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HertsRacer

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Everything posted by HertsRacer

  1. HertsRacer

    Leicester 1959

    I can recognise, Back row far left Eric Boothroyd, middle Guy Allott, Ivor Brown (maybe), Jack Geran, Alf Hagon. Ken McKinlay on bike. Kneeling Brian Elliott on the left, possibly Dave Hankins on the right.
  2. HertsRacer

    New Club for 2024?

    Isn't the track tarmac or concrete ?
  3. HertsRacer

    New Club for 2024?

    I agree. In the 60 years I've followed the sport we've had the Panthers, Northern, Barons and Dukes, none of whom drew good crowds, even in the 70's boom years. Not sure why things would change now.
  4. HertsRacer

    New Club for 2024?

    Saw a post on Instagram from someone from Incarace saying there were no plans for speedway at Brafield next year.
  5. HertsRacer

    New Club for 2024?

    If you mean Brafield then that's staged speedway before. Seem to remember Tony Mole trying to bring back the sport there several years ago. Believe the track has now been changed to shale. Could be a good alternative for Peterborough.
  6. HertsRacer

    Ipswich 2023

    Steve, my understanding is that as Emil, along with fellow Russian riders Artem Laguta and Andrei Kudriashav, have previously been granted Polish citizenship, any attempt to prevent them earning a living in Poland due to their original nationality would be deemed illegal in the courts of law on the grounds of discrimination.
  7. HertsRacer

    Hungarian Championship 1996

    Stupid me, misread it as 1966.
  8. HertsRacer

    Hungarian Championship 1996

    Can only tell you that the 1st, 3rd and 4th rounds were won by overall winner Barabas Gyepes. The 2nd round was won by Istvan Pasztor, and the 5th by Zoltan Nagyvaradi. Ther was also a 125cc Championship won by Sandor Csatho.
  9. HertsRacer

    Somerset Closure

    Seem to remember someone tried to open a track in W S M in the early 1970's at the local football or rugby ground I think. Hope this attempt has more success.
  10. HertsRacer

    Luton Speedway

    I have been researching the history of speedway in Luton. It is known that the track operated between 1934 and 1936 on an open licence primarily as a training track for Wembley. Most articles state that the track closed after 1936 due to poor crowds and financial reasons. However I have discovered that the track was then taken over by former rider and Birmingham promoter Arthur Westwood who planned to join the Second Division in 1937. There are several articles in the local newspapers about this, and of fund raising events being organised to achieve this. Then these articles suddenly stop and nothing more is heard of Luton Speedway. I have read that there may have been noise complaints from residents but can't confirm this. Does anybody know what actually happened to end speedway in Luton.
  11. HertsRacer

    Luton Speedway

    That's interesting. Makes you wonder why they didn't complain back in 1934 when Luton opened. Probably because the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, which was a fair distance away from the track, wasn't built until 1939. Looks like they assumed there were going to be noise problems and complained accordingly, even though the track was there first.
  12. HertsRacer

    Luton Speedway

    Thanks for that. Looking at an ariel photo of the track there were houses close on two sides, but probably no worse than many tracks of that era.
  13. A long shot, but one place which might be worth a look at is the Henry Barrass Stadium in Edmonton. Don't know how close it is to any housing, and it is basically a playing field today being used for non league football. However, it did once have a cinder running track and in the early 1960's Wally Mawdsley and Pete Lansdale unsuccessfully applied too run Provincial League speedway there. Looking on Google it appears that the owners are looking at ways to regenerate the site, and bring back its former glory. If its possible, it would take a lot of money to introduce speedway there, but it could be hugely successful.
  14. HertsRacer

    Attendances

    Don't think they were ever in the Mail. Sometimes the match reports in the Star gave an estimated attendance, but never an official figure.
  15. HertsRacer

    THE FIRST RACE I SAW

    1st August 1961, Yarmouth v Norwich 'B'. Roy Trigg (Y), Clive Featherby (N), Pete Atkins (N), Johnny Fitzpatrick (Y).
  16. HertsRacer

    Norwich

    The track was behind the Marsham Arms pub on the Holt Road. As far as I know the field it was in has not been developed, and you can still see the outline of the track from the air. I would be very surprised if those looking to bring speedway back to Norwich had'nt looked at the site.
  17. HertsRacer

    Norwich

    Not quite correct. Although the mixed car/bike meetings operated by the likes of Mike Parker and Jesse Halliday were run without permission in 1959, leading to those participating being suspended, the subsequent Provincial League formed in 1960 operated under the Speedway Control Board, and continued to do so until the 1964 season when the National League tried to force the 1963 PL champions Wolverhampton to join their league against promoter Mike Parker's wishes. Parker refused to join the NL leading to the PL operating as a pirate league in 1964.
  18. HertsRacer

    West Ham Speedway Closes 1972

    As a Romford supporter I remember going to the last meeting. It was always weird going to Custom House then. Half the stadium had been demolished several years earlier, and the rest was falling to pieces. It was a sad feeling knowing not only that it was the end of this great stadium, but also this was the end of our Bombers who were moving to Barrow.
  19. HertsRacer

    Newcastle Diamonds 2021

    Very sad news. Remember moving to the North East in 1970 just in time for their last meeting before they closed. The place was virtually deserted then and it seems Newcastle has fallen out of love with speedway again. Hopefully it's not too late to save it. If not, any chance of Sunderland staging speedway again?
  20. HertsRacer

    Defunct Tracks

    You could try Defunct Speèdway Tracks or John Somerville Collection websites, or Memories of Lost Speedway tracks and teams on Facebook. Should be a few there.
  21. Looked like a good crowd there to watch.
  22. HertsRacer

    Breakaway League

    No there was something in the Dorset Echo about Weymouth Wildcats joining a breakaway league. Couldn't open the link so don't know the details.
  23. HertsRacer

    Plymouth Gladiators 2021

    One could be Ellis Perks.
  24. And this is speedway's main problem. Once a track goes, thats it, there is nowhere out there to replace it. In the old days if a track closed there was plenty of stadiums available to introduce a new team, but one by one the stadiums have all gone, leaving the sport with just the bare bones.
  25. HertsRacer

    Mildenhall 2023

    Don't know if this is the same person, but there was an Ian Peel who was a Kings Lynn junior in the late 1970's. He appeared at Mildenhall in the Suffolk Junior Championship in 1978. He may have appeared in some second halves there as well, I don't know. He did make four appearances for Boston the following season. All I know of his background is that he was born in 1960 in Spalding.
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