HertsRacer 222 Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Going through some old newspapers recently I came across some reports of speedway meetings held at Tamworth dated 1932/3. I can’t find any mention of speedway in Tamworth for these dates in any history book, so does anybody know anything about this? The track was in Tamworth Road, Fazeley. The Tamworth Hounds rode at Watling Street, Fazeley after the war. Was this the same site? My first instinct is that this may have been a grass track, but in 1933 there is mention of the track being relaid to improve racing, so perhaps not. Some of the riders mentioned appearing include the wonderfully named Cracker Jack, Tom McDonald, Atta Boy, Pat Biddle, Bob Harvey, Baggy Trimnell and Arthur Ryder. Pat Biddle I know was an American who rode for Halls Green and Birmingham previously but who were the others? Apparently it attracted large crowds during its short existence, yet it seems to have been forgotten about. Any information would be gratefully received. Edited February 17, 2017 by HertsRacer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 17, 2017 This Link on the excellent Defunct Tracks website covers the post-war activities at Tamworth. Although there is no coverage of them there is mention that pre-WW2 other venues in the area staged speedway. http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Tamworth.htm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 656 Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Going through some old newspapers recently I came across some reports of speedway meetings held at Tamworth dated 1932/3. I can’t find any mention of speedway in Tamworth for these dates in any history book, so does anybody know anything about this? The track was in Tamworth Road, Fazeley. The Tamworth Hounds rode at Watling Street, Fazeley after the war. Was this the same site? My first instinct is that this may have been a grass track, but in 1933 there is mention of the track being relaid to improve racing, so perhaps not. Some of the riders mentioned appearing include the wonderfully named Cracker Jack, Tom McDonald, Atta Boy, Pat Biddle, Bob Harvey, Baggy Trimnell and Arthur Ryder. Pat Biddle I know was an American who rode for Halls Green and Birmingham previously but who were the others? Apparently it attracted large crowds during its short existence, yet it seems to have been forgotten about. Any information would be gratefully received. There is some information at: http://www.greyhoundderby.com/tamworth_hounds.htm Tamworth Road and the nearest part of Watling Street are about half a mile apart, linked by Atherstone Road. If the pre and post war track was one and the same maybe there was a different access route from the main road into the site, which might have been necessary as the area became more developed. Edit - see later post about the site of the post-war track. Edited February 18, 2017 by BL65 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HertsRacer 222 Posted February 17, 2017 There is some information at: http://www.greyhoundderby.com/tamworth_hounds.htm Tamworth Road and the nearest part of Watling Street are about half a mile apart, linked by Atherstone Road. If the pre and post war track was one and the same maybe there was a different access route from the main road into the site, which might have been necessary as the area became more developed. Many thanks for that. As you appear to know the area rather well, I wonder if this description of a coach trip in 1932 means anything to you, which might help establish where the track was. "The outer journey was made along the Watling Street through Hints and Canwell passing the speedway at Mile Oak and through Fazeley". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 656 Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Many thanks for that. As you appear to know the area rather well, I wonder if this description of a coach trip in 1932 means anything to you, which might help establish where the track was. "The outer journey was made along the Watling Street through Hints and Canwell passing the speedway at Mile Oak and through Fazeley". The journey would have originated to the west of Tamworth. Hints is south of Lichfield and east of Cannock and Brownhills in Staffordshire, Canwell is between Sutton Coldfield and Mile Oak. If Hints had not been mentioned I would have thought the journey was from Birmingham, but given the order of travel I suspect it more likely to have been from Lichfield. There was a Lichfield speedway supporters club at one time. I believe the Mile Oak track was on Sutton Road, close to Watling Street but about a mile west of the Fazeley track. The post-war track which was operated by Arthur Westwood was on a different site to the pre-war Fazeley track, being constructed on the former Peels cricket ground. Going through some old newspapers recently I came across some reports of speedway meetings held at Tamworth dated 1932/3. I can’t find any mention of speedway in Tamworth for these dates in any history book, so does anybody know anything about this? The track was in Tamworth Road, Fazeley. The Tamworth Hounds rode at Watling Street, Fazeley after the war. Was this the same site? My first instinct is that this may have been a grass track, but in 1933 there is mention of the track being relaid to improve racing, so perhaps not. Some of the riders mentioned appearing include the wonderfully named Cracker Jack, Tom McDonald, Atta Boy, Pat Biddle, Bob Harvey, Baggy Trimnell and Arthur Ryder. Pat Biddle I know was an American who rode for Halls Green and Birmingham previously but who were the others? Apparently it attracted large crowds during its short existence, yet it seems to have been forgotten about. Any information would be gratefully received. The Trimnell brothers were greengrocers, with a business in Erdington, Birmingham. They rode as 'Cracker Jack' and 'Broadside Bow'. Harold Trimnell, who ran Tamworth Speedway at that time, was prosecuted for failing to pay the correct amount of Entertainment Tax. Edited February 20, 2017 by BL65 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL65 656 Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) Fixtures that I am aware of for the pre-war Tamworth tracks: Tamworth Tamworth Road, Fazeley 1932 1st August Cracker Jack’s Team v Broadside Bow’s Team (abandoned after heat one, rain) 7th August Cracker Jack’s Team v Broadside Bow’s Team 14th August Tamworth 28 Nottingham 23 21st August Golden Gauntlet (abandoned, rain) 28th August Golden Gauntlet – Tommy MacDonald 4th September Scratch races 25th September Golden Wing Scratch Race 2nd October Tamworth Championship (postponed, rain) 9th October Tamworth Championship 16th October Fazeley Scratch Races 30th October Fazeley Scratch Races 1933 17th April Scratch races 23rd April Scratch races (abandoned, rain) 30th April Scratch races 7th May Individual Championship 14th May Scratch races 21st May Tom McDonald’s Team v Arthur Ryder’s Team 28th May Scratch races 25th June Scratch races (postponed, rain) 2nd July Scratch races 9th July Scratch races 16th July Golden Gauntlet 30th July Scratch races Tamworth Mile Oak 1932 28th March Handicap and scratch races 16th May Handicap and scratch races 5th June Scratch races 19th June Scratch races 17th July Handicap and scratch races 28th August Scratch races 4th September Scratch races 23rd October Silver Cup 1933 5th June Scratch races 11th June Scratch races 2nd July Handicap and scratch races 1934 6th May Scratch races 3rd June Scratch races 10th June Scratch races I believe the site of the Mile Oak track was made available for sale in June 1934, with an asking price of £175. However, the local press carried an article in July 1937 which stated that the management were attempting to revive speedway at Mile Oak, with a challenge match to take place between Tamworth and Coventry. The Tamworth team was to be led by Tommy Stewart. If the meeting proved to be a success it was the intention of the management to seek to establish a team second to none. Edited February 19, 2017 by BL65 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 17, 2017 (edited) The journey would have originated to the west of Tamworth. Hints is south of Lichfield and east of Cannock and Brownhills in Staffordshire, Canwell is between Sutton Coldfield and Mile Oak. If Hints had not been mentioned I would have thought the journey was from Birmingham, but given the order of travel I suspect it more likely to have been from Lichfield. There was a Lichfield speedway supporters club at one time. I believe the Mile Oak track was on Sutton Road, close to Watling Street but about a mile west of the Fazeley track. The post-war track which was operated by Arthur Westwood was on a different site to the pre-war Fazeley track, being constructed on the former Peels cricket ground. The Trimnell brothers were greengrocers, with a business in Erdington, Birmingham. They rode as 'Crackerjack Jack' and 'Broadside Bow'. Harold Trimnell, who ran Tamworth Speedway at that time, was prosecuted for failing to pay the correct amount of Entertainment Tax. The mention in the quote that riders were racing under assumed names indicate - to me at least - that the racing/track was not ACU (or similar) licenced. Edited February 18, 2017 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 18, 2017 The post-war Tamworth revival in 1947 was orchestrated by the pre-war Wimbledon rider Arthur Westwood who in later years promoted speedway in France and Belgium. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) REPOSTED MESSAGE; ORIGINAL SENT BY compost:==: compost A couple of old spreadsheets from the Speedway Researcher website has the following info on Tamworth in 32 and 33 - 1932 01/08/1932 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL ABANDONED HT 1 07/08/1932 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL RERUN OF 1/8 MEETING 14/08/1932 TAMWORTH NOTTINGHAM CHALLENGE 28-23 21/08/1932 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL ABANDONED 28/08/1932 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL RERUN OF 21/8 MEETING 02/10/1932 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL POSTPONED 09/10/1932 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL RERUN OF 2/10 MEETING 1933 17/04/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL 23/04/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL ABANDONED 30/04/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL RERUN OF 23/4 MEETING 07/05/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL 14/05/1933 TAMWORTH GOLD HELMET INDIVIDUAL 21/05/1933 TAMWORTH RYDER V MCDONALD CHALLENGE 28/05/1933 TAMWORTH BIG 6 INDIVIDUAL 25/06/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL ABANDONED 02/07/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL RERUN OF 25/6 MEETING 09/07/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL 16/07/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL 30/07/1933 TAMWORTH SCRATCH RACES INDIVIDUAL No details on track location for meeting details I'm afraid. The details listed for the meetings on 21 & 28 May 1933 indicate that they would have been part of scratch meetings - the format at this time would be heats (and possibly Semi-Finals) and a Final for a handicap event and similarly for an event akin to the more modern second half events (hope that makes sense). The Big 6 would be 3 2 rider match races with the 3 winners racing in a final. Usually a couple of visiting stars against the best of the locals. Cheers Edited February 19, 2017 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest compost Posted February 20, 2017 Aopologies, no idea why Gustix put my posting up yesterday. I replied when I saw the OP on the 17th. Mind you I am having login problems with this site. BTW thanks BL65 for your listing, especially as I had been wondering who (and where) Mile Oak was. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
