TonyMac 720 Posted December 31, 2009 WINTER 2009-10 Welcome to Issue 7 of our quarterly retro magazine. There's another feast of speedway nostalgia for your enjoyment... BILLY BALES - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW One of the most popular riders in the long history of Norwich Speedway, Billy Bales looks back over his career that promised much but was ultimately handicapped by a series of injuries. A diminutive racer with a huge heart, Billy reveals how his first promoter gave him a new Christian name that stuck for life. He recalls his early days with Yarmouth Bloaters before his move up into the senior league with his local Norwich Stars team, where his regular race partners included the great Ove Fundin. Billy gives us his own views on the controversial Swede and how he, too, benefited from Ove's acclaimed mechanic Les Mullins. Although a legend at Norwich, Billy explains why he enjoyed spending the last five seasons of his career riding for Sheffield Tigers before he finally retired at the end of 1969. "Fortunately, apart from a little bit of concussion, I never suffered any bad head injuries. I consider myself very lucky to be here today," says Billy, who celebrated his 80th birthday last June. GEORGE WHITE - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Our second major interview is with the former Swindon star George White, one of the most spectacular riders to grace the British scene in the 50s and early 60s. After spells as a rookie with Yarmouth and then a brief spell in the juniors at New Cross, George blossomed at Blunsdon, where he became a huge crowd favourite with his fearless style and distinctive all-white leathers. "I had no fear and used to love going out wide and around the fence," he told Classic Speedway. RON JOHNSON - LEGEND In this in-depth profile, we chart the rise and fall of the former Australia and New Cross legend Ron Johnson, one of the most dynamic personalities of the late-40s and early-50s. Johnno's story covers his rapid emergence as a Johnnie Hoskins discovery in Perth, Western Australia, through his golden period of international stardom as hero of the mighty ‘Rangers' down the Old Kent Road and residence at the swanky Dorchester Hotel, to his subsequent sad demise - serious head injuries, failed comeback bids for Ashfield, West Ham and Edinburgh and two prison sentences for drink-driving.He spent his latter years confined to a wheelchair following a road accident. He had been dead for a week before his body was discovered in 1983. LEO McAULIFFE Q&A with the one-time World Finalist and former Eastbourne, New Cross, Wimbledon and Oxford rider who was forced to retire after fracturing his skull in a bad smash at Halifax in 1969. LEN SILVER We produce an edited extract from his new book, As Luck Would Have It: A Cockney's Tale, in which Len looks back on his early days as a struggling and accident-prone novice - "the two-lap champion" - before he got his chance with Ipswich under the management of a regimental man he quickly came to curse. JIMMY TANNOCK Fellow Scot Bert Harkins brings us up to date with his former Edinburgh Monarchs team-mate Jimmy Tannock and explains why he became known as ‘The Laird of Glen Orchy'. Plus... Columnist Ian Hoskins recalls the watershed World Final of 1950, a tribute to the late Sandor Levai, Hungary's greatest ever speedway rider, your letters, news updates and much more... ORDER YOUR COPY OR SUBSCRIBE ONLINE NOW BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK... http://www.retro-speedway.com/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
