norbold

This thread started with this. The subsequent discussion has shown that it was not an easy decision to make and not everyone agrees the referee was at fault. Many agree with his decision. Some decisions are very hard to make. If the referee gets it wrong in some people's opinion it doesn't mean the sport is a joke any more than a wrong lbw decision makes cricket a joke. Let's get a bit of perspective on this, eh?

Arena Essex is less than 20 miles from Rayleigh.

The 1948 meeting was held in Copenhagen. The 1949 meeting was held in Trondheim. Samsing (Norway) was 2nd, Aage Andersen (Denmark) 3rd and Andreassen (Norway) 4th. No Swedes or Finns took part. 1950: ? No Swedes took part, that's all I know about that one! 1951: ? No Swedes again. Well, it's a start...

Just look for anyone who gets very sensitive if you don't use his proper title of Dr.

I think Dr. Herbie's disappeared now he's had his say about John Hyam....

I say Herbie old chap, you still haven't answered this question. Unlike you to be at a loss for words.

Name one book of mine that has page after page of timings.

And there's me thinking that Simmo The Whole Truth is the autobiography of a speedway rider...

What other professional writers have written speedway books in recent years then?

It's true John Chaplin is a professional writer, but, of all those who have produced speedway books in the last few years he is probably the only one. There are three things that irk me about Brian Belton's books (I haven't read the Fay Taylour book yet I have to say): 1. The amount of plagiarised material. 2. The severe inaccuracies. 3. The amont of irrelevant material. It has nothing to do with lists of facts as far as I am concerned. Once again there are many other books written by fans which don't have lists and tables which have not been criticised like Mr Belton's.

Maybe he is made the butt of intolerance because his books are not very good and mostly second hand. Nothing to do with him being a fan. Most speedway books are written by fans rather than professional writers but they don't, by and large, come in for the same criticism. And, although he may not be a professional writer, he has had 14 books published.

Oh well it makes a change to plagiarise your own material I suppose...

Why have you found it necessary to say this twice on two separate threads?

I wonder why????

I wouldn't like to comment on where Brian Belton got his material from. Just like I wouldn't like to comment on where he got most of the material about West Ham he used for his West Ham book from...

Now, I wonder why that could be....?

I used to see Hackney Cheetahs round about 1964/5. That's definitely what they were called then...

Looking through Friends Reunited for my secondary school the other day I noticed the name Eddie Oram. I had a vague memory that Eddie used to ride cycle speedway so I e-mailed him and asked him if he had any memories of the time. This is what he sent...Warning! There is a twist at the end! "Hackney Cheetahs [A great name for you, eh, cheetahhawk!?] cycle speedway team rode at Well Street Common; they ran 2 teams but I can't remember the league name - I can remember riding in a National KO competition at Hungerford when the club chartered a double decker bus to take us there, bikes on the bottom deck and riders upstairs! "Racing bibs were blue with a yellow cheetahs head on the front and a yellow number on the reverse "Star rider and number 1 was Vic Haines, whose father ran the club together with a friend of his, Sid, who marshalled the paddock. Haines' lived in Malvern Road, Dalston and Mr Haines had a Morris Commercial Van in which Vic was ferried to all the competitions, and I believe he did reach the National Individual Riders Final on 1 or 2 occasions "The other heat leaders for the first team were Tony White, who lived in a house overlooking the common, and Tony Marsh, who came from Tottenham way I think and was a London black cab driver - I used to see him from time to time when I was working in London, but that was almost 30 years ago. The other riders were Brian Hunnable, Ricky Holt, and then I'm out of names "You would be more interested in the second team, where 2 of my teammates were Ronnie and Terry Russell "To the best of my knowledge nobody went from cycle speedway to speedway, but Terry has become something of an entrepreneur in the sport, currently running Eastbourne, Swindon and the dormant Exeter - with a business management contract at Oxford. Ronnie tookover the running of Arena Essex this season from Terry "Another acquaintance of mine, not connected with cycle speedway, is currently in advanced negotiations with Terry to purchase a major shareholding in Eastbourne. Given that you have written about Eastbourne I may be able to give you some story lines, and an introduction, to my friend - assuming he's successful. "Best wishes Eddie"

That's great, miro. It could even be Norman Parker in that clip at about the right time..... The worst thing is though, I remember Jasmine Bligh...

The meeting was abandoned after heat 8 with the score Newport 27 Hackney 20. "Referee Mr W.G.Hall called a halt to proceedings at the end of the eighth heat and by that time the track was fast disappearing under water." (Speedway Star & News 18/6/65) A bit of additional information especially for Coventry fans..."Hackney skipper, Colin Pratt, would not race after his first ride...Colin thought the track was too bad for proper racing..."

As Parsloes says we've been here before. And I agree with what he says. It comes back to this question of do we want to gain more recognition for speedway or are we content to leave it as is with the following it has now? Many people complain that speedway is not given enough publicity in the media. Whether we like it or not Wembley is the spiritual home of sport in this country and to have a Grand Prix there would certainly gain speedway more publicity.

Thanks bulldog and thanks for all your support generally with this project. For various reasons which I won't go in to here, as sussex bulldog says, I think it unlikely we will be signing books at Arlington.

I would like to add, for the benefit of Kevin Hammond, that it also contains complete averages for Eastbourne riders year by year from 1938 - 2004!

I'm not sure, now you mention it, clunsey...

It's still Halifax... See:Vintage Speedway Site