customhouseregular

As the father of an adult son with Aspergers Syndrome, I can have sympathy with any man or woman living with an Autistic Spectrum condition.

The other man's grass is always greener The sun shines brighter on the other side

Agreed Shads...not every race at Custom House was a classic, but when you got 4 riders really having a go it was magic. As you say , fast is not necessarily better (check out some of the times from 40 years ago) and I have seen some great races won in (relatively) slowish times. But...4 riders really turning it on at a big fast track takes some beating. It's a purely personal thing, but the prospect of 50-second races at Plymouth would not entice me. I always loved Wimbledon though. I'd love to get myself anywhere Mr. S. but speedway for me is out of the question for many reasons.

I wish I lived in Berwick! Perfect size track and fast...63ish seconds for 4 368m. laps. Good facilities and only £11.00 for OAP's. Reminds me a fair bit of Custom House...as I recall c. 415 YARDS ( did not have metres back then) and track record around 69 secs.. similar facilities too. OK, Plymouth fans might disagree about perfect track size, but not all speedway fans think alike. Mind you, Sheffield would be a very close second.

Jealous?, me?...you bet I am

The icespeedway.co.uk website has an excellent report on the Inzell meeting, with a comprehensive round-up and some good photos. Well worth checking out.

I for one am looking forward to this more than the opening GP...Great stadium, great track and fantastic field. Bring it on I say.

British Eurosport 2...Saturday 28th. March. 5.00 p.m. 5 Champions in a room 5.30 p.m. 2014 GP review 6.00 p.m. Best Pairs Cup That's my viewing sorted

I totally agree and we could both reel off a load more...including Jim Tebby!.

Gone are the days one could reel off a host of names...all of them British and all of them quality. Broadbank, Hunter, Wilson, Boocock etc. etc.

Many thanks Iris

Has anyone seen the result from Inzell?.

My recollection of Mike is that he did not use all the track the way a lot of riders do, but his riding style made it look as if he did. By using the inside line and "spreading" himself he made other riders have to work harder to pass him. The "crab" style was very effective. Does that make sense sidney?.

An excellent post my friend and very informative.

Mike Broadbank had a knack for taking up the track. His riding style made him difficult to pass so once he was in front he usually won. I first saw him in 1960 and was a fan from then on. West Ham was my team from 1964 but I did like Swindon. Briggs, Broadbank, Ashby, Kilby...all great riders.

Unless i am mistaken the Ty in question is Ty Proctor, not Tai Woffinden.

Wimbledon 58.20 Halifax 63.00 Ignore the above as I got it wrong...sorry.

One of the first riders I ever saw was Clive Hitch. My dad got friendly with him and bought a van from him c. 1961. so Clive would be an interesting choice for me.

Spot on gustix...I did not drive but got to West Ham, Wimbledon and Hackney regularly. Also, I was not highly paid but speedway was affordable back then. I am now a 100 mile round trip from the nearest track, without a car and the cost of public transport (at least 2 buses and a train in every case) makes attending impossible. Lord knows how long it would take to get to a track and it would be the next day before I got home again.

I have just revisited this site and bringing back memories. I was at the Internationale in 1965 and remember Ivor's bad crash well. Tommy Sweetman was one of the first riders I ever saw in action...at Rye House, along with Mike Broadbank, Geoff Mudge, Clive Hitch, the McGillivrays amongst others. Is the football manager Dave Hockaday related to Eric Hockaday?. I only visited Cradley once, in 1967 but I do remember the day...one of many trips with Lacey's coaches of East Ham. Those were the days!.

I was there that night and remember it well. Riders like Stan were the stalwarts of speedway...every team needs a Stan Stevens in my opinion.

Very many thanks for that. I knew I was there but the memory had faded.

Me too!

I think you are right McH. The question is...What can speedway do to change attitudes?.