Canadian Star

Not even a mention of Terry Betts in your back up list Terry unquestionably is the most popular rider ever to have ridden for Kings Lynn, however in terms of success against the very best, he doesn't quite match up to the names on the list. Ivan Mauger rode virtually unbeaten for 3 years, Hans Neilsen at his peak was exceptional, as were the others. Terry certainly beat all of them at one time or another, but they beat him more times than he beat them. <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BEST I HAVE SEEN 1968 PRESENT 1/ IVAN MAUGER 2/ HANS NIELSEN 3/ OLE OLSEN 4/ BRUCE PENHALL 5/ DENNIS SIGALOS 6/ MICHAEL LEE 7/ DAVE JESSUP I'm talking here of performances at Kings Lynn mainly, Barry Briggs, Tony Rickardson,Ray Wilson, John Louis and Peter Collins would have been next on the list. I particularly mention Dennis Sigalos as prior to his ankle injury he went 21 races undefeated around Saddlebow Road in the early eighties.

Jim those pictures are fantastic, it reminds me of the happiest times in speedway at Kings Lynn when as you can see from the pictures, crowds were huge. You also show the best riders in the best team Kings Lynn ever had Betts,Lee,Turner,Gagen and i think Bengt Rasmussen. Ian is a good friend of mine whom i speak to on the telephone now and again, i have very few pictures of him when he was arguably at his best 76-79. Thanks Jim.

I certainly remember him at Kings Lynn several times following Ray Wilson and then Peter Collins, he certainly knew how to work the crowd. I remember Martin Rogers interviewing him several times. I guess what we all want to know is where is he now, when was he last seen, he would make a great character now.

I wasn't at Liecester that night but know several who were, they said it was the worst accident they had seen at that time. Howard had been going terrifically well up until then beating just about everyone, sadly he was never quite the same after that crash, he suffered a punctured lung and was over a year before he rode again. He was one of my favourite riders, his bike was always immaculate and that white shirt he wore was always clean at the start of the evening and depending on how successful he was, would often still be clean at the end!

Well Vincent, i am not sure if you were serious or were just trying to wind everyone up or had forgotten to take your pills. Judging by the reaction you are well wrong with your opinion, i like most other people think that Neil Middleditch is doing a great job, long may he continue.

Bee just two corrections to your Sheffield team, it was Clive Featherby who rode for this team, his son was Craig sadly killed riding for Milton Keynes i think at Peterborough. David Crane was in fact Cyril Cranes nephew.

OK Brizheathen i will leave the negative stuff out, and yes i will definately celebrate the wonderful team Cradley had under both Peter Adams and Colin Pratt, a guy for some reason who can do nothing right over at Coventry, in the eyes of some of the fans.

GreyhoundP, i am talking from the personal experience i and some of my friends had when visiting Cradley. As for the team yes in the early seventies it was poor, although i remember Roy Trigg,Howard Cole and John Boulger being useful. The period i am mainly referring to is from say 1977 onwards when Cradley did have a fantastic team of Americans Danes and some good English riders too. Just a shame about the fans behaviour, went to the never forgotten 1981 world final which Bruce Penhall deservedly won. Again sadly there was some very poorly behaved Cradley fans which i had the misfortune to be near too, both in Central London and later at Wembley. This was the only damper on an otherwise incredible experience.

Hate to spoil the party on this one, but doesn't speedway pride itself on its family image, as a safe sport not associated with hooliganism like football. In over 30 years of watching speedway Cradley fans had to be the worst behaved. I was at Kings Lynn one Sunday in the early eigthies when the Cradley fans turned up as drunk as skunks and caused the biggest brawl, indeed the only brawl i have ever witnessed at a speedway track. For years after that Cyril had to run the Cradley match on a weeknight so as to prevent them from ruining the entertainment for the vast majority of genuine race fans, most of whom wouldn't venture to the Midlands. Reason being if you left your car in the car park there and they new you were from Norfolk you either got a broken window, arial or scratch of some description. Always sad when a track closes, and yes Cradley certainly had a terrific team, but there supporters were lousy behaved.

My hero's of the seventies were definately Chris Morton,Dennis Sigalos,Colin Cook,Ian Turner,Peter Collins,Kelly Moran, Terry Betts. A finer team of racers than these i cannot imagine

Other than the incident i mentioned when starting this thread, as far as Kings Lynn goes where i watched most of my speedway, the most memorable crash was back in the early seventies when a second half rider called Brian Emery reared coming out of the second bend and completely jumped the fence. Anyone else on here there that night ? It was remarkable you think he was at the Horse of the Year show he just jumped right over the fence think he suffered a broken leg and i believe that someone in the crowd was slightly injured. Anyone remember that one ?

We have all seen over the years some bad accidents,sometimes an innocent looking fall can see serious injury, othertimes we have seen horrendous crashes where the rider(s) have gone over the fence and literally got up and walked away. Tell me about your memories of riders in both these circumstances, but please no mention of fatal accidents. My own personal memory is of seeing Sebastien Ullamek in one of the grand prix a few years back completely demolishing the fence, eventually walking back to the pits and getting on his other bike,coming out and winning the re-run. What are your memories ?

Graham Edmonds was team captain for the starlets for 1969, he was going pretty good until serious injury prevented him from ever being a force again. He was when i left England, still clerk of the course at Kings Lynn.

Norbold i actually mean Hevingham- my apologies, i have visited the site, i am sure it would have been ok. As i said before it was the probably the most expensive meeting ever staged. Many people worked on the project and a lot of money was invested, sadly 1 or 2 local people made a lot of fuss and got the place shutdown before it had got of the ground although there were other factors. A lot of influencial people on the local council, with other interests, didn't wish to see speedway return to the Norwich area, and they made sure it didn't. Maybe there are some lessons to be learnt even today from what happened here.

About 2 years ago i took Ian Turner to meet with David Crane at his house in Norwich, it was fascinating to here these two former riders reminisce over many years of speedway at both Norwich and Kings Lynn. David talked at great length about the meeting at Horsford including how much he figured Cyril Crane, his uncle, probably invested in putting on just 1 meeting during the early seventies. Is there anyone else out there who went or rode that day, what are your memories of it.

The Kings Lynn Starlets are riding tomorrow in an eagerly awaited clash with Mildenhall, encouraged by the enthusiastic Laurence Rogers. How many of you can remember the original side bearing that name that rode in British League Division 2 for all of 1969 before moving to Boston in July 1970. Many riders who went on to become well known names cut there teeth in that time, including Ian Turner,Arthur Price,Russel Osbourne,Jim Ryman,Tony Featherstone,Jack Bywaters and John Ingoldmells to name just a few of them. What are your memories of this team who i think still hold the record for most number of riders to have appeared for them during a season.

Fireblade, please e-mail me as i can't e-mail you

That surprises me fireblade that you feel that way, he was actually quite complimentary about you

Anyone know of the whereabouts of "The Prince Of Prose" former Kings Lynn, Leicester and Peterborough promoter Martin Rogers. Last i heard he had dissapeared down under and gone back to his former work as a journalist. Any one able to update me ? I was very surprised at his decision to leave this country and even more surprised, given his enthusiasm for speedway racing, that he appears to have severed his links with the sport.

Tony Featherstone Tony is still around working as a fitter in a potato pre-packing plant, he is suffering with arthritis as a result of injuries he received during his career as a rider. I used to know Tony a little, his enthusiasm was incredible and his bikes were always immaculate, he was a great encouragement to many riders. His brother in law Michael Spinks is still living in the Wisbech/Peterborough area, last known to be working in landscaping.