BL65

I believe Geoff's first appearance at Rye House was in the Stadium Trophy meeting in May 1960, followed by the Whitsun Trophy, a 4TT representing Poole, the Gerry Hussey Trophy, the Ronnie Moore Trophy, the Rye House Championship and a few appearances in the Rye House team in challenge meetings, so he certainly was a regular, Geoff Mudge, Clive Hitch and Tommy Sweetman were involved in two run-offs to decide first place in the 1961 Easter Trophy after all three scored 14 points, with Tommy winning both. Geoff took part in most of the meetings at the track in 1961, winning the Whitsun Trophy and Gerry Hussey Memorial Trophy, both with maximum points. He would probably have added the Ronnie Moore Trophy but for machine trouble in his first ride, winning his other four. In the Easter Trophy in 1962 Geoff lost a run-off against Ron Bagley for first place, but won the Ace of Herts Trophy and the Promoters' Trophy, both with maximum points He was runner-up to Peter Jarman in the Rayments Rose Bowl, then lost a run-off for first place to Tommy Sweetman in the Whitsun Trophy before retaining the Gerry Hussey Trophy. There were further team appearances at the track for Rye House and Poole, before Geoff lost out to Roy Trigg in the Ronnie Moore Trophy, with Colin Pratt in third place. Peter Jarman then won the Rye House Championship, with Geoff beating Martin Ashby in a run-off for second place. Although making only a handful of appearances at Rye House in 1963, Geoff was runner-up to Colin Pratt in the Gerry Hussey Memorial Trophy. In a rare appearance at the track in 1965 Geoff teamed up with Tyburn Gallows to win a Best Pairs Trophy with maximum points. His record suggests that Geoff Mudge was one of the top performers at Rye House in the first half of the 1960s.

The totals shown correspond with the details I have. Edinburgh results were 37-40, 36-41, 32-46, 49-29, 37-41, 56-21, 47-30, 50-28, 39-39, 57-21. Glasgow 41-37, 21-56, 44-34, 19-59, 49-29, 32-46, 50-28, 29-46, 53-25, 30-48. Middlesbrough 40-37, 29-49, 34-44, 46-32, 34-44, 37-41, 26-52, 37-40, 39-38, 53-24. Newcastle 39-39, 28-50, 46-29, 25-53, 41-37, 40-37, 21-57, 40-38, 53-25, 37-39. Sheffield 41-36, 46-32, 59-19, 29-49, 44-34, 52-26, 57-21, 38-40, 58-20, 41-37. Sunderland 30-47, 21-57, 28-50, 48-30, 38-39, 24-53, 25-53, 39-37, 20-58, 37-41.

Stan rode at both Rye House tracks and also appeared at Reading (Tilehurst) in the 1971 Southern Riders' Championship Qualifying Round. He joined Southampton after New Cross closed in 1963 and rode at Banister Court in September, including the meeting against Oxford.

The meeting at Cradley Heath on 26th June should have been Heathens (Alan Grahame, Phil Collins, Dave Perks, Andy Reid) v Globetrotters (Steve Gresham, Steve Regeling, John McNeill, Jan Verner) v National Leaguers (Joe Owen, Tom Owen, Paul Stead, Alan Molyneux) v Pirates (Kevin Smith, Peter Prinsloo, Danny Kennedy, Neil Middleditch). Peter Adams, John Bailey, Ken McKinlay and Pete Jarman were due to be the respective team managers. The programme for 26th June was issued with an insert for the planned re-staging on 20th October, with the meeting between Cradley 'Heathens' and Dave Perks Testimonial Select. This programme and insert was then used for the meeting on 27th October.

I had the pleasure of attending both matches. Young Alun Evans was in the LIverpool team just a couple of weeks after moving from Wolves. Along with Roger Hunt and Peter Thompson he scored twice in what turned into an exhibition match. The speedway meeting between two depleted teams in the evening contained considerably more excitement, with the Wasps pushing Cradley close.

I have a programme for the meeting, unfortunately without the results inserted. There were four blank spaces in the programme, with the other riders being Barry Hammond, Mike Dumont, Mike Stevenitt, Ray Cousins, Roger Hill, Don Smith, Harry Denton, John Ballard, Alan Stapleton, Ian Champion, Peter Southarn and Dennis Mannion. The blank spaces in the programme were intended to be filled by novices from Belle Vue. Roger Hill went on to ride for Coventry for several years, Don Smith appeared for West Ham in 1966 and 1967, Alan Stapleton rode for Swindon and Wimbledon, Ian Champion appeared for Long Eaton, Reading and Rayleigh, Dennis Mannion appeared mainly for Rayleigh and Ray Cousins appeared at Rye House in 1965 and 1966, with a couple of later appearances in BL2 for Crewe and Workington. I am not sure how veteran Australian sidecar racer Harry Denton qualified for a 'Stars of Tomorrow' meeting, although he did appear racing sidecars at King's Lynn that year. According to the programme notes for the meeting the following week Gil Farmer also rode and won three races. The programme for 25th September also makes reference to an unprogrammed match race in which Olle Nygren beat David Crane and that presumably took place after the Stars of Tomorrow event, which Olle attended. Discussions apparently took place on 19th September regarding the possibility of Nygren running winter training schools at King's Lynn. Pete Smith of Poole rode in the Ace of Herts Trophy at Rye House on 19th September 1965.

'Charlie Monk was boring' - part 2. In reply to Bob Bath, I believe Ken and Charlie were battling for the lead, Ken moved ahead before going wide and this allowed Charlie back on the inside, with Ken taking a tumble on the pits bend. Monk was excluded for 'boring', but television footage later suggested this was a refereeing error. An oddity in this British Final was the strange decision by the referee in heat 14. Jimmy Gooch fell after hitting the fence and was excluded from the re-run, as was Ronnie Genz who had already retired from the race with machine trouble. Gooch complained to the referee who promptly reinstated him and Jimmy went on to collect a point which eventually guaranteed him a World Final spot.

After an early practice session at Neath in late April1962, Speedway Star's Les Bailey reported that 'newly arrived Australian Warren Monk' and 'young Jon Erskine' showed up well. Monk was reported to be riding a new bike which he brought from 'Down Under', but the columnist felt he would need a little more experience before he made the league side. By the time he made his Neath debut in May Warren had become 'Charlie' and after an inconsistent start double figures scores were soon a regular occurrence. By the end of the season Charlie was second top scorer for Neath in league matches and second equal in the averages on 7.74, behind Trevor Redmond on 9.43. He topped the team's score chart in 7 of his 23 league matches.

I don't have the programme, but it was intended to be what was described as 'the annual Philishave sponsored Inter-Nations Fours', featuring Bruce Penhall, Kelly Moran, Dennis Sigalos, Scott Autrey, Kenny Carter, Chris Morton, Steve Bastable, Andy Grahame, Hans Nielsen, Erik Gundersen, Tommy Knudsen, Finn Jensen and Phil Herne. The Inter-Nations Fours at Perry Barr in 1979 was between Lions, Aussies, Danes and Yankees and the riders advertised for the 1980 meeting included 4 Americans, 4 Brits, 4 Danes and 1 Aussie, so possibly the teams were to have similar names to the year before. Sometimes this type of meeting had three nations and a fourth team comprising 'The Rest' though.

'Charlie Monk was boring'. At least in the opinion of the referee at the Cradley Heath v Glasgow meeting in June 1965. Having dropped points to maximum men Ivor Brown and John Hart earlier in the meeting, Charlie took his 5th ride in heat 12, against Hart. Referee Reynolds decided that Charlie was a bit too forceful and excluded him for 'boring'. There would be a very high incidence of disqualifications in meetings these days if contact was disallowed now as it was then.

Belle Vue 44 (P. Thorp 11, P. Ravn 10, C. Morton 7, A. Smith 6, K. Mckinna 6, G. Hornby 3, C. Blackbird 1) Ipswich 34 (J. Doncaster 12, K. Niemi 8, J. Davis 6, L.Carr 6, M. Hagon 2, J. Luckhurst 0, M. Woods 0) 1. Ravn, Doncaster, Smith, Luckhurst 68.1 4-2 2. McKinna, Hornby, Carr, Woods 69.6 5-1 9-3 3. Thorp, Davis, Hagon, Blackbird 68.8 3-3 12-6 4. Carr, Niemi, Hornby, Morton (mf) 69.5 1-5 13-11 5. Doncaster, Thorp, Blackbird, Carr (Luckhurst exc 2M) 68.1 3-3 16-14 6. Ravn, Niemi, Smith, Woods 68.6 4-2 20-16 7. Morton, Davis, Hagon, Hornby 69.1 3-3 23-19 8. Doncaster, McKinna, Smith, Carr 68.7 3-3 26-22 9. Thorp, Carr, Niemi, Blackbird 69.4 3-3 29-25 10. Smith, Ravn, Davis, Hagon 68.5 5-1 34-26 11. Doncaster, Morton, McKinna, Niemi 68.2 3-3 37-29 12. Niemi, Ravn, Doncaster, Blackbird 69.3 2-4 39-33 13 Thorp, Morton, Davis, Luckhurst 69.3 5-1 44-34

In the league match between Cradley Heath and Newport in June 1970 the referee bent the rules to allow the home team to track 8 riders after a heat 2 crash ruled both Cradley reserves out of the meeting. Mike Gardner was excluded as the cause of the stoppage and neither he nor Chris Bass took any further part in the match. Ken Wakefield was allowed to replace Bass in the re-run and took 5 rides in total. His 2 points made no difference to the result, with Cradley winning 42-36. Does anyone know of any other occasion when this type of rule bending occurred?

Ken rode at Newcastle for The Wallabies against The Northerners in July 1949, then for Ashfield at the beginning of August when the first league match was abandoned after a few heats and twice in September in the league meetings between the Magpies and the Giants.

Gus retired after riding for Southampton in 1939.

Colin Watson rode for West Ham in 1946 and I believe he was born in 1899.

On checking through and following up various posts I would add that Mike Broadbank appeared at the following (61 tracks): Barrow, Belfast Dunmore, Belle Vue, Berwick, Birmingham Alexander, Birmingham Perry Barr, Boston, Bradford Odsal, Brafield, Bristol Knowle, California, Canterbury, Coatbridge, Coventry, Cradley Heath, Crayford, Crewe, Eastbourne, Edinburgh, Ellesmere Port, Exeter, Glasgow Blantyre, Glasgow Hampden, Glasgow White City, Hackney, Halifax, Hull, Ipswich, King's Lynn, Leicester, Long Eaton, Middlesbrough, Mildenhall, New Cross, Newcastle, Newport, Norwich, Oxford, Paisley, Peterborough, Plymouth, Poole, Rayleigh, Reading Smallmead, Reading Tilehurst, Rye House (2 tracks), Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Southampton, St Austell, Stoke Loomer Road, Sunderland, Swindon, Wembley, West Ham, Weymouth, Wimbledon, Wolverhampton, Workington, Yarmouth.

You are correct Salty, I have checked and found that Speedy Pete appeared at the following 57 tracks: Aldershot, Barrow, Belle Vue Hyde Road, Berwick, Birmingham Perry Barr Greyhound Stadium, Boston, Bradford Greenfields, Bradford Odsal, Bristol Knowle, Canterbury, Coatbridge, Coventry, Cradley Heath, Crayford, Crewe, Eastbourne, Edinburgh Old Meadowbank, Ellesmere Port, Exeter, Glasgow Hampden, Glasgow White City, Hackney, Halifax, Ipswich, King's Lynn, Leicester Blackbird Road, Long Eaton, Middlesbrough, Mildenhall, New Cross, Newcastle, Newport Somerton Park, Oxford, Paisley, Peterborough, Plymouth Pennycross, Poole, Rayleigh, Reading Tilehurst, Rye House (2 tracks), Scunthorpe Quibell Park, Sheffield, Southampton, St Austell Par Moor, Stoke Loomer Road, Stoke Sun Street, Sunderland, Swindon, Wembley, West Ham, Weymouth, Wigan, Wimbledon, Wolverhampton, Workington, Yarmouth.

Colin Gooddy rode for Crayford at Teesside/Middlesbrough on 7th May 1977 in a Nartional League match. Apologies for not having noticed this sooner.

Agreed. Regarding the rebuilding work on the Stoke track, it must have been very substantial if it took so long.

Yes, first home meeting of 1969. Just as big a surprise as losing the Sash was the fact that Barry managed 2 bonus points in the that meeting, ending up with 8+2 from his 4 rides. They were the only bonus points recorded by Briggo in league racing in the whole season.

Sidney, there is some excellent information on the Silver Sash provided by britmet at http://www.speedwaychampions.com/ under the British Match Race Champs tab. This provides information going back to the Southern Area League from 1955-59, through the Provincial League 1960-64 and the British League from 1965 onwards. I used to look forward to the Silver Sash match races, featuring the holder against the top scorer of the opposing team. The rules of the event led to occasional successes by surprise challengers such as Chris Julian and Graham Coombes, both Cradley Heath riders, in the 1960s.

Speedway Star April 28th page 33 carried the report regarding the Stoke meeting on April 22nd, stating that 'After a three week delay in opening due to the rebuilding of their track, Stoke now have to wait another week for their first home meeting. The Inter-League KO Cup match against Swindon was ruled out by rain.' This confirms that the planned meeting for 14th April was called off in advance due to track work not having been completed. The other semi-final at Wolverhampton finished with Ole Olsen and Steve Bastable level on 14 points. Although the programme included Heat 21 in case a run-off was required I don't believe this took place. Tom Johnson, the local Express and Star journalist and Cradley Heath programme columnist, described the result as 'first place shared between Bastable and Olsen'. If a method was used to determine the placings I assume perhaps it went firstly on the number of heat wins (which would put Sanders 3rd at Leicester) and then race times if riders were still tied. This presumably would have resulted in the winnners being Crump and Olsen. Anything was possible, given that the rules were initially broken regarding the tie for the last 3 qualifying places.

There had been calls for the first challenger in May to be Newcastle's Ivan Mauger, top rider in the Provincial League in 1964, but that prospect ended when Ivan was injured at Wolverhampton on April 16th. Having been on the wrong end of a 5-1 in his first ride, being beaten by Tommy Sweetman and Jim Airey, Mauger then fell in his second race and Gordon Guasco following very close behind was unable to avoid fallen man and machine. Ivan was taken off to hospital and was variously reported to have a badly broken ankle and/or broken leg. Charlie Monk, another ex-Provincial League rider, was then a worthy first challenger for the Golden Helmet after a tremendous start to the 1965 season. During April Charlie broke the track records at Glasgow and Edinburgh on consecutive nights, won the Easter Trophy at West Ham against a field containing many ex-National League riders and apart from a machine failure and an exclusion dropped just a single point in home meetings when defeated by Trevor Hedge of Wimbledon. Although beaten 2-1 by Briggs in the Golden Helmet, Charlie went on to prove his quality by winning the Internationale at Wimbledon at the beginning of June, against a line-up which included Briggs, Knutson, Nordin, Fundin, Nigel Boocock, McKinlay, Pander and How.

Just when I thought it looked straightforward..... I have now found a reference in the Wolverhampton programme for the meeting on 13th August, which reported that Barry v Nigel would take place at Glasgow and Hackney, but regarding the deciding leg (if required) 'A date and venue have not as yet been announced but Exeter are hot favourites.' This might have been news to Exeter as the only reference to the August challenge was in their programme for the meeting on 23rd August, which included the following: 'BRIGGS v BOOCOCK World Champion Barry Briggs (Swindon) defends his Sunday Mirror sponsored Golden Helmet British Match Race Championship against Coventry's Nigel Boocock in the August challenge. He won 2-1 at Glasgow on Friday, August 13 with the second leg due at Hackney this Friday.' Surely if Exeter had been chosen as the venue for a decider the possibility would have been detailed in the programme. Just to complicate matters, the Exeter meeting on 30th August had a morning start time, so Nigel could have ridden if he was prepared to travel there and then back through holiday traffic on the A38 to get to Dudley Wood for the evening meeting. Very unlikely in my view. This leaves a choice of a decider at Exeter the day after the World Cup Final in Germany, or at Long Eaton the next day when Barry was riding there for Swindon. I wonder if anyone has any Sunday Mirror cuttings containing more information.

I can confirm that the meetings at Nottingham on 30/10 and Cradley Heath 03/11 were rained off.