longlivefrankie Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Reading another thread started me thinking about tracks race nights from sixties & seventies Here's the ones I think remember - correct me if I'm wrong & add others if so desired Monday ...... Reading, Exeter, Newcastle Tuesday...... Leicester, West Ham Wednesday. Poole, Hull Thursday.... Wimbledon, Sheffield, Oxford Friday......... Hackney, Newport, Wolverhampton, Edinburgh Saturday..... Cradley Heath, Belle Vue, Coventry, Swindon, Glasgow 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Think i am right in saying Wimbledons traditional night for many years was monday,then they changed to thursday. Over the years many teams have changed.I remember Eastbourne and Rye House being sunday afternoon,but they have since changed.Not sure though what their race day is now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 I well recall - Monday - Wimbledon and Walthamstow Tuesday - West Ham Wednesday - New Cross Thursday - Wembley Friday - Harringay Saturday - a small excursion from London to Rayleigh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Reading another thread started me thinking about tracks race nights from sixties & seventies Here's the ones I think remember - correct me if I'm wrong & add others if so desired Monday ...... Reading, Exeter, Newcastle Tuesday...... Leicester, West Ham Wednesday. Poole, Hull Thursday.... Wimbledon, Sheffield, Oxford Friday......... Hackney, Newport, Wolverhampton, Edinburgh Saturday..... Cradley Heath, Belle Vue, Coventry, Swindon, Glasgow Also Ipswich on Thursdays, White City Wednesdays and Tuesdays, Bristol on Fridays and King's Lynn on Saturdays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Also Ipswich on Thursdays, White City Wednesdays and Tuesdays, Bristol on Fridays and King's Lynn on Saturdays. Seem to remember one of the reasons given for White City's closure was that Reading blocked their intended move to monday nights.Wednesday they said was problematic because of the clash with football fixtures in London,obviously thursday and friday were already taken,so monday was their best option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Reading another thread started me thinking about tracks race nights from sixties & seventies Here's the ones I think remember - correct me if I'm wrong & add others if so desired Monday ...... Reading, Exeter, Newcastle Tuesday...... Leicester, West Ham Wednesday. Poole, Hull Thursday.... Wimbledon, Sheffield, Oxford Friday......... Hackney, Newport, Wolverhampton, Edinburgh Saturday..... Cradley Heath, Belle Vue, Coventry, Swindon, Glasgow Glasgow staged meetings on Fridays during the early years of the British League. Halifax and King's Lynn were Saturday tracks, as was Wimbledon in 1965. King's Lynn held meetings on Sundays during their non-league season in 1965. Long Eaton raced on Tuesdays at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted March 19, 2017 Report Share Posted March 19, 2017 Seem to remember one of the reasons given for White City's closure was that Reading blocked their intended move to monday nights.Wednesday they said was problematic because of the clash with football fixtures in London,obviously thursday and friday were already taken,so monday was their best option. Tuesdays were tried with an objection raised by Crayford but at the end of the day just not enough people went to Wood Lane despite an attractive team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briggo Posted March 20, 2017 Report Share Posted March 20, 2017 I used to travel up from Swindon on Saturdays (I was at school during the week) to see a lot of Arsenal and Chelsea games in the late 60's and early 70's. I'm sure that on travelling back from the games from Paddington and passing Reading, that the Racers would very often have a meeting at Tilehurst. I can even see the big old fir trees that used to skirt the back straight next to the railway line. As previously posted, Reading ran on Mondays didn't they?.............but these were definitely Saturday meetings.......confused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted March 22, 2017 Report Share Posted March 22, 2017 In the early 1970's there were plenty of options in london and the south east. Monday - reading Tuesday - west ham Wednesday - crayford Thursday - Wimbledon, romford Friday - hackney, oxford Saturday - wembley, canterbury, rayleigh Sunday - eastbourne, rye house. Those were the days! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinkox Posted March 25, 2017 Report Share Posted March 25, 2017 Did Wimbledon run on a Saturday - before it ran on Thursday (after the Monday race night) - or did I dream that?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityrebel Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 Did Wimbledon run on a Saturday - before it ran on Thursday (after the Monday race night) - or did I dream that??wimbledon did run on Saturdays for a short time in the 1960's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 26, 2017 Report Share Posted March 26, 2017 Glasgow staged meetings on Fridays during the early years of the British League. Halifax and King's Lynn were Saturday tracks, as was Wimbledon in 1965. King's Lynn held meetings on Sundays during their non-league season in 1965. Long Eaton raced on Tuesdays at that time. Did Wimbledon run on a Saturday - before it ran on Thursday (after the Monday race night) - or did I dream that?? wimbledon did run on Saturdays for a short time in the 1960's. Wimbledon raced Saturday meetings in 1965 according to this pdf from SPEEDWAY RESEARCHER: http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/wimbledon/1965.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longlivefrankie Posted March 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 (edited) Apologies if I spelt a word wrong in the title. Someone has pointed it out in a PM to me as it has taken this long I'm not worrying about it Edited March 27, 2017 by Ken Morgan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 27, 2017 Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 Apologies if I spelt a word wrong in the title. Someone has pointed it out in a PM to me as it has taken this long I'm not worrying about it The time it took to make the above comment is probably about the same as to correct a spelling error and thus give the thread more credibility. Still - that's your choice - sobeit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I like Slant Posted March 27, 2017 Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 When Wimbledon changed race night from Monday to Thursday an article, probably in the Speedway Star, explained the reason as falling crowds. These were thought to be related to the popular television series Wagon Train which ran on Monday. It did obtain huge viewing figures but I don't think it kept me in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted March 27, 2017 Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 When Wimbledon changed race night from Monday to Thursday an article, probably in the Speedway Star, explained the reason as falling crowds. These were thought to be related to the popular television series Wagon Train which ran on Monday. It did obtain huge viewing figures but I don't think it kept me in. So,what was popular on a saturday night to make them change again after just a year?Max Bygraves or was it Sid Millward and his Nitwits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 27, 2017 Report Share Posted March 27, 2017 When Wimbledon changed race night from Monday to Thursday an article, probably in the Speedway Star, explained the reason as falling crowds. These were thought to be related to the popular television series Wagon Train which ran on Monday. It did obtain huge viewing figures but I don't think it kept me in. In regard to Wimbledon staging speedway only for one season on Saturday nights, as I recall they had to change again because Spedeworth negotiated deal with the then stadium owners to stage car racing on that night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangerBoy Posted April 2, 2017 Report Share Posted April 2, 2017 I used to travel up from Swindon on Saturdays (I was at school during the week) to see a lot of Arsenal and Chelsea games in the late 60's and early 70's. I'm sure that on travelling back from the games from Paddington and passing Reading, that the Racers would very often have a meeting at Tilehurst. I can even see the big old fir trees that used to skirt the back straight next to the railway line. As previously posted, Reading ran on Mondays didn't they?.............but these were definitely Saturday meetings.......confused If memory serves me right Reading was Monday's since day one and never changed. Saturday was Dog night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iris123 Posted April 2, 2017 Report Share Posted April 2, 2017 If memory serves me right Reading was Monday's since day one and never changed. Saturday was Dog night Could it be that certain meetings might have been held at Tilehurst on a saturday?I never went,but seem to recall attending Smallmead on an afternoon maybe for the British round of the WTC?Not sure if that was on a day other than monday evening,so maybe there was the odd meeting on a sat or sun? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted April 2, 2017 Report Share Posted April 2, 2017 With the exception of three Tuesday fixtures against Exeter all Tilehurst matches were Mondays. Smallmead staged some Friday matches in 1975 to catch up with their fixture backlog, and one Sunday meeting (27 July v Newport). In subsequent years one or two Sunday events have not been uncommon and they did briefly move to Fridays during the Bulldogs era, but I can't think of any Saturday meetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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