RobMcCaffery

Oh yes. Is the stadium still open for dogs and football? I remember reading a story in the Liverpool Echo that it was to be redeveloped. I spent many happy nights there watching the likes of Jacko and Peter Carr, and ,istening to and learning from the excellent Doug Adams on the p.a. They were good years in the old National League and I have so many happy memories of some fine riders. Rob McCaffery

John was an NL great and stayed loyal to the league but I feel Joe had the edge overall. Perhaps it was in part due to the wonderful Newcastle teams that Joe & Tom led. I used to watch John a lot at Ellesmere Port and wonder if his starts would have been quite so impressive there if the ref could see gate 4 Rob McCaffery

After having admired both Joe and Tom as respected opponents in the seventies I finally got to know Joe in 1985 with him rejoining the NL with Ellesmere Port just at the time when I had my strongest association with the league at its top level. Over the year I'd got to know the promoter Mervyn Porter quite well and when the Gunners were in London I arranged a hotel for the team and led a convoy from Wimbledon to the hotel in east London. As you can imagine it was a quite a queue of cars and vans and most of the time we were making sure that Dave Morton in the rear van had made it through the many traffic lights. Eventually I got them to Forest Gate and it was time to feed the horde. Despite holding down a fairly official role with the National League I was still very much a fan and delighted to be sent off to the chippy with my old hero, Joe. Now in those days kebabs weren't that common outside London and so neither was chili sauce. Joe's first move was to ask for the nearest kebab shop where he made sure that the food was smothered in the hottest sauce possible and returned with me to the hotel looking forward with child-like delight to seeing the faces of his team-mates struggling with their food. I got quite attached to the Gunners that year and was delighted that they took the league title in their one season back in speedway. Then the season ended in tragedy, Joe was paralysed and the sport for me was never the same again... Joe was the greatest D2/NL rider of his era and yet never seemed to lose any respect in the process. Not many winners can achieve that. Rob McCaffery.

Perhaps because that's the way it's pronounced? Rob McCaffery.

The tragedy of Belle Vue is that Mancunians now travel in their hordes to Blackpool's Pleasure Beach when they used to have it all right on their doorstep. Early start at the speedway, early finish then set them loose in the fairground, and what bliss it was too, even in the declining years of the seventies as I saw it. Rob McCaffery.

Actually it is very warm in summer - and freezing cold in winter. Rob McCaffery

Hi Jamie, I wish I could help with those two but although we covered Belle Vue from time to time I have no copies and I can't remember us eveer going to the Shay. Hopefully others could help. On a more general note I've fsaced fresh technical problems - new VCR/DVD combo won't track-into old VHS tapes. The KM Video trail has also gone cold - I've established that Paul sold his business to his kids and retired to Spain. I'm still trying to track down the next generation but they certainly don't trade under the old name. It's all very frustrating. Rob McCaffery.

Comment deleted - life's too short to try to sort a mess like this out. Rob McCaffery

Please calm down and let me explain. It would have had as much logic as Rayleigh Rockets becoming Rye House Rockets in 1974, or Crayford Kestrels becoming Hackney Kestrels, or Weymouth Wildcats becoming Poole Wildcats, etc. etc. - it would have been the transfer of a team, not some ridiculous attempt to offend. As I stated it was only a suspicion of a possibility not a developed plan. I posted just to show that Yarmouth hasn't been ignored over the years. Rob McCaffery.

Just staying on the subject of Yarmouth for a moment, back in the early nineties when Rye House was struggling for survival I did get the feeling that Great Yarmouth Rockets was a possible alternative. Obviously I can't speak for Ron Russell (well not since 1993) but he of course has strong connections with Norfolk. Rob McCaffery.

Didn't they demand a track inspection after four heats? Rob McCaffery.

I can definitely do you Scunthorpe, Phil. I've finally sorted out my VHS-DVD dubbing so I am expecting to finally get down to some serious copying next week. You're top of the list. Rob McCaffery

Yes the Cearns family were heavily involved with West Ham F.C. I seem to remember that they had a large business near Hackney stadium too. Rob McCaffery.

We covered Belle Vue back then when the Bamforths would let us in. If the archive survives there'll be some Hyde Road footage in there. Rob McCaffery.

Paul was originally based at Woodford Green in Essex but moved to Hoddesdon about the time I lost contact. Rob McCaffery

Sounds like Bruce Penhall's role in CHiPS - no, not Alf Tupper Rob McCaffery.

Hey did I say those were negative characteristics? I have been known to dabble in vehicles with far more than two wheels myself. I was at a vintage vehicle rally the day after Cardiff and found myself talking to a chap at the back of a bus who turned out to be a well-known former promoter who insisted I don't tell anyone - about being at the rally rather than talking to me - at least I think so .. Mind you, he'd seen a prominent ref in a transport bookshop in Cardiff. No names to protect the far from innocent... Rob McCaffery

Okay, they seem to have toned down his character based on occasional viewings of the soap but he still appears to be an odd-ball, a loser only just on the edge of society, likely to have odd habits and interests. I'll leave the rest of you to fill-in the punchline.... Rob McCaffery.

Yes it was John Stapleton. Sadly I just missed out on Custom House for similar reasons :-( Rob McCaffery.

Sorry, I only saw your point about it running from 1951 to 1963 - missed your line about the brief later revivals. Yes I did miss Reg Lambourne - bit of a handicap being born in 1957. Rob McCaffery

That site appears to refer to the the U.S. version. Norbold's missed the point that it was revived by ITV years later and I suspect the reported sighting of Ray Wilson may have been during the ITV revival. Rob McCaffery

Somehow I managed to get Birmingham v Cradley from Perry Barr complete with an interview with a young Simon Wigg. I've also got a Boston maeeting somewhere. Right now I can't transfer to DVD but as soon as I can sort out my VCR dubbing I can sort out the 'library' for want of a better word. I think I may have a Scunthorpe v Middlesbrough match from Ashby Ville as well. I lost contact with Paul Bonner many years ago now but I suspect that there could be a useful niche market for him here if the masters still survive. At least copies are out there. Maybe some kind of speedway video archive could be put together sometime, after all there must be a huge mountain of VHS still with customers by now. Rob McCaffery.

Charming! Rob McCaffery.

I was also at Waterden Road that night. It didn't help that he was given quite a bit of pre-meeting hype and I seem to remember was given the number 3 race jacket. I didn't know the back-story at the the time so it's no surprise given his lack of experience and preparation for the meeting that he was so embarrassingly out of contention. Perhaps if he hadn't been so badly dropped in the deep end the story might have had a happier conclusion. Rob McCaffery.

It's not their job to do better than professional British speedway riders. Are we only allowed to have an opinion on something if we can do the job better ourselves? Rob McCaffery.