Ian

I don't think that's right, CM. I was chatting to Barry Briggs a few weeks ago at Scunthorpe and asked about Wayne. According to Barry he has been living in Spain for quite a few years. He is still married to the lady he met when he first came to Edinburgh as a sixteen-year-old in 1961. Her name is Theresa and she's a hairdresser. When I asked Barry what Wayne did for a living he joked that he was never quite sure what Wayne did! Wayne really was an overnight sensation when he first arrived, despite hardly ever having ridden a bike in New Zealand. When I first went to Meadowbank in 1962 he was already banging in maximums and I think he may also have taken the track record. Had his career not been so badly blighted by injuries he would probably have gone on to become a very fine rider.

You're probably right, YP. My local track is Rye House so I've probably forgotten what dirt on a track looks like.

Very good pics, idh. Doesn't the track look rutty though?

Cheers Tsunami. I was pretty sure it was a Silver Special.

Thanks very much guys. I remember Viktor Trofimov quite well. He must have been one of the tallest riders at that time.

Is Vladimir Trofimov related to Viktor Trofimov who was part of the Russian touring teams to the UK in the 1960s? Also, what is Boris Samorodov doing now? Do you have any photos of him?

I donćt think Old Meadowbank was ever an athletics track, although Powderhall and New Meadowbank both were. Old Meadowbank was Leith Athleticćs football stadium, I think.

I may be wrong, but I had the impression that it was the same Len Silver who was responsible for the introduction of the dingly-dangly-mickey-mousedoo-dahs. If I'm right, it's a fine piece of irony.

I recall reading in the 1960s that the Sheffield track was surfaced with crushed granite. Does that mean that there was no speedway in Sheffield at that time? Many a Tigers' fan would be surprised.

I don't like his comments either, but if he has the ability to get speedway up and running at a new venue then good luck to him. Given his comments though, we would have to assume that he would rule out National League speedway and go for either PL or EL.

Surely the simple truth is that there can never be an absolute gurantee about when a number of motorcyclists first raced each other around an oval track with a loose surface. It's one of these events like Christmas though: no one can be sure what the date was, but we generally agree on a date so that we can all celebrate at the same time. I'm perfectly happy with High Beech in 1928 as one to agree on, regardless of what may or may not have happened prior to that in Australia or anywhere else.

Wasn't it Johnny Hibbert, or something like that?

Is there really a stadium that stages stock cars three nights per week? I'm amazed that people would turn out so regularly to watch such nonsense.

A mate of mine is a director of a large group of wine bars, and they have been suffering for the past year or so. All of their research shows that some of the drop-off in business is due to the recession, but the greater part is a direct consequence of the smoking ban. Interestingly, a smoking ban in bars and restaurants was introduced in Croatia last spring. The government there realised though that this would have a large impact on business. That's why they included legislation that allowes smoking in these same establishments during the winter months when no one wants to sit outside. Quite imaginative, I thought.

Yes, today's riders are still showmen. The difference is that most of the promoters don't make any attempt to play up that aspect of speedway. The emphasis now seems to be on getting through a 15-heat meeting as quickly as possible. Intervals are still common enough, but they almost invariably lack entertainment. It also requires a little bit of imagination, I think. The view nowadays is that people go along to see a "match". My recollection of speedway in the 60s and 70s is that we went along to see a complete show, of which the match was certainly the centrepiece. I don't ever recall leaving before the "Rider of the Night Final", or the Silver Sash match race, or even the novice races. After all, at 1/3d in old money (6p today) to get in, you had to get your money's worth!

Looking back on it, one thing that stands out about Ian Hoskins' brand of showmanship is that it must have cost very little to produce. In much the same way that Eric Morecambe could provide really funny sketches with imaginery props, Hoskins could use anything or anyone who happened to be there to build up the drama or comedy value of the evening. When the visiting team manager was also of the old school (Len Silver, Trevor Redmond, Dave Lanning and the like) there would be a level of banter on the microphone which I haven't seen repeated in many a long day. Quite a few of the riders were characters too, and knew how to wind up the crowd. You still see that occasionally, with Derek Sneddon or Ryan Fisher at Ashfield as great examples. Shane Parker knew how to get the Armadale crowd going. Even the second-halfers were entertaining. Who could forget the irrepressible Jimmy Cox wearing an "L" plate as a body colour? And there was that bloke who kept his leathers clean on a wet night by wearing pyjamas over them! I wonder whatever happened to him.....?

Absolutely, Bob. A Glasgow fan, in fact. Noddy and his friends are all based on famous Tiggers riders over the years.

Slightly off-topic, but that master of the one-liner, Dennis Skinner, once came out with this to describe Roy Jenkins: "Woy of the Wadicals"! Brilliant, I thought.

Well hopefully you were equally successful at both!

It was Audie Murphy, wasn't it?

They (whoever THEY are) reckon that every survivor of the Titanic disaster remembers that the orchestra was laying as the ship slipped under the waves. They also reckon that no two survivors ever agreed on what tune was being played! That was the name in the back of my mind, Norman. I don't know what happened to her either. Had it been forty years later she'd be appearing on Big Brother, Strictly Dancing and that thing about people in the jungle eating worms (or whatever it is they do). I don't think the concept of the talentless celebrity had really been invented in the 1960s.

I don't know whether she was a speedway fan, but her name was Janice.

...except that it wasn't Bob Danvers Walker. It was someone called Alec, as I remember.

Meadowbank was amazing, Bob. Race nights were Saturdays at 7.15, and what took place was an entire evening's entertainment. When the visiting team was a weak one we'd have remarkable "interval attractions"; these included a guy who could dive into a small pool of water from some great altitude, beauty contests, pipe bands, donkey races and pretty much everything else you could think of. When you left, usually around 9.30, you felt that you had been entertained in the fullest sense of the word. That was the Hoskins contribution to speedway, and it's what's missing nowadays. What replaced Old Meadowbank was a purpose-built stadium for the Commonwealth Games; I think some minor football team operated there later. I have no idea what it is now. I once asked one of the current Edinburgh promoters whether he would consider moving Monarchs to the new stadium, but he felt that the problem would be a lack of atmosphere in such a large stadium. I notice that you live in Toronto. I wish I had known that when I used to do winter business tours in Ontario - we could have spent an interesting evening discussing the mid-sixties. And yes, they WERE great! I'm under pressure to do one last trip to Ontario (which, if it happens, will be in January) so maybe we will get a chance to catch up. My two bases are usually Kingston and London. Where are you?

That's a good blast from the past, Bobbath. I was at Meadowbank the night Bill won the Scottish Open, which was a real prestige event in those days. It was the 1966 Open, originally rained off and restaged at the beginning of 1967. On that particular night Bill was sensational. And yes, Bill rode on for several years after emigrating to Australia. This topic was discussed only recently on the Monarchs Chatzone. Here's the thread:- http://www.monarchs-chatzone.co.uk/forums/...ad.php?tid=2736 Enjoy!