martinmauger

Anyone, can shed any light on a ride called Alf Downs who apparently had try outs at Hedon in 1948 ? He is the uncle of friends of mine who hail from the Hedon area and they have shown me pics of their uncle in the front garden astride a speedway bike complete with helmet and leathers, but no body colour. Any info appreciated as so far I've drawn a blank...

As above. I never knew Bob but certainly knew of him, enjoyed reading his articles and loved his intro at Hull v Reading 1995 on the parade. A great guy, very knowledgable and enthusiastic about speedway. RIP....

Incedentally, one item on the City Of Culture programme, so a little bird told me, that I am looking forward to is a huge tribute to and celebration of Mick Ronson, one of Hull's coolest sons. Obviously I've heard of Mick Mitchell, rode for Hull a good few decades before my time, he and George Craig were heroes of my father when he was but a wee boy. Various prolems arose from operating out of Hedon, correct me if I'm wrong, bit I believe the train service stopping at Hedon Halt was cancelled as was the bus service from Hull and few folk owned cars in those days. Perhaps you, or anyone, can shed any light on a ride called Alf Downs who apparently had try outs at Hedon ? He is the uncle of friends of mine who hail from the Hedon area and they have shown me pics of their uncle in the fromt garden astride a speedway bike complete with helmet and leathers, but no body colour. Any info appreciated as so far I've drawn a blank....

I was reffering to team success, ony once have speedway crowds exceeded that of rugby, fotball, and ice hocey for that matter. Unfortunately speedway in Hull never benefitted from being £100,000's in debt and no one giving a stuff, or help towards a stadium of its own and / or a stadium provided for it (sale of KC shares ?), nor many other avenues of assistance enjoyed by the ice hockey and both rugby and football teams in Hull. Yet, when both rugby teams at different and also the same time, were on their uppers and almost going out of existance, both were grateful for the income speedway provided, as was the ice hokcy wehn the indoor ice speedway meetings were held there. And at one time the speedway promotion were required to co-sign cheques of one of the rugby clubs. And at one time Craven Park could have been bought lock, stock, barrel and speedway track for less than £600,000 (!). But as is often the way, both clubs soon developed very short memories and when their situations improved, were quick to give speedway the boot. That said, as always, there was much more to the demise of speedway in the town than immediately met the eye or was made public. But I, for one, hold no grudge as none sports of football, rugby or ice hockey do anything for me, and I gain no pleasure in the fortunes or problems of either sport. Indeed the only reason for me to visit the stadia of either sport thas been, or would be, a ground share with speedway, which other than the ice hockey arena is not impossible anymore....

Beats me....

Not looked into the City Of Culture criteria, I for one was amazed the city was selected and Hull certainly does not possess a cathedral. It interests me not one jot as so far it misses much of which Hull is known for e.g. fishing, unique phone system and telephone boxes, try finding a 'traditional' cream phone box; one city centre pub has one in its beer garden and painted it red (!) I suspect it won't change a thing, will miss a lot of local culture and will be a waste of money, did the organisers actually ask locals?. Incedentally anyone thinking of visiting Hull, beware city centre traffic. Recent, prolonged road works created but 5 disabled parking spaces, good for those who can't get around, but nixed 20 to 30 regular ones in other areas, so creating what I have called 'the 15mph GP' as drivers circulate searching an elusive parking place and thus avoiding the inconvenient multi-stories....

Good point. Adding my 2p worth I invite people to check out this site and make of it what they will (bet link don't work): https://www.hull2017.co.uk/ So far there has been - drum roll: a much ballyhoo'ed 'sea of skin' where one freezing cold morning loads of people volunteered to strip naked, be painted blue then lie down alltogther to have their photos taken and displyed in a local gallery, some big projections of Hull-related stuff onto the front of Hull City Hall (whence I'm told the traffic chaos and queues had to be seen to be believed), a blade - just a blade - of a wind turbine on display in Hull City Centre. Er, pretty much that has been it, my knowledge of planned events being pretty much zip, almost perfectly matching my interest. No mention of speedway of course, despite Hull Angels operating out of Hedon in 1948-49 with a unique stopping-off railway platform (Hedon Halt) constructed just for speedway and the Vikings easily being the most successful professional sporting team in the city. None of the local stadia, KCOM Stadium (Hull City FC & Hull FC), or Craven Park (Hull KR) can physically accomodate speedway, a stand was built on what were turns 3 & 4 at Craven Park. The Boulevard was demolished afew years ago. The only suitable place would be Costello Stadium which hosts athletics, complete with 400m track, but is too close to housing, and located in a huge NIMBY area. Efforts continue to build a waste disposal plant on the former site at Hedon, adjacent to another NIMBY area. Going off subject slightly, I'm told that the William Wilberforce Museum has had all mentions and displays of slavery removed, lest it offend anyone. Not a pleasant subject at all but: it happened, it's history and the information should be made available for future generations to ensure nothing like that ever happens again. And it just so happens that Wilberforce actually contributed a great deal to the abolishment of slavery....

Should be a pic of Hull, Boulevard in Lego, sorry can't make pic any bigger . It shows the newer, circa 1985 stand, which replaced the old back straight 'Threpenny Stand'. The model is accurate in that it shows the crush barriers added mid-1981, the lowest of which was literally right up against the speedway safety fence. With the to be included '2 metre safety zone' regulstion outside of safety fences I pondered how these crush barriers would satisfy the new rule. In October 1981 I discovered the answer: it didn't matter as speedway was given the boot (!). However, being a Lego model, re-laying a speedway track woud be easy, using flat brown brisks, as would lifting and relaying the rugby pitch corners would also not be a huge issue as flat, green bricks could be taken up and re-laid. The Boulevard was demolished in 2010ish and the site houses the 'Boulevard Academy', which is a whole story on its own. A plaque celebrates the former home of Hull FC, but naturally speedway doesn't get a mention.....

Hull closed mid-1949 (my dad was there as a mere boy so I wasn't even twinkle in his eye), I watched from 1974 when I was deemed old enough for homes and then aways in 1978 til closure again in 1981 (big shock). Dreams can and do come true, though it still seems a dream at times, re-opened in 1995 saw many aways but missed but 3 home meets (illness, last second transport issues and a won holiday) closed yet again in 2005 (big surprise but on reflection not a huge shock). So 3 sad closures in total though I only experienced 2 of them and now live in the sad 'longer without than supporting home town team', last, Craven Park, era that is. I still watch, read about and enjoy speedway, prob always will but it isn't and never will be the same. Sigh....

I first thought this thread was in reference to a recent match at Redcar where TWK's beloved Sunderland took on (presumably the local team) in an NJL challenge. Wonder if he made there it to watch ? Not 'Extracting The Michael' at all, roughly this time last year the mighty Hull Vikings competed in a 4TT at Scunny (v Scunny, Buxton & Halifax) as the 'main event' after the 'warm up races' (Scunny v Sheffield PL) and I can confirm any sport means WAY more when one's one team in competing. So far no sign of any other Hull matches taking place, but fingers crossed. Speaking personally, I will get to watch some speedway this season, it's a still a (THE) sport I enjoy immensely but / would defo make more effort making the time if a Hull team were riding, here's hoping ....

This is what happened when The Abbey was first built. I forget the actual year of construction but league racing began there mid-1949. The area was chosen as it was, at that time, 'middle of nowhere's ville', not anymore. Think it's called 'progress'....

Guess yer man Dave is doing well for himself then, some nice motors, good luck to him ....

Agree with the above. But keep double up / down, with some regulation. We all want riders to progress but seom riding in 2 Uk leagues whilst others ride in one (or none) is ridiculous. So, similar to the way National League riders are assessed, presumably on ability & experience. E.g. employ some kind of grading system. Allow riders to double up, National to Champs League, Champs to Premiership, but for a limited time (say 2 or 3 season) only riders who express the desire and possess the abilty to progress. Permit doubling down if riders are primarily a higher league rider and / or loaned to one, and only one, lower league, again for a limited time to gain experience. Then allow them to ride in just the one or two leagues, again for a limited time. At some point it could then be 'make you mind up time' for ride to deiced which league they are to ride in. This should gradually free up places in lower leageus and encourage riders to move up to higher leagues. Not THE solution, just my 2p worth. Re; engines, costs need to reduced, we all agree on this. But: say the GTR, new JAWA (or an updated GM) is made compulsory;- would would riders do with their existing engines ? I suggest either a rev limniter, or a power limit, enabling riders to use their existing engines with less cost than been forced to bin them and invest in a new engine(s). Ok, it would still incure some cost as riders will probably need to change camshafts, pistons, con-rods, flywheels, etc to meet any power regulation, but less costly than everyone buying new engines. Possibly employ a mobile 'rolling-road' for random power checks at tracks. Again, not THE solution another 2p worth....

Prefer Natalie to Suzy talking speedway, Natalie knows her stuff better....

Too right. Seen Range Rover Discos, a Maserati, Ferrari, a Morgan (twin JAP engine I believe !), Roller (yes Rolls Royce !), Lotus, a Porsche, Mk7 VW Golf GTi and a few others I've forgotten, in the Scunny car park. Now either Rob Godfrey is doing very well indeed, or at least one pretty well-off fan spectates at Scunny from time to time....

Too right, the ony rtime we heard of a big promotion is whan a team was on TV and comms report "they've really pushed this meeting - reducing admission to £10, etc". Reporting admission is reduced to a tenner will prob make viewers think "it can't be very good if they have to reduce the admission to get people to watch". I'm sure promotors do run their clubs, else there would be literally no speedway at all, but 'promote' ? I'm not too sure they do anymore....

Re: the Individ World Championship, one time each season every rider (presumably of at least league standard) theoretically stood a chance of becoming World Champ from 1st of January that year. This isn't the case anymore, mostly selected riders are invited to enter or seeded in the competition, though riders need to be of a very high standard to progress. Only the best will qualify and compete at the top level, true, but in my opinion too many riders 'remain' in the GP, top 8 I think it is, should really only be the top 4 or 5, let everyone else qualify on merit, + 1 wildcard for each GP venue to ensure home interest....

Nutshell: each time speedway shoots itself in the foot it loses people, often never to return; newbies and eventually the die-hards. One example (name delated) a club opened to a crowd of near 9,000 but various fall- outs, late meeting call offs, electrical failures, meets cancelled late, 'rain offs' on sunny days, people admitted on wet nites then "sorry folk, but the weather has beaten us" - newbies don't get the 'readmission after 9 heats or whatever' rule, etc, etc. Well eventually the club ends up performing before 600 people. OK, the afore-mentioned situations can occur any time but in real terms the club in question (name still deleted) 'lost' over 8,000 in 20 years or so. The answer: I'd be rich beyond my wildest dreams if I knew it. Just my 2p worth....

Dunno which was the bigger atraction at 'The Zoo'; the usually brilliant speedway or the almost essential fun fair afterwards, especially the go karts ....

Tom & Joe Owen scored maximums for fun whilst at Newcastle. Joe got quite a few for Hull too in 1978 once Mauger helped him get his mojo going, until his (Joe's) terrible 2nd half accident at Hull (Boulevard) mid to late-1978. Joe's career was ended riding for Ellesmere Port at Birmingham (Wheels Project) in 1985. Joe survived but was sadly confined to a wheelchair....

Been to a few 'multi-hour' meets, not due to many race related delays like crashes but everyone just taking their sweet time, most often afternoon World Champs Qualy meets which literally did go on forever. Been to Scunny when they rattled through 70-odd amateur races in 4 hours....

Absolutely ....

Speaking as I find: my 'Star was late, 'course it just 'had' to be the season preview issue too, phoned Dave Fairbrother "no problem mate, I'll put another in the post", arrived today 11am. Only took time out from reading it to post here, really can't complain, first time late in either 2 or 3 years, so conitinued great service then. Originally took out a 'sub' as it was 'late' every 3/4 weeks despite reserved in papershop I used for years , yet I would see it on sale in supermarkets, etc. So all is well. + I may be going to speedway soon, good stuff....

Adding my 2p worth: 7 or 8 years ago either the first or 2nd time I rode a speedway bike, I slid off (admittedly at lowish speed), left leg temporarily trapped under the bike, struggling to free myself, didn't initially realise my right foot was also somehow under the footrest. Once aware of how hot my foot was getting I did manage to extract myself, but the exhaust downpipe, just before it meets the silencer, burnt through the reinforced heel of the leather Daytona boot and 2 pairs of socks leaving me with a lump the size a golfball. I applied a cold bandage immediately and the lump went down in a day or so but to this day I still have scar the size of a penny on my right heel....

And I'd love to see Hull Vikings back, it means WAY more when it's your own team. There are few things I'm ain't too happy about in modern day speedway but I still enjoy the sport: it's still 4 riders turning left 4 times, no gears or brakes skidding the back wheel to turn, change lines and race. Still, wouldn't ever dream of telling anyone else what to do, or not do, yer pays yer money, etc and do whatever....