piston197

Dean,It is a sign and tin can religion for some disciples of Mr Cole, you cannot persuade a "believer" that is no more real than TOWIE. We are out there regularly selling/trading/auction bidding,all of the things that are purportedly done on the TV shows and know the difference between fake and real, we don't turn up at 10a.m. after our staff has set up the "stall", spend 2 hours signing autographs .taking selfies and selling the odd trinket, and then bu***r off, we do not visit established businesses like Andy Tiernan, Veralls, Yeomans etc. and pretend we are buying at a bargain price from collectors, nor pretend we made a profit on "sold" items which quite often in later shows can still be seen in the background of the shot weeks after ! It is reality TV, the true "nice little earner" is the fee that gets paid for the show by the TV companies . Here is an actual Video taken by Euan Bentley ( excellent youtube channel) of what actually goes on at a HC stall, see any buying/selling, between filming from his own crew.

Uninformed ? I have had numerous exchanges with HC, have had a stall adjacent to him at Shepton Mallet, Stratford ( twice) @ Cirencester . I have outbid him at an auction and seen his bile when he did not bid enough money to win the item, I have heard unpleasant exchanges with others. Yes he is smart enough to get his shows on the TV, and there is no doubt there is some business sense and a lot of contacts there, his work as a freelance journalist was never in the Kate Adie sphere, but he was there doing it, he also earned enough money as a motorcycle courier to fund his drug habit, he is now clean and doing very well, but as Dean said the TV stuff is mostly Fake, I know most of the people he visits, Andrew Longfield, Sam Jones , Greg ,etc I have had his team contact me twice once directly and once through Jake Morgan to have a poke around in my shed, and have been contacted by his team to trade at an event I run ( no they did not turn up) So slightly better informed than someone who has just seen him on the telly, have a look in the background of his shows and you can still see a lot of the things he "sold" still there, a lot of the bikes he has "sold" come up with a private Ebay seller based in the Chjeltenham/Oxford area, here is the latest 1937 Francis Barnett Plover 150c Runs Rides Great Patina Henry Cole Shed Buried | eBay UK here is another French Velosolex S3800 Moped 50cc, Runs/Rides, As Seen On Shed & Buried 1 of 2 | eBay UK and another French Velosolex S3800 Moped 50cc, Runs/Rides, As Seen On Shed & Buried 1 of 2 | eBay UK

Strangely enough HC does attract the "yoof" I have had the (dis) pleasure of being adjacent to him at a number of events, youngsters are queueing up to have selfies with him and buy puncture repair tins for a tenner if he signs them! The strangest thing happened at Bromberrow last weekend, a stallholder next to me had a one gallon can in decent nick and another with the side rotted out on his stall. A lad in his 20's with a girlfriend/wife and a small child asked the price, Nigel the stallholder said "make an offer" the young lad got his wallet out and said " I watch Henry Cole's shows and know they are valuable, I only have £150 will that do ?" The stallholder replied " I cannot take that off you, you can have the good one for £20 and I will throw the other one into the deal"!!!!

I was at Wembley in 1975, as a 19 year old, first speedway meet I ever attended, a friend of mine worked at a local rubber factory and a lady who worked with him was a Newport supporter and Phil Crump fan, she had organised a bus to Wembley and myself and 4 mates went, we got searched by the police in Trafalgar square after they hauled us down from climbing on the lions ! They spotted the leather jackets and got us to turn our pockets out, first time I ever heard the term "IC2 males" my friend Nicky had 2 screwdrivers, a penknife and a couple of spanners, the copper asked why he had these, he replied "I have a Triumph" the copper understood and let us on our way, great times , Phil Crump finished 6th

Not arguing about all of that, he puts bikes ( and tin cans) on the telly not so sure he promotes any motorcycle sports much ?, mostly just promotes himself and his programmes/merchandise , fortunately most viewers are too dim to realise it is just another branch of "reality TV" and as I said, if I had anything to do with Oxford speedway, as his local club, I would try to get a tie-up with him promotion wise, his dedicated disciples, and there are a lot of them, might be tempted to give speedway a viewing ?

Quote from September 2025 , then nothing , would be interested to know what "hands off" would be like ? The 78-year-old is determined to play a hands-on role in boosting speedway’s visibility and believes the sport is poised for a major resurgence.

You are dead right Dean, I, as a joint partner, run an event 3 times a year and have done for the last 37 years, the best form of publicity is visiting other similar events , having a trade stall with our event advertised on a billboard, with a box full of advertising leaflets for the public to help themselves to, and also handing a booking form leaflet to the other stallholders. Last week I was at Ledbury Grasstrack autojumble, this week I will be at Malvern showground and Cheddar VMCC event on the 25th, flyers will be handed out, traders will be leafleted, some of the mud chucked at the wall will stick hopefully ? You are advertising to your target audience of traders and motorcycle loving public, while going into schools is fine, a stall at a local autojumble, village fete, grass track, Motor cross event, vehicle show, etc. in an area close to a speedway venue costs very little, could be staffed by volunteers, a bike could be on display, and there is every chance you have an interested audience. Whether a bit of celebrity endorsement works ? the jury is out on that one ? Facebook If I was anything to do with Oxford speedway, I would be courting that Numpty Henry Cole, while the bloke is marmite, he has a huge social media reach to his audience and is local to Oxford

Ledbury Grass track autojumble went well, good turn out, and home in time for lunch, no one is likely to retire on their takings, but fabulous value for money 2 cups of tea, 4 slices of cake, and a trading stall £9 total !!

Phil Morris was very vocal about saving Newport Wasps, and was "heading a consortium" to take it over, not sure he was prepared to put his hands into his own pockets though, doubt if anything has changed, Newport could run 7 days a week with no curfew or restrictions, but the "Consortium" could not stump up the money being asked and it became a transport hub for a lorry distribution outfit. Phil may well be heading up the show, but almost certainly it won't be his money ?

Keith Huewen at least a passing motorcycle link and sports broadcaster Keith Huewen (born 1957), former international motorcycle racer and current sports broadcaster, lives in Northampton

The BBC are losing the Commonwealth games, possibly Wimbledon and definitely The Boat Race, after being outbid, might be the perfect moment to offer them Speedway, after all don't think TNT, Discovery or Eurosport will outbid them on that ! Might even be worth giving them the rights for nothing ,just to promote the sport ? BBC staff left 'fearful' after two events lost and Wimbledon warning | Other | Sport | Express.co.uk The BBC’s dying sports coverage is hurting Britain - Cherwell

Telford off road show it isn't but a nice morning out and good selection of cakes Ledbury grass track autojumble March 8th Facebook

I blame it on DNA, ( the National Dyslexics Association)

How is the trials bike going Roger ? I am Well qualified, being tone deaf and could not hold a tune in a bucket, yes have seen a brief clip of "Look mum no Computer" reminds me of the time I saw the band Mogwi, those sort of people must do it for their own entertainment as it does not seem to entertain a lot of others !

Myself and 2 mates ( one of which went to Broadmoor, but enough of that) ran a mobile disco for a couple of years in my late teens with 2 Garrard SP25 MKIV decks running through a Marshall Valve amp and 2 Marshall cabinets, no sound to light in those days, lots of lights powered by rotary columns of microswitches on different dwell cams, all taken from old Xerox copier mechanical timing arrays.

Likewise, hardly missed a new era Newport meeting, went to a few at Somerset, ( awful drive down a regularly jammed M5) standing on a cold slippery bank and a circuit that was basically a big doughnut, never compared favourably to Newport, went to a few at Swindon as well, poor atmosphere looking through wire fencing across a dog track did not compare favourably either, once your team is gone it is hard to switch allegiance. I would rather attend a grass track now, slick operation, lots of good close races, but if Newport was to return I would be back in a heartbeat /

Sounds like Hayley Stadium Newport, don't want anyone else to run it, set it on fire !

and if you build it up, likely it will be anti-climatic Not sure any of the thinking is actually joined up ?

Spoke to another couple of stallholders today one with good stall inside took £3K on the Saturday ( all trials bits and a rolling chassis) and less than £250 on the Sunday one with average stall outside, with twinshock bikes and parts took £250 by 9.30 am on the Saturday, but packed up/rained out by 10 a.m and went and looked at the show, stayed for the Sunday as he had booked accommodation, weather was OK ,but took less than £100 on the second day. Apparently Nick Mowbray ( Mortons/Kelsey) was going round the halls with a clipboard on the Sunday and was noting which stalls had left on the Saturday night and were a no-show on the Sunday, so expect them to not be flavour of the month when it comes to boking stall space next year

Yes have "met" Henry Cole a fair few times, and have had a stall next to him and opposite him, it is all" for the telly" you cannot get near his stall for idiots queuing up to buy an autographed Dunlop puncture repair outfit , or to take a selfie. Fair do's to the bloke , he gets bikes on the small screen and has monetized his antics, but is actually next to clueless on anything motorcycle, I have even explained to the chump what something was, and watched him do a piece to camera calling it something else, and still did not buy it. I have also been present at auctions and when you outbid him , he is not happy, nor can understand why someone else bid more ! I have the greatest respect for Sam Lovegrove and have known him for years and am in awe at the ability of Alan Millyard Glad it all worked out for you Dean, I have only once stopped for the Sunday in 20 odd years, and like all 2 day shows/autojumbles the second day is short on buyers and not cost effective for a second nights stop over.

Glad it worked out OK, Dean I would have been outside with a stall, looking at the weather, looks like I made the right decision, spoke to a couple of stall holders, the ones inside all said they did all right, the ones outside, some did not get everything out of the van, and all packed up early, apparently the outdoor autojumble was a poor show on the second day. I will support the Ledbury grass track autojumble on the 8th March though

Something cock-eyed in that top chart ? 9th place gets a higher pay out than positions 4th, 5th,6th , 7th & 8th ?

Woke up this morning, stretched out my elbows, No Wooden sides ! another day to be grateful for .

Reasons to be cheerful ? Summer, Buddy Holly, the working folly Good golly, Miss Molly and boats Hammersmith Palais, the Bolshoi Ballet Jump back in the alley and nanny goats 18 wheeler Scammels, dominica camels All other mammals plus equal votes Seeing Piccadilly, Fanny sniffin' Willie Being rather silly and porridge oats A bit of grin and bear it, a bit of come and share it Your welcome we can spare it, yellow socks Too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty Going on forty no electric shocks The juice of a carrot, the smile of a parrot A little drop of claret, anything that rocks Elvis and Scotty, the days when I ain't spotty Sitting on a potty, curing smallpox

Had a stall at this event, every year since Alan Wright started it at various venues, Ryton, Malvern, Telford etc., gave it a miss last year for the first time ever, and never really missed it, so once again this year will give it a swerve. If Alan Wright had not fallen out with Malvern Showground it would probably still be there ? Telford is a nightmare venue for the public, parking etc.and there is nowhere for the show to expand, Mortons/Kelsey must have called me about 5 times ,including last week, asking if I wanted a stall, so sounds like there are still spaces available ? I will be keeping my powder dry for Bristol Classic show