BOBBATH

Sorry to hear this -71 is young these days. Was interested he was from Opole, until the end of WW2 it was the German city of Oppeln for almost 200 years.

Passed the link on to Reg Fearman, he greatly enjoyed the film and has passed it on to several other veterans of that era he is in touch with, Meadowbank was one of his most favourite tracks to race on. He is sure that the date of the meeting is 14 June 1952-which would explain why Jack Young is in civvies as he had moved to West Ham by then Apparently the full teams are shown on Speedway Researcher for that date. He recognised many of his old friends- Gordon McGregor, Bluey Scott, Bob Mark, Dick Campbell, Noel Watson , Don Cuppleditch for example. So again a big thanks to iris 123 for posting this great old film

Thank you , thank you, and thank you for posting this film. I followed the link and watched it a couple of times. It had an impact on me way beyond speedway- I was 6 years old in 1952 (a year older than Norbold I might add.) and it was great to see the spectators-how they looked , what they wore etc. ( think most of those spectators will have passed away by now).Just as I remembered.Everyone looked happy enough although life in UK was not maybe that great in 1952 (at least in our material terms) I remember seeing coaches like the ones the Motherwell fans descended from.. Great to see the huge attendances and some people with those wooden rattles which have long since gone. I have done my best to try and figure out the riders- here's what I came up with. In the Motherwell team picture I think I recognise on the far left Gordon McGregor and next to him Bluey Scott (both of whom I saw ride in the sixties). On the Edinburgh photo I recognised Dick Campbell and Don Cuppleditch (the tall guy), I certainly recognised Jack Young -(what was he doing there?) maybe he was a guest riding in the long lost rider of the night second half races (what happened to them)?? Also were there some riders in Glasgow(Ashfield) Giants colours? Anybody know who the guys signing autographs were?? Interesting to see the male spectators smoking and the ladies wearing head scarves, I remember all this.. I looked up the results for 1952 and see Edinburgh won both home matches against the Eagles 46-38 and 45-39., however much closer games at Motherwell 41-40 to the Eagles and a 42-42 draw. Can anybody help with identifications- Stan Bradbury who did so much for speedway in Canada was riding that year for Motherwell but couldn't pick him out. Were any forumlanders attending speedway in 1952 after all it is 68 years ago?? If so what sort of refreshments being served then- perhaps tea and meat pies or ham sarnies-do you think burgers and hotdogs were around or did they come later?? Were we happier then?-I don't know-we certainly never felt poor although I recall one xmas when my parents could not really afford presents- I got a hankie with a cowboy motif and a Dinky Car. Also and this is going way back-chicken was a luxury, very expensive, (before battery farming I guess) and we would get it once a year at xmas-this was the early fifties-turkey came later. Also great strides in health care have been made since then. Also then there was no central heating for people like me and chilblains occurred-never hear of them now!! Anyway wonderful memories generated by posting the link to this film-anybody care to share memories of that era?

Great to see your post andout-glad you have survived COVID in Guelph. Further back -Norbold's post re Charlie Monk-bite your tongue Norman don't think you can be my friend anymore!!, Charlie a great rider, one of my favourites felt so sorry when he missed out on the 1965 World Final-surely that was a questionable call when he was excluded in the British Final . He had the rep. of being the rider who beat Ivan the most time in the 1964 Prov. League-almost got the winners' spot in the 1964 PLRC. BTW that 1964 PLRC sounded like a hell of a good meeting-wish I could have seen it live. Some tremendous riders in it -Newcastle had four reps as I recall- Ivan, Bill Andrew (tough guy), veteran Ken Sharples and Pete Kelly who finished 4th after a run off for 3rd against Roy Trigg-another great. I reckon both Charlie and Roy would have graced a 1965 World Final (perhaps more so than vets like , Ken McKinlay, Jim Gooch and Reggie Luckhurst not to disrespect any of them). What a wonderful year 65 was.

One of my all time greats- always a popular visitor to Somerton Park with Oxford, and then O joy! he joined Newport in 1967. Was privileged to see him appear in his only World Final in 1965- guess he was 37 then-what seemed an ancient age to me. Didn't he famously have a punch up with Ove at Norwich?

You are right Chunky-my mistake mate.

Come on mate -are you kidding, no way could he have won under a GP system-ditto Egon. I would rank many Poles worthier and ahead of Jerzy. In no particular order: Waloszek, Woryna , Podlecki, Wygenda, Jancarz, Pogozelski, Plech, Stancl. Any thoughts from anybody??

I think this may have got mixed up with my Wally Loak thread-but here goes. My most hated but respected (along with the Newport crowd) was Ivor Brown- he was the most hated visitor to Newport In Prov. League days-because he was so good, always smartly turned out-he would be booked for second halves just to get the crowd wound up. Hard rider indeed , but off track was the nicest and most mild mannered gentleman. It was a dam shame when he got injured early in 1965. I always think of Ivor as the epitome of our wonderful sport- I can still see him in my mind's eye-what a great bloke. And a wonderful advert for speedway in his era.

Is Wally still with us- I purchased a couple of his tapes of meetings years ago , but I guess his business was superseded by video. Anybody know??

Is Wally still with us- I purchased a couple of his tapes of meetings years ago , but I guess his business was superseded by video. Anybody know??

Another thought- Could Sverre have done it in say 1963??

Do you reckon Olsen would have ever been Champ under a GP system? I agree with norbold here particularly re Peter Craven.. Think you are being generous to Briggo re 1958 but not sure about Knutson in 1965- but maybe he could have done it in 1964 as well as 1965. As you say Norman it's a field of endless speculation-but isn't that what makes all these threads and comments so fascinating-many great comments from other enthusiasts.

Come on mate -are you kidding, no way could he have won under a GP system-ditto Egon. I would rank many Poles worthier and ahead of Jerzy. In no particular order: Waloszek, Woryna , Podlecki, Wygenda, Jancarz, Pogozelski, Plech, Stancl. Any thoughts from anybody??

Just going back a bit further- I reckon Ove Fundin would have dominated in the fifties and sixties under a GP system- how do you reckon he would have stacked up re Moore, Briggo and Craven under such a system. Do you in fact think those three could ever have topped Ove as World Champ under GP- think Ove tended to be the most consistent over a whole season . I do think however that its unfortunate that its possible to become World Champ under GP without winning a single GP meeting (e.g. Mark Loram).

That's a good point El Addio- certainly riders his age were in the Prov. League and did well, some even older-a good example being Jim Squibb who was born in 1921 (I think)

Was reading the excellent Hans Nielsen thread and how he would have done well in a GP world (which I would agree with). Then I got thinking about Ivan and how he would have done if the GP system had started , say , in 1968. I wonder if Ivan would have been World Champ in 68,69,70, 71 ,72 right thru till about 78. One exception, I seem to remember that Anders MIchanek in the year before he actually became Champ in 1974 was winning everything. So maybe Anders could have been a GP champ in 1973.. Not sure Ole could have ever won under a GP system-what say other forumlanders. Again to all- I really enjoy the threads that are posted here-brings back many memories.

I've greatly enjoyed this thread and again thanks for the videos of Arthur-tip of thehat to BL65 for figuring out the marriage stuff-I would expect no less from you-always impressed by your knowledge and research.

Thanx for posting this iris123-this is the only time I have heard Arthur's voice-do you know when this interview took place and how long it was before Arthur's passing-he certainly looks fighting fit there.. I think Arthur married the sister of another speedway rider- Jack Hughes? Arthur Wright? and joined that family's thriving business. Not sure though

I think Arthur died at a relatively young age.

Wow, 29 was very young for Brian Brett to retire-was that about the same age as Brian Crutcher quit or was he even younger??

Hi guys was interested in Norbold's post- particularly poor old Brian Brett having an average of 1.4. When I arrived on the scene in 1964 Brian Brett was an NL star- I think he led the qualifiers to the British Final that year- was regarded as a cert to make the World Final, and indeed had a chance of being British Champ. However not to be-there is a famous photo of him (was it in Speedway Post-I am thinking here of a glossy monthly publication associated with Speedway Star I think) flat on his ass after falling in his first ride. The blurb said he could still have qualified but obviously he was un-nerved. I was glad to see he rode with distinction in the 1965 World Final ( i woz there as Max Boyce would say). Any memories of Brian-maybe retired too early , died quite young, could have been a contender (as per Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront'). Saw him ride for Newcastle in 65 and then (I think) CH in 1966-could be wrong though. Comments welcome.

Lots of interesting stuff here mates, but hang on for a minute-getting back to Atomic Tommy what do you reckon was the reason for his precipitous decline after Glasgow. He was like a shining comet that fell to earth.

Sorry to see Alan Wilkinson passed away recently-indeed an honourable entry into the "hard riders" thresd

Sorry BL65- my mistake-misread the thread, you are quite right.

And don't lets forget Teo Teodorowicz