Memories of Hackney Speedway

[cityrebel]

46 minutes ago, E I Addio said:

Not a massive difference from my own background, except that I lived about 100 yards from the main gate of West Ham, so had no real problem with allegiance, but even after Custom House closedHackney never really felt like a “proper “ speedway track to me, but oh boy what I would give to have it back now ! You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone......

Look forward to seeing thevDVD.

After cutting my speedway teeth at Wimbledon, the thing that struck me about West Ham was the sheer size of the place. It was only half a stadium when i first went in 1970. I'd love to have seen it in its original state.

[steve roberts]

31 minutes ago, cityrebel said:

After cutting my speedway teeth at Wimbledon, the thing that struck me about West Ham was the sheer size of the place. It was only half a stadium when i first went in 1970. I'd love to have seen it in its original state.

One track I would have enjoyed visiting however they closed during my first year following speedway.

[chunky]

3 hours ago, cityrebel said:

After cutting my speedway teeth at Wimbledon, the thing that struck me about West Ham was the sheer size of the place. It was only half a stadium when i first went in 1970. I'd love to have seen it in its original state.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean! Thing is, it wasn't just the size; it seemed so open compared to the confines of the basically enclosed Plough Lane. Of course, I could say the same about most tracks, other than Wembley!

Back to Hackney, and one of the things I will always remember was getting a stick of rock at the end-of-season Bonanza Best Pairs!

Like E I Addio said though, while we had our allegiances, and obviously our opinions of other tracks, I would give anything to have those tracks back now. Not just that, I would love to have them back just as they were back then...

Steve

[Paul]

My memories of the old Custom House were Ted Sear who was the announcer in a white glass fronted semi-circular box all on his own, midwat between the tapes and the refs box.

Sitting in the home straight stand with my mum and dad and looking towards the first bend you could see the ships that were docked.

Like City Rebel I never saw the stadium in its full glory. I can only imagine what an awesome venue it would have been prior the demolition of the back straight stand. I guess the writing was on the wall when that went.

But after the demise of Romford and the short existence of the West Ham Bombers I travelled to Rayleigh on the train and Hackney with my parents. I loved the Bombers, Len Silver was of course their natural enemy and disliked the main and his team immensely. But by around the mid-seventies I began like the Hawks as the old school of Rayleigh riders moved on. Len was of course a masterful promoter. I began to take heed of what he said and did and realise now what a great showman he was, similar to the late great Mr Hoskins. Years later Bo Petersen [who was probably the most stylish rider ever to wear a Hackney bib] told me that Len was the only promoter he rode for that paid money on time, a true testament that although Len was unpopular with other tracks, that was because he wanted to be and it was great for publicity. A lovely article by the late great Dave Lanning entitled ‘when he got on Hackney’s Wick’ shows how the promoters worked along with each other to get publicity. The full article can be read here

http://www.hackneyspeedway.com/DAVE-LANNING-WHEN-HE-GOT-ON-HACKNEY-S-WICK

Edited April 30, 2019 by Paul
errors on my spelling

[sunnyfield]

On 4/7/2019 at 10:58 AM, Paul said:

Two certainly post war were as a result of the lamp posts, one wasn’t. I’m not sure on young Alan Clegg.   

 

I know this is an old post, but I can confirm that Alan Clegg's tragic death was as a result of the ridiculously placed lamp posts.