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Wimbledon Memories

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AS a young journalist, mainy covering soccer but helping out on the speedway scene at Wimbledon, had lots of dealings with 'Mr' Greene, as he always insisted upon being called on Plough Lane race nights. He was a stickler for formalities ... not least the manner in which the track graders marched out before meeting. Always immaculately dressed, including his trilby hat. Set the bar high as a promoter and his word was his bond.

But away from the stadium, where I often encountered him at West Ham (he was a co-promoter) he was entirely different. Bought me many a drink. It was almost Jekyll and Hyde. Enjoyed his company, old school and a true gentleman which meant something in those days.

Feared? No, but certainly respected and with good reason.

 

 

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1 minute ago, PHILIPRISING said:

AS a young journalist, mainy covering soccer but helping out on the speedway scene at Wimbledon, had lots of dealings with 'Mr' Greene, as he always insisted upon being called on Plough Lane race nights. He was a stickler for formalities ... not least the manner in which the track graders marched out before meeting. Always immaculately dressed, including his trilby hat. Set the bar high as a promoter and his word was his bond.

But away from the stadium, where I often encountered him at West Ham (he was a co-promoter) he was entirely different. Bought me many a drink. It was almost Jekyll and Hyde. Enjoyed his company, old school and a true gentleman which meant something in those days.

 

My mum said the same. She was the secretary of the Wimbledon SSC, and was heavily involved in their functions, and she said that Ronnie was a fabulous dancer. She also said he was a real gentleman.

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Wondering about the number of foreign riders who came over and got married in the UK and/ or married a local woman ? Vic Huxley brought this to mind as I think he married a local ‘dancer’ . Cordy Milne did. marry a famous burlesque ‘dancer’ but she was American. But think brother Jack at least got married in London though not sure if it was to a local lady 

Edited by iris123

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2 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Wondering about the number of foreign riders who came over and got married in the UK and/ or married a local woman ? Vic Huxley brought this to mind as I think he married a local ‘dancer’ . Cordy Milne did. marry a famous burlesque ‘dancer’ but she was American. But think brother Jack at least got married in London though not sure if it was to a local lady 

Could you define the term 'dancer' and why you have enclosed it so.

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1 minute ago, iris123 said:

Wondering about the number of foreign riders who came over and got married in the UK and/ or married a local woman ? Vic Huxley brought this to mind as I think he married a local ‘dancer’ . Cordy Milne did. marry a famous burlesque ‘dancer’ but she was American. But think brother Jack at least got married in London though not sure if it was to a local lady 

Jens Rasmussen married a local girl which, of course, added some strength to his case when he was signed by Rye House in 1988. Olle Nygren and Soren Sjosten married local girls which enable them to compete in Britain during 1974 when commuting Swedes were banned from the British League as they were both domiciled in the UK at the time.

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4 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Jens Rasmussen married a local girl which, of course, added some strength to his case when he was signed by Rye House in 1988. Olle Nygren and Soren Sjosten married local girls which enable them to compete in Britain during 1974 when commuting Swedes were banned from the British League as they were both domiciled in the UK at the time.

Do you mean local to Jens Rasmussen and his place of abode or local to yourself. Is this local place a common haunt for speedway riders given the other two examples?

Here is a list of English towns and I don't see one called local.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_in_England

Here is a link to the website of Jens Rasmussen:

http://www.jensrasmussen.org/

Edited by BWitcher

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22 minutes ago, BWitcher said:

Do you mean local to Jens Rasmussen and his place of abode or local to yourself. Is this local place a common haunt for speedway riders given the other two examples?

Here is a list of English towns and I don't see one called local.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_towns_in_England

Here is a link to the website of Jens Rasmussen:

http://www.jensrasmussen.org/

Jens resided in the Canvey Island area when he married (?) and later moved to Peterborough but well observed anyway but I'll resist the temptation! :)

Edited by steve roberts

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On 6/8/2020 at 7:47 PM, chunky said:

My mum said the same. She was the secretary of the Wimbledon SSC, and was heavily involved in their functions, and she said that Ronnie was a fabulous dancer. She also said he was a real gentleman.

 

On 6/8/2020 at 7:47 PM, chunky said:

 

That's interesting about your mother's links with the Wimbledon SSC. I knew another lady who was also involved with the Wimbledon SSC - Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson. I recall a sad happening in regard to Mrs Batson's scrapbook. She loaned it to my old friend the late John Chaplin. In his turn he loaned it on to me. I am positive that I later posted the scrapbook to Mrs Batson. Sadly I think it became lost in the Postal system.

Edited by Guest

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24 minutes ago, gustix said:

 

That's interesting about your mother's links with the Wimbledon SSC. I knew another lady who was also involved with the Wimbledon SSC - Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson. I recall a sad happening in regard to Mrs Batson's scrapbook. She loaned it to my old friend the late John Chaplin. In his turn he loaned it on to me. I am positive that I later posted the scrapbook to Mrs Batson. Sadly I think it became lost in the Postal system.

What may I ask were the contents of said scrapbook ? You fail to expand on this. I am intrigued as to whether it was paper clippings of Adam Faith. Marty Wilde and Cliff Richards

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1 hour ago, iris123 said:

What may I ask were the contents of said scrapbook ? You fail to expand on this. I am intrigued as to whether it was paper clippings of Adam Faith. Marty Wilde and Cliff Richards

It was some 45 years ago that the scrapbook belonging to Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson became 'lost in the post.' Off hand I do not recall if Adam Faith, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard (no S to surname!) were mentioned. If they visited the Wimbledon speedway in the 1950s-70s era they may well have featured. What I do recall is that the scrapbook carried references to many speedway riders - Norman Parker, Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs etc are names that I recall were featured. I wish that I could be more helpful regarding your inquiry and apologise for that lapse on my part.

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3 minutes ago, gustix said:

It was some 45 years ago that the scrapbook belonging to Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson became 'lost in the post.' Off hand I do not recall if Adam Faith, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard (no S to surname!) were mentioned. If they visited the Wimbledon speedway in the 1950s-70s era they may well have featured. What I do recall is that the scrapbook carried references to many speedway riders - Norman Parker, Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs etc are names that I recall were featured. I wish that I could be more helpful regarding your inquiry and apologise for that lapse on my part.

Yes, I know it was a long shot on my part. But judging by your shall we say, rather patchy memory, maybe it is worth having another mooch around for said scrapbook as it might still be in your possession, having thought you popped it in the post, but never did ?

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11 minutes ago, gustix said:

It was some 45 years ago that the scrapbook belonging to Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson became 'lost in the post.' Off hand I do not recall if Adam Faith, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard (no S to surname!) were mentioned. If they visited the Wimbledon speedway in the 1950s-70s era they may well have featured. What I do recall is that the scrapbook carried references to many speedway riders - Norman Parker, Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs etc are names that I recall were featured. I wish that I could be more helpful regarding your inquiry and apologise for that lapse on my part.

I'm intrigued by the metion of messrs Norman Parker, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs. What level of success did they achieve in the world of sprint cars speedway?

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12 minutes ago, gustix said:

It was some 45 years ago that the scrapbook belonging to Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson became 'lost in the post.' Off hand I do not recall if Adam Faith, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard (no S to surname!) were mentioned. If they visited the Wimbledon speedway in the 1950s-70s era they may well have featured. What I do recall is that the scrapbook carried references to many speedway riders - Norman Parker, Ronnie Moore, Barry Briggs etc are names that I recall were featured. I wish that I could be more helpful regarding your inquiry and apologise for that lapse on my part.

 

7 minutes ago, iris123 said:

Yes, I know it was a long shot on my part. But judging by your shall we say, rather patchy memory, maybe it is worth having another mooch around for said scrapbook as it might still be in your possession, having thought you popped it in the post, but never did ?

Sadly I am certain that Mrs Dorothy Charles Batson's scrapbook was 'lost in the post' some 65 years-plus ago. Since it originally came into my possession we  have  moved house three times. And over the years I have disposed of the vast collections of speedway books, magazines and programmes that accumulated. I wish that I could be more specific in answering you.

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On 6/10/2020 at 1:57 PM, BWitcher said:

I'm intrigued by the metion of messrs Norman Parker, Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs. What level of success did they achieve in the world of sprint cars speedway?

I have no details of either Norman Parker or Barry Briggs being involved in either midget car racing or sprint car racing. But there was a time in the late 1950s when then Wimbledon promoter Ronnie Greene was considering promoting. And in this period Wimbledon speedway riders Ronnie Moore and Cyril Brine drove a specially built midget known as the 'Atom' in demonstrations at Wimbledon and Rayleigh. Previous to that Cyril's brother Percy circa 1953 demonstrated the Batson  midget car in the interval of speedway meetings at Rayleigh, Rye House and Wimbledon. I wish I could be more helpful in answering your query BWitcher.

Edited by Guest

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