iris123 Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 (edited) 10 minutes ago, BL65 said: Those were the days. People did actually used to walk to the track! For a few years I used to walk to Blackbird Road, Leicester from Oadby (and back), an 11 mile round trip. Quite strange, that i used to travel to work here in Germany along the Oadby and Wigston Straße !!! I think there might be a town twinning or something involved. And this post i the first time i have ever heard anyone mention Oadby in my life https://www.norderstedt.de/Soziales-und-Familie/Sport/Sportstätten/Bolzplatz-Oadby-and-Wigston-Straße.php?object=tx,3223.1&ModID=9&FID=1087.922.1&NavID=1087.263&La=1&sfplz=1&sfort=1&kat=1087.114&kuo=1&TypSel=1087.317&startkat=1087.114&KatID=1087.317 But i also used to walk from Colliers Wood along Blackshaw Rd past St George's Hospital and the Cemetary to Wimbledon Stadium and back. Must be a few miles less than your jurney But in my defence i also used to cycle to Hackney, Arena Essex and sometimes rye House and Eastbourne Low carbon footprint in those days Edited December 27, 2023 by iris123 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 57 minutes ago, iris123 said: Quite strange, that i used to travel to work here in Germany along the Oadby and Wigston Straße !!! I think there might be a town twinning or something involved. And this post i the first time i have ever heard anyone mention Oadby in my life Despite my limited contribution, Oadby was one of the most affluent suburbs in western Europe. We used to walk to the cinema in Wigston occasionally, but that was only a 5 mile round trip. Oadby became home for a while to the large Woolco store and the dreadful Swinging Sporran pub next door. ASDA now occupies the site. As far as I know, the Oadby and Wigston district is twinned with Norderstedt in Germany and Maromme, near Rouen, in France. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted December 29, 2023 Report Share Posted December 29, 2023 On 12/26/2023 at 3:32 PM, BOBBATH said: One question, I know you weren't into the PL but did you ever consider following Hackney when they started up in the PL. I loved the action in the PL- always eventful. Incidentally, BOBBATH, as far as the PL was concerned, as well as going to Hackney every week in 1963&4 (see my comment above) I did also, of course, support New Cross in their 1963 PL days and went there every week as well, so it wouldn't really be true to say I wasn't "into the PL". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 Thanks Norbold, I should have known that- did you enjoy your PL meetings, as much as your NL ones? I recall Hackney of 64-three great Heat Leaders- Pratt, Trigg and Les McGillivray. I thought they looked like they would win the League until overtaken by Newscastle. From your memory did Hackney's gates compare favourably with say Norwich or Wimbledon- obviously WH had huge support their comeback year of 64. I liked the old Hackney uniform -blue and red quarters with a yellow diagonal.. Much simpler (and better in my view) than the fancy-schmancy blue and white checkerboard that replaced it!!!. I liked the old non-fussy uniforms the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 I did enjoy PL meetings. It was all speedway! I suppose the only thing I missed about the NL in 63 was seeing the big names like Ove Fundin, Barry Briggs and, for me, Split Waterman. I have no idea how Hackney gates compared. I never went to Norwich and, during 1963&4, only once to Wimbledon (to see a London v. Midlands match - why don't we have meetings like that any more!?). New Cross's gates were very poor in 1963 and led to them folding up during the season. It has been said that the crowds didn't come because they had been used to seeing the top riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 1 hour ago, norbold said: only once to Wimbledon (to see a London v. Midlands match - why don't we have meetings like that any more!?) Um... Because we don't have any tracks in London??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 17 minutes ago, chunky said: Um... Because we don't have any tracks in London??? I said "like that", not exactly the same as that! For example, North v. Midlands would be "like that". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 4 hours ago, norbold said: I have no idea how Hackney gates compared. I never went to Norwich ............. The attendance for the opening meeting at Norwich in 1964 (v West Ham) was reported as 8,026. A few weeks later 4,677 saw the Norwich match against Swindon, but the average in the opening weeks of the season was around 7,000. According to the Hackney Gazette around 4,500 saw the match between Hackney and Poole in June. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 58 minutes ago, BL65 said: The attendance for the opening meeting at Norwich in 1964 (v West Ham) was reported as 8,026. A few weeks later 4,677 saw the Norwich match against Swindon, but the average in the opening weeks of the season was around 7,000. According to the Hackney Gazette around 4,500 saw the match between Hackney and Poole in June. Thanks, BL. Do you know how many attended West Ham's opening meeting in 1964? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E I Addio Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 18 minutes ago, norbold said: Thanks, BL. Do you know how many attended West Ham's opening meeting in 1964? Speedway Researcher quotes a report from Speedway Star claiming their were 15,000 there but I don’t know how accurate that is. The Researcher also says that for the second meeting the crowd were so many that it took Bjorn Knutsson half an hour to get into the stadium. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norbold Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 Thanks, E.I. I was at both of those meetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted January 2 Report Share Posted January 2 4 hours ago, norbold said: Thanks, BL. Do you know how many attended West Ham's opening meeting in 1964? Georgia Smithson and I looked at NL and PL attendances for the early part of the season in the course of research for our book on Sunderland in 1964. The East London Advertiser suggested that the crowd at West Ham on opening night was in the region of 12,000, although Speedway Star claimed 15,000 were there. The Advertiser subsequently reported that the attendance rose to 15,000 for the third home meeting, against Ove Fundin and Norwich. When Barry Briggs and Swindon visited West Ham on 26th May, the Swindon Advertiser estimated 8,000 attended. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBBATH Posted January 3 Report Share Posted January 3 Is a mystery solved? -BL65 are you Keith Corns?? The mention of you and Georgia Smithson seem to give it away, if so your Sunderland book was great a super read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BL65 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 On 1/3/2024 at 3:02 AM, BOBBATH said: Is a mystery solved? -BL65 are you Keith Corns?? The mention of you and Georgia Smithson seem to give it away, if so your Sunderland book was great a super read Many thanks Bob. Georgia (now Dr. Smithson BSc (hons), MA, PhD) and I are glad you enjoyed the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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