I like Slant

“Whaler” Joe Ferguson Scottish junior in the 40’s 50’s? reputed to have signed up on a whaling ship to earn money to feed his speedway ambitions

Item related to Bradford based Sam Mcgurk coming second in the world championship. Not sure about category probably 125cc Showed 12 year old Sam practising at Scunthorpe, plus interviews with him and his mother Also gave a little information regarding the history of the sport with some footage from what I think was an England v Australia test match at Wembley before the war In my opinion good coverage for Speedway. On the downside the item compared the current levels of spectator attendance with those of the “glory years” Also it was done following heavy rain so Sam seemed to be riding on a dry path round an oval field within a moat he made a good job of it though

When Wimbledon changed race night from Monday to Thursday an article, probably in the Speedway Star, explained the reason as falling crowds. These were thought to be related to the popular television series Wagon Train which ran on Monday. It did obtain huge viewing figures but I don't think it kept me in.

Still some of us left who have seen Arthur Wright and Arthur Forrest ride I saw them both ride for both Coventry and Belle Vue although Arthur Forrest only rode once for Belle Vue. Strictly speaking they were not brothers in law as neither was married to the others sister. In fact they were both married to a sister of another speedway rider Jack Hughes. All three were very close. There is an interview with Arthur Wright and Jack Hughes on YouTube at a reunion function that is quite interesting. For many years Jack Hughes had a coach build/repair business on the A58 in Cleckheaton near to the village of Hunsworth that is still a substantial company. In fact Hunsworth has been quite an enclave of speedway people over the years. Bradford riders after the war, its not far from Odsall, and later the Moran brothers. I believe the tuner Gordon Hemmingway was located in or near the village.

I looked at the St Sustell picture again and although the stand is similar I don't believe it is the same one as in the pathe news film however this picture of Swindon in 1949 or the early 50's shows a stand which could be the one although the lamp standards don't look the same

I originally thought this rural site must be somewhere like Brafield [where they did run midget cars in the early 50's] or Rye House but if you visit the Defunct Speedway tracks site you can see the exact same grandstand in a picture on the St Austell Cornish Stadium page. However there are tress behind this stand but not that on the pathe news film given that the film is early 50's and the picture 1963 maybe the trees have grown or maybe the stand moved from somewhere else

Peter Craven Born Thursday 21 June 1934 World Champion Thursday 15 September 1955 7756 days Ronnie Moore Born Wednesday 8 March 1933 World Champion Thursday 15 September 1954 7861 days Michael Lee Born Thursday 11 December1958 World Champion Thursday15 September 1980 7939 days

Grachans links have improved my memory What I have previously described is a "Moonrocket" as quoted below "The epitome of the new fast thrill ride of the 1930s was the Moonrocket. The first of these rides was imported by Joseph Schipper for John Collins, but the Lakin examples were more popular. The illusion of speed was increased by having the whole centre dome, including a figure of Popeye astride a small rocket, rotate the opposite way to the cars I can even remember that the figure was not a motorcycle and rider but Popeye as descrbed above In defence of my memory I was not very old at the time this ride was operational at BV

There is an interesting site "National Fairground Archive" run by the University of Shefield this catalogues the history of attractions; one category is "[Noah's] Arks which has several subcategories such as "Ben Hurs, "Waltzers" and "Speedway", None of the 3 units shown as being at some time at Belle Vue is in the Speedway subcategory. It is know that these machines have been revamped and rebranded several times, some are 70 years old, so there could have been labelled "Speedway" when at BV. None of these resembles the ride I have described which was probably one BV built one off it was in action earlier than the 3 Arks in the archive

I believe I can recall this although I am by no means 100% sure it was a long time ago I remember it as a circular sloping wheel abount 25ft in diameter; the front at ground level and the back maybe 10ft high You sat round the wheel [i am not sure how possibly in some sort of continuous cars] and the wheel [cars] rotated [i think anticlockwise] The middle of the wheel was of a solid appearance with a model of a motorcycle and rider; this either stayed still or rotated in the opposie direction; either way you kept passing it going the other way. I dont remember the rider looking much like a speedway rider though maybe artistic licence