The White Knight Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 On another Thread I queried a nickname of Arthur Forrest being known as the 'Black Prince'. Chunky kindly confirmed this for me. However this got me thinking (always a dangerous thing in my case ). I know that Speedway had loads of Riders who had these Nicknames like 'The Red Devil' - Frank Varey, 'Mighty' Mauger, Millen 'the Villain', Ronnie (Mirac) Moore I wonder how he got that name? Also 'Split' Waterman - how did he get saddled with that name? Anyway - I just thought it might be fun to see how many others we could come up with and, if possible, how those Nicknames were earned. Graeme Smith was known as 'The White Knight' - hence my name on this Forum. He rode in white leathers. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratton Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Zorro- Magnus Zetterstrom (no idea why he was called that?) Malc Holloway- mad Wellie malc was a farm hand and went straight to Milton keynes with his wellies on. Tony Davey- shrimp odvious . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keef Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Martin"Crash"Ashby from his many falls in the early days at Bristol's Knowle track. Mike Broadbanks"Red Devil"red leathers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 Graeme Smith was known as 'The White Knight' - hence my name on this Forum. He rode in white leathers. As did Ken le Breton, known as the White Ghost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 Reading an online excerpt from the book on Clem Beckett and it mentions various riders nicknames, Riskit Riley and Slider Shuttleworth to name two.....then it mentions a rider called ' Onandoff' Johnson who rode for Newcastle A new one to me. Who is this rider ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 3/2/2012 at 1:47 PM, The White Knight said: On another Thread I queried a nickname of Arthur Forrest being known as the 'Black Prince'. Chunky kindly confirmed this for me. However this got me thinking (always a dangerous thing in my case ). I know that Speedway had loads of Riders who had these Nicknames like 'The Red Devil' - Frank Varey, 'Mighty' Mauger, Millen 'the Villain', Ronnie (Mirac) Moore I wonder how he got that name? Also 'Split' Waterman - how did he get saddled with that name? Anyway - I just thought it might be fun to see how many others we could come up with and, if possible, how those Nicknames were earned. Graeme Smith was known as 'The White Knight' - hence my name on this Forum. He rode in white leathers. Len Silver also gave Graeme Smith the nickname "The Corduroy Kid" after he turned up at Weymouth (?) and rode in his corduroy trousers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 On 3/2/2012 at 1:47 PM, The White Knight said: On another Thread I queried a nickname of Arthur Forrest being known as the 'Black Prince'. Chunky kindly confirmed this for me…. I just thought it might be fun to see how many others we could come up with and, if possible, how those Nicknames were earned. At Brandon… Johnnie Reason - Cream Bun Kid Les Owen - Muscles Nigel Boocock - The Beau, Little Boy Blue Tom Ridley - Tiddler Ron Mountford - The Man Bryan Elliott - Chirpy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andout Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 Split......or rather Squire Waterman got his nickname when he bent over and split his leathers all the way down......he was originally nicknamed Split Arse but Split remained until the end! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customhouseregular Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 Phil Bishop… King of Crash/India Rubber Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 'Cass the Gas" Middleton "Manoleto" Holmqvist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) We had a few at Plough Lane. 'Smiling'Jim Kempster 'Salty' - Cyril Brine 'McGinty' - Dom Perry 'Piccolo' - Peter Moore Mike 'Zoomer' Coomber 'Slim Jim' Tebby 'Haggis' - Bert Harkins 'Hedgehopper' - Trevor Hedge 'Soapy' - Nigel Leaver 'Gentleman Jim' Dormer Edited June 19, 2022 by chunky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 19, 2022 Report Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) Plus... Derek 'Tink' Maynard Maurice 'Slant' Payling 'Lemon-Drop Kid' - Pete Jarman Les 'Red' Ott Rob 'Five Flavors' Pfetzing Mark 'Buzz' Burrows Edited June 20, 2022 by chunky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 Pretty original at belle vue: PC - Peter Collins Mort/Mighty Mort: Chris Morton Jimmy Mac: Jimmy McMillan The Racing Car: Peter Carr Carl "Bye Bye" Blackbird Barry "Baz" Ayres And perhaps the only one with a hint of creativity: Smudger and foxy/foxy? - Andy Smith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 1 hour ago, waiheke1 said: Pretty original at belle vue: PC - Peter Collins Mort/Mighty Mort: Chris Morton Jimmy Mac: Jimmy McMillan The Racing Car: Peter Carr Carl "Bye Bye" Blackbird Barry "Baz" Ayres And perhaps the only one with a hint of creativity: Smudger and foxy/foxy? - Andy Smith Oh, come on... How could you leave out 'The Polka Dot Kid' - Chris Pusey? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiheke1 Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 1 hour ago, chunky said: Oh, come on... How could you leave out 'The Polka Dot Kid' - Chris Pusey? Before I was born! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 1 minute ago, waiheke1 said: Before I was born! Blah, blah, blah... He wasn't THAT bloody old! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 I thought we'd covered this before... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 I thought we had too, which is why it wasn't really a call to re do all the well known nicknames. It was just the first thread i came across that fitted my question about 'Onandoff' Johnson. Following forum guidlines and not starting yet another new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, iris123 said: I thought we had too, which is why it wasn't really a call to re do all the well known nicknames. It was just the first thread i came across that fitted my question about 'Onandoff' Johnson. Following forum guidlines and not starting yet another new thread And I still haven't found anything about 'Onandoff' Johnson... Perhaps there's something about him in the "Speedway Museum" thread??? Edited June 20, 2022 by chunky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted June 20, 2022 Report Share Posted June 20, 2022 2 hours ago, chunky said: And I still haven't found anything about 'Onandoff' Johnson... 1928 Middlesbrough programmes listed him as David 'Onanoff' Johnson (no 'd' in onanoff). He had a few falls, but also recorded some heat wins during a brief career. David Johnson appeared at Middlesbrough in 1928 to 1930, Whitley Bay, Gosforth, Edinburgh and Glasgow in 1929 and York in 1931. He rode as reserve for York in a National Trophy match at Leicester Super in 1931, falling in his first race and scoring one point from two other rides. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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