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Characters of the sixties

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56 minutes ago, salty said:

Malcolm Brown?

Beat me to it!

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We cant ever forget Wilkie can we!!!        and mad wellie Malc Holloway (sadly missed)     never forget him demolishing the Abbey's flowerbeds.

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Apparently 'Joe' Gooddy and 'Speedie' Pete Jarman would look out for each other when they both rode for 'The Cheetahs' and woe betide anyone if they messed with either! 

Edited by steve roberts

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53 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Apparently 'Joe' Gooddy and 'Speedie' Pete Jarman would look out for each other when they both rode for 'The Cheetahs' and woe betide anyone if they messed with either! 

Steve Gresham met once and was a nice bloke____  Crump(snr) Bobby Ott, Preben Eriksen were all tough riders but Tim Hunt takes the accolade of being the dirtiest rider i ever saw.

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This is a great thread-thanks must go to the genius who started it-clearly a gent of much distinction!!! These posts brought back memories indeed-Jim Squibb has got to be up there-I can recall seeing him ride in 1966 or so-in his mid forties(which I then thought was old)- Capn' Jim he was called -like a pirate (but I don't wanna be a pirate-Seinfeld allusion sorry). I'd forgotten about Ron Mountford-I recall him wearing contact lenses  in the early sixties. Not sure if anybody mentioned "Muscles" Les Owen-he came to a bit of a sad end as some of you may recall- saw somebody mention Brian Brett-don't think I would have put him on the list-what do others think. I reckon he retired too early-may have liked his booze too much!! Other names mentioned-Chris Blewett, Chris Julian-always entertaining-wish I could go back in time and watch some of those harum scarum Provincial League meetings again!!

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and yet some say we need the stellar names - we don't, we need riders who the crowd identify with and grow to love. 

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11 hours ago, ch958 said:

and yet some say we need the stellar names - we don't, we need riders who the crowd identify with and grow to love

Spot on ch958.

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No question white knight-that's what I mean by characters- Mike Watkin was a guy anybody could relate to-had time to talk to everyone-ditto Ernie Baker, Ken Sharples etc etc-also Geoff Penniket (plunkett) always good for a laff!!

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On 10 May 2018 at 10:12 AM, Sidney the robin said:

Steve Gresham met once and was a nice bloke____  Crump(snr) Bobby Ott, Preben Eriksen were all tough riders but Tim Hunt takes the accolade of being the dirtiest rider i ever saw.

Tim Hunt was a bit of an 'odd ball'. I recall an incident at Smallmead once when he came racing out of the pits on his bike and hit the white kerb and went head over heals!

Interesting interview he gave some years ago when he said he never swore no matter how upset he got over a decision that went against him...although he would argue the case with the ref but in an articulate fashion.

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6 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

Tim Hunt was a bit of an 'odd ball'. I recall an incident at Smallmead once when he came racing out of the pits on his bike and hit the white kerb and went head over heals!

Interesting interview he gave some years ago when he said he never swore no matter how upset he got over a decision that went against him...although he would argue the case with the ref but in an articulate fashion.

Tim Hunt is a really nice chap.

Edited by racers and royals
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Quite impressive, actually... On 7 May, Bob started a thread "Characters of the Sixties"; a week later, we are already up to characters of the eighties!!! 

Back to the sixties, and what about one of the hardest of them all, dear old Sverre...

Steve

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16 minutes ago, chunky said:

Quite impressive, actually... On 7 May, Bob started a thread "Characters of the Sixties"; a week later, we are already up to characters of the eighties!!! 

Back to the sixties, and what about one of the hardest of them all, dear old Sverre...

Steve

...one rider I wished I'd had seen although there was talk that he was considering joining 'The Rebels' but personally I think that it was only that...just talk and Dave Lanning hyping up the story!

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Talking of Sverre at West Ham, Christer Lofqvist was another amazing character at Custom House. Their swoops round the outside were the highlights of many a meeting.

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6 hours ago, steve roberts said:

...one rider I wished I'd had seen although there was talk that he was considering joining 'The Rebels' but personally I think that it was only that...just talk and Dave Lanning hyping up the story!

Maybe, maybe not, but injuries did take their toll on Sverre. Even with reference to norbold's post above regarding Christer Lofqvist, Christer's English debut was a prime example (I was there, as it was against the Dons). Sverre had just started to find his form when Peter Murray took him off, and he broke his arm.

Another no-nonsense customer was Sandor Levai. Never a superstar, but a 100% trier who never gave an inch, and who on his day could beat anyone. And a nice guy.

Steve

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