Jump to content
British Speedway Forum

Oldest Surviving World Finalists


BOBBATH

Recommended Posts

Ok then it sounds like the list is 1. Cyril Roger 2. Phil Clarke 3. Split Waterman 4. Arthur Payne 5.Danny Dunton 6. Dick Bradley 7. Fred Brand 8. Freddie Williams 9. Chum Taylor 10.Eric Boothroyd. However can somebody confirm this by adding birthdates as a couple of these gentlemen are listed as having the same age e.g. Chum and Eric; Dick and Fred; Split and Arthur. So until we know birthdates we won't know the actual order. Sorry to be a nerd (or"anorak" as you Brits say) about this!!!!!!!.Incidentally the only survivor of the 1949 World Final(sixty years ago- hard to believe) is now Cyril Roger. For the 1950 Final(assuming Mike Erskine has passed away-BTW anyone know the answer to that?)- besides Cyril , Freddie is still with us, as are Split,Ronnie Moore,Danny Dunton and Arthur Payne. Long may it remain this way.

I confirm that Mike Erskine passed away some years ago. Heard it from his son Jon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ole Nygren is 80 this month and he is having a big party in Stockholm which will be full of Speedway riders. I had an invite , but the trouble is they will all be speaking Swedish which is hard to understand and I also had a prior engagement.

I met Ove again last week. Fortunately he spoke English, which was easy to understand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK OK great conversations but does anyone know the actual birthdates of the 10 guys listed in my Nov 5th posting??(BTW for any Aussies out there-we had our first snowfall yesterday here in Toronto)

 

Dick Bradley will be 85 at the end of this month, only one I know sorry, Yvonne.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ta much Norbold-anybody know bd of Fred Brand-starghost?? anybody??-btw Vonny if you are Dick's daughter wish him Happy Birthday from me at end of the month- a great rider and a great gentleman.

Hi Bobbath, thankyou for those kind words, proud to be Dick's daughter, I will pass your best wishes on to Dad. Kind regards Yvonne.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phil Clarke was born on 30 June 1922. Arthur Payne 30 August 1924. Split Waterman 27 July 1923

 

So that's:

 

1. Cyril Roger

2. Phil Clarke

3. Split Waterman

4. Arthur Payne

 

Thanks to Matt and Hugh for the information. Everyone should own a copy of "The Complete A-Z of Post-War British League Riders" :approve:

Edited by norbold
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ta Norbold -to make the list totally accurate all we need now is to know Fred Brand's bd versus Dick Bradley's. Re your point about Matt and Hugh's disc. I certainly have thought of getting it-does a CD produced in UK work on our appliances here(as you can tell I am a techno peasant).?? Also like many I am more comfortable with print-just opening and flicking thru' a book etc. vs. going to computer, loading it in and then scrolling around each time. I find print much more user friendly, riffling thru' pages etc etc.. I can see though that this would open the way to printing off piles of pages and undermining all the research done(and it is a great job). Having said that I had wondered whether Matt/Hugh would be up for something like this-say sell a page contining a rider you are interested in for I don't know 20 p say and having a minimum order of 20 pages. Mail them out charging people for p. and p.-20p might not be the right amount and perhaps the min. order should be higher. I would probably be up for that altho' I realise over time it would cost me more than the disc-however I would be prepared to pay for the perceived convenience to me-and who knows it might generate another income stream for the guys .Perhaps restrict it to overseas clients if indeed there is a problem with CD applicability.Just a thought and I recognise it doesn't have much to do with the thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanx Knowle do u know where is Jon these days??-a good rider in his time also

 

Sorry BOBBATH but cannot help on Jon as I only saw him at Newport a few years ago and I have since transferred my allegance to Somerset who are on my side of the dreaded Severn Toll Bridge!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the recommendation Norman.

 

Bob, I'll send you a PM with a proposal about the discs.

 

Fred Brand was born 3 Feb 1925.

 

I think someone has suggested a different year of birth for Arthur Payne. He was one of the riders I was unable to contact and went with a date that was reported in an interview with him. It may be that he was born a year earlier but I can't be certain.

 

Matt

 

www.speedwayatoz.co.uk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Chunky down there in Illinois -what is your source for Arthur Payne being born in august 1923 instead of 1924. also Vonny is your dad 84 this year or 85. Getting this list correct has become an obsession with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Chunky down there in Illinois -what is your source for Arthur Payne being born in august 1923 instead of 1924. also Vonny is your dad 84 this year or 85. Getting this list correct has become an obsession with me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi Bobbath, Dad will be 85 on the 28th of this month, good luck with your list, regards Yvonne.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanx to all-particularly tigerowl,norbold starghost etc-the list is definitely as follows( and as per tigerowl's original posting): 1 Cyril Roger 2 Phil Clark 3 Split Waterman 4 Danny Dunton 5 Arthur Payne 6 Dick Bradley 7 Fred Brand 8 Freddie Williams 9 Chum Taylor 10 Eric Boothroyd. The only possible change could be if Chunky in Illinois is right about Arthur's d.o.b. being 1923 instead of 1924. however until proved otherwise I think we have to go with the A- Z guys (Matt and Hugh) who have done so much research-thanx guys. BTW any interest in coming up with the 11th thru' 16th because then we'd have the oldest World Final of 16 riders-or is this "an anorak too far"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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