Reviresco

Better a building site than a scene from a zombie movie - or a Ghost Town, like Foxhall Heath for the visit of Edinburgh on Thursday.

Good stuff Shads. I'll change that to "I'm really looking forward to my first visit to Hoddesdon since Rockets v Diamonds in 1992. And it will be fascinating to see all the changes that have been made since then."

The weather forecast that I have just looked at suggests there is no danger that this meeting will go ahead, with light showers only forecast at about 4pm. Looking forward to my first visit to Hoddesdon since Rockets v Diamonds in 1992. I'm guessing that it won't have changed much.

Many Thanks Shads, Baldy and Inveresk Laddie. Local knowledge much appreciated and I will have 2 x 50p's in the car and will leave 45 minutes earlier than I would have, which means about 15:45 for an 18:00 start time. Between you and me I spoke to someone "in the know" in town (Ipswich) today and, following this conversation, it is my opinion that we may have to suffer this season and next season will be, as Monty Python once said, "Something Completely Different". Keep the faith, and all will be revealed - in due course. I'll update you guys - with out naming any names, at the Witches next home meeting.

"TheScotsman", if you read this, I am definitely going to Hoddesdon on Sunday rather than to the EoES for, what is, a dead rubber and a likely re-enactment of events in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692/93. I am going to speak with "dontforgetthefueltapsbruv",s brother who will be spannering for a Rye Mouse rider on Sunday - for reasons best not published on here (ohhhh, intrigue?!). Naturally, I would drive to Rye Road via the A120 and Braintree so, now that my ability to drive has been restored, I could very easily pick you up on the way and drop you off after the meeting. PM me if you this is a starter or not please. PS: it is ages since I went to Hoddesdon - probably 1987 when I doped and fuelled for Jacko and/or Glen Baxter - oh no, 1992, just after Gary Havelock had won his World Title and I my two boys were having their photograph taken with David Bargh, who I got friendly with having lived in New Zealand from 1988 to 1991, so my memory of how to get there is rusty and, I would have been driving from Billericay (and vaguely remember paying a toll to go via an Anglian / Thames Water site?!).

My highlight was meeting Scotsman of course, followed closely by the old fashioned sweets and then the Polish beer. The war cry has played havoc with my larynx today. I seem to have more car stickers (thanks Mr Murphy) now than I did at the start of the meeting. Were that nice family really sitting right behind us all meeting? At least they seemed to enjoy themselves. I tweeted with Ed Sheerhan again today, Ed said he had set aside the Thursday of half-term to pop along and play a few tunes - Oh, what is that you say, NO home meeting that Thursday..?! I have therefore thought of a new way to 'drum' up support for the next home meeting, but I am still confused as to when that may be. Post meeting highlight was meeting 'bruv' - what a nice bloke and today seeing Baldy 'liking' one of his own posts - you dingbat...?!

You are not alone in your sentiments Sue. And it would feel worse for someone like you who has to put in an extra special effort to attend and then also provides a service for non-attending speedway followers via, the always excellent, Updates site. My elder son and I arrived in time to hear the bikes revving up at the start line for Heat 1. OK, it was my fault for, as always, running late, but when we got to the turnstiles, the main ones were already chained up and the attendees packed up and stood the other side watching Heat 1, with just the left hand side access open with one lady, bless her, coping single handedly with the late comers. If another turnstile had been left open, then my son and I would have gained access in time to at least watch part of the opening Heat. Baldyman had told me where you watched from and my son and I did spend some time looking for you, but due to a lack of knowledge on my part, we didn't spot you. Apologies for this Sue as, having been a single parent since my two lads were 11 and 9, I know how good it is to have some company when you do venture out, so I will ensure that you will not be left (home) alone at Foxhall in future - and lets face it, a couple of home meetings amongst the Ipswich branch of the BSF massif (well, Baldyman mainly, then other guys are OK), is really one too many - only joking lads - great company.. And, it was really scary over in the 'North Stand' last night, as it appears that the Bell End Lane Zombies had claimed some victims around 7:20pm and driven off in their cars, as there were so few cars in the car park by the time my elder son and I parked up and then, even more scarily, people in the seats behind the "BSF Massif" started disappearing - presumably either, again, taken by the Bell Lane Zombies, or even maybe beamed up into the space craft that Scotsman transports himself around in, during the speedway season. I believe it is called "The Inveresk". And the PA is SO SO poor on the back straight too. Really really awful - if any of the Promotion read this. I have been so unimpressed with the Witches riding, the promotion, the poor lighting, the poor PA, the lack of visibility of CL and Mr Smillie, thge poor track surface and the almost total lack of entertainment provided in the two meetings that I have attended, that I am going to Rye Mouse on Sunday to watch them ride against the Moan Archs rather than following the Witches at the EoES. That tells a story..... Highlight of last night for me was sitting in front of the best Billy Joel lookalike (Pob?) that I have ever seen.

But we had a bit of fun in the stands well, before the zombie attack; the BBC Radio Suffolk stickers were well received, sort of; it didn't rain (much) and; the clappers created an atmosphere - well, they might have done if you hadn't left them in your car....

I thought the highlights of the evening were: Ferkin Brilliant, PMSL.....

Hi Guys. Been AWOL again this week, but don't think I missed much did I? Was hoping to bring both sons and elder son's girlfriend tonight, but looks as if it will just be me and elder son now. Still every little helps Think it will be a two point difference after 15 heats with Masters going through the cards and Lewi and Paco the Witches big hitters. At least the Witches will have a speedway riders at No. 7 tonight and not a big boned motorcyclist trying to get it sideways at speed. Baldy, have you got the clappers that I brought along for the last match, as my son will blow them up? Courtesy of Mark Murphy, I've got a few Radio Suffolk "I'm Backing The Witches" car stickers if any of you want one to help spread the word. Look forward to meeting you tonight Scotsman. I hope you will be sitting with us during the meeting despite the fierce rivalry between the clubs and the inevitable segregation at the Heath this evening. Tiugainn the Witches!

Great Post TB.

Agreed Scotsman, agreed. Isn't 'SAT' the past participle of 'sit'?

Yes I'm planning to be there on Thursday but unsure what bug I've caught yet. It was terminal boredom at the Rye Mouse match. Still feel that CL has missed a trick in not signing James Shanes, but maybe he wasn't available, and that is the last time I mention his name on here. If this Witches team can't beat this current Moanarchs side, we may as well all pack up and go home, never to be seen again.

Well, I fell into Mr Bacon's trap there too as I thought it was going to be Connor Mountain in at 7 to replace Darryl, with CL moving his asset (Danyon Hume) from Birmingham to Mildenhall - so, just like macca56's entry in the Eurovision this year = null points and an "E" for Effort on that piece of speculation. I was also seeing a clear path of future co-operation between the Fen Tigers and the Witches which may have been beneficial to both clubs in the years to come - but there is not even a mention, as far as I can see, in the 'Star' about Connor Mountain, so Mr Bacon was certainly leading us a merry dance on that one and I was, almost, making a (Connor) Mountain out of a Bacon (molehill) sarnie. I don't know much about Ollie Greenwood I am ashamed to say, but welcome to the Witches brew Ollie. Good luck and, hopefully, you will be able to add the spark of interest in the team that I found so sadly missing against the Rickets last Thursday. And well done CL, not made wholesale changes as - on paper - the team is better than its results to date, but something had to be done and it has, so praise where it is due. Hopefully a lesson has been learned though, i.e. don't accept a certain person's recommendation on riders, especially if you are bringing them in sight unseen. (I'm guessing that the promotion will have to have another race-suit made up for Ollie, as Mr Ritchings' one would probably be hanging up on the XL peg - sorry Darryl.) Looking forward to Thursday now. Well, until I check the weather forecast at least.

If the weather is set fair, there is no reason why I wouldn't bomb along to the match on Thursday, and would be good to catch up with you. TBH, I don't really care if this Witches team wins, loses or draws as long as I can sit at home afterwards and feel that I have been treated fairly for the price of my entrance fee and can have something to attract my attention during the meeting and to look back on afterwards. At least the current situation at the home of the Witches has created a great little piece of banter amongst you guys on here, which I have thoroughly enjoyed - thanks guys.

In my humble opinion. the whole shebang is a disappointment and I try to stay positive as much as possible. Not just the 1 to 7, although now that the Scotsman has got his fan club up and running, Paco is absolved from any criticism - does nobody care any more amongst the management and promotion at the Club?

I had some lymph nodes removed, but I was joshing about the stitches bursting, sorry, so no evil looking gaping wound to post on Fish Face Book, I'm afraid. I have received points in the past and received some interesting PMs from variosd Admin members, but that was a long time ago, so no little additions next to my name current bunly, Super Blue. And I agree with TB, the whole place needs a thorough makeover, maybe we could get Charlie Dimmock to visit the Heath one night. Whatever did happen to her and her amazing unfettered chesticles? Firm but Fair they were all right. The whole evening smacked of just going the motions to me, and we know what happens if you have a motion. It all turns into crap..... I went into town last night for the first time for a long while and met my older son and his girlfriend and we went to Church's Cafe Bar for a meal. I parked my car about 600 metres from Church's and walked along Carr and Tavern Streets at just after 8pm. Now, I'm aware that a number of people frequent the Marina area, or whatever it is labelled these days, rather than the town centre, and I understand that the majority of younger people drink at home these days before coming into town at about midnight, but I can honestly say that I saw eight fellow human beings only on my walk to Church's, two of whom were homeless guys settling down for the night. Then, when I got to Church's, there were just three people downstairs in the bar, two of whom were my son and his lady, and when we went upstairs to eat, the three of us were the only ones eating..... The whole evening smacked of the Marie Celeste or a post apocalyptic zombie movie. How long will it be before the last one out turns the (dim) lights off at Foxhall for the speedway....? What a sad state of affairs.

Sue's description of the relative size between her car and its (glove) box, reminded me of this girl I once knew. Why is it called a glove box anyway? Was it specifically designed for driving gloves, or was the first one built for Mr Lonsdale or the Marquess of Queensberry? So, now that the Witches have been dumped out of both the League and KO Cups, and will struggle to get into the PO's, it is just the Pairs and Fours to go for. so to save money, will CL track just four riders from now on in league matches, to give them an opportunity to not be the first team knocked out of the Pairs and Fours? I'm guessing that Hume was used as a replacement for Ritchings yesterday, due to his Rye Mouse experience and it will be a one off appearance? I know I go on about him, but please Mr Louis, at least let me know that you have looked at James Shanes, but could not sign him as the Witches No. 7 this season. I was bored rigid with the 'racing' on Thursday and came away appreciating the efforts of all of the Rickets riders, apart from Karger who just made me laugh, but only Sarjeant and to a lesser extent Kerr from the home septet. Not really something that is going to encourage me to return - though I will, as I would like to spend a meeting chatting with the crazy, now boring, lady about the size of her (glove) box and the wobbly bits and also to spend a full meeting with the BSF gang, especially as the gallows humour has well and truly kicked in now. So, to try Ed Sheeran again, or to at least find somebody who will liven up proceedings. Surely after their KOC exit, crowds can only go in One Direction - no, I refuse to contact them about attending a meeting at Foxhall - they are just not my (Harry) Styles...

Kevin Holden Georg (unrelated to John) Hack Karl Maier Henka Gustafsson Steve Weatherley Tim Hunt David Jackson Mark Thorpe Phil Crump Phil Herne Tony Davey Ben Howe Alan Farmer Nick Doncaster Neil Middleditch Peter and Louis Carr Simon Stead Ritchie Hawkins Tommy Knudsen Joe Haines Billy Sanders

I made a pass at the lady in the bar that I bought an acceptable pint of plastic encased bitter before tapes up last night, so that may be one of the passes that were reported on. I took my car into a SEAT dealership today to ascertain my radio code to enable me to listen to Ed Sheeran on my car radio or to play an Ed Sheeran cd over my car's audio system, a part of which is my cd interchanger which is located in my Cupra's glove box. We started discussing glove boxes and what they are used for (boxing gloves?) and I suggested that females would use their glove boxes more than males, utilising them like a handbag or a make-up case. So we went and checked what I had in my glove box - apart from the cd interchanger, and we found a box of out of date condoms. Which just goes to prove that a car may attract the ladies, but if the car's owner is unattractive to the ladies - it doesn't matter a fig how attractive the car is and; it also proves that a fool and his money are, indeed, soon parted, but blind optimism is sometimes quite enchanting. I apologise, Sue for not seeking you out last night. I won't go into details, but I encountered a few issues that led to me arriving after the rider introductions and became confused by the swathes of people inside the stadium and had to head to the nearest alcohol outlet that I could find. I then sat on my own for a while, resembling an abandoned inverted egg in a Canterbury top - by the way that is not Canterbury as in: Crusaders, Bulldogs or, Tales but as in: https://www.canterbury.com/men-c1 (Other sportswear brands are available) I had to go back into hospital on Friday, as the entertainment level at last night's meeting had led me to burst some of my latest post op stitches, so am just catching up on the comments and, had posted my review of Thursday night's meeting on that Thread. It was really good meeting you guys and thank you for making me feel well cum in your cum pony.

My thoughts? Well, if I had posted last night when I got home from the meeting, I would have been banned from the Forum for a spell. 24 hours on? I am totally underwhelmed by everything. I was fortunate that my first visit to Foxhall this season was on a,reasonably, warm, still evening - as otherwise I would have scored my experience on a Review web-site as -1 out of 5. The favourable climate last night would make me award my 'Foxhall Experience' as 0.5 out of 5. It was mentioned last night that you guys have enjoyed the positivity and humour that I have included in the majority of my posts. TBH, I cannot find any positivity or humour to include in my Review of my visit last night. Positives: The car park attendants were easily identifiable, and one of the three I encountered gave off signs of life. The Heath was fairly dry last night, so my car had not sunk into the ground when I returned to it and, by the time I had said goodnight to you, I could easily locate my car amongst the thirty or so vehicles that were still there. I did not have to pay for parking. I recognised the music that was played after the riders had been introduced over the PA and enjoyed that. The Ipswich riders were easily identifiable by the strong yellow hue on their race-suits. Lewi Kerr won three heats from the gate. Sarjeant's performance was notable. Ritchings looked more like a speedway rider than I thought he would - but I didn't think he would look anything like a speedway rider, so that doesn't say a lot. I got slightly interested in two of the fifteen heats. I enjoyed Cam Heeps style of riding and would be interested in sponsoring him. Eddie Kennett receives a lot of criticism, but exuded class and resembled a speedway rider form the era when I enjoyed watching speedway. There was an adequate attendance, despite the lack of promotion that I encountered in my part of Ipswich ( I honestly believe that if I spent, say, two hours a week on it, I would be be putting more time into promoting the Club than the current Promotion do). I did not bump into Mike Smillie. I eventually found where you guys were sitting and enjoyed your company. I recognised two of the ticket selling ladies from 1984. I was impressed by the lady who served me a pint in whatever bar it was that I went into. and the beer, despite being drunk from a plastic container, was flavoursome. The 99p clappers I bought were tested and found to be adequate. I haven't heard yet that I was spotted driving over 60 mph over the Bridge I was home before 10 pm and I had not wet myself. Oh, I enjoyed seeing images of the impressive race jacket collection that 'cityrebel' showed me on his smart phone and I was interested sufficiently to consider travelling to Hoddesdon for the return leg, but after hearing cityrebel's review of his viits to Rye Mouse, I checked, and I am washing my hair that night. Negatives: (This part of the post have been removed from the Forum due to the large amount of bandwidth used and the unacceptable language used by this Poster, who has been warned about his future conduct.) Apparently the sport of speedway is still held at the venue where I enjoyed the sport so much between September 1975 and April 1985, but I did not encounter much of it at Foxhall Heath on Thursday 12 May 2016. I hope that this answers your question reasonably satisfactorily. PS - James Shanes Entertains

Thanks very much for the reminder R&R - appreciated. Round 2: NKI - £10 Over Dudek - £20 Over AJ - £10 Over Many Thanks

Geez pal you take life far too seriously... Lighten up, eh and don't get your frillies in a twist. I like Rohan. You don't. End of. Will I be sharing your campany at Foxhall tonight Gavan?

Lets hope the Witches' Team Manager tells his riders to: Don't Stop 'Til You Got Enough (points). Sorry, I'm no Jacko fan, so had to Google that one. Well, I'm predicting a Witches' steam-roller win with Rohan Tungate riding to a five ride, untroubled, stylish maximum. What's that you say? Chris Louis put him out on loan this season after having his best winter season and having some fast Ash-Tec engines you say? Drat, Drat and Double Drat.

No, not Scottish Thanks buddy. I've been carp at everything else I've done so I could screw up promotions too. I'll be wearing a black Puma hat and probably a Canterbury hoody, carrying a Billy Sanders programme board and holding a pair of blue clappers - you may see me before I see you. Looking forward to it. Will look out for you and, hopefully pop over for a chat Sue -x-