chunky

Actually, there were three of us; me, Arthur, and Gordon. What hurt was that nobody noticed we were missing until you all got back to L.A.! I was a bit worried when Braniff went under, but in that situation, other airlines will often - or used to, anyway - help out. Hey, we all got those little plastic Braniff bags, though! I forgot about Anders.., I was trying to think of some of the people on the trip. There was Ray and Dave, Helen and Jenny, Peter Welch, Alan and Barbara... That was pretty seedy in El Paso, eh? Did you go over the border? We did. Boy, that was scary! Roger was ALWAYS the one we had to wait for! Unfortunately, I don't have many pics from the trip, but then, I was having trouble for the first week with a bad abscess on my gum. I think the driver was Dale, but I was on Ron's bus. One thing that will always stick in my mind was when we arrived at the Santa Rita hotel in Tucson, where we were greeted by this incredibly effeminate guy called Fritz! What memories... I've still got that booklet/itinerary that Tufty gave us all. Steve

I WAS THERE!!! Tufty provided us with a great trip, didn't he? I think there were 64 of us on the buses, and the drivers were Ron (great sense of humour!) and Dale, I believe. We flew to Dallas (via Chicago, after we hit mechanical problems), and spent a couple of days there. Then we went on to L.A., spent a week there, and then drove back to Dallas. I loved the trip to Ventura (the day we went to the Queen Mary), and I still have fond memories of missing the plane back from San Francisco! Steve

Remember that like it was yesterday! When the time was announced, it was like, "WOW!!!" Steve

Score a maximum??? Was that the night that Crayford beat Workington 65-12? Steve

Think you're a little off with your figures, Bob. Jimmy was born in November 1928, which means that he would have been 36 when he rode in the 1965 World Final. Vic Duggan was 39 when he rode in his only World Final in 1950. Steve

Eric Blain

The exact dates are on my website, actually... In fact, the excellent Speedway Researcher website has now linked their "Roll of Honour" section to "In Memoriam". Steve

Don't forget Tom Stenner's 'Thrilling the Million' from 1934, which is one of my all-time fave reads. Steve

Thanks, guys. Must admit, I'd never heard of the 'Scorchers'... I should have thought of Bradford, and I'd forgotten about the Barrow 'Bombers'. Steve

In light of the recent discussion regarding Middlesbrough, I've been wondering which team has used the most nicknames. Middlesbrough have been the 'Bears', 'Tigers', and 'Teessiders'. Long Eaton have been the 'Archers', 'Rangers', and 'Invaders'. Hackney have been the 'Hawks', 'Kestrels', and 'Wolves'. Barrow have been the 'Happy Faces', 'Blackhawks', and 'Furness Flyers'. Any advance on three, do you know? Steve

Thanks Rob; you inspired me to dig out my copy of National League Speedway 1968-1977. According to that, it goes as follows : 1968-70 - Middlesbrough 'Teessiders' 1971-73 - Teesside 'Teessiders' 1974-77 - Teesside 'Tigers' Steve

Sadly, Bob, Eddie's career nosedived after he left Oxford, and he really struggled during his last few seasons. Steve

I agree with you, particularly as "Rurke", "Etherigton", and "Teel" are all spelled incorrectly. Steve

No Bob, that is it., and you don't even see much in the way after after-meeting practices. It's also difficult to find riders who socialise in the bar. Most are in such a rush to get off as they are needed in Sweden, Poland etc the next evening. Things really have changed. Steve

I would think it's because of classification on a website, and it would be very confusing with all the differently leagues we've had. Leagues have changed names, but in effect, have been a continuing event at that level, and we've had leagues sharing names, but at totally different levels. Steve

That's actually a very interesting question... It would be nice if they could all be classified under one heading, and I think that the only suitable one would be "League Riders Championships of Great Britain". It couldn't be British League Riders Championships, as we did have a "British League" for 25 years, along with an event known as the "British League Riders Championship" (BLRC). Of course, in the immediate post-war years, we had a "British Riders Championship" We've had various "National League" championships over the years, at different levels. Steve

I'm not saying there wasn't; I'm saying I don't ever recall the name from speedway. At that point in time, I had no knowledge of grass-track, except that I'd heard of the Baybutt boys. Steve

Don't ever recall a Kevin Piddock. If he did try speedway, it can't have been anything more than a few second-halves. Steve

...also used to wear the old yellow Yamaha leathers. See, you're learning bunches today! Steve

Another fascinating individual meeting was the Continental S/F of the 1956 World Championship in Warsaw. Nine riders - over half the field - scored double figures; I doubt if that's ever been beaten. Scores were : 01 - Florian Kapala.....................13 02 - Edward Kupczynski.............12 03 - Janusz Suchecki.................11 04 - Edmund Nazimek................11 05 - Marian Kaiser......................11 06 - Hugo Rosak........................10 06 - Tadeusz Teodorowicz...........10 06 - Mieczyslaw Polukard...........10 06 - Wlodzimierz Swendrowski....10 10 - Josef Kysilka........................5 11 - Richard Janicek....................4 11 - Rudolf Havelka......................4 11 - Miloslav Spinka.....................4 11 - Karel Polak...........................4 15 - Jaroslav Machac....................1 16 - Alois Jarolim.........................0 Steve

You know, it's funny that you posted that; I'm also fascinated by things like this. Does anyone know what the lowest WINNING total has been in a regular 16-man, 20-heat, individual meeting? I believe that there was an 11-point winning score at Wolverhampton's Olympique (handicap meeting) one year. Even with league scores, I seem to remember a case where a team's top scorer had something like 7, and the lowest had 5... Steve

Wayne actually rode for Coatbridge in 1969, and did join Wembley after that. It is possible that he went into a short retirement after 1966, as he didn't join Exeter until the 1967 season was well underway. He rode for Exeter in 67 and 68. Steve

I've been in touch with Tony's daughter, and she was going to ask him. I'll give her this new information, and see what I can find out. Steve

I must add my heartiest congratulations to Tomasz. Honestly, a few years ago I was thinking that his best chance had gone, but he persevered, and has continued to improve - and more importantly mature. He thoroughly deserves it. Steve

Yup; there's one I remember... I remember a second-half race at Plough Lane involving Rocky, when all four juniors came off before they hit the back straight! I think the other three were Ian Fletcher, Graham Crook, and Ian Silk. There, how about those names from the past? From what I recall (although I could be wrong - I was about 10 at the time) the meeting was a London 4-team tournament, including a former Wembley team. Cany anyone help with the details? Steve