Ian

And I thought he was talking about Charlie Brown!

Whatever Reidar's reputation as a hard bargainer might have been, he was idolised by the crowd at Meadowbank, as you'll remember, IanH. One day in 1970 I picked Reidar up from a car crash on the M1 near Watford, and drove him to Wolverhampton and back. On the return journey I asked him why he had been messing about so much at the tapes. "Well", he said, "I knew if I fiddled aboot for long enough Olsen would break the tapes!" He had hundreds of stories to tell, all of them in a bizarre Norwegian/Scots accent, from before his speedway days when he was all over the world in the merchant navy. I found him to be a lovely bloke, and a larger-than-life character. From recollection, Reidar was about 25 when he first came over here. Remember him with the old two-piece leathers and "Russian-type" twin handlebars? I have always thought that had he arrived four or five years earlier he would have gone even further in speedway. Sorry to hijack a thread about the great Sverre Harrfeldt. Maybe we need a Reidar Eide thread too.

Sverre was a wonderful rider. He seemed to have it all - enormous talent, good looks and all the rest of it. He was also a very fast and spectacular rider. Here's a memory for you, CHK. It comes from right at the end of his career, when he'd just spent his last season with Wembley. He'd come back from horrendous injuries, and although he was probably never going to hit the top again, he certainly could hold down a heat leader berth in the top league. Anyway, what I remember is the plaque which was presented to him at his last-ever meeting by his Wembley team mates. It read : "The record shows He took the blows And did it his way". I reckon that just about summed Sverre up. In terms of speedway in the 1960s, he was the first of the great Norwegians. He was followed by the likes of the late Reidar Eide (what a character he was - I'd pay a huge sum of money just to see him race one more time), Dag Lovaas and the rest. But Sverre Harrfeldt was without doubt head and shoulders above them all at the height of his career. Incidentally, does anyone know what he's doing now?

My recollection is that Bruce (he was a Kiwi) joined Glasgow White City when they reopened in 1964, having just arrived in the country with another Aussie, Joe Hicks. He was there for a couple of seasons, but didn't pull up too many trees. I remember him as a very long-legged rider with a style which seemed awkward. I don't know what happened to him after that - I always assumed he went home.

Flippin 'eck - ME too! Could have had a forum (er, IF it had been invented!) convention that night! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Me too! Jessup at the time looked tiny, and Thomas tall and skinny. At least that's how I remember it. One of you will know the answer to this - which year was it? 1970 or 1971? And which year did Tony Clarke burst onto the West Ham scene? Just a thought - a worrying thought. It may very well be that the number of forum members who were at West Ham that night all those years ago is greater than the attendance at some CL matches these days!

I'm sorry to hear this too. I remember Jimmy riding for Plymouth in 1962 - I think he was over 50 then. He was a big draw at Meadowbank. Funny the things you remember, though. I think he was one of only two bearded riders in the league - Wolverhampton's Tommy Sweetman was the other. I also recall that he was from Cadnam, in the New Forest. RIP Jimmy.

That was a superb West Ham team, Norbold. I saw them that year at Meadowbank. Apart from the tremendous talen of Hurri-Ken and the spectacle of Harrfeldt (whose brother, Henry, was riding for Monarchs around then) we were treated to a spectacular wind-up performace from Big Dave Lanning - he of "high wide and handsome" fame! Add to that the inevitable centre-green responses from Ian Hoskins and you had not only a cracking match, but a great show as well. Do you think we'll ever get back to these days?

A gentleman he may have been, but Gote was one of the hardest riders around when he rode for Wembley. When he went for the white line, woe betide anyone ese who fancied being there! I also have one memory of him as a visitor to Old Meadowbank. He was driving a large Mercedes with a very loud horn that played "Colonel Bogey"!

I think in the 50s and 60s there was a speedway football team with players from several tracks, and that they use to play for charity. I think that the captain was Wimbledon's Ron Howe, but no doubt Norbold will correct me on that!

Ewan, there is one absolutely classic picture of George Hunter which was taken in about 1961 at Meadowbank. I hasten to add that I don't have a copy, but if you ask around at Armadale someone is bound to have it. The photo shows George battling it out with Clive Featherby of Sheffield, and shows the almost lost art of lying across your oponent's bike while he tries to pick your nose with his elbow! I didn't start going to speedway until 1962, so I can't say whether they both actually finished the race. I guess I haven't seen that photo in some forty years, but it's the one above all others that stands out in my memory.

Just as a matter of interest, Norbold, what is the origin of the New Cross bodycolour? I think it's a Maltese Cross, but I can't see why they would particularly use that. Or was the Malteser factory dahn the Old Kent Road?

I think you'll find that Montivideo harbour is at the mouth of the River Plate in Uruguy. This was the scene of the sinking of the German pocket battleship "Graf Spee", at the Battle of the River Plate.

Dick, Jim Henry's one of the good guys. I have a copy of his "Speedway in Scotland", which I keep on my boat. It always makes a long voyage go much faster.

Ian, I have been asked by Jim Henry, editor of Speedway Researcher and Scottish Speedway Historian if you have the official Sherrif Court records of the inquest as they no longer exist and he is researching in to the events of that night. Incidentally, he was also there and agrees that Peter Craven started off scratch. Sorry, Norbold, but I did have a search for these without success. I guess they were destroyed years ago, but who knows. As I mentioned earlier, however, I did attend the inquest all those years ago. I expect to be at Armadale early this year and I'll try to contact Jim Henry then with a view to telling him what I can remember. This has beeen a really interesting thread. Just such a shame it has to be about an awful tragedy.

Yes, it certainly looks like this is settled once and for all. I'm grateful to everone who contributed to this thread. John Gibson, by the way, was the Edinburgh Evening News reporter who covered all of the meetings at Meadowbank, and also in the Speedway Star under the name of "Jock Anderson". Dick Distardly should take some considerable comfort from the fact that, as everone knows, Peter was doing what he did best - lining himself up for an attempt at a spectacular overtake - when the tragedy happened.

Or maybe even Slant Payling!

Is the local paper always this interesting, Lunchy? When I'm in Oz I read the Australian, Sydney Morning Herald and Brisbane Courier. Sometimes I get to read the Melbourne Age as well. What I hadn't really appreciated is just how much is going on in places like Undera, given that the report of a meeting being rained off appears to have been limited to less than a full page! I guess Undera really buzzes on a Saturday night, eh? I say that advisedly, as one who has visited (and survived) both Townsville and Rockhampton.

What's the punchline, Norbold?

Funnily enough, I've just read on Ceefax that the BBC have just lost the right to show the Boat Race. That will be the first time in 66 years, we are told, that the Beeb won't be televising this. I'm sure all speedway fans will want to join with me at this sad time in commiserating with the Beeb, and in expressing just how gutted we are that this upper-middle-class nonsense is to be denied to us. Speaking personally, my sole consolation rests in the secure knowledge that I'll be able to watch it on ITV, along with many other speedway fans (he safrican americaned!) Tally ho, chaps! Jolly Boating Weather, and all that....

You don't really realise just how strong Norbold's Wimbledon side is until you realise who's been left out. Sverre Harrfeldt, for starters...

Afraid I know nothing about the meeting, but I think you'll find that it was Ernie Roccio who was killed. He was American, I believe.

How do we know that the guy who appeared is actually Bruce Penhall? Maybe it's just my suspicious mind, but a few years ago I was staying in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur where Paul Anka (remember him?) was appearing. Next day I spent a couple of hours in the bar with Paul and his roadies, and found him to be quite an intelligent and interesting bloke. Anyway, two or three weeks later I was in Washington. US television on Sunday mornings is wall-to-wall chat shows, and lo and behold - the guest was Paul Anka! Interestingly, it was a different person from the one in Malaysia. It did occur to me that there could be a different Paul Anka stationed on each continent. Is someone out there running Rent-a-Penhall?

Rod, I well remember this "rivalry" from the days when Trevor Redmond was fronting Glasgow (and simultaneously riding at heat leader for them!) Maybe sometimes it's easy to forget that speedway, whilst unquestionably one of the most thrilling of sports, is also about ENTERTAINMENT and SPECTACLE. That means it's at its best when we have rivalries between promoters, riders, team managers et al. Hoskins was the master at this as far as promoters go, and Len Silver was pretty good too; riders like Jack Millen, Kenny Carter and Dougie Templeton could always be relied upon to do their part as riders; and team managers like Dave Lanning in his West Ham days or Dick Barrie at Glasgow understood the value of getting a bit of niggle going. All of these people could use their own personalities (real or invented - it mattered not) to put numbers on the gate and to make sure that the crowd were entertained for the duration of the meeting. The pity of it is that so few speedway people nowadays bother to do this. Most of the riders I have met are personable, interesting and remarkable guys, but is anything done to project this to the crowd at a match? There needs to be a balance in speedway between sport and entertainment. Sometimes we take it all a wee bit too seriously, perhaps.

Ian Hoskins had nothing to do with Wemley's revival in 1970, Rod. The promoter was Bernard Cottrell, a property developer, and nor did Ian Hoskins present the meetings - that duty was shared between two well-known disc jockeys, Ed Stewart and David Hamilton. I saw all of the Wembley home matches that year, and a good many away ones, and my recollection is that the only appearance by Ian Hoskins was as team manager for Newcastle. Former Coatbridge riders in the team that year were Bert Harkins, Reidar Eide and Brian Collins.

Many years ago a friend told me that the oldest rider he could remember was George Newton, who was a pre-war leg-trailer who returned in the 1940s. Apparently my friend had been on the track staff at Old Meadowbank one night when George fell. They ran over to help him up and he was really feeling his age. No doubt Norbold will know more about him.