British Track Tour - Places, Faces & What You Remember

[chunky]

Okay, here goes...

 

Belle Vue: What can I say? The fairground, the zoo, and what a track. I dropped my hot dog in the car park there, at the 1970 KOC Final. One of our group, Steve Hickmott, got injured on the go-karts one year. Another time, we ended up spending the night at Watford Gap because Hickmott and his cronies stole a road sign on the way up there. They stuck it under one of the seats, and we all forgot about it. Coming home, we heard this dreadful knocking noise, and thought that the coach was about to fall apart. So, we stopped at the services while they sent another coach up there for us!

 

Canterbury: A semi-regular stop for me. Home of the hottest cuppa on the planet, and home to two of the great speedway characters of all time: Dick Jarvis and Les Drury!

 

Cradley: Only went there the once, but as most of you know, the pork and stuffing sarnies - and the pork scratchings - were worth the drive from Surrey.

 

Coventry: Used to go up there for the British Final, and 1982 is the one that stands out for me. Not just a superb performance but Andy Grahame, but queuing up before we went in, Denny Pyeatt came over and was talking to us for a while. Just six weeks before his tragic accident, and what a lovely guy.

 

Crayford: Loved watching teams like Exeter all at sea on the tight circuit, but what a poxy drive around the South Circular.

 

Exeter: Not sure why, but I always enjoyed tracks in the middle of the city. There was one Falcons fan I will NEVER forget. Saw him a few times, both at home and at the County Ground, but it was this older weird fella, and after we had beaten them one night at Plough Lane, he marched over to and was yelling that we were too strong. Then - and this is what haunts me to this day - he said, "Nothing personal, but I hope all your riders crash and get killed..." Terrible that someone could say that.

 

Glasgow (Shawfield): The only British track I flew to. Went up there to see the Dons win in '88, and I have to say, perhaps the greatest and friendliest bunch of supporters I have ever met.

 

Hackney: Another fun drive - particular going there in rush hour - but on the way home, I learned to judge the traffic lights down Whitechapel Rd, and I could get all the way from the Green Man (Carpenters Rd) to London Bridge without stopping! Not the best stadium, but watching Thommo round the third and fourth bends was great fun. Remember dear old Snowy...

 

Mildenhall: Another semi-regular stop for me. Great food, but the single biggest highlight for me was watching an Avro Vulcan from the airbase doing its thing. Totally magical!

 

Peterborough: Thought the Grand Slam/ NL-4TT was fantastic! They had some Honda trikes up there, and a few of the riders were showing us mere mortals how to ride them. I was brave enough, and I am proud to say that I was actually lapping at full throttle - God's honest truth - and mixing it with Sean Courtney, Rob Grant, and Mark Fiora! Until Grant t-boned me, that is...

 

White City: Used to ride over there with Ken Archer and Esther; they would pick me up at Tooting Bec station. Thanks to Jim Tebby (a long-time family friend) being Clerk of the Course, he would let me watch the second-half from the centre-green!

 

Steve

[fatface]

Exeter - Big Bank Holiday crowds enjoying the sun for an 11am dust up with Poole

[iris123]

From my trips to 'ackney

 

What always struck me first was the strange smell of the place as we approached about a mile away!!! Think it might have been a nearby brewery?

 

 

Big Arthur the Speedway Mail man standing at the entrance was one of the first things you noticed

 

Len Silver throwing the 50p into the crowd and i managed to get it one week

 

The two souvenir huts as you came in.Always wanted the new season badges

 

The old beardy guy in the back straight stand who used a light and/or magnifying glass to see his programme.Always wondered how bad his eyes must be and now i am approaching his age i am almost as bad!!!!

 

The time i was cycling to the speedway after work near Covent Garden and just as i was coming down through Whitechapel almost falling off my bike with shock as the call to prayers from the nearby mosque started!!! Frightened the life out of me

[TonyMac]

You shouldn't have started this Thread Tony - my mind is going back to better and happier times.

 

I remember Frank Auffret conking out on the Start Line - I said I'll give you a push - by the time we arrived at the third bend I was regretting my offer.

That's the idea, TWK,

 

What were you doing on the centre green?

The little blue 3-wheeled car that sold monkey-nuts. The dark and creepy toilet next to the back straight café.

Sseeaaannnn Will-mott la-la-la-la-la ringing out from the second bend gang!

 

You mean the Vic Harding 'Lounge'?

[steve roberts]

From my trips to 'ackney

 

What always struck me first was the strange smell of the place as we approached about a mile away!!! Think it might have been a nearby brewery?

 

 

Big Arthur the Speedway Mail man standing at the entrance was one of the first things you noticed

 

Len Silver throwing the 50p into the crowd and i managed to get it one week

 

The two souvenir huts as you came in.Always wanted the new season badges

 

The old beardy guy in the back straight stand who used a light and/or magnifying glass to see his programme.Always wondered how bad his eyes must be and now i am approaching his age i am almost as bad!!!!

 

The time i was cycling to the speedway after work near Covent Garden and just as i was coming down through Whitechapel almost falling off my bike with shock as the call to prayers from the nearby mosque started!!! Frightened the life out of me

If memory serves wasn't there an OXO factory or something similar nearby?

[Paulco]

Rye House - the Rye pub , no where better on a Summer day to sit in a beer garden and have a meal before the speedway .

Scunthorpe - the wind , why does it get so windy there ?

Workington - marvelling at how our supporters coach driver manages to get the coach over that wee bridge to get into the car park . And sitting with the Mildenhall supporters in the stand , at the fours one year , and having the bar staff bring the beers up to us .

Somerset - everything about the place , I just love the Oak Tree Arena

Newcastle - bit lacking in atmosphere with supporters all just congregated in the one place .

Kings Lynn - Watching in amazement as piles and piles of shale gets dumped on the starting gate just before the start .

Ipswich - the home fans , great bunch of people .

Berwick - how cold it can be , but the town itself is lovely

Edinburgh - as i'm trying to be nice - it has a good bar .

Newport - miss that place , made some great friends there

Plymouth - cracking wee track

Glasgow - of all our various homes - I miss Shawfield .

Canterbury - got drunk in a pub called the Monument after watching us getting pumped

Mildenhall - cracking wee place with a nice bar

Redcar - great fans and I loved the 3rd and 4th bend banking

Leicester - seeing our biggest ever away win there 62-28 in 2011

Coventry - the bridge over the pits

Belle Vue - Kirky Lane - Thinking this was a plush place when I paid to get in - then I went outside .

Sheffield - Love the New Barrack Tavern across the road on PLRC day

Swindon - bit of a dump and the lavvys on the back straight . Nearly got left there as I spent too long in the bar after the meeting at the 2007 PLRC .

Poole - dodgy track , but good big bar .

Paisley - I could walk to there and back

Peterborough - another of my favs - beer's a bit expensive though .

Stoke - trip back in time , nice big bar , but the beer's not very good

Edited May 28, 2017 by Paulco

[Terry]

 

 

 

 

You mean the Vic Harding 'Lounge'?

No, the Vic Harding lounge was on the third bend. The café was on the second bend, just after the souvenir hut at the top of the big steps.

[scarletrider]

I vividly remember my first, and my last visits to see speedway at my local track, Boldon Stadium, Sunderland. The first was Sunderland v Newcastle in 1964. I remember the stadium was packed to the gunnals, we had to fight for a viewing space. One rider dominated the meeting - Ivan Mauger, Mr 100% record around the Boldon track in three meetings.

My last visit was a very sad day, we all knew the track was closing down. Brian Havelock won the last race at Sunderland - and then I stood, in a trance as the stadium emptied, and the silence took over. No more roaring engines - just silence. And it's that silence that really gets to me after all these years.

I've visited the Stadium many times since, I just gaze at the Stadium searching for memories, all I hear is the silence and the ghosts of the past. I stand where I stood all those years ago selling raffle tickets, shouting "Raffle tickets, two for a bob". Was it all a dream?

 

Great memories, we never had a great team - but they were our team, and we loved them all.

 

"The Mackem"

Edited May 28, 2017 by scarletrider

[steve roberts]

I vividly remember my first, and my last visits to see speedway at my local track, Boldon Stadium, Sunderland. The first was Sunderland v Newcastle in 1964. I remember the stadium was packed to the gunnals, we had to fight for a viewing space. One rider dominated the meeting - Ivan Mauger, Mr 100% record around the Boldon track in three meetings.

My last visit was a very sad day, we all knew the track was closing down. Brian Havelock won the last at Sunderland - and then I stood, in a trance as the stadium emptied, and the silence took over. No more roaring engines - just silence. And it's that silence that really gets to me after all these years.

I've visited the Stadium many times since, I just gaze at the Stadium searching for memories, all I hear is the silence and the ghosts of the past. I stand where I stood all those years ago selling raffle tickets, shouting "Raffle tickets, two for a bob". Was it all a dream?

 

Great memories, we never had a great team - but they were our team, and we loved them all.

 

"The Mackem"

I've passed the stadium on a couple of occasions relatively recently but was never fortunate to see any racing there.

[longlivefrankie]

Somerton park - deafening roar stood in stand if u brave enough on first bend later on after start line moved sides

 

Also this weekend got me thinking Exeter ...how things change the Chiefs & city both in playoff finals made me miss our old sparring partners the Falcons.

 

Hayley stadium , baking hot sunday afternoons

[YerRopes]

Swindon's ham rolls in the main stand were nowhere near the Cheese and Onion rolls from the back straight! Heaps of raw onion in those crusty rolls I tells ya!

 

 

I still miss those cheese and onion rolls from the back straight !

 

Bob Radford, Sweet Home Alabama, Brian Leonard's white leathers, kids race jackets, Don't Fear The Reaper, back straight bogs, getting hit by shale on bends 1 and 2, parking in the overspill car parks, beers in the Ghost Train after meetings...

[keef robin]

Green Bristol buses in car park late 60s, from all over Swindonl getting off because of traffic and running to stadium. Looking for somewhere to climb in, pushing each other down grass banks, collecting hubbly bubbly bottles to get refunds on back straight bar/snack kiosk.Hot dogs and soup, and 2468 warcry.

Edited May 28, 2017 by beefy keefy

[Grachan]

I remember aa trip to Belle Vue and walking along the side of the stadium, and all but one of the houses to my left had been demolished to piles of rubble.

 

The one remaining house had someone living in it.

[The White Knight]

That's the idea, TWK,

 

What were you doing on the centre green?

 

You mean the Vic Harding 'Lounge'?

I was a Starting Gate 'Raker' and handed the various Flags and Indicators to our Start Marshall Bob Arnold as required. There were two of us 'Raking' making sure the 'white line' was not obliterated after each Race and repairing the Tapes had they been broken etc.. We used to pull down the Tapes too prior to the Race starting.

 

Obviously if a Rider's Bike packed in we would try to assist by giving him a push. In Frank Auffret's case mentioned above - we never actually got the bike going again. To be honest we had to pack in pushing, by the time we got to the first bend I was knackered. Fortunately that was the only time that happened. Everybody else I pushed got started OK.

 

We were all volunteers at Sunderland - we even paid to get in and bought our own Programmes. We, all of us, did what we could to keep our Speedway and also keep Costs as low as possible.

 

Sadly, at the start of the 1974 Season we got two very poor Promoters.

 

We lost nearly all of our Home Matches until we were sold, half way through the Season, to Elizabeth Taylor the then Berwick 'Bandits' Promoter. By then the writing was on the wall and we closed early for the Season. We were all fairly confident that Sunderland Speedway wouldn't see another Season. Unfortunately we were proved right.

 

Brian Havelock won the last Race at Sunderland and there has been no more Speedway at Sunderland since.

 

Some of us still live in hope though.

 

You mention Vic Harding. Vic cut his teeth riding for Sunderland in 1974. He is still highly and fondly thought of by those of us who are left now. Vic was a very personable young man who was always ready to stop and have a chat with us Supporters. We really appreciated that.

 

We were all really shocked about what happened that fateful night at Hackney.

 

I still think of him now and again today.

Edited May 28, 2017 by The White Knight

[Sidney the robin]

I was a Starting Gate 'Raker' and handed the various Flags and Indicators to our Start Marshall Bob Arnold as required. There were two of us 'Raking' making sure the 'white line' was not obliterated after each Race and repairing the Tapes had they been broken etc.. We used to pull down the Tapes too prior to the Race starting.

 

Obviously if a Rider's Bike packed in we would try to assist by giving him a push. In Frank Auffret's case mentioned above - we never actually got the bike going again. To be honest we had to pack in pushing, by the time we got to the first bend I was knackered. Fortunately that was the only time that happened. Everybody else I pushed got started OK.

 

We were all volunteers at Sunderland - we even paid to get in and bought our own Programmes. We, all of us, did what we could to keep our Speedway and also keep Costs as low as possible.

 

Sadly, at the start of the 1974 Season we got two very poor Promoters.

 

We lost nearly all of our Home Matches until we were sold, half way through the Season, to Elizabeth Taylor the then Berwick 'Bandits' Promoter. By then the writing was on the wall and we closed early for the Season. We were all fairly confident that Sunderland Speedway wouldn't see another Season. Unfortunately we were proved right.

 

Brian Havelock won the last Race at Sunderland and there has been no more Speedway at Sunderland since.

 

Some of us still live in hope though.

 

You mention Vic Harding. Vic cut his teeth riding for Sunderland in 1974. He is still highly and fondly thought of by those of us who are left now. Vic was a very personable young man who was always ready to stop and have a chat with us Supporters. We really appreciated that.

 

We were all really shocked about what happened that fateful night at Hackney.

 

I still think of him now and again today.

Great WK that you still think fondly about Vic, because down south we certainly do..I always remember the riders who had there time cruelly taken away all for doing what they loved doing and doing there best to entertain us.

[keef robin]

I still miss those cheese and onion rolls from the back straight !

 

Bob Radford, Sweet Home Alabama, Brian Leonard's white leathers, kids race jackets, Don't Fear The Reaper, back straight bogs, getting hit by shale on bends 1 and 2, parking in the overspill car parks, beers in the Ghost Train after meetings...

Yes the old Ghost Train in Purton, now flats, was a good pub.

[Paulco]

Going back to my youth when Glasgow raced at Hampden Park . Glasgow had an evening newspaper then called the Evening Citizen , and on a Friday it was the Speedway special , with it almost completely dedicated to that week's home meeting .

Now we're lucky to get a couple of lines in a newspaper .

[norbold]

Going back to my youth when Glasgow raced at Hampden Park . Glasgow had an evening newspaper then called the Evening Citizen , and on a Friday it was the Speedway special , with it almost completely dedicated to that week's home meeting .

Now we're lucky to get a couple of lines in a newspaper .

Back in the day, the Evening News and the Evening Standard used to print a write up and the full heat by heat programme for that night's racing at Wimbldeon and New Cross. It was seeing this that prompted me to ask my dad if we could go to New Cross one night. The rest, as they say, is history!

[The White Knight]

Going back to my youth when Glasgow raced at Hampden Park . Glasgow had an evening newspaper then called the Evening Citizen , and on a Friday it was the Speedway special , with it almost completely dedicated to that week's home meeting .

Now we're lucky to get a couple of lines in a newspaper .

Russ Dent held the Track Record at Hampden Park for a while, I believe.

[Fromafar]

Trelanwy.

Visiting a luner Planet.