chunky

It's not just British tracks, but anywhere in the world. Charlie Biddle is the only one I've found so far. Although the track had a relatively short speedway history, it was during a period when fatalities were not uncommon, so it wouldn't surprise me if there were more. Having said that, I would have thought they would have surfaced by now. Steve

Think that Tony Clarke is a good call for his partner, and the Newport rider is Bob Hughes. Steve

O yes, the infamous "Rider Control"... Rather than imposing a points limit, and letting the teams sort themselves out, riders were not only forced out of teams where they had ridden for years, but even told them where they were going! Not sure when Rider Control actually ended (sometime in the mid-70's, I believe, but it did cause problems. There were some ridiculous decisions made, and many riders threatened to retire rather than be forced somewhere. One of the most controversial was when Tommy Roper was told that he was leaving Belle Vue for Newport, and Tommy threatened to retire. In the meantime, Chris Pusey broke his leg, and Tommy was allowed to stay. When Chris came back, Tommy moved to Oxford in place of Ronnie Genz, who went to Newport. Quite often, the situations were resolved by means of a triangular move like this. As sidney says, it was a merry-go-round with Martin Ashby and Bob Kilby, and I also remove the fuss when Reg Luckhurst was allocated to West Ham. Steve

That was my first thought, even though I don't think I would recognise him. Hey, you're the "Custom House Kid" - you're supposed to be the expert!!! Steve

Pretty sure it's not Ray Wickett either... Steve

One of the reasons I don't think it is Reg, is that those white jackets were used while Reg was at Plough Lane. Steve

Okay... 1a - Appears to be Jack Young. 2a - Gerry Hussey in full flight. 8a - Not 100%, but could be Stan Stevens. 11a - Wally Green leading, with Briggo in Y/B. Not sure of the others. Steve

Doesn't look like you've had much help yet, Tony! I have ideas about a couple of them, but I'll have to go through my scrapbooks first. Steve

Bill Osborne scored 1 pt for England in an unofficial Test Match at Hastings on February 12, 1952. The match was scheduled to be the first of a series, but the series was abandoned as a result of an injury to Freddie Williams. The hosts won by a score of 31-17. Scorers were : NZ - Ronnie Moore 12, Bruce Abernethy 11, Mary Dunn 5, Ron Johnston 3. England - Norman Parker 7, Freddie Williams 6, Gil Craven 3, Bill Osborne 1. Steve

Had a spell of going there regularly. Worst thing was the drive round the bloody South Circular! Of course, it was no worse than going over to Hackney... Steve

Sorry, but I have to disagree. Sure, PC wasn't perfect, and didn't do it all the time, but only a couple of days ago, I was going through some videos on tube, and looking back, I'm embarrassed to say that I'd forgotten just how good PC really was. It wasn't just at Hyde Rd. Steve

Try looking at the very first post... Steve

That's fine, and I understand your reasons for the above categorisations - although I believe that should be 1951, and not 1851... What intrigues me is that you have listed 1970-1994. I personally would have inserted a cutoff at 1976-77, with the advent of the four-valve engine, but again, that is just my opinion. My next question here is that, do you think it is acceptable/possible to compare riders from one era to riders from the following, or indeed preceding era? Gundersen and Rickardsson, for example? Steve

Speedyguy, you are constantly referring to the different eras. As a matter of interest, into how many eras (with dates) would you separate the sport? Steve

Regardless, I'd say that for a spell, he was the best rider in the world. Steve

While I agree with that assessment, it is a little unfair when one considers the limited opportunities for non-Commonwealth riders back then. Steve

I've just added Dick Fisher and John Davis to level three. Steve

Okay, here is an updated list : Level One Peter Craven, Peter Collins, Michael Lee, Tom Farndon, Jack Parker. Level Two Nigel Boocock, Eric Boocock, Ray Wilson, Malcolm Simmons, Dave Jessup, Arthur Forrest, Tommy Price, Freddie Williams, Ken McKinlay, Kenny Carter, Chris Morton, Simon Wigg, Mark Loram, Brian Crutcher, Split Waterman, John Louis, Gary Havelock, Eric Langton. Level Three Bill Kitchen, Jeremy Doncaster, Les Collins, Kelvin Tatum, Trevor Hedge, Martin Ashby, Terry Betts, Jim McMillan, Norman Hunter, Norman Parker, Ron How, Frank Charles, John Louis, Jim Kempster, Martin Dugard, Gordon Kennett, Ginger Lees, John Davis, Dick Fisher. Level Four Any number of riders such as Phil Collins, the Grahame brothers. Jeff Lloyd, Alan Hunt, Scott Nicholls, Roger Frogley, Eric Boothroyd etc. Steve

I'VE ALREADY APOLOGISED!!! Seriously though, I don't know how I forgot Eric Langton, and I was thinking about Ginger Lees at the third level. Sidney : I did mean to put Arthur Forrest in level two... It was the early hours of the morning when I did that, so that's my excuse... Steve

Interesting that you should say that; I've actually been thinking about compiling such a list, although I would add an extra level. Obviously, there would be some who could fit into a couple of groups, but starting off, I would say that the "elite" group would be : Peter Collins, Peter Craven, Michael Lee, Tom Farndon, Jack Parker. Second Level Nigel Boocock, Eric Boocock, Ray Wilson, Malcolm Simmons, Dave Jessup, Tommy Price, Freddie Williams, Ken McKinlay, Kenny Carter, Chris Morton, Simon Wigg, Mark Loram, Brian Crutcher, Split Waterman, John Louis, Gary Havelock. Third Level Bill Kitchen, Jeremy Doncaster, Les Collins, Kelvin Tatum, Trevor Hedge, Martin Ashby, Terry Betts, Jim McMillan, Norman Hunter, Norman Parker, Arthur Forrest, Ron How, Frank Charles, Chris Louis. Fourth Level Any number of riders such as Phil Collins, the Grahame brothers, Jeff Lloyd, Alan Hunt, Scott Nicholls, Roger Frogley, Eric Boothroyd etc. Steve PS Apologies if I missed any obvious names from the top three!!!

I thought about Bernie after I posted previously. I mentioned him in post #20. Sidney mentioned him in post#4. Steve

I haven't found the magazine yet, but that seems to confirm everything that I thought; thanks. Steve

As I always tell people - I'm not old, I just look it and feel it... My parents met at Wimbledon (my mum started going in 1950, and my dad first went in 1958), I was born in 1962, and went to my first meeting when I was three weeks old. Even though I was young, many of my earliest memories are of speedway. As I said, for whatever reason, that night stands out for me. Steve

Glad to know that you were there too! I don't know why, but Christer's debut is just one of those nights that I'll always remember, even though I was just 7 years old. Steve

Although he had a lot of time out as a result of injury, Ron was actually with Coventry until 1972. Others who merit inclusion are Jim Tebby (Wim), Bob Garrad (RH), Brian Clark (P'boro), Pete Reading (M'boro), Les McGillivray (Hack), Barney Kennett (Cant), Rob Hollingworth (Bos), Rob Grant (Ber), Cyril Brine (Wim), and Mike Lanham (Ips). Steve