chunky

Like Bob, I know where you're coming from, but do we know that the "whole concept of the book" is insensitive to the family? Things happen, sometimes terrible things, but they are a part of life. Was the Carter family approached? Did they give their blessing, even supply information? Did they suggest that some things were best omitted? I'm sure that the answer to most, if not all of the above questions would be "yes". Had this been written soon after his death, maybe it would have been very tacky, tasteless, and insensitive, but it wasn't. Obviously, neither of us know the full content of the book, but I certainly wouldn't think it simply dwells on the tragedies and other unsavoury aspects of his life and death. This is a biography of one of the best speedway riders of all time, and, love him or hate him, one of the greatest characters the sport has ever seen. Why shouldn't he have a biography written about him? Why should today's generation, and indeed, future generations, be deprived of Kenny Carter's life and achievements? Steve

OK Tony, I'll be waiting... Steve

I think you are being a little premature there, Brian. There are a number of photos and programmes from the 60's also. I'm sure the site will expand to cover earlier years, but you have to remember that information from the 60's and later is far more readily accessible tha the older stuff. Steve

Glen Parrott was the only logical choice for me, too, even though the name "Glenn" is apparently incorrectly spelled on his leathers. I also wondered about Ian Stead, although I never really knew which one was which! Steve

If you look back a few posts, you will see Mike's name already mentioned. You didn't think I could forget one of our Dons, did you??? Steve

Even though he didn't appear for them in 1983, Canterbury 83-3 is Graham Knowler - the beard and blue leathers give it away! Weymouth 83-1 is Chris Martin. Canterbury 85-9 is Lawrie Bloomfield. I thought it was him from the start, but even though you have a portrait of him in different leathers (same handlebars, though), I did find a photo of him in those exact leathers. Canterbury 80-1 is Tony Reynolds (confirmed in a Crusaders team photo online). Steve

Jochen Dinse it was who rode in the 1967 World Final at Wembley, although neither he, nor 1970 World Finalist Hans-Jurgen Fritz rode league in the UK. Yep, he was another South African, as were Ettienne Olivier, Bob Serrurier and Trevor Blokdyk. Steve

Don't forget Zoltan Adorjan and Robert Nagy. Also, Laszlo Munkacsi. True, but Rhodesia is now Zimbabwe, and Dave Steen was Zimbabwean, I believe. Oh, and Mike Ferreira, of course. Jimmy Gibb, Eric Chitty, and Gary Ford, to name three. Denzil Kent has been mentioned on here, but World Finalists Doug Davies and Henry Long were also South African, and rode in England. Steve

I know he was in the Australian team for the test at Plough Lane in 1950, but we had a discussion about this a few months ago on a different forum. I can't remember which year it was (either 51 or 52), and even though he was apparently representing New Zealand by then (or so we think), I have an Australian team photo with him in it! Unfortunately, I don't think even Ronnie himself is sure of when he switched. Steve

Having said that, he did actually represent Australia in international competition, including one or two of his early World Finals. Of course, there have been some other riders who have done the same thing, such as Mitch Shirra and Tadeusz Teodorowicz. Steve

If they were were never classed as Brazilian or Fijian, I don't think that should count. The same for Mark Loram. Simply being born somewhere else, but never having adopted that nationality, doesn't cut it. Having said that, I don't know the full story about Antonio Lindback; is he actually Brazilian? Steve

Sorry, but Tasmania is not a country, but an Australian state. Steve

More than that, they have the same birthdate, so I'm pretty sure that is "our" Scott. I did hear that he had got into car racing. Steve

Whether you're talking league or not, there must be very, very few, who have had only one. I don't believe Marshall Pugh was actually Spanish. However, there were a number of Spanish riders who rode in England in 1930, including "Angel Arche" and the Poto brothers. We've had a couple of Frenchmen, several Austrians, a few Irish., and even a couple of Argentinians. For some reason though, I seem to recall something about a rider from Papua New Guinea, but I really can't come up with any more detail. Steve

Maybe it was, but other than riding in Oz, he actually rode in the 1970 Wills Internationale at Wimbledon. He was obviously a little outclassed, but he scored a point when Reg Luckhurst packed up. Steve

I don't think that either Andy Reid or Arthur Browning were even 6'4", which is how tall Canterbury's Graham Miles was. However, 6'8", well... Steve

It's very sad to lose one our pre-war stars, but I do think it is wonderful that we managed to get such coverage in the Telegraph. Jack deserves it. Steve

I knew Maxine Hill very well, as we both worked at the London Borough of Merton Office in Morden, Surrey. We sometimes lunched together, and played darts too; she was pretty good. Maxine was never able to reproduce her grass-track form on shale, and she really was quite brilliant on her 350. Unfortunately her career was cut short after some recurring injuries. Steve

Yep, he rode for us at Wimbledon in 1983. Steve

Mark Ferry (Mildenhall, Long Eaton) Mark Lyndon (Wimbledon, Rye House, Milton Keynes) Mark Chiswell (Mildenhall) Mark Terry (Hackney) Mark Martin (Canterbury) Mark Carlson (Milton Keynes, Oxford) Mark Chessell (Milton Keynes, Oxford) Mark Warren (Glasgow) Mark Baldwin (Mildenhall, Wimbledon) Mark Sawyers (Weymouth) Mark DeKok (Weymouth, Coventry) Mark Dickinson (Workington) Mark Jolly (Mildenhall) Mark Stokes (Edinburgh, Wolves, Stoke) Mark Minett (Weymouth) Mark Bullivant (Newcastle) Mark Reeve (Exeter, Coventry, Milton Keynes) Mark Pearce (Edinburgh, Stoke) Mark Collins (Nottingham, Cradley, Stoke) Mark Stevenson (Long Eaton, Birmingham) Mark Bilner (Mildenhall) Mark Sales (Rye House) Mark Summerfield (Long Eaton, Leicester) Mark Leslie (Reading) Mark Steel (Swindon) Mark Perran/Perram??? (Berwick) Mark Willis (Swindon) Mark Williams (Long Eaton) Mark Astley (Milton Keynes) Mark Fordham (Wimbledon, Milton Keynes) Steve

Just thinking, with Moggo now retired, I believe we have no more former Crayford riders in action. Andy Galvin would have been the last before Moggo. Oh, and Bryn, I don't think that Paul Whittaker ever rode for Crayford. Steve

Me too! I was sitting at the start of the back straight. I can still remember the wonderful atmosphere... My first Wembley Final was in'69, when Toby Harrysson broke his leg. After that I did '78 & '81 at Wembley, '82 in L.A., '83 in Norden, '85 at Bradford, and '87 in Amsterdam. My faves have to be '69 and '81. Yep, those were the days... Steve

Funnily enough, Mark Cherry didn't actually ride any league matches, but as he did appear for Birmingham, I still think he should be counted. Mike Caruso's name is actually CUROSO. Plus : Steve Bast Ivan Blacka Pee Wee Cullum Larry Kosta Art Pechar Buddy Robinson Ray Tauser Steve

Ales Dryml Sr Jiri Hnidak Ladislav Hradecky Antonin Kasper Sr Zdenek Kudrna Mikael Makovsky Pavel Ondrasik Petr Ondrasik Emil Sova Toni Svab (Jr) Tomas Topinka Stanislav Urban Petr Vandirek Steve

From what I recall, Nathan wasn't actually classed as an Australian; something to do with his family or something, which allowed him to be classed as English. That's how he managed to ride in that junior championship up at Milton Keynes, I believe. Steve