Parsloes 1928 nearly

3. Filip Sitera, Plzeň 2 3 1 3 2 11+3 Chris: Wot does the '+ 3' mean in this context..??

Er..: yes I'd better make that the proviso!! Thanx for getting with out of jail.. Next, someone will be telling me that there's been a top division footballer with a higher ratio of vowels to consonants than Ian Ure..!!!

Great name..: and a headline-writer's dream!! Has there ever been another GB Speedway rider with just one vowel yet three consonants in his surname..??!!

Someone jumped the gun eight months early!!!

Surely there was never actually a meeting at Rochester was there..?? So though this may have been the proposed name for the club (a nickname transported over to Romford where the new promotion did open up...), I don't see how this can really be listed as a club coz it didn't actually see the light of day..!!!

And Buxton have been Hitmen before 2000 have they not..??!!

That's alright John..: and I haven't forgotten about the Crayford pix.. Will endeavour to get some over to you this week..!! D.

Sorry dantodan but completely inappropriate (ie wrong!!! ) to regard Iwade as a defunct track..!! It ain't..! The original track is that now known as Sittingbourne...: perhaps you were unaware of this..??!!

Right, so what have been the ‘maximum’ wins over the years in the various formats?? Seems we’ve identified the following: 14 heats format: Bristol 70 - Glasgow White City 14 (NL) (1949) 13 heats format Crayford 65 Workington 12 (NL) (15/7/80) 15 heats format Exeter 75 Arena Essex 15 (PL) (2000) Exeter 75 Rye House 18* (PL) (2004) Scunthorpe 75 Newport 15 (CL) (2006) King’s Lynn 75 Sheffield 15 (was it PT?) (2007) * 18 points coz then the double points rule could apply to a third place in a 5-1.. No maxs in the 18 heat or 16 heat format. Best scores: 18 heats format: Wimbledon 89 Stoke 19 (NT) (1953) 16 heat format: Crayford 76 Milton Keynes 20 (NL) (26/10/82) Exeter 76 Arena Essex 20 (1989) Any more for any more..??

And on the subject of maximum scores almost being repeated (and on the sub-plot of 'bigging-up' Crayford..!! ), it should be noted that a year after the 65-12 whitewash of Workington, the Comets narrowly averted an identical humiliation at London Rd.. The result on 4/8/81 in the NL was, this time: Crayford 63 Workington 15!!!

Exeter had one against Arena Essex too..: a couple of years before the Rye House one you mention... These were in the 15 heat format - so don't affect Crayford's double record of having the top scores in the 13 & 16 heat format..

Though I like to think of him as the Widnesian Whirlwind!!!

Sorry, I give all my money to Jeff Scott!!! I can offer you a lift, though..!!!

Excellent!! So, Crayford then had the distinction of the biggest ever wins in the both the 13 heats and 16 heats format!! Happy Days!!!

Still looking back at appearances of Chris Hunt at God's own Speedway track, tucked away in the railway lands of the London Borough of Bexley (you know, that lot you pay your Council Tax to, Mr.Williams!! ) - my attention came to rest on the match Crayford vs. Milton Keynes on 26/10/1982. The mighty Kestrels produced 13 heat maximums (like they'd done in record-breaking style a couple of years earlier against Workington!! ) but this time it was in the 16 heat format. The score was 76-20 (Chris scoring two for the hapless Knights..) Now, I annotated my prog. at the time to call this as the record score under the 16 heat format.. But was it..:at that time or subsequently..?? TBH, I can't recall how long this 16 heat format lasted - 1982 was its first year in the NL, that I do know. So WAS this match another record for the Kestrels at the time; and was it later surpassed..??

Go on - pray tell..??!!

Chatting the other day to Chris Hunt and his parents about Chris' early Milton Keynes appearances; and I found to my surprise, that I had seen him ride for the Knights not just at Crayford but once at Rye House in the NL match there in 1983! I notice from the prog. for that match (17/7/83) that the number seven for the Rockets was one Kerry Gray who scored eight, paid nine. Can't say I remember this rider's name at all: though a good score in this match clearly. Anyone have any more details..??

Makes about as much sense or Национальная лига спидвея представляет рейтинг гонщиков открытого командного чемпионата России по спидвею as we say 'round these parts..!!

Well some did..: but some didn't. And regarding the latter, as in the case of Wisbech, clearly have a much 'right' to be regarded as (non-league) Speedway circuits as others listed this way in 'Homes'. The question is, which category did Abridge fit into..??

Yes, interesting that the name 'Speedway' rather quickly replaced 'dirt track racing' over here (perhaps coz one of the leading promotional companies was called 'International Speedways'..?); but, as you say, in most other settings Speedway is the name for a venue rather than the activity taking place there.. Last year there was a brief debate on this subject in respect of Wisbech Speedway..: this is another, like Abridge, listed in 'Homes'(as others have said, the 'essential' book in any Speedway library.. ) when it was revealed that Wisbech had, had matches back in the '30s and '40s with the likes of 'proper' Speedway teams Middlesborough and Sheffield. Hearing too that the track at Wisbech was a grass and dirt surface - comprising dirt on the bends and grass on the straights - I felt really that Messrs Bamford & Jarvis might consider classifying it as a 'proper' track. Someone who knows John Jarvis replied that he (ie John) takes the approach that he needs written proof they were speedway ventures with a fixed location, copies of match reports he can reference before he can log them in. Grass tracks, he went on, tend in the main, not to be fixed to a particular location... Though some of these clearly were... Without knowing for sure, I do think that several of the tracks referred to as 'Grass Speedway' in fact could be 'moved-up' so-to-speak, into the main Speedway bracket..: especially if they did indeed have team racing against sides from established shale tracks. Don't know if Abridge could be one of these..: interestingly, Abridge seems to have been running at exactly the same period (just before and just after the war..) as Wisbech.. What kind of events are listed in the prog. you've got Paul..: are they individual classes like grasstrack or was there any team racing, Speedway-style..??

There was a lad whose name I think was Marshall Pugh who was the star of the show when Ian Hoskins promoted briefly at Majorca the mid-'70s. I believe he did pay one visit over here and rode some second-halves at Canterbury (run then by Ian Hoskins' dad, Johnny)... Does speedyguy know anything about that Majorcan project..?? BTW, best wishes to Russ and Claire. D.

Thanks for this. Interesting that the Wembley museum DOES acknowledge Speedway..:and that is very good news!

I understand that Dave Kennett was a massive prospect before an injury early-ish in his career set him back. He was, in the time I watched him ride (for Hackney and winning the BL title with White City ), a more than useful middle-order rider in the top division; but I believe a lot more had once been predicted for him..

Hmm, Elkins had two EFs... And the Pope's Catholic!!!

Hmm, I could be wrong about Justin's appearances for the Wildcats.. : heck, it's late here..: considerably later than in downtown Cahokia IL, I'm guessing But the challenge matches by Weymouth, before they entered the league don't seem to me to 'count', whereas 'Training League' matches by Iwade might..??!! Geez, it's a complicated business!! Glad you recall our meeting up now, Steve. How goes it with the darts these days..?? Would be great to see you back in action over here..!