falkirkbandit

No chance of running out of supplies here Davy, i'm super stocked up, IRN BRU in the frdge for tomorrow.....now thats forward thinking As for Powderhall - i used to come down from Inverness regularilly in the early 90's to stay at my aunts, she stayed at the bottom end of Dalry Rd then, my visits sadly nevercoincided with a trip to P'hall

Well, after seeing this thread last night, i was telling my boss today i'd send him the link to the pics on one of the posts above, he's from Canterbury originally and does remember the sound of bikes but never actually went to Kingsmead. I'm sure he said he'd been to a few boot sales or something like that after they closed, i'm not sure if he knew the site was all flats now though, we've nearly made a Scot of him now up here, he'll be shocked!

Yeah, sorry Chunky, i'd never heard that story before, i'm not knocking PC

Really?

My best mate at the time, his folks ran the Queens Head pub just down from that Smiths chippie when you come out from Shielfield, even though it was Berrington back then for speedway, there was not a bad sized paved garden area out back, his dad had two or three big bath sized containers for growing stuff in, we used to race around them, 4 lap races, man, with concrete paving, we used to get some cuts and bruises doing that I've been off this week but on friday last week, our UPS delivery guy was asking what i was up to on my week off, he's a Glasgow man, a great laugh, i said i'm off to the speedway friday and saturday, "aye i used to go to Blantyre every week as a boy, you cannae beat that smell" he said! I don't think he's been for a long time though, still, good to get a yap about it!

Hahaha, i remember back when i lived in Berwick, me and my pal both had Grifters, we made the shape of a wee track on the grass area out the back of his house, and taped lolly sticks to the frame so they made a bikey noise when they connected with the spokes, the things you do as kids eh Saying that, i'm 35 and cycle to work, i've caught myself often at traffic lights holding the back brake as if its a clutch waiting for the lights to turn green, theres no hope for some of us!

Cheers mate, and i'll call you that as i always get a laugh on here with you, thats what its all about for me, a bit of fun as well as some serious chat now and again I think there were 17 or 18 pics but John could only manage 7 of them on the site, but he picked the best 7 in my opinion, epecially to contrast with the two or three that were there of BL in its heyday! Yeah it was quite emotional, i just think its such a waste of an area already established track, but just left to rot, when around the country we're struggling to get tracks up and running, as i walked round the track, i actually thought to myself, what it took to get it all off the ground back in the early 80's, when it was absolutely nothing in the first place, seeing it last week, yeah, you're missing the back straight stand, a small stand down from the refs box and the terracing, turnstiles, wee shed that was the shop etc! And with Peter's announcement, a very emotional day, but funnily enough, one i was glad to be there to hear for myself. Regardless DB, i had a great day out, i'm looking forward to Armadale on friday but i can't wait to see Berwick on saturday in the 1st leg of the final, i can't afford the 2nd leg, still, i'll be there at Shielfield, i can't wait

DB - did you see my Berrington pics from last weekend? Here's a few of them, i'm well chuffed to have them included on the site http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Berwick%20Berrington.htm

Hahaha aye its a huuuuge motor right enough! Just reading a few other posts there, as i say, not the 70's, but i used to love getting into the pits at Berrington for autographs etc, no problem back then, no riders were bothered either, obviously you never bothered them when they were getting ready to race but great memories! Just ignore me, i've gone into nostalgia overdrive since my Berrington visit, c'mon Marty son, you're 35, not 5, snap out of it!

Some great humour on here tonight, i picked a good night to stock the fridge on my week off

Aye, one of these baby's, Wuffy's was silver if i remember rightly! http://www.citroenspecialists.com/images/CX.jpeg

Not the 70's but i always remember Rob Woffinden having a huge Citreon ( i think) with Dryborough Berwick Bandits on each door when he rode for Berwick in 1987, and the bike rack on the back, a few riders did actually, it all came flooding back after my Berrington visit last saturday, happy days!

Hi Daniel, i was down in Berwick for the meeting yesterday and i swung out to Berrington first and got a few piccies, drop me a PM with your email and i'll get them off to you! All the best, Marty

Smashing, cheers Gemini I couldn't access that site from work and i must've missed the original posting about the sale. Nice to meet you at Berwick a few months back too

Is the four books for £20 deal still on?

I will do Daniel, did you ever see these ones from the Speedway Plus site? http://www.speedwayplus.com/BerringtonLough.shtml And this one from the air, nice pics! http://www.speedwayplus.com/BerwickFromAir.shtml

Haha, yeah its a great site! I used to love the trip out to Berrington every saturday when i lived there, we used to have a bus that came round all the estates then head out, it was only 50p return too, it was a double decker and you used to get a great laugh on it as there were all ages on it, maybe one time when i'm next down to Berwick, now i've a car and if i give myself enough time, i'll drive out by and see if i can see Berrington, i've so many great memories of the place, meeting Hans Nielsen at Granty Snr's testimonial being the main one! I don't really know why but i've a really keen interest in the the old days of speedway, tracks that are long gone etc, and your site is fantastic for that, i work in a bookshop too so i've got a few books on heroes of the past, Ken Le Breton, Peter Craven etc, mainly Tempus publications before they became NPI and subsequently The History Press, plus i get my staff discount so i can't complain I never knew you had another site, the Newcastle thing doesn't bother me at all to be honest, i've not lived in Berwick since 1987 when i was 14, as long as both our teams continue to exist and we still have the derby's, that'll do for me A great site as i said, i've spent many's an hour trawling the tracks A-Z looking at the piccies, fab stuff, keep up the good work sir! All the best, Marty (FB's real name)

Its a great site Ron, i'm often on it looking at all the old piccies! The sign in the pic at Berrington takes me back to being 12 or 13 and when i first went to speedway and got the bug.....aaah i'm getting misty eyed again! http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Berwick%20Berrington.htm

Its out of stock at the wholesaler too apparently

Hi Norbold, One of my colleagues on the shop floor ordered it for me, i'm the goods in/out maestro upstairs and haven't a clue about the ordering side of things. I work in Waterstone's and he said the publisher was out of stock but one of our wholesalers had two in stock, so hopefully i'll have it soon! I'll post up when it arrives. All the best, Marty

I finally got round to ordering my copy today, looking forward to reading it! Next on my list is this: http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/Default.a...;language=en-US

What a cracking race!

Well, MattyHart and i sorted out all of Team GB's problems on MSN last night, sadly, i'd had a few cans and can't remember what they were

FB grabs a beer, sits in his comfy PC chair and prepares for forum meltdown!

That would be good, was it Barry that brought that darts tournament to ITV last year with players from both the PDC and the other one who's name escapes me at the mo? I've only got Freeview and will never subscribe to Sky just for speedway, or as was mentioned in a thread earlier in the year, Setanta could get involved!