steve roberts Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said: From 1964- 68 the Coventry top four or five was always from a pool of the same riders, Boocock,Mountford,Lightfoot,France,Cottrell,.Then in the late 60s when Lightfoot and Mountford retired Mckinlay and Lomas came on board. Unlike today Sid when the makeup of teams often change from season to season. One reason my brother stopped attending. Edited January 16, 2020 by steve roberts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midland Red Posted January 16, 2020 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 11 hours ago, E I Addio said: Wasn’t Les Owens entire career plagued by injury? I think he lost the sight of one eye in a workshop accident, and I believe he had one leg a bit shorter than the other as a result of a track crash. I think he was one of those riders like Paul Hurry who spent more time on the injury list than he did on the track . Is that correct Sid ? Did John Harrhy race again after that crash? Yes he did, but continues to this day to suffer ill-effects from the crash well over 40 years ago Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 16, 2020 Report Share Posted January 16, 2020 8 minutes ago, Midland Red said: Yes he did, but continues to this day to suffer ill-effects from the crash well over 40 years ago Owns a Country Club and Golf Course if I recall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 I was glad someone finally remembered to mention Rick France and Jim Lightfoot. I think I recall Boocock, France, Mountford and Lightfoot as the 3 or 4 heat leaders in 65-67. Clearly Nigel was the outstanding superstar-but lets not forget that Ron (62) Jim (63) and Rick (67) all made the World Final. How would other forumlanders rank those three???? - I think I would make it Rick, then Ron and then Jim. Pretty sure Ron and Rick worked together -a garage and repair shop maybe?. Ron was a tough customer -no question. I think he wore contact lenses. Jim I recall at the end of his career maybe riding for Long Eaton?. I attended the British Final in 1967 at West Ham where Rick qualified for the World Final-bit of an outsider to qualify I thought before the meeting. I would consider Rick as a Prov. league graduate. He advanced from West Ham at that British Final while more favoured riders e.g. Terry Betts did not. The 1967 British Final was a great meeting- a very warm evening as I recall-am sure maybe Norbold, Andoutt and Celticman could have been there. Of the Bees second strings mentioned I tended to think Col Cottrell was the best, I certainly recall Roger Hill starting out. I know that Ron Mountford has passed away, also that Rick France has been quite ill. Is Cap'n Jim still around? Think Col Cottrell has passed away-not sure re Roger Hill. The Bees were always great visitors to Somerton Park, Station Road Long Eaton and of course Leicester-always smartly turned out and always ready for a great night's racing- I think their closure was a tremendous loss to British speedway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 7 hours ago, steve roberts said: Unlike today Sid when the makeup of teams often change from season to season. One reason my brother stopped attending. Totally agree Steve that is why the core of the 2020 Robins team of Doyle,Batchelor,Jensen,Ellis, Perks is refreshing to see some sort of continuity from last season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 2 hours ago, BOBBATH said: I was glad someone finally remembered to mention Rick France and Jim Lightfoot. I think I recall Boocock, France, Mountford and Lightfoot as the 3 or 4 heat leaders in 65-67. Clearly Nigel was the outstanding superstar-but lets not forget that Ron (62) Jim (63) and Rick (67) all made the World Final. How would other forumlanders rank those three???? - I think I would make it Rick, then Ron and then Jim. Pretty sure Ron and Rick worked together -a garage and repair shop maybe?. Ron was a tough customer -no question. I think he wore contact lenses. Jim I recall at the end of his career maybe riding for Long Eaton?. I attended the British Final in 1967 at West Ham where Rick qualified for the World Final-bit of an outsider to qualify I thought before the meeting. I would consider Rick as a Prov. league graduate. He advanced from West Ham at that British Final while more favoured riders e.g. Terry Betts did not. The 1967 British Final was a great meeting- a very warm evening as I recall-am sure maybe Norbold, Andoutt and Celticman could have been there. Of the Bees second strings mentioned I tended to think Col Cottrell was the best, I certainly recall Roger Hill starting out. I know that Ron Mountford has passed away, also that Rick France has been quite ill. Is Cap'n Jim still around? Think Col Cottrell has passed away-not sure re Roger Hill. The Bees were always great visitors to Somerton Park, Station Road Long Eaton and of course Leicester-always smartly turned out and always ready for a great night's racing- I think their closure was a tremendous loss to British speedway. It was one hell of a achievement BOBBATH for Rick to quality from the 1967 West Ham British Final for the world final.In a way it was an equivalent of Martin Yeates qualifying from Coventry to the Overseas final at Belle Vue in 1984 the underdog prevailing Rick did achieve more though. Briggs 15, France, Mauger, Wilson. E.Boocock, Pratt ( did brilliant) qualified--- non qualifiers were Trigg, Ashby, Maidment, Betts, Hedge, Airey, Luckhurst, N.Boocock,Broadbank, Hunter great days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 45 minutes ago, Sidney the robin said: It was one hell of a achievement BOBBATH for Rick to quality from the 1967 West Ham British Final for the world final.In a way it was an equivalent of Martin Yeates qualifying from Coventry to the Overseas final at Belle Vue in 1984 the underdog prevailing Rick did achieve more though. Briggs 15, France, Mauger, Wilson. E.Boocock, Pratt ( did brilliant) qualified--- non qualifiers were Trigg, Ashby, Maidment, Betts, Hedge, Airey, Luckhurst, N.Boocock,Broadbank, Hunter great days. Remember Rick riding for Halifax in 1975 (his last season?) and he was still a class act averaging over eight points a meeting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 19 minutes ago, steve roberts said: Remember Rick riding for Halifax in 1975 (his last season?) and he was still a class act averaging over eight points a meeting. In 1973 Rick finished on a 6.85 average for Sheffield he finished seventh in the averages behind Paulson 6.92. Larsson 7.08 what a strong one to seven they were. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, Sidney the robin said: In 1973 Rick finished on a 6.85 average for Sheffield he finished seventh in the averages behind Paulson 6.92. Larsson 7.08 what a strong one to seven they were. I always remember Sheffield fielding a strong 1-7 during the early middle seventies but not necessarily an out an out number one. I recall Doug Wyer at reserve! Arnold Haley proved a trump card at Ipswich in 1974 when "The Tigers" won the first leg of the Final of the Knock Out Cup...super competition in my view and left many memories to look back on! Edited January 17, 2020 by steve roberts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, steve roberts said: I always remember Sheffield fielding a strong 1-7 during the early middle seventies but not necessarily an out an out number one. I recall Doug Wyer at reserve! Arnold Haley proved a trump card at Ipswich in 1974 when "The Tigers" won the first leg of the Final of the Knock Out Cup...super competition in my view and left many memories to look back on! Yes you are right Steve, Wilson/Wyer came through the system from div two Reg at Worky Doug at Berwick.Then Bob Valentine came along he was a very good rider until he got injured can't remember how ?? hand gliding i think? he was never the same rider after that. Edited January 17, 2020 by Sidney the robin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruno Posted January 17, 2020 Report Share Posted January 17, 2020 I remember Bob at Cradley, maybe his last season? 76? Think he spent it mainly at reserve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 18, 2020 Report Share Posted January 18, 2020 8 hours ago, bruno said: I remember Bob at Cradley, maybe his last season? 76? Think he spent it mainly at reserve I think that he rode for Birmingham in 1976 and Cradley, his last season, in 1977? Sure that Sid is right...he was injured hand gliding of all things! Again there was an interesting interview with him in "Backtrack" a few years back now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted January 19, 2020 Report Share Posted January 19, 2020 On 1/17/2020 at 10:36 PM, bruno said: I remember Bob at Cradley, maybe his last season? 76? Think he spent it mainly at reserve Was great for us in his only season, averaged about 6 and a half I think. Provided us with much needed stability with Michanek and Bernie both being shown the door mid-season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Third Man Posted January 19, 2020 Report Share Posted January 19, 2020 On 1/17/2020 at 7:55 AM, Sidney the robin said: In 1973 Rick finished on a 6.85 average for Sheffield he finished seventh in the averages behind Paulson 6.92. Larsson 7.08 what a strong one to seven they were. Great team, but somehow finished runners up to Reading, even though we beat them at home 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 8 hours ago, The Third Man said: Great team, but somehow finished runners up to Reading, even though we beat them at home I can remember seeing this great Sheffield side ride in a double header with the Racers at the Abbey in 1973. I can remember Reg Wilson tangling with Mike Keen resulting in Mike breaking a collarbone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve roberts Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said: I can remember seeing this great Sheffield side ride in a double header with the Racers at the Abbey in 1973. I can remember Reg Wilson tangling with Mike Keen resulting in Mike breaking a collarbone. I recall Rick Timmo giving Reg Wilson a 'thumping' on one occasion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney the robin Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 19 minutes ago, steve roberts said: I recall Rick Timmo giving Reg Wilson a 'thumping' on one occasion! In that meeting Steve, Swindon beat Sheffield 44.-34 and lost 35.43 to Reading.Ashby beat Michanek in heat 1 a rare feat as Michanek was great in 73 also the late Geoff Curtis scored paid 10 and the late Mad Jack Millen rode and scored a point remember it being a big crowd. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianbuck Posted January 20, 2020 Report Share Posted January 20, 2020 Ron Mountford started at Birmingham in 1950 and went on to give great service to the Brummies for the next seven years, only moving on to Coventry when Birmingham closed mid-season in 1957. Ron went on to give equally yeoman service to the Bees right until his mid 40's. He was a hard rider, and never took prisoners, but he could take it as well as dish it out, and he came back bravely after first losing an eye in a workshop accident, and then smashing his leg in a huge crash which left him with one leg shorter than the other. When the years finally caught up with him and his form deteriorated, he lost his place in the Coventry team but was reluctant to give up riding and did approach Birmingham with a view to rejoining the then, second division Brummies. Joe Thurley though, wanted to build a young team which he could eventually develop into a First Division team, so wouldn't consider including Ron. Ron rather resented this rebuff, so he was lost to speedway when with his long experience, he could have been very useful, and I believe he only made one more visit to Brandon before he died. Les Owen, whom this topic is supposed to be about, spent the whole of his career at Coventry - which as he was born a Coventrian, is no real surprise. When the BSPA tried to allocate him to Cradley Heath in 1965, he refused to go, preferring to just ride in second halves at Coventry, and in mid-season, the BSPA relented and allowed him to return to the Bees team. Les was a fearless performer who took numerous risks on the track and suffered some fearful injuries as a consequence - the last one when he and John Harrhy ran into each other and in which he sustained very serious head injuries, finally finished him. He did make a partial recovery and I'm told that he presented himself at Brandon with the intention of riding again, but Charles Ochiltree would not allow this. Later, Owen's mental condition deteriorated sharply, and he finally committed suicide by stepping in front of a train - a very sad end for an admittedly rather reckless speedway rider, but a very likeable bloke. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 There is an interesting post on the "Speedway Plus" website re the "Internationale" meetings at Wimbledon in 1961-1963 as many will recall it was the top open meeting of the season. Only the best riders were invited -was interested to see that Les Owen was in both the 1961 and 1962 meetings-so this confirms he was one of the top riders of that time just to get invited to it-good for Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedybee Posted January 26, 2020 Report Share Posted January 26, 2020 (edited) On 1/16/2020 at 9:46 PM, Midland Red said: Yes he did, but continues to this day to suffer ill-effects from the crash well over 40 years ago That isn't actually true, according to John Harrhy himself. When I interviewed him around three years ago up at his golf complex I asked him, as part of a long extensive interview, whether his injuries still troubled him and he said no. here is the entire interview https://campfireconvention.uk/bugle/features/john-harrhy-70s-speedway-star Edited January 26, 2020 by speedybee 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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