SHALEWAY69

Thanks for the correction, my memories are from 1974 when the stadium was owned by Terry Waters, who actually owned the surrounding farm land and was a member of the original promoters team. it has obiviously been sold in recent years. The fact is the best years were when their tenancy more stable TONY

I think it was Mark Terry's sister who rode at the Hackney training schools 1979-1980, cannot recall her name I think she may also rode at Iwade. can any Hawks fans or ex trainees confirm this? wot do you think Mick Fletcher.? the most famous name was fay taylour but i have yet to see evidence that she actually raced apart from exhibition match races. where lady speedway riders banned? Tony

There have been several female speedway riders over the years, but did any make a team place or race in a four rider event ? I recall a Miss Terry at Hackney around 1980 and of course there were earlier riders such as fay Taylour, Eva Esquith and later Rosita Mattingley. tony

I am sure that the speedway fratenity did everything possible at the time to preserve the future of speedway racing at these venues. It is unfair to say more could have been done! The cold hard facts are that the speedway promotions were often only tenants. therefore the decisions were made in the corporate boardrooms purely on a cold financial basis. the emotional input from speedway enthusiasts would have fallen on deaf ears. Very few promtions own their own stadium with the possible exception of Rye House and Mildenhall, and are therefore in control of their own destiny. Tony

I remember Ian from the Mike Broadbank Rye House Training school of 1963. Ian lived near rye house and would push his bike to the stadium. Clive Hitch used to help him, he may have been a relative of "Clive the Dive" Ian was the star pupil who set the standard for the rest of us hopefuls.... leg trailer Ray Cousins, George Marsh, Stuart Wallace the Harlequin kid , Sid Whately Exeter novice of the year., Dave Battle from Fundin country, Tyburn Gallows, Geoff Hughes [he was the envy of all of us as he had purchased Ronnie Moores bikes] Norm Unger, Alan Jackson and Pete Gay were other names that come to mind Tony

No was not there in 1964, but do remember going there with Hackney in 1971, I remember Garry Middleton and Sandor Levai having a reall old ding dong, trying to knock each other off, elbows and boots and it continued long after the race. was a lively night cannot recall who won!

Taffy Owen what a character. He always had a bootful of Starline Guards and GTS seats etc, then of course he opened a shop near Belle Vue entrance., Track in Spares. I was up there getting stock from Astrapi and Starline around 1973 and I remember Taffy's shop was being fitted out by Keith Evans who rode for Scunthorpe. There was a very good booklet out at one time on Taffy, haven"t seen it for a while. TONY

Johnnie Jones ex Long Eaton rider, emigrated to Australia in 1958 after being harshly banned for 2 years by the SCB for riding at an unlicenced meeting. After a serious accident in Melbourne he took up the safer pastime of flying. he clocked up 3000 hours visiting all australian states including Tasmania and a further 1200 hours of co flying. TONY

The first meetiNg I attended was Rayleigh versus Long Eaton August 18 1951, I was 11. Best memories , the sweets and chocolates thrown to the riders, Tom O'Conner [ how about a thread on Irish riders] who scored 8 , Pedlar Palmer and Peter Moore, the flower decked starters box, Tippy Atkinson the lady promoter and the smell of Castrol R tony

I am surprised to learn of the passing of kristian praestbro, i cannot recall this being recordrd in the speedway press. I knew Kristian very well as we used to rendevous on the A604 near Earls Colne in Essex for the interchange of spares. as he travelled to and from the port of harwich. His Mercedes would be loaded with all the speedway goodies from Starline, GTS etc. I used to source spares from the south of England for him. It was, and probaly still is, part of speedway culture for riders to act as couriers for urgently needed spares, Kristian was a reall gentleman, always well presented, reliable and a credit to speedway. I am saddened by this news Tony

I am the author of the Garry Middleton article. I wrote the article some time ago hoping to solve the mystery before releasing it. As all my research was hitting brick walls I decided to publish the article and see what response I get. In the last 24 hours I have had info that he was in NZ in 1978.However all info is welcome. Regards Tony

Pretty certain that it would have been Freddie. my memory is that he appeared to know every one. he was small, wore a cloth cap and was very lively with a real Norfolk accent. TONY

star ghost. you are correct there was always a different amostphere at practice sessions and training schools. i recall Hackney on a saturday and training schools at Mildenhall with Mick Hines. Often there would established riders and people from the business side of speedway there who you could yarn to away from the pressures of the meetings. At Mildenhall in the 1976-80 period there was a wonderful little guy who was a pusher, he came from Norfolk and was an ex Norwich man. I cannot recall his name but he seemed to be on freindly terms with the Bales family. wondered if you could place?

spin king I was not advocating financial help, but merely encouraging fans to send them good wishes , just to let them know they are not forgotten. who knows what a few well chosen words of might do in their lives. There are many on this forum who are quite articulate in their postings, that effort could be used in a few words that may just make a difference in someones life. I speak to many ex riders who are chuffed and given a lift when I tell them they are remembered by the speedway fraternity. Regards Tony

Jim You are right this is all speculation, surely someone somewhere knows Shawn or Kellys address. then what we could do is every forum member add them to our Christmas Card list. Not a big deal I know but at least a start just a contact from a few fans would be some comfort for these guys to know they are not forgotten. I will contact my USA friends ASAP to try and get some clues to the Morans whereabouts. The other issue that comes to mind what happened to the speedway riders benevolent fund ? and what about support from the grand prix organisation...lest we forget. Tony

West Australian Abe Schneider rode at Claremont 1967-1970 billed as the" Flying four by two" had a car repair shop in Victoria road Malaga WA Tony

lets get this started Ronnie Genz ??, Cyril Maidment ?? Any comments. Tony

Ted was a portege of veteran rider george bason.he started riding in 1957 as a reseve at aldershot. won the junior championship there in august 1957. had trials at leicester in july 1958 , collar bone injury sidelined him until september 1958 when he toured france with the bason troupe. began in the SAL 1959. TONY

WORST TRACK???? I have seen some fantastic racing at Crayford, once the visitors got the hang of the place. to see Thommo in full flight, or tom owen was worth the admission alone Tony

Brisbane Ekka and Archerfeld in Brisbane are two tracks I wish I had seen action at. as I now live equa distance of 10 k from each, if only I had moved here earlier!! TONY

Kurt Petersen may not have made a great impact as a rider, but his mechanical and tuning skills became legendary. The Petersen cam was in great demand in the late 1950"s

Sandie, I agree it it is vital that we retain just the sympathetic interest. Fortune does not fall on every one and these guys gave us so much entertainment in their day they owe us nothing, but we owe them if only good thoughts and a genuine interst in their welfare.. I wish, we as a caring speedway communty could give some support to them .Tony

y recall the defunct 5-1 MAGAZINE ran a story on Shawn a few years ago, at the time he was still living in Sheffield. Prehaps some one from Tiger country can shed some light on situation. Tony

my recollections are a tight match at Hackney with the old enemy the Witches, Billy Sanders was ever so gently left with no where to go by arch rival Finn Thomsen after a closely fought heat, in wind down. Blly ened up in the fence while Finn coasted in to the pits.What with the long walk back amid the jeers of the Hawkes fans, Billy was in a fighting mood by the time he reached the pit gate., from there he threw his helmet at Finn like a cannonball. it wls then on for young and old. oh happy days. how about a thread....the best of enemies!! Finn and Billy...Len and John Berry..... Tony

Chris actually worked as a youngster, for Bruce Semmens another speedway aviator. Chris drove a cattle truck during Bruces time as a farmer. It was Bruce who introduced Chris to speedway thru his contacts with Sheffield and Frank Varey He rode for 10 teams in a 20 year career. appeared in 3 British Semi Finals of the world championships won the Silver Sash and a league winners medal with Exeter in 1974. Tony