Ian

In 1962 it used to cost me the kids' rate of one shilling and threepence (6p) to get into Meadowbank, plus sixpence (2.5p) for the programme. The adult admission was two shillings and sixpence (12.5p). This was the Provincial League, equivalent to today's Premier League. Riders were paid £1 per start and £1 per point, so a heat win was worth £4. I don't think there were too many variations in that, but different riders would be paid different "signing on fees", as happens today. At that time, the winner of the World Championship at Wembley received a massive £500. I believe the cost of a complete bike (JAP) was around £300. A rider who broke the tapes was fined £1. I'm not sure that comparisons with today based on inflation are valid, but it can be interesting to compare these figures with other everyday costs at that time. A fish supper was around one shilling and sixpence (7.5p) and a Mars Bar was sixpence (2.5p). It was about eighteen inches long, of course. Petrol was, I think, two shillings and sixpence per gallon (2.5p per litre).

That's a very interesting list Norman. 23 riders who rode for Wembley between 1947 and 1954. Yet of the 23, only two (Jimmy Gooch and Trevor Redmond)were still riding, as far as I can recall, when I started watching speedway in 1962. It seems an improbably low number, so I started trying to work out what the reason might be. I assume it was the near-collapse of the sport in the mid-50s that saw off such a large number of riders? Would you agree with me?

The Scotland vs USSR match at Old Meadowbank in 1966 (I think). I don't remember much about the racing, or even what the score was, but the sense of occasion was massive. A huge crowd, great riders like Plechanov and Samorodov. Best of all, these weren't guys we were seeing every week in the British League.

I think Peter Morrish and Howard Jacobi were real enough, but a thinly-disguised Sir Francis Drake in Devon? Highly unlikely!

I remember there being quite a few dual (or maybe even triple) identities for these journalists. Another example was the Star's Jock Andersen, who in real life was the Evening News' John Gibson. What was the reason for this? I can see how Speedway Star could be made to look like a larger enterprise than it actually was by having a handful of guys trying to look like a cast of thousands, but why local reporters who weren't on the staff use pen-names?

I think he ended up spinning prophesies of doom and gloom on internet forums, Norman. I don't know if it was the same person or not, Ron. If it was, then he wrote posthumously for the Star for a number of years after the air crash.

Let's not forget the speedway historian of the day, Cyril May. I'm sure he was a lovely guy and knew his subject inside out, but you had to have a very high boredom threshhold to read his articles from start to finish.

The New Zealand Post Office have just brought out a new set of stamps to commemorate the Kiwi world motorsport champions. And guess who's there? http://stamps.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/...orldMotorsport/ I doubt whether this will result in a huge boost for attendances at speedway tracks, but it's good to see one of our guys getting the recognition he undoubtedly deserves.

I don't think so either. Surely Crystal Palace was a pre-was track only?

I'm not quite sure why the EL "has to be made the most attractive league to be in". Either it is or it isn't, and I'd suggest that right now it isn't. Why on earth should PL teams be obliged to move into a leage they don't want to be in just because the EL has got itself into a mess? There was something else that happened after the amalgamation in 1965 which no one has reffered to yet. The "star" riders were supposed to be shared around evenly between all competing tracks - I think there were eightee tracks. The former National League tracks were reluctant to release riders though. I'd imagine the same thing would happen again, and we'd be back into the old system of "rider control".

I don't remember all the details, but this is more or less what happened. Wolverhampton won the Provincial League in 1963 and the Speedway Control Board tried to force them to move up to the National League (which was down to six teams). In 1964 the Provincial League ran "black" - outside of any control, other than its own.The ACU (or maybe it was even the RAC) appointed Lord Shawcross to chair an enquiry; that enquiry found that the SCB had acted unlawfully. The recommendation of the report was for a restructuring of the SCB and a combined league. The way things stand now as we enter 2009 I'm waiting to see how long it is before history repeats itself, at least in part.

It wasn't even a racing accident, star ghost. It was an engine failure.

I'll go along with 1965 as being right up there alongside the best. And that was a great West Ham team, Norbold. Two other seasons stand out in my memory though. 2003 and 2008 - the two years Monarchs won the league. Of the two, 2008 was the more satisfactory, because we won damn nearly everything else there was to win too.

It was not only a great year from the entertainment point of view Bob, but also because it was the genesis of a reorganisation that would see British speedway safely through the next thirty years or so. The top tier from 1964, the National League, was dead on its feet. By combining with the growing Provincial League to form the new British League speedway suddenly looked in a much healthier state. I have to wonder just how long it will be before we see history repeat itself. I suspect that's inevitable.

It most certainly was a very large crowd, Bob. And it seemed all the larger because of the nature of the Belle Vue stadium. My recollection is that there were so many stands around the track that the atmosphere and noise was kept inside, which added to the sense of occasion. I don't remember Ivor Brown getting the biggest boos of the night, but I wouldn't be surprised. Another rider on display with a "hard man" reputation was Clive Featherby from Sheffield. Incidentally, that meeting was an early indication of Mauger's potential. Bear in mind that this was his first season in Britain (discounting his failed attempt to make it a few years earlier with Wimbledon). Ivan Mauger and George Hunter went on two years later to become two of the biggest ex-Provincial League stars to make it big in the new British League. One further point. This meeting was staged just about two weeks (I think) after George's involvement in the crash that claimed the life of Peter Craven, and arguably affected him for the rest of his career. To have done so well in this meeting speaks volumes about George's talent.

I was, Bobbath, and it was my first visit to Belle Vue. It was an astonishing meeting. A new meeting format had been devised by the Speedway Star columnist, Eric Linden, and it all went badly wrong. If I remember the issue was something along the lines of five riders finishing on equal points, and nobody seemed to know how the final should be organised. Doug Templeton led a sit-down strike by the riders at the starting gate. The final was won by Mauger after an astonishing stroke of luck. George Hunter, who had been plagued by engine troubles in his first two races (but still managed to qualify after some tremendous overtaking moves from miles behind) led Mauger until his engined failed. It was perhaps George's finest ever performance, and a night of high drama.

Insofar as someone's name can tell you whether they're Jewish or not, I'd think that Lionel Levy was a very likely possibility. He rode for what seemed like several centuries at Sydney, but I can't recall whether he ever made it to the UK.

Just a matter of common decency. Nothing more.

Let me first of all congratulate you on raising money for the Benevolent Fund - a worthy cause. I can't see there's anything benelovent about starting to list ex-riders who have had problems of this type though. I hope no one else adds to it.

Since many of thes replies are not only about tracks but about specific riders on those tracks, I'd like to add another. Jack Young at Meadowbank must have been something else.

I'll go along with Fundin at Norwich - that must have been something to see. Then there would be Craven at Belle Vue. I did see Ronnie Moore at Wimbledon, but he was a bit past his best by then.

Has anyone spotted the mechanic wearing a tie? Can you imagine that now?

No, I can't help you there tmc. But I can tell you that with the volume of data he collects he must have the world record collection of fag packets to store it on. Seriously though, are we all going to see an end-product from all this research? If so, when?

Sounds like Nana cracked under pressure and came up with the dosh.

This website give you a bit more info about Lex. http://www.carstunts.co.uk/gallery.htm