norbold

Yes, I think I was probably thinking more of 1960 and 61 than 1958. Youngie was still heat leader class but not the same class as he was in the early 50s. However, I did see him several times at New Cross during that period and I have to say I will never forget the two individual meetings he won towards the end of 1961 - the King of the South Cup and the Tom Farndon Memorial Trophy. To win both meetings he had to beat the Big 5 plus most of the other leading riders of the time. I felt it was a real privilege to see Youngie in those two meetings as he rode as he must have done at his peak in the early 50s.

That's very interesting, frenchy, thanks. Without the figures in front of me I hadn't realised Youngie had been so successful in 1958. Perhaps I wrote him off too soon!

He came back in 1958. He stayed at home in Australia again in 1959, then came back for two more years, 1960 and 61. He rode for Coventry in all three years.

Yes, definitely Rochester Bombers. Pete Lansdale was an ex RAF gunner and suggested the name. A competition was held in Rochester's local paper, the Evening Post, to design the body colour. There were 23 entries.

My understanding of the position at the end of 1955 was that Youngie announced he would not be returning from Australia for the 1956 season as he was missing his family and wanted to see his children grow up. It was only after this announcement that West Ham closed its doors as the management knew that without him they were up against it. Even with him they had finished bottom of the league and crowds had dropped alarmingly; without him they had nothing much to offer and feared an even bigger drop in the gate, so they shut up shop at the end of the 1955 season. Why he returned in 1958 I'm not quite sure. Maybe he'd had enough of seeing his children grow up by then! But, of course, although he was still a good rider, he was not the dominant force he had been from 1950 - 55 and it's not really surprising that Brian Crutcher was able to beat him twice at Coventry. By then, Crutcher was one of the top riders in the world, just a shade behind Fundin, Briggs, Moore and Craven.

Glad to be of help, dukes. You've done a good bit of research there. Interesting stuff. Though I think the newspaper is wrong in saying that Stewie St George was an Aussie. I believe he was actually a New Zealander.

I believe the first meeting held at Halifax was on 2 may 1928 at Thrum Hall Cricket Ground. It was the first meeting in this country to be held under artificial light.

I think it really happened once four rides became the accepted norm and cmas were based on four rides per match. In my books I always refer to a reserve's maximum if a reserve wins both his rides. (Edit: Ooops! Just noticed the missing apostrophe....)

Though, in fact, the last time Plymouth were in Glasgow was on Tuesday, 3rd October 1950 and the score was Ashfield Giants 52 Plymouth Devils 32 (National League Division Two) Full results near the bottom of this Speedway Researcher page: http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/docs/plymouth/1950.pdf

Do you mean at Ashfield or whichever was last out of Ashfield and White City...before I start looking?

Johnnie Fitzpatrick rode for New Cross in 1961, averaging 4.46 in 13 meetings. I believe he is still going strong and living in West Hendon.

"freakishly" "unconsciously predicted" "Mystic" Great cover up for the mistake, Jeff. Blame the supernatural. Works every time.

"word choice error". Very good, Jeff. Is 1932 a year choice error?

Also, it was in 1933 not 1932.

iris is absolutely right. The quote is not factual. What it actually says is, "Fred Monkford invents the original starting gate in 1932 for use at New Cross" He did not invent the starting gate in 1932 for use at New Cross.

I do have a number of complete year volumes of Speedway News. My earliest is 1934. As it happens one of the complete volumes I have is 1948, the year in question.

Wombwell 58. Beardsall 11, Welch 11, Hamley 10, Baxter 8, Oates 7, Mitchell 6, Pike 5, Bishop 0. Stoke 38. Blake 12, Harris 7, Bradbury 5, Jenkins 4, Adams 4, Anderson 3, Pitcher 2, Howard 1. ('"Red" Hamley found his form and Stan Beardsall delighted local fans with clever riding.')

The Speedway News of 2 September 1948 gives it as a win for Wombwell 58-38 in the Anniversary Cup. It also gives all the scorers. Would you like those as well?

The Speedway Researcher web site has some: http://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/main1.html Robert Bamford's "Speedway The Pre-War Years" has them all.

Talking of which, "Fred Monkford invents the original starting gate in 1932 for use at New Cross." That's a pretty good quote too, seeing as New Cross didn't open until 1934!

Everyone goes home.

We can all sincerely hope not.

No, Briggo wasn't in the Southampton team that night. Chum Taylor took his place. It was the only time I ever saw Southampton as I had missed their visits in both 1960 and 1961, the only National League team I hadn't seen, so it was very fortuitous that they paid a visit to Provincial League New Cross in 1963. The Saints won 46-30 with Bjorn Knutson top scorer with 11 points. He was however beaten by Colin Pratt in heat five. Pratty also scored 11, losing out to Taylor in heat 12.

This could call for a visit to the Newspaper Library to look up local papers of the time. Any volunteers?

Yes, you're quite right of course about which book Catford really fits into. However, when I wrote the London book, which was my second speedway book after East Anglia, I was still feeling my way a bit and decided to concentrate on league teams. By the time I got to the South East, I thought I should be more comprehensive, so I mopped up everything in and around London that I hadn't already mentioned.