norbold

I can remember seeing Roy Trigg in the second halfs at New Cross and thinking that he looked good and then seeing Dave Jessup as a 15 year old in the second half at West Ham and thinking he looked even better. Also remember Barry Thomas in the second half at West Ham. Malcolm Simmons was another second halfer at West Ham, though didn't show the promise of the others at that time. Then there was the memorable John Holder - memorable because he always came at least half a lap behind everyone else even in the novice and junior races. But I suppose the rider I remember most from the second half was Ron Johnson in 1960, attempting to make yet another comeback at the age of 53. Sadly, it didn't work out.

I'll deride whichever religion I like, thank you gustix, as they are all complete nonsense and do more harm than good.

Was he the actual winner then? Who did he ride for?

This is an extract from my book, "Cracked Eggs and Chicken Soup", based on my dad's memoirs of the East End of London in the 20s and 30s, and shows what happens when racial groups are stereotyped. Luckily there were enough "politically correct" people to put a stop to it at the Battle of Cable Street: "The mid-1930s became a very scary time for us Jews living around Bethnal Green and Whitechapel as the Blackshirts began to randomly attack Jews on the streets and smash the windows of Jewish shops. It was very unwise to go out on your own, especially after dark, so we normally hung around in threes or fours, came home from the pub together and so on. Mum and Dad were continually warning us not to go out alone and, above all, to make sure Julie was kept safe. They were worried sick about what some of those vile Blackshirt bastards might do to her if they caught her alone. So we never let Julie go out anywhere on her own. We’d go with her to work and take her out to meet her friends and make sure we were there when she wanted to come home. There was a very intimidating and menacing atmosphere abroad at the time and, as Jews, we knew we were the number one targets."

That was on 14 September 1960. Abandoned after 12 heats with the score 36-36. The first heat finished: 1. Ronnie Moore 2. Jim Tebby 3. Split Waterman 4. Reg Luckhurst (f). The time, believe it or not, was 70.2!

Oh, you saw me ok then. Sorry, I missed you....

If it was the first match of the season on 12 April you would have seen Reg and Eddie Reeves for New Cross against Colin McKee and Wal Morton for Hackney. It was a 5-1 for the Rangers. 1. Eddie Reeves 2. Reg Reeves 3. Colin McKee 4. Wal Morton. Time 64.6. P.S. I don't remember seeing you there..... Edit: I guess it must have been that match as it was the only time New Cross met Hackney at home that year.

Not a bad start to your speedway watching career!

Johnny Fitzpatrick rode for New Cross at one time. He was actually born in Guernsey, though his family moved to London when he was three and he was always thought of as a Londoner.

Just as a preamble to my first race...My family had been well into speedway for a long time, since before the War in fact, and I was actually named after a speedway rider, Norman Parker, Wimbledon Captain at the time. So my family used to talk about speedway and the riders at home a lot and I used to follow the results in the newspapers (yes, they actually had reports and results in those days), and watch the World Final on telly, so I knew quite a bit about speedway and the riders before I ever went. I used to cycle round the big field where I lived and pretend I was Split Waterman or Aub Lawson as they were my boyhood heroes because their names sounded very romantic to me. So, fast forward to my first time at proper live speedway. It was on 11 May 1960 at New Cross, a Britannia Shield match against Norwich, and there, in the very first race, to my absolute amazement were Split Waterman and Aub Lawson! The result of that race: 1. Aub Lawson (W) 2. Jimmy Gooch (B) 3. Split Waterman (R) 4. Harry Edwards (Y). Time 61.6 seconds round the 278 yards New Cross track. Although Ove Fundin scored an 18 point maximum and Aub Lawson 16 paid 17, New Cross won the match 48-42 after having lost their previous five matches on the trot. Jimmy Gooch was the New Cross hero that night, scoring 11 points and being the only New Cross rider to get the better of Aub Lawson. He became my new instant hero!

Oh yes, the Krays were wonderful people; they loved their mother and didn't at all threaten, torture and murder people to get their own way. A lovely pair of cheeky East End chappies, unlike all those dark skinned foreigners - every single one of them - who have come to London to be specially violent to old foks. Just go away BOBBATH and take your Fascist insights with you.

Londonistan??? What's that supposed to mean?

Nigel Pearson says Ipswich might get two 5-0s, so you could be ok.

Home, if he had any sense!

If I wasn't already at home I think I'd go home now....

Great start!

Krzysztof Kasprzak did!

When did you reach 30, FD? You kept that quiet!

You don't have to scan in anything and send it to them, you just need to cite the date of the Speedway Star it appears in.

Billy used to be a regular but hasn't been for 2 or 3 years due to his health.

As far as I understand michig is one of the site's administrators.

I've been to the Norwich lunch every year for the last 15 years or so. As you say, gustix, a lot of former riders normally turn up, though, sadly, they are getting fewer and fewer every year. Amongst the regulars normally are Ove Fundin, Trevor Hedge, Ginger Abigail, Gavin Hedge, Ray Bales, Bert Harkins and Terry Stone. Len Read was also a regular but missed last year, though as he is over 100 now, I think he can be excused. Other well-known speedway personalities, such as the announcer Terry Ripo and "Hawkeye", Tony Hurren, are also regulars. it is a great occasion. The food is always excellent and the company brilliant. It's non-stop speedway chat and nostalgia for about four or five hours! Well worth going to if you can make it.

As a postscript to the debate about citing a reference to the date of Split''s death, I have just looked up a number of other deceased speedway riders on Wikipedia. Although all of them give the date of death, not one of them has a citation.

Yes, I've updated many pages before as well. About a year ago I did have the same problem. It was on the page for Stanley Holloway. It was mentioned that he appeared in Concert Party in Clacton when he was first starting out. He actually appeared for three Summer seasons at the West Cliff Theatre, of which I am now Chairman. In our archives we have the old Accounts books for the period 1902-1914. In it, it gives details of how much he was paid each season, so I just thought it might be of some interest to mention how much he was paid on his Wiki Page. So I added it and it was deleted as I didn't source it. So I added the source was the original accounts book in the West Cliff archives. They said that wasn't good enough as it had to be a printed source. Which I thought was very curious as they were willing to accept a secondary source but not a primary soirce.

Yes, that's the reason they removed mine.