billybikespeedway Posted March 16, 2017 Report Share Posted March 16, 2017 Hi BOBATH nothing wrong with Somerton park ,but Wimbledon was just Plush , I used to stand Cromwell road end Exiting the Turn Tiered terracing, bars to lean on ,was you there when the Russians came in 65( Sardines or what ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longlivefrankie Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 (edited) Hi BOBATH nothing wrong with Somerton park ,but Wimbledon was just Plush , I used to stand Cromwell road end Exiting the Turn Tiered terracing, bars to lean on ,was you there when the Russians came in 65( Sardines or what )Even by today's speedways standards Somerton park would be a decent stadium, plenty of covered stands on three sides no less Some great memories - test matches, Phil crumps first season, the years 1965, 1975, Toby harrysson, gote Nordin, reidar eide, Sandor Levai and many more etc Edited March 18, 2017 by Ken Morgan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 18, 2017 Report Share Posted March 18, 2017 Even by today's speedways standards Somerton park would be a decent stadium, plenty of covered stands on three sides no less Some great memories - test matches, Phil crumps first season, the years 1965, 1975, Toby harrysson, gote Nordin, reidar eide, Sandor Levai and many more etc Went to Newport on a couple of occasions...once when Oxford were hammered and again when Belle Vue visited in 1975 when Alan Wilkinson was the most productive exponent on that particular occasion. PC made it clear it was never his favourite track and in fact faked illness, if I recall, when he missed the Aces trip there in 1976 after he heard the news of Tommy Jansson's death the night before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Went to Newport on a couple of occasions...once when Oxford were hammered and again when Belle Vue visited in 1975 when Alan Wilkinson was the most productive exponent on that particular occasion. PC made it clear it was never his favourite track and in fact faked illness, if I recall, when he missed the Aces trip there in 1976 after he heard the news of Tommy Jansson's death the night before.If i remember rightly Eric Boocock badly broke his arm there Crump had the track weighed up though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longlivefrankie Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) Went to Newport on a couple of occasions...once when Oxford were hammered and again when Belle Vue visited in 1975 when Alan Wilkinson was the most productive exponent on that particular occasion. PC made it clear it was never his favourite track and in fact faked illness, if I recall, when he missed the Aces trip there in 1976 after he heard the news of Tommy Jansson's death the night before.i have vague recollections of Wilkie coming on the mic for kocup quarter final ( I think) visit of belle vue saying the Aces had no problem with Somerton park or something similar . The number of riders who did of course would make a decent team up though Edited March 19, 2017 by Ken Morgan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 If i remember rightly Eric Boocock badly broke his arm there Crump had the track weighed up though. I think that Eric caught his right arm along the top of the fence and caught a post? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 I think that Eric caught his right arm along the top of the fence and caught a post?Totally right,i can always remember Halifax getting a facility after that injury for Eric to ride at reserve.And in 74 he come to the Abbey and scored 14 points from the reserve berth amazingly after a few years trying he won the British Title in 74. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) Totally right,i can always remember Halifax getting a facility after that injury for Eric to ride at reserve.And in 74 he come to the Abbey and scored 14 points from the reserve berth amazingly after a few years trying he won the British Title in 74. He had been allocated to Oxford for the 1975 season but had decided to retire and moved into management at Belle Vue...we eventually got Dag Lovaas instead after the fiasco of the Ole Olsen affair who was also allocated to Cowley prior to the commencement of that season. In fact I think we used a facility for him at Coventry when also John Davis guested for himself...could only happen in speedway. Actually it used to annoy me that Oxford used to ride at Coventry at the start of a season in an official fixture before some teams had been finalised...at least we did return in the KO Cup later in the year and manage to turn 'The Bees' over good and proper! Edited March 19, 2017 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 (edited) He had been allocated to Oxford for the 1975 season but had decided to retire and moved into management at Belle Vue...we eventually got Dag Lovaas instead after the fiasco of the Ole Olsen affair who was also allocated to Cowley prior to the commencement of that season. In fact I think we used a facility for him at Coventry when also John Davis guested for himself...could only happen in speedway. Actually it used to annoy me that Oxford used to ride at Coventry at the start of a season in an official fixture before some teams had been finalised...at least we did return in the KO Cup later in the year and manage to turn 'The Bees' over good and proper! Some of the rules in speedway have always been crazy and looking back how Halifax got that facility for Boocock is very strange.Also Briggo after all he had done for speedway was stopped entering the WC bizarre really.So as much as some of the rules now are baffling it has always happened. Edited March 19, 2017 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Some of rules in speedway have always been crazy and looking back how Halifax got that facility for Boocock is very strange.Also Briggo after all he had done for speedway was stopped entering the WC bizarre really.So as much as some of the rules now are baffling it has always happened. If I remember PC was denied the chance to compete in the 1981 WC because he wasn't competing in Britain that year...despite all that he had achieved previously representing his country! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted March 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 yup billybikes was at Somerton for the Russian test-July 16th 1964, as you say huge crowd packed in like sardines.-Plechanov scored 12 in the 4 rides he completed-my program says he retired in two of them. Real eye opener was Kurilenko-beat Charlie Monk in his first ride and then Briggo in his second. I of course remember the Cromwell Road end-me and my mates used to try and stand near the start line-I think the starting gate changed from one straight to another at some point. I remember street parking was easy then-less people had cars. We always parked on Oliver Road which ran into Cromwell Road (guess both streets named after Oliver Cromwell) As folks have pointed out many riders didn't like Somerton , but one guy who always put up a good show there was Roy Trigg with Hackney. (wish Roy had made it to a World Final). Great times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatface Posted March 20, 2017 Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 Too young for London's glory days of speedway. But I did enjoy a couple of trips to Hackney, where the racing was great. Also went to Plough Lane in NL days and it had that same quality feel that Brandon used to have. Sorry to say I also went there for Banger World Champs once and the atmosphere far exceeded that of its latter days as a speedway. In the last five years or so, I also went to the dogs there and the whole place seemed a lot more tatty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 I saw Wimbledon get thrashed at Somerton park on good friday 1975. The dons team contained half of the reading team, but were no match for a rampant Newport side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 yup billybikes was at Somerton for the Russian test-July 16th 1964, as you say huge crowd packed in like sardines.-Plechanov scored 12 in the 4 rides he completed-my program says he retired in two of them. Real eye opener was Kurilenko-beat Charlie Monk in his first ride and then Briggo in his second. I of course remember the Cromwell Road end-me and my mates used to try and stand near the start line-I think the starting gate changed from one straight to another at some point. I remember street parking was easy then-less people had cars. We always parked on Oliver Road which ran into Cromwell Road (guess both streets named after Oliver Cromwell) As folks have pointed out many riders didn't like Somerton , but one guy who always put up a good show there was Roy Trigg with Hackney. (wish Roy had made it to a World Final). Great times. Trigg should of made it to a World Final, he only reached four British Finals he was alot better than that.In a way like Monk,Trigg was very underated one great season at each of Oxford and Cradley a nine plus rider. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 I saw Roy finish on the rostrum at west ham in the 1970 british final, possibly Roy's finest meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 I saw Roy finish on the rostrum at west ham in the 1970 british final, possibly Roy's finest meeting. He was brilliant that night, winning a load of points from the back. We travelled to Brandon for the next step to the World Final, full of optimism. Dashed by a night of machine gremlins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 He was brilliant that night, winning a load of points from the back. We travelled to Brandon for the next step to the World Final, full of optimism. Dashed by a night of machine gremlins. ...how about the occasion that Garry Middleton pulled a gun on him in the pits at Dudley Wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted March 21, 2017 Report Share Posted March 21, 2017 ...how about the occasion that Garry Middleton pulled a gun on him in the pits at Dudley Wood? I was there that night as well, though we didn't know about the gun incident on the terraces. The main issue as far as the crowd were concerned was an on-track fight between Middleton and Mike Gardner, which the latter comprehensively won by whacking the former on the head with his crash helmet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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