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norbold

R.i.p. Tom Farndon

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I was involved in a series of posts on here recently concerning the number of world champions each country had produced. The careers of both Tom Farndon and Peter Craven were tragically cut short and we can only speculate how many world titles they could have won representing their country.  

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Just thought I should revive this to mark the 88th anniversary.

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A scary thought is that there is probably no one who saw Tom ride  still alive today!!!

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8 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

A scary thought is that there is probably no one who saw Tom ride  still alive today!!!

True, but probably my favourite rider!!

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10 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

A scary thought is that there is probably no one who saw Tom ride  still alive today!!!

Arthur Payne might have done!

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9 hours ago, norbold said:

Arthur Payne might have done!

He recently turned 100!

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I don't think he could have , Arthur is an Aussie and didn't come to England until his early twenties. However, did Tom Farndon go to Australia to race- in which case Arthur as  a little lad might have indeed seen him !!

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5 minutes ago, BOBBATH said:

I don't think he could have , Arthur is an Aussie and didn't come to England until his early twenties. However, did Tom Farndon go to Australia to race- in which case Arthur as  a little lad might have indeed seen him !!

He certainly did and broke track records all over the place

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1 hour ago, midlandred said:

He certainly did and broke track records all over the place

When did he ride in Australia?

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Reg Fearman is still in touch with Arthur, I will have to ask him!!!!

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6 hours ago, BOBBATH said:

Reg Fearman is still in touch with Arthur, I will have to ask him!!!!

I wouldn't at the moment, BOBBATH. The reason I asked Midland Red that question is that I don't think Tom ever did ride in Australia, but I may be wrong, which is why I asked if he knows when Tom rode there. Tom Farndon did spend one winter in New Zealand where he broke lots of records, but never, as far as I know, went to Australia.

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Tom Farndon had been due to travel to Australia at the end of the 1935 British season.  I have never seen any reference to him competing there in earlier seasons.  

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1 hour ago, norbold said:

I wouldn't at the moment, BOBBATH. The reason I asked Midland Red that question is that I don't think Tom ever did ride in Australia, but I may be wrong, which is why I asked if he knows when Tom rode there. Tom Farndon did spend one winter in New Zealand where he broke lots of records, but never, as far as I know, went to Australia.

Apologies, memory failure.  A relative of Tom’s lived near us and invited me round to look through some memorabilia - cuttings, photos, trophies, etc - back in the mid1970s.  It was of course New Zealand, not Australia.

My notes show that on his first appearance at Western Springs, Tom clocked a race time of 78.6 secs, next night he lowered Squib Burton’s track record of 78.2 with a 77.0. He also broke the one mile record there. Four wins on his second appearance. At Wellington, he “scored brilliantly” and the following week recorded 6 wins in 6 starts.

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