Belle Vue V. West Ham 1965

[norbold 7,116]

Settle down, this could take some time!

 

I was recently going through some old papers I have (I don't throw anything away, I'm a historian) when I came across a letter I had long forgotten from a friend of mine. He and I were both West Ham supporters and used to visit West Ham and Hackney regularly until I went off to college in 1965. He then went on his own and sent me regular reports. The following letter is one he wrote to me on 27 September 1965 after travelling to Belle Vue to see a league match against the Hammers.

 

"Dear Norm

 

Guess what? It rained every second we were in Manchester. However the sealions in the zoo seemed to enjoy it. Ken McKinlay's mind does not function in the same way as a sealion's. When we asked whether he was going to ride, he said, 'I suppose we've got to' in a voice that could only be described as sullen. Sverre on the other hand is probably related to one of the aforementioned sealions because when asked whether he would ride, he replied that he didn't mind particularly what the weather was like. The rain would make it like a home meeting. When I had a look at the track at five o'clock it was already under water. There was one solitary track grader raking the same bit of track over and over again. It looked at that time as if racing would be impossible. It continued to pour down with rain.

 

To pass the time away we went on the bobs (or rather the brave ones and the idiots did). The murderous contraption is a monsterous type of big dipper that is supposed to be like a bobsleigh run. The thing shoots round the bends at about 120 degrees and drops at angles of about 89 degrees. We had tea and Ken, Norm [Hunter] and Sverre came in and said that the meeting was definitely on. All the fools in the party had another dice with death on the bobs. After that came the meeting. The programme [which he enclosed with the letter] should be self-explanatory. Mal [simmons] was second to Norm in heat 3 when he had engine failure and was challenging Fisher for 2nd place in heat 7 with Hunter in the lead when it went again.

 

After the meeting we went to the bar and after about an hour Ken, Norm, Sverre and Tony [Clarke] came in. After they had a drink we tried to get them to go on the bobs. Ken and Sverre agreed. Norm said, 'Not bloody likely. I'm not going on that thing.' Tony was still drinking and I said, 'Come on Tony, have a go, it's great.' He got up but when we went out he went back to his drink. When we got to the bobs, they had shut down. Instead we went on the dodgems. I soon went off Sverre when he rammed me against the outside of the track. It made me hit my head against the rod on the back of the car and he was too clever for me to give him a good bump back. Ken, however, was easy to hit. After four rides on the dodgems we had a wander around in the rain and Ken and Sverre were very friendly and quite amusing.

 

Going back to last Tuesday, you will forever regret missing the match with Long Eaton. You missed Mal's first full maximum and you also missed A PAID MAXIMUM BY REG TROTT.

 

Yours

 

John"

 

Sadly John died a few years later from a heart attack at the young age of only 31.

But I thought his letter might be of some interest to ex-West Ham fans and fans of the 60s in general.....

[tape2tapevideo 0]

Settle down, this could take some time!

 

I was recently going through some old papers I have (I don't throw anything away, I'm a historian) when I came across a letter I had long forgotten from a friend of mine. He and I were both West Ham supporters and used to visit West Ham and Hackney regularly until I went off to college in 1965. He then went on his own and sent me regular reports. The following letter is one he wrote to me on 27 September 1965 after travelling to Belle Vue to see a league match against the Hammers.

 

"Dear Norm

 

Guess what? It rained every second we were in Manchester. However the sealions in the zoo seemed to enjoy it. Ken McKinlay's mind does not function in the same way as a sealion's. When we asked whether he was going to ride, he said, 'I suppose we've got to' in a voice that could only be described as sullen. Sverre on the other hand is probably related to one of the aforementioned sealions because when asked whether he would ride, he replied that he didn't mind particularly what the weather was like. The rain would make it like a home meeting. When I had a look at the track at five o'clock it was already under water. There was one solitary track grader raking the same bit of track over and over again. It looked at that time as if racing would be impossible. It continued to pour down with rain.

 

To pass the time away we went on the bobs (or rather the brave ones and the idiots did). The murderous contraption is a monsterous type of big dipper that is supposed to be like a bobsleigh run. The thing shoots round the bends at about 120 degrees and drops at angles of about 89 degrees. We had tea and Ken, Norm [Hunter] and Sverre came in and said that the meeting was definitely on. All the fools in the party had another dice with death on the bobs. After that came the meeting. The programme [which he enclosed with the letter] should be self-explanatory. Mal [simmons] was second to Norm in heat 3 when he had engine failure and was challenging Fisher for 2nd place in heat 7 with Hunter in the lead when it went again.

 

After the meeting we went to the bar and after about an hour Ken, Norm, Sverre and Tony [Clarke] came in. After they had a drink we tried to get them to go on the bobs. Ken and Sverre agreed. Norm said, 'Not bloody likely. I'm not going on that thing.' Tony was still drinking and I said, 'Come on Tony, have a go, it's great.' He got up but when we went out he went back to his drink. When we got to the bobs, they had shut down. Instead we went on the dodgems. I soon went off Sverre when he rammed me against the outside of the track. It made me hit my head against the rod on the back of the car and he was too clever for me to give him a good bump back. Ken, however, was easy to hit. After four rides on the dodgems we had a wander around in the rain and Ken and Sverre were very friendly and quite amusing.

 

Going back to last Tuesday, you will forever regret missing the match with Long Eaton. You missed Mal's first full maximum and you also missed A PAID MAXIMUM BY REG TROTT.

 

Yours

 

John"

 

Sadly John died a few years later from a heart attack at the young age of only 31.

But I thought his letter might be of some interest to ex-West Ham fans and fans of the 60s in general.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thats a nice story Norb, I take it though you were a teacher, as going to college in 1965 would have made you....... only joking mate.

Will hopefully be meeting up with Reg Trott soon, meeting Gordon Kennett this weekend. The book is building..... Ken

[Gemini 4,894]

Guess what? It rained every second we were in Manchester.

Some things on this planet never change then, global warming or not.

I do hope Addy doesn't see this or I am going to be in big trouble.

 

Nice story Norbold. Thanks.

[norbold 7,116]

Thats a nice story Norb, I take it though you were a teacher, as going to college in 1965 would have made you....... only joking mate.

Will hopefully be meeting up with Reg Trott soon, meeting Gordon Kennett this weekend. The book is building..... Ken

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes, it was a teacher training college. Keswick Hall, Norwich. But I didn't like teaching so I never actually took it up, preferring the academic atmosphere of The British Museum instead!

 

Good news about the book. See you at High Beech?

[tape2tapevideo 0]

Thats a nice story Norb, I take it though you were a teacher, as going to college in 1965 would have made you....... only joking mate.

Will hopefully be meeting up with Reg Trott soon, meeting Gordon Kennett this weekend. The book is building..... Ken

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yes, it was a teacher training college. Keswick Hall, Norwich. But I didn't like teaching so I never actually took it up, preferring the academic atmosphere of The British Museum instead!

 

Good news about the book. See you at High Beech?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

is it the 6th Feb? or 13th?.

[norbold 7,116]

6th February

[iris123 20,997]

So i take it from the letter that you missed one of West Hams best ever seasons,then Norbold.

[norbold 7,116]

I saw them until I went off to college in early September. I then saw them again beating Cradley Heath at Dudley Wood in the match that won them the British League. So, at least I was there for that!

 

Incidentally, the reason I chose Keswick Hall was so I could go and see Norwich. Just after I applied and was accepted, Norwich announced their closure.

[iris123 20,997]

What did i say.Your a Jonah when it comes to speedway tracks

[norbold 7,116]

What do you mean?

 

First of all I went to New Cross

Then I tried to go to Norwich

Then I went to West Ham

Then I went to Hackney.....

 

Hmmm...you could have something...

[Gemini 4,894]

I was recently going through some old papers I have (I don't throw anything away,  I'm a historian)

I don't throw anything away either but I'm just stupid. Every cupboard and drawer in the house is full, the attic is at bursting point, the wardrobes are full and there is more stuff in the house now than there ever was when the children lived here.

Incidentally, I was just wondering when one uses "a" and when "an" in front of words beginning with H?

I noticed you used "I'm a historian." which is obviously correct, but when using the word honour it is "an honour." Hotel is "a hotel." Still with me?

So is there an easy way of knowing which to use apart from one or the other just "sounding right"?

[KevH 257]

I'm fairly sure hotel is actually an hotel Gem.

[Addy 1]

Guess what? It rained every second we were in Manchester.

Some things on this planet never change then, global warming or not.

I do hope Addy doesn't see this or I am going to be in big trouble.

 

Nice story Norbold. Thanks.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

HI GEM

 

Didn't rain today

[847084 99]

I was recently going through some old papers I have (I don't throw anything away,  I'm a historian)

I don't throw anything away either but I'm just stupid. Every cupboard and drawer in the house is full, the attic is at bursting point, the wardrobes are full and there is more stuff in the house now than there ever was when the children lived here.

Incidentally, I was just wondering when one uses "a" and when "an" in front of words beginning with H?

I noticed you used "I'm a historian." which is obviously correct, but when using the word honour it is "an honour." Hotel is "a hotel." Still with me?

So is there an easy way of knowing which to use apart from one or the other just "sounding right"?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In a word: no! English is a language full of nconsistencies and exceptions to the rule. You would find examples of 'an historian' as well as 'a historian'. The letter aitch (that is how it is spelt) causes lots of confusion. Lots of people pronounce the letter with an aspirant (the h sound) at the beginning when technically they shouldn't!

Nice letter, Norbold. Thank you for sharing it.

[norbold 7,116]

Yes, I think 847084 has explained the position re-an/a before h correctly. It used to be the case that a word beginning with h was always preceeded by an, but this has now fallen out of favour and it is generally the case that an would only be used where the h is silent.