chunky 6,087 Posted January 24, 2022 Strange, but one thing that stands out in my memory is the appearance of Steve Waplington at Plough Lane in 1969. He was a Belle Vue Colts star, who was pressed into service by a short-handed Aces side at Wimbledon. He scored 9 points, and provided the only support for Ivan Mauger. He finished the season with a near 8-point average, and even had an outing for Young England against Young Czechoslovakia at Doncaster. He spent 1970 at Rochdale when the Colts moved over, and improved his average. He then retired at the age of 23, and seemed to be forgotten. Does anyone know what happened to him? I assume he's still alive? He really was one that impressed me, and I thought he had a bright future. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 466 Posted January 24, 2022 I certainly remember Steve- I think he rode second half at some tracks and then just drifted away. Don't know anything else sadly. I think he also rode somewhere in 1968 . Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andout 650 Posted January 24, 2022 (edited) There is about a six page article in Classic Speedway Issue 21 Summer 2013.......he chose between Speedway and a job and the Job won. He also went to Leningrad with the Aces in 1969 Edited January 24, 2022 by andout 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racers and royals 8,717 Posted January 24, 2022 1 hour ago, chunky said: Strange, but one thing that stands out in my memory is the appearance of Steve Waplington at Plough Lane in 1969. He was a Belle Vue Colts star, who was pressed into service by a short-handed Aces side at Wimbledon. He scored 9 points, and provided the only support for Ivan Mauger. He finished the season with a near 8-point average, and even had an outing for Young England against Young Czechoslovakia at Doncaster. He spent 1970 at Rochdale when the Colts moved over, and improved his average. He then retired at the age of 23, and seemed to be forgotten. Does anyone know what happened to him? I assume he's still alive? He really was one that impressed me, and I thought he had a bright future. Alive and well in 2017 https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/91530/page/21 https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/3133/steve-waplington 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,087 Posted January 24, 2022 28 minutes ago, racers and royals said: Alive and well in 2017 https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/91530/page/21 https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/3133/steve-waplington Thanks for that! Must admit, he hasn't really changed that much! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
racers and royals 8,717 Posted January 24, 2022 7 minutes ago, chunky said: Thanks for that! Must admit, he hasn't really changed that much! https://www.facebook.com/stephen.waplington ??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 466 Posted January 24, 2022 Steve is looking good, as Art Garfunkel would say "Still crazy after all these years"!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 466 Posted January 24, 2022 Went to the link- saw Chris Bailey, Steve, Eric Broadbelt , Taffy Owen etc. Anyone know how Ken Moss, Ken Eyre and Peter Thompson are doing these days- the 1968 Colts were unstoppable Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,087 Posted January 25, 2022 (edited) 54 minutes ago, BOBBATH said: Went to the link- saw Chris Bailey, Steve, Eric Broadbelt , Taffy Owen etc. Anyone know how Ken Moss, Ken Eyre and Peter Thompson are doing these days- the 1968 Colts were unstoppable Ken Moss passed away a few years ago, and we lost Taffy Owen last August. Edit: Peter Thompson passed away last April. I thought so, but wanted to make sure before I replied. Edited January 25, 2022 by chunky Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 20,939 Posted January 25, 2022 Looks like he was very promising. Another i have never heard of Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 466 Posted January 26, 2022 Thanks Chunky, Is Ken Eyre still with us-he was the runner up in the first ever Second Division Riders Championship-behind I think Graham Plant-how is Graham doing these days, I saw a photo of him as part of a Newport reunion-still had all that long hair!! Hope you are surviving the winter in Ohio better than us up here-we had 60 cms. of snow last week and temps in the minus twenties!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chunky 6,087 Posted January 26, 2022 3 hours ago, BOBBATH said: Thanks Chunky, Is Ken Eyre still with us-he was the runner up in the first ever Second Division Riders Championship-behind I think Graham Plant-how is Graham doing these days, I saw a photo of him as part of a Newport reunion-still had all that long hair!! Hope you are surviving the winter in Ohio better than us up here-we had 60 cms. of snow last week and temps in the minus twenties!! I'm pretty sure that Ken is still going strong, and I think Graham is too. The trouble here at the moment is that the temps are fluctuating wildly - and everyone is getting sick! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBBATH 466 Posted January 26, 2022 Hi chunky it's around -10 up here and expecting another 10 cms. tonight. No problem for us Canucks we are sitting out in the backyard in shorts drinking margaritas (well I may be exaggerating a bit). Hope you are ok too Andout!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nw42 2,048 Posted January 26, 2022 7 hours ago, BOBBATH said: Thanks Chunky, Is Ken Eyre still with us-he was the runner up in the first ever Second Division Riders Championship-behind I think Graham Plant-how is Graham doing these days, I saw a photo of him as part of a Newport reunion-still had all that long hair!! Hope you are surviving the winter in Ohio better than us up here-we had 60 cms. of snow last week and temps in the minus twenties!! Here's a recently taken pic of Ken at Buxton for the ride n slide day. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sotonian 609 Posted January 26, 2022 On 1/24/2022 at 11:40 PM, BOBBATH said: Steve is looking good, as Art Garfunkel would say "Still crazy after all these years"!! Paul Simon would not appreciate you getting that so wrong! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
