TonyMac 720 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) As the 40th anniversary of the launch of Speedway Mail is looming in early April, just wondered if any of you have any particular memories of this publication (good or bad!) in either its original newspaper or (post-1987) A4 magazine format? A selection of the best, most interesting comments may be included in our feature that will appear in the next issue of Backtrack magazine. Look forward to reading your views. Cheers, Tony McDonald (Speedway Mail, 1978-1991) Edited March 20, 2013 by tmc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedcarRacer 228 Posted March 20, 2013 I used to love the extended averages, at the time the only place to find these. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Grachan 7,364 Posted March 20, 2013 Man of the meeting and most exciting rider was always quite interesting. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bruiser McHuge 589 Posted March 20, 2013 i used to like Speedway Mail..it was never as slick looking as Speedway Star but it was a great addition in its day....i felt it offered a good alternative and i liked the coverage it gave to some individual meetings that the Star tended to ignore....an example being the Coalite Classic at Bradford which i remember the Mail reporting on with a great double page centre spread with full photos and everything..the Star barely mentioned it !!....i think using Ken Carpenter's photos who was northern based helped in that regard..i sometimed felt that back in those days the Star was a bit too much southern influenced where the Mail wasn't.. i think i preferred the paper format to the magazine format though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iris123 21,082 Posted March 20, 2013 Was never really a big fan of the mail,but i did like Big Arthur who sold it.Top guy!! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The White Knight 9,039 Posted March 20, 2013 (edited) I loved the 'Mail'. It had a character all of it's own. I used to get the 'Star', 'Express' and 'Mail' I enjoyed the other two very much - but - I LOVED the 'Mail'. :approve: I actually preferred the tabloid style too. Edited March 20, 2013 by The White Knight 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skidder1 7,658 Posted March 20, 2013 I remember the late Cyril Hart, who used to do the Poole match reports and for a while was also the Poole PRO. He used to sit behind us in the grandstand and clarified a lot of the rules when we first started going in the mid-eighties! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
salty 2,208 Posted March 20, 2013 Used to have the Star on subscription, but generally bought the Mail during the season from the track. Liked both formats, but obviously the magazine lasted a bit better than the newspaper version. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
remembertheracers 171 Posted March 20, 2013 I think Speedway Mail was fun, but made a huge mistake in going to a magazine format. As a package the Star was always superior, but the Mail did offer a different angle sometimes. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bryn 413 Posted March 20, 2013 Was never really a big fan of the mail,but i did like Big Arthur who sold it.Top guy!! But did you ever have a clue what he was shouting? I certainly never had a clue no matter how hard I tried to understand him! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martin_t 219 Posted March 20, 2013 I remember the ink coming off on my fingers. Oh and the seller at Cradley saying " The latest,greatest,....and the chaypest". :-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martinmauger 584 Posted March 20, 2013 I liked the 'Mail and bought it most weeks, but I always though its biggest drawback was it came out 2 days after the 'Star, when the 'Star was sold on Wednesdays. So if you bought the 'Mail at Hull for example, a Wednesday nite track, it was always last weeks issue.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TonyMac 720 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) i used to like Speedway Mail..it was never as slick looking as Speedway Star but it was a great addition in its day....i felt it offered a good alternative and i liked the coverage it gave to some individual meetings that the Star tended to ignore....an example being the Coalite Classic at Bradford which i remember the Mail reporting on with a great double page centre spread with full photos and everything..the Star barely mentioned it !!....i think using Ken Carpenter's photos who was northern based helped in that regard..i sometimed felt that back in those days the Star was a bit too much southern influenced where the Mail wasn't.. i think i preferred the paper format to the magazine format though Yes, Ken C is a great photographer - he actually taught photography at a college near Sheffield, where he lived. He is now enjoying retirement in Crete. Wish we had stayed with the newspaper format. Adding the glossy, full colour covers contributed to the Mai's downfall due to substantially increased production costs that didn't translate to improved sales. It must be acknowledged, though, that the Star was always superior in most respects. I liked the 'Mail and bought it most weeks, but I always though its biggest drawback was it came out 2 days after the 'Star, when the 'Star was sold on Wednesdays. So if you bought the 'Mail at Hull for example, a Wednesday nite track, it was always last weeks issue.... Fair point but, then again, if you bought the Mail at a Friday or weekend track, it included reports from the Monday night meetings at Reading, Exeter and Newcastle, which the Star didn't used to carry at that time. I remember the ink coming off on my fingers. Oh and the seller at Cradley saying " The latest,greatest,....and the chaypest". :-) That would have been Alf Ferkins, who also sold the Mail at Wolverhampton. Marketing 'experts' would say it's always bad to use the term 'cheapest' but I like the catchline Alf used - it had a certain ring to it. But did you ever have a clue what he was shouting? I certainly never had a clue no matter how hard I tried to understand him! Good to hear from a loyal Mail mainstay, Bryn. To end many years of mystery, 'Big Arthur's' usual bellow was: "Aw yer week's results 'n' pictures . . . SPEEDWAY MAL!' Edited March 21, 2013 by tmc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TonyMac 720 Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) I used to love the extended averages, at the time the only place to find these. Martyn Green, who compiled all the figures each week, was an Arena-Essex fan and very keen for his endeavours to appear in print. I used to joke with him that he should cover the averages right down to the 1.00 men but it would have taken up so much more space than it already did and would have taken over his life! The trouble was, he would include so many riders and figures that we simply didn't have the manpower to re-type his computer print-outs (which he posted to us in the pre-email age) in a proper newspaper font, so the charts always looked unsightly in the Mail. Sad to say, poor presentation on our part didn't do Martyn's efforts full justice. Edited April 11, 2013 by tmc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BuckTaylor64 34 Posted March 21, 2013 Loved tha Mail! Bring it back! 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
