing cards in the back wheel (held in with pegs) to give our engine noises, and with one of us wearing a New Zealand bodycolour, the other wearing Exeter ... had arguments who wore what.

 

i remember working for Phil Pratt engine tuning and would get all the riders coming over ... Kenny Carter (one of the nicest and funniest blokes ever) with his mechanics Richard & Ollie, Mitch Shirra, Rod Hunter (boy could he chat ) many many more ... great fun ... and listening to Radio 1 with Steve Wright in the afternoon, and Simon Bates and Gary Davies in the mornings ....

 

the 'good old days'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BilaHora

Mr Hone

 

What a fantastic little rider Steve Schofield was.

I remember when Weymouth Wildcats came to Berrington Lough in 1982 and they won with Mr Schofield scoring a superb maximum. From memory the meeting clashed in some way with the National League Best Pairs meeting and, as such, Messrs Yeates, Wigg, McDermott and Cribb were absent. Still, it was a superb meeting and Mr Schofield always impressed when he came to Berrington Lough. One of my favourite riders.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BilaHora

Mr Hone

 

Unlike your good self, I was never fortunate enough to meet Mr Schofield and, as such, I am in no position to comment. However, I shall take your word for it.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What public transport did you use to get to Hackney Robyn?

 

My only attempt at this saw me walking through some streets of London that Ralph McTell didn't sing about. Not an experience I'd like to repeat or reccommend to anyone! :neutral:

 

LOL - yes - it could get a bit like that sometimes!

 

I used to get the bus from Walthamstow to Leyton high road - then walk from there to the stadium......a lovely walk on a sunny saturday for training school, not so nice on a dark Friday evening though! It would be lethal now as you would have to cross all the slip roads onto and off of the new A12 - not a route I would fancy using! The worst Places I ever tried to get to by "walking from the station" were Mildenhall anhd Ipswich - both a Bloomin' long way from their nearest stations I can tell you! Like a fool I believed the person who told me it was "only" 3 or 4 miles to Foxhall.....hmmm! More like 6 as I now know! :rolleyes:

 

Hey, small World Robyn, I've got relations darn the 'stow. :D

 

I got the tube to Bromley-by-Bow and therefore had to go the other way to you. As you couldn't walk down the duel carriageway you had to go round the backstreets and that was no fun.

 

You say it's six miles from the track to the station in Ipswich, but how far is it in Mildenhall? :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What public transport did you use to get to Hackney Robyn?

 

My only attempt at this saw me walking through some streets of London that Ralph McTell didn't sing about. Not an experience I'd like to repeat or reccommend to anyone! :neutral:

 

LOL - yes - it could get a bit like that sometimes!

 

I used to get the bus from Walthamstow to Leyton high road - then walk from there to the stadium......a lovely walk on a sunny saturday for training school, not so nice on a dark Friday evening though! It would be lethal now as you would have to cross all the slip roads onto and off of the new A12 - not a route I would fancy using! The worst Places I ever tried to get to by "walking from the station" were Mildenhall anhd Ipswich - both a Bloomin' long way from their nearest stations I can tell you! Like a fool I believed the person who told me it was "only" 3 or 4 miles to Foxhall.....hmmm! More like 6 as I now know! :rolleyes:

 

Hey, small World Robyn, I've got relations darn the 'stow. :D

 

I got the tube to Bromley-by-Bow and therefore had to go the other way to you. As you couldn't walk down the duel carriageway you had to go round the backstreets and that was no fun.

 

You say it's six miles from the track to the station in Ipswich, but how far is it in Mildenhall? :o

 

Ahh - but I gave up walking at about 5 miles that day....happened to chance upon a phone booth with a local cab company's card in! £5 well spent if you ask me?!!!

 

Every second person I speak to at speedway seems to know Walthamstow. CrazySue spent a lot of tiome there when she was younger, and a chap I got friendly with at Ipswich this year and knew I knew from somewhere, turned out to have been at School with me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every second person I speak to at speedway seems to know Walthamstow. CrazySue spent a lot of tiome there when she was younger, and a chap I got friendly with at Ipswich this year and knew I knew from somewhere, turned out to have been at School with me!

 

 

Spent a lot of time there? My mum was born there, my dad, although born in Scotland, was brought up there and up till a few years ago we had loads of family still living there, so all my school holidays were spent in Walthamstow and in fact I was going to move there permanently when I left school......met my hubby instead, and stayed in oh so exciting Suffolk. I keep saying I am Felixstowe born but London bred!!!

Edited by crazysue
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember when Speedway riders drove the same kind of cars as the supporters did... :neutral:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't pretend i know Walthamstow well.But my mum had a couple of uncles who lived there and she was born there.So we did make regular visits when i was young.As they lived in adjoining streets that was all i ever saw of the place :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BilaHora

All

 

I remember when I used to visit Powderhall and always stopping at Joe's Chicken Bar in Musselburgh for fish and chips (or, as they say north of the border, "...fish supper") on the way home. They were great, although I always got a funny look when I insisted on salt and vinegar rather than salt and sauce. Sadly, as I discovered after landing in Edinburgh last Wednesday, Joe's Chicken Bar is no longer there - a sad loss.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

Edited by BilaHora
Link to comment
Share on other sites

BilaHora

 

Yes, we used to do that when coming from Old Meadowbank. It was on the right coming south and we used to park the car across the rode so we could keep an eye on it. Riders used to also stop there.

With the new bypasses you miss out on these sort of places, fortunately the Robert Smith fishshop in Berwick is close to the track and not affected by any bypass. :)

 

:blink::blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest BilaHora

Mr Tsunami

 

When visiting Brough Park (at least when Newcastle raced on a Monday) it was straight to the Golden Chip on Chillingham Road after the meeting. Thankfully, the Golden Chip is still going strong.

 

Regards

 

BilaHora

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BilaHora

 

Not sure whether it is open on a Sunday, I would doubt it. Your right that the Golden Chip is worth a visit. The guy who runs it is a car rally fan but I have tried to convert him with no success. :)

 

:blink::blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember the wondeful cuisine available at the Brighton Bonanza I attended a couple of years ago. There were three items on the menu:

 

1. Sausage and Chips

2. Sausage without Chips

3. Chips without Sausage.

 

mmmmm. Mouth-watering. :D

Speedway track food!

 

Mind you, you can't even gte that at Newport. I think it's burger or cheese burger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember the wondeful cuisine available at the Brighton Bonanza I attended a couple of years ago. There were three items on the menu:

 

1. Sausage and Chips

2. Sausage without Chips

3. Chips without Sausage.

 

mmmmm. Mouth-watering. :D

Speedway track food!

 

Mind you, you can't even gte that at Newport. I think it's burger or cheese burger.

 

And you get the added bonus of being horrendously ill after digesting one. Oh well, at least I got Monday off work! :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. Privacy Policy