cityrebel Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 i seem to remember in the first season bristol tried to use a dual surface for the dogs and bikes. i'm not sure when they started to lift and relay the track for every meeting. when i was a wee nipper on holiday in 1969 i went to see speedway at plymouth's old track at pennycross. the track there was a sand surface laid on tarmac which i recall was very dusty on a summers evening! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knowle Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Regarding the Bob Coles crash I seem to remember that when interviewed later he said that he thought he was in trouble when he saw the crowd below him! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob tatum Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Just reading these posts make me smile ,does anyone remember ole olsen walking out complaining about the state of the track (how ironic). Also I think terry betts's career was ended at eastville after hitting the fence. Such wonderful memories for me. Just have to mention visiting hyde rd belle vue now there was a speedway track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldBulldog Posted February 12, 2013 Report Share Posted February 12, 2013 Yes the initial meetings were on a 'dual' surface but that didnt work out so they then started laying the sand down. I cant remember how long they persisted with the initial idea. Both didnt really work very well. I can remember several riders walking out in protest at difefrent times, Dave Jessup, John Davis and Malcolm Simmoms I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted February 13, 2013 Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 (edited) Fantastic memories. Eastville is now a bloody IKEA superstore. Bulldogs on a Friday night, and the Gas (Rovers) on a saturday. What a weekend, best days of my childhood, I was 14 or 15. Rovers are now up the road at the Memorial ground (hopefully soon to be at the new UWE stadium) Going to Rovers at the same ground allowed me to get a feel for attendances and I can tell you that most weeks it was at least 8,000 and often 10,000 in attendance. Can tell you too that the petition to keep the sport on got 100,000 signatures (yes, one hundred thousend) and they still didnt allow it. Dont get me started, but it was all down to politics. The councillor helping drive this is a top man, he also supported the recent planning application by sainsbury which should allow the Memorial Ground to be develpoped which is key to the new UWE stadium for Rovers. More memories: The start marshall was Lee Harris. Steve Gresham and Tormod Langli together were a terrfifying combination. Such memories, it was so well promoted, remember the wheelie contests, the interviews, the Bulldog breed club - there was always something going on on what was a real lesson on how to promote speedway. terible track though, but I didnt use to care at the time! Totally agree, you would think that nowdays with the increasing cost of attending speedway, tracks would be doing everything possible to improve the entertainment and presentation, sadly not. I had the number 1 Bulldog club membership card, you also got a Bulldogs Christmas card. I found all my programmes in the loft, every one ever published in 77 and 78 by Bristol. I bet they are worth a few bob. Edited February 13, 2013 by oldtimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halifaxtiger Posted February 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 13, 2013 You can follow Bristol here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/groups/303424497468/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlakejawa Posted February 15, 2013 Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 ROB TATUM Gresham started it,'Flash'finished it at Oxford a few weeks later.Gresham in tears,new bike,2nd corner,2nd lap,new bike bent almost double, AND he finished up being excluded (possibly because he had tried it on Gordon on the first lap) i know Gordon certainly "RAMMED" his point home that night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sian01 Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 Anybody know what the latest is about bring back speedway to the bristol area, Though somewhere on avonmouth was mentioned but seemed to go quiet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ch958 Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 it says something - I'm not quite sure what - that the racing was reported to be rubbish and yet 8 or 10,000 turned up every week!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paragon Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 A lot of people came from over the bridge from South Wales (like myself) to Eastville following the Newport riders that ended up there. All the best to Andy & his team in thier attempts to get Bristol up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob tatum Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 The racing wasn't rubbish but the track was. The presentation ,programmes,and the way the whole thing was made to feel very special made up for the ropey track ,it was no hyde rd BUT there were some great meetings. Really hope it comes back ,I will be 1 st in the que. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halifaxtiger Posted February 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 Anybody know what the latest is about bring back speedway to the bristol area, Though somewhere on avonmouth was mentioned but seemed to go quiet Its the potential track at Avonmouth that they are trying to get planning permission for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOM JONES Posted February 19, 2013 Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 ROB TATUM Gresham started it,'Flash'finished it at Oxford a few weeks later.Gresham in tears,new bike,2nd corner,2nd lap,new bike bent almost double, AND he finished up being excluded (possibly because he had tried it on Gordon on the first lap) i know Gordon certainly "RAMMED" his point home that night. Are you sure it was at Oxford? They wre 2nd division then & Kennett was at White City.I may be wrong,sure someone will tell me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halifaxtiger Posted February 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 Andy Hewlett has confirmed on Facebook that he has a planning meeting on 11 March with the Council. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlakejawa Posted February 19, 2013 Report Share Posted February 19, 2013 ROB TATUM. Definitely Oxford.It took 4 track racker's to get Gresham's bike back to the pits.Let's hope March11 goes well.It may well be that a lot people do not realize the amount of time/money involved to even get something to the pre-planning stage.Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sian01 Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Any news on the march 11th meeting seems to have gone quite over Bristol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Merritt Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Sadly it looks like the council have decided to play silly buggers :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 Sadly it looks like the council have decided to play silly buggers :-( I thought that's what Councils did. :shock: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henllys Posted April 18, 2013 Report Share Posted April 18, 2013 I remember going over for the first meeting following the Newport riders, we were on the second bend and some workers were still lay the track and they wasn't rushing to do it, along come Wally Mawdsley and he started talking to them he them put his hand in his pocket pulled out a wad of notes and reeled of a couple of notes gave them to the workers who all of a sudden went into top gear and finished laying the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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