norbold

I was hooked well before I actually saw a meeting live. I was steeped in a family speedway tradition. Two of my uncles were regulars before the War, sometimes doing the traditional six in a week. After the War, in the late 1940s, my dad and brother went to Harringay on a regular basis. When I was born I was named after Norman Parker. I remember seeing some of the World Finals of the 1950s on television and I avidly followed all speedway results in the newspapers. By the time I was about eight or nine I used to ride my bike around the field where I lived and usually pretended to be Split Waterman, Aub Lawson or Brian Crutcher. The reason I went to the meeting on 11 May 1960 was because I saw it advertised in the Evening News my dad brought home from work that night and I asked if we could go so I could actually see the sport I was already madly in love with long before I ever went!

I was at that meeting. I don't remember seeing you there!

Of course I can't claim to be a neutral either, having been first of all a New Cross supporter, then West Ham when New Cross closed. I also went to Hackney every week for many years. In addition Wimbledon and Wembley were fairly regular venues while open. I also saw racing at White City, Harringay and Romford. My favourite was New Cross, the smallness of the circuit seemed to induce close racing. Also, if a race was boring it was over quicker! West Ham was great when riders like Sverre Harrfeldt and Christer Lofqvist were blasting round the outside. Although I only saw two meetings there, I have fond memories of Harringay too. The atmosphere just seemed electric, but then it was two big meetings I saw there with very large crowds which always helps.

Well, of course the first meeting at High Beech was nothing like the race between Emil and Darcy, firstly because, apart from the two Australians, this was the first experience any of the riders had had of this type of racing and secondly and mainly because the ACU ruling was that riders weren't allowed to put their foot down and all the bikes had brakes. You really can't use that first meeting to make a point like that! In the course of my researches in speedway over many years I have read hundreds and hundreds of first hand reports of meetings and races from 1928 onwards and as far as I can see right from the early days to the present day there have been great spectacular races and very poor processional races, great meetings and poor meetings. As far as spectacle goes for example, taking a mid-point, I used to see Sverre Harrfeldt every week at West Ham and I don't think you could get anyone more spectacular than him week after week either before or since. I am sure everyone will be able to point to a rider like that at their home track over the years, from Billy Lamont to Darcy Ward.

I think the best leg trailing photo I've seen is the one I use as my avatar (is that the right word!?) It's of 'Cyclone' Billy Lamont riding round the outside of Vic Huxley at Wimbledon. Click on my photo to expand it.

I have the complete set of Astorias' annuals. Many of the leading riders of the 50s advertised Astorias, though I believe a number of them didn't actually smoke!

One of my all-time favourites. One of the heroes of that famous Cup win over Wimbledon in 1965 and played a very important role in West Ham's treble winning season that year. Sorry, don't know what he's doing now though.

They did indeed, gustix.

Alby Golden rode for Ringwood in the SAL

According to that excellent book, "Speedway in the South East", the promoter, Terry Wibberley, sold the club for "personal reasons". The Clerk of the Course, Graham Arnold, hoped to put together a rescue package to keep the team going but was unable to do so until the end of the season, when they renamed the team Sittingbourne and entered the League for 1995.

Incidentally, I'm not quite sure what the basis of my ban is. In 1963, until New Cross closed I saw Provincial League Racing twice a week (New Cross and Hackney) and then in 1964 I went to Hackney practically every week.

Oh! I was just about to put in my twopennorth about Bristol and Wolverhampton but, sadly, it seems I am forbidden....

Is Wales no longer in Britain?

When I was doing my list, I was a bit surprised by the number of leading British riders who had brothers who also rode: Eric & Oliver Langton, Tom & Sid Farndon, Jack & Norman Parker, Freddie, Eric & Ian Williams, Peter & Brian Craven, Nigel & Eric Boocock, Peter & lots of other Collins.....

Farndon (T), Langton (E), Parker (J), Waterman, Williams (F), Craven (P), Collins (P), Lee, Loram, Woffinden

It'll only get closed down as soon as it opens!

Good to see Eric Linden getting mentioned twice, but you've left out Angus Kix, James Oldfield and Danny Carter.....

Clacton-on-Sea Colchester Harwich Jaywick Thorpe-le-Soken

It was definitely Dave Cro ucher and Steve Ribbons who were behind the Wimbledon revival. They commissioned my book "Two Wimbldeon Legends" to launch on opening night. I offered to do it for nothing as long as they paid the printing costs, which they agreed. When I gave them the invoice from the printers, they both said I should speak to the other one about it and both denied ever making the agreement. In fact they both made it as I met both of them to talk about it. It took me over a year and various threats of legal action to get anything out of them and even then it only amounted to some of the cash and a number of complimentary copies of the book. Oh yes, it was those two all right. I'm not likely to forget it!

I believe his height was somewhere between that of Johnnie Chamberlain and Graham Miles.

Best 1. Seeing West Ham beat Wimbledon away in the KO Cup, 14 August 1965. The day Malcolm Simmons became a star. 2. Being at Cradley to see West Ham complete the treble in 1965. 3. Seeing Ove Fundin win the 1967 World Final as I had taken along some college chums from Norwich, who had never been to speedway before, on the (dubious) promise that Ove would win. Worst 1. The Lokeren Disaster 2. Seeing Tadeusz Teodorowicz's fatal crash 3. New Cross closing in 1963

He was hailed as the new Stanley Matthews.

Maybe! Apparently Erol Brook's best year was in 1960 where he drifted in and out of the reserve berth for eight official matches, his best against Sheffield in August when he scored 3 and 2 bonus points from 3 rides. He was talked into coming back in 1964 and again in 1969 but struggled and didn't ride for Cradley again.

Early 70s? He spent a long time not getting very far then.

The Speedway Star Annual for 1961 predicted great things for Cradley's Errol Brook I seem to recall, who they dubbed "The Wonder Boy"....