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Midland Red

Les Owen

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I remember Bob at Cradley, maybe his last season? 76? Think he spent it mainly at reserve

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8 hours ago, bruno said:

I remember Bob at Cradley, maybe his last season? 76? Think he spent it mainly at reserve

I think that he rode for Birmingham in 1976 and Cradley, his last season, in 1977? Sure that Sid is right...he was injured hand gliding of all things! Again there was an interesting interview with him in "Backtrack" a few years back now.

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On 1/17/2020 at 10:36 PM, bruno said:

I remember Bob at Cradley, maybe his last season? 76? Think he spent it mainly at reserve

Was great for us in his only season, averaged about 6 and a half I think. Provided us with much needed stability with Michanek and Bernie both being shown the door mid-season.

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On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2020 at 7:55 AM, Sidney the robin said:

In 1973 Rick finished on a 6.85 average  for Sheffield he finished seventh in the averages behind Paulson 6.92. Larsson 7.08 what a strong one to seven they were.

Great team, but somehow finished runners up to Reading, even though we beat them at home

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8 hours ago, The Third Man said:

Great team, but somehow finished runners up to Reading, even though we beat them at home

I can remember seeing this great Sheffield side ride in a double header with the Racers at the Abbey in 1973. I can remember Reg Wilson tangling with Mike Keen resulting in Mike breaking a collarbone.

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1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said:

I can remember seeing this great Sheffield side ride in a double header with the Racers at the Abbey in 1973. I can remember Reg Wilson tangling with Mike Keen resulting in Mike breaking a collarbone.

I recall Rick Timmo giving Reg Wilson a 'thumping' on one occasion!

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19 minutes ago, steve roberts said:

I recall Rick Timmo giving Reg Wilson a 'thumping' on one occasion!

In that meeting Steve, Swindon beat Sheffield 44.-34 and lost 35.43 to Reading.Ashby beat Michanek in heat 1 a rare feat as Michanek was great in 73 also the late Geoff Curtis scored paid 10 and the late Mad Jack Millen rode and scored a point remember it being a big crowd.

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Ron Mountford started at Birmingham in 1950 and went on to give great service to the Brummies for the next seven years, only moving on to Coventry when Birmingham closed mid-season in 1957. Ron went on to give equally yeoman service to the Bees right until his mid 40's. He was a hard rider, and never took prisoners, but he could take it as well as dish it out, and he came back bravely after first losing an eye in a workshop accident, and then smashing his leg in a huge crash which left him with one leg shorter than the other. When the years finally caught up with him and his form deteriorated, he lost his place in the Coventry team but was reluctant to give up riding and did approach Birmingham with a view to rejoining the then, second division Brummies. Joe Thurley though, wanted to build a young team which he could eventually develop into a First Division team, so wouldn't consider including Ron. Ron rather resented this rebuff, so he was lost to speedway when with his long experience, he could have been very useful, and I believe he only made one more visit to Brandon before he died.

Les Owen, whom this topic is supposed to be about, spent the whole of his career at Coventry - which as he was born a Coventrian, is no real surprise. When the BSPA tried to allocate him to Cradley Heath in 1965, he refused to go, preferring to just ride in second halves at Coventry, and in mid-season, the BSPA relented and allowed him to return to the Bees team. Les was a fearless performer who took numerous risks on the track and suffered some fearful injuries as a consequence - the last one when he and John Harrhy ran into each other and in which he sustained very serious head injuries, finally finished him. He did make a partial recovery and I'm told that he presented himself at Brandon with the intention of riding again, but Charles Ochiltree would not allow this. Later, Owen's mental condition deteriorated sharply, and he finally committed suicide by stepping in front of a train - a very sad end for an admittedly rather reckless speedway rider, but a very likeable bloke.

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There is an interesting post on the "Speedway Plus" website re the "Internationale" meetings at Wimbledon in 1961-1963 as many will recall it was  the top open meeting of the season. Only the best riders were invited -was interested to see that Les Owen was in both the 1961 and 1962 meetings-so this confirms he was one of the top riders of that time just to get invited to it-good for Les.

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On 1/16/2020 at 9:46 PM, Midland Red said:

Yes he did, but continues to this day to suffer ill-effects from the crash well over 40 years ago

That isn't actually true, according to John Harrhy himself. When I interviewed him around three years ago up at his golf complex I asked him, as part of a long extensive interview, whether his injuries still troubled him and he said no.

here is the entire interview  https://campfireconvention.uk/bugle/features/john-harrhy-70s-speedway-star

jh.jpg.70415ab1d673d0ccbe2d0f699b35866b.jpg

Edited by speedybee
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8 hours ago, speedybee said:

That isn't actually true, according to John Harrhy himself. When I interviewed him around three years ago up at his golf complex I asked him, as part of a long extensive interview, whether his injuries still troubled him and he said no.

here is the entire interview  https://campfireconvention.uk/bugle/features/john-harrhy-70s-speedway-star

jh.jpg.70415ab1d673d0ccbe2d0f699b35866b.jpg

Great article!

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12 hours ago, speedybee said:

That isn't actually true, according to John Harrhy himself. When I interviewed him around three years ago up at his golf complex I asked him, as part of a long extensive interview, whether his injuries still troubled him and he said no.

here is the entire interview  https://campfireconvention.uk/bugle/features/john-harrhy-70s-speedway-star

jh.jpg.70415ab1d673d0ccbe2d0f699b35866b.jpg

I stand by my comments, based on what John told me himself when I visited him in 2014

PS Yes, a great article!

Edited by Midland Red

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I lived in Radford Coventry in 50’s & 60’s’Where les Owen had is ACE garage.  Two heats that come to mind was when Ron Mountford catapulted into the stand on the 4th corner and Col Cottrel team riding Fred Hodder to three points.  Fred rarely made it past second half rides. 

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