Nostalgia

[PhilTheAce]

just watched a random meeting from back in the day. 
My favourite place to visit was always Brandon, and Poole was always the top team when I was growing up (now belle Vue 😜) 

 

how great would it be for Coventry to return to top league and Poole to return to the top flight to. 
 

speedway could be great again 

[PhilTheAce]

Brandon had aura. Coventry had aura. 
Poole have aura. Belle Vue have aura. Ipswich starting to have aura. The league had aura
 

make speedway great again 

[GeneralMelchett]

2 minutes ago, PhilTheAce said:

Brandon had aura. Coventry had aura. 
Poole have aura. Belle Vue have aura. Ipswich starting to have aura. The league had aura
 

make speedway great again 

The British finals were for me not to be missed - sundays - packed out and some frantic racing!

[The Third Man]

25 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said:

The British finals were for me not to be missed - sundays - packed out and some frantic racing!

I remember them being on a Wednesday night at Coventry

[Teromaafan]

3 minutes ago, The Third Man said:

I remember them being on a Wednesday night at Coventry

I recall my Dad taking me to the 1975 final. We had to walk around the track (there was viewing all round then) twice to find a suitable gap in the crowd for viewing. Nigel Boocock was in attendance for photo opportunities to sit on his bike next to him. Ah, nostalgia is just not what it was!

[GeneralMelchett]

27 minutes ago, The Third Man said:

I remember them being on a Wednesday night at Coventry

I went 87-90 and they were sunday afternoons - full house event 12k+ in attendance - I have a picture of the full stadium for one of them - sadly the Gps reduced the british Final to a bit of a rump competetion.

I also went to the British GP at Brandon in 2000 - again sold out etc - great event - Martin Dugard the wildcard won it!

[YeOldPitGate]

2 minutes ago, GeneralMelchett said:

I went 87-90 and they were sunday afternoons - full house event 12k+ in attendance - I have a picture of the full stadium for one of them - sadly the Gps reduced the british Final to a bit of a rump competetion.

I also went to the British GP at Brandon in 2000 - again sold out etc - great event - Martin Dugard the wildcard won it!

Yep I used to go 85-90 late teens with one of my oldest friends and his dad , his dad was a complete loon behind the wheel and we would have 5-10 near death experiences on the trip from Norfolk to the Midlands.

As you say 10k plus every time packed to the rafters great atmosphere and 8-10 likely winners, Havelock, Morton, PC, Silver, Carter, Evitts, Paul Thorpe, Wiggy, Tatum and others no doubt who I have forgotten.

After the meeting it would be a hole shot out of the field car park with 3-4 thousand cars all chasing the same spot , my mates dad would be going mental and would normally be in three near fights before we got out of the car park brilliant days sadly gone forever I fear.

[GeneralMelchett]

Just now, YeOldPitGate said:

Yep I used to go 85-90 late teens with one of my oldest friends and his dad , his dad was a complete loon behind the wheel and we would have 5-10 near death experiences on the trip from Norfolk to the Midlands.

As you say 10k plus every time packed to the rafters great atmosphere and 8-10 likely winners, Havelock, Morton, PC, Silver, Carter, Evitts, Paul Thorpe, Wiggy, Tatum and others no doubt who I have forgotten.

After the meeting it would be a hole shot out of the field car park with 3-4 thousand cars all chasing the same spot , my mates dad would be going mental and would normally be in three near fights before we got out of the car park brilliant days sadly gone forever I fear.

Happy Days - the final of the british final this year was agreat race imagine that at Brandon in fromt of 12k+

[YeOldPitGate]

Did anyone used to go to the old Kings Lynn talk in's hosted by Bill Barker these again were great affairs, Bill should have been on the stage a constant stream of one liners and quips, he took over with Malc Simmonds and they then had a major fall out a year later and Bill soldiered on alone.

He used to walk round the terraces to sell raffle tickets to help fund the purchase of Mark Loram, first year he took over we had a powerhouse team with Bo Peterson, Lance King, Richard Knight and John Davis.

Peterson went from unbeatable around Lynn to terrible, King started off showing what a talent he was but a couple of bad injuries set him back middle part of the year, Richard Knight was a stalwart but never good enough to beat the top men but he was loved by his biggest fan Nutter who used to spend all day in the second bend bar, John Davis would have been better suited to long track as he just couldn't hug the line and every race he would be on the fence by the second bend and everyone else would have gone underneath him, he had top equipment but his riding style wasn't suited for Speedway.

Fantastic days again all pre internet when you would turn up and a couple of riders would be announced to the crowd and someone would ask Bill "Why can't we get Han's Nielson " and Bill would reply " Because we can't afford him you (insert expletive).

 

 

[Odds On]

i can remember going to British finals at Coventry, there was one in particular that stands out...coming through the turn stiles and then walking that bit to the stadium, it was rammed and nowadays H & S would be in clover, anyway there was one guy who sorted it all out, pointing and shouting at people to do this and t'other....a speedway character called soldier boy, I think was his name.

[mikebv]

1 minute ago, GeneralMelchett said:

Happy Days - the final of the british final this year was agreat race imagine that at Brandon in fromt of 12k+

Brandon wouldn't have served up a race like that...

It was always a strange thing for me that what always looked a great shaped track, and always seemed so well prepared, offered up little in passing opportunities...

A good many races were "close" but not many actually had too many passes..

Riders like Tatum, Smith and Havelock, who could gate well, and ride very fast when out in front, always seemed to do well at Coventry...

Whereas riders like Loram and Screen often tended to have to fight for every single point, riding every inch of the track to often make zero impact on the rider in front..

The Overseas finals were also similar, some very close racing but not many of those races manifesting themselves into passing opportunities...

Was it the camber that wasn't banked enough? As the bends seemed quite wide.,

Or maybe the level of dirt on the track? But it did often seem quite well covered....

The Sunday occasions were great though, especially when Havvy had a bad day and you were stood near the Bradford fans.... 😁

[IainB]

Waiting for tales of all the great meetings/memories from the Manchester dog track to flood this topic 😂

[Aries]

1 hour ago, GeneralMelchett said:

The British finals were for me not to be missed - sundays - packed out and some frantic racing!

Superb memories loved the British final at Coventry. Right up there with the Fours at Peterborough. Two of the best days out they were. 

[GeneralMelchett]

38 minutes ago, YeOldPitGate said:

Did anyone used to go to the old Kings Lynn talk in's hosted by Bill Barker these again were great affairs, Bill should have been on the stage a constant stream of one liners and quips, he took over with Malc Simmonds and they then had a major fall out a year later and Bill soldiered on alone.

He used to walk round the terraces to sell raffle tickets to help fund the purchase of Mark Loram, first year he took over we had a powerhouse team with Bo Peterson, Lance King, Richard Knight and John Davis.

Peterson went from unbeatable around Lynn to terrible, King started off showing what a talent he was but a couple of bad injuries set him back middle part of the year, Richard Knight was a stalwart but never good enough to beat the top men but he was loved by his biggest fan Nutter who used to spend all day in the second bend bar, John Davis would have been better suited to long track as he just couldn't hug the line and every race he would be on the fence by the second bend and everyone else would have gone underneath him, he had top equipment but his riding style wasn't suited for Speedway.

Fantastic days again all pre internet when you would turn up and a couple of riders would be announced to the crowd and someone would ask Bill "Why can't we get Han's Nielson " and Bill would reply " Because we can't afford him you (insert expletive).

 

 

I've only been to Kings Lynn twice - once was to a British semi final i think about 1989ish and then a BH Monday clash between the Stars and Bradfrod from May 1990 - both times place was packed out.

[GeneralMelchett]

41 minutes ago, mikebv said:

Brandon wouldn't have served up a race like that...

It was always a strange thing for me that what always looked a great shaped track, and always seemed so well prepared, offered up little in passing opportunities...

A good many races were "close" but not many actually had too many passes..

Riders like Tatum, Smith and Havelock, who could gate well, and ride very fast when out in front, always seemed to do well at Coventry...

Whereas riders like Loram and Screen often tended to have to fight for every single point, riding every inch of the track to often make zero impact on the rider in front..

The Overseas finals were also similar, some very close racing but not many of those races manifesting themselves into passing opportunities...

Was it the camber that wasn't banked enough? As the bends seemed quite wide.,

Or maybe the level of dirt on the track? But it did often seem quite well covered....

The Sunday occasions were great though, especially when Havvy had a bad day and you were stood near the Bradford fans.... 😁

I would certainly describe the racing as frantic at times particulary in the latter stages of the meeting, as for actual passing you may well be right BUT - one of my abiding memories of Brandon is Jason Lyons (always one of my favourites) passing Rickardson on the final bend of a heat in the SGP at Coventry in 2000! Fantastic bit of never give up riding!

Edited 43 minutes ago by GeneralMelchett

[GeneralMelchett]

21 minutes ago, Aries said:

Superb memories loved the British final at Coventry. Right up there with the Fours at Peterborough. Two of the best days out they were. 

another great memory foor me was my first visit to Foxhall in 1988 for the England v Denmark test match against expectation England won 47-43, Silver top scoring from reserve and old Kelvin T holding off Hans Nielsen in one heat with his loose race jacket flapping round his face!!

[GeneralMelchett]

30 minutes ago, Aries said:

Superb memories loved the British final at Coventry. Right up there with the Fours at Peterborough. Two of the best days out they were. 

enjoy I was there for that sat in the grandstand

[89buttons]

I’ve only ever been to Brandon once, dad took me to the Grand Prix challenge final I think 2009 not exactly sure of the year, holder hampel and zorro making it through to the Grand Prix, was an absolutely fantastic meeting, great racing and hotly contested all night, zorro was made of steel that night picked himself up off the deck 3 or 4 times to get the final win he needed to make the cut

[DJC]

Not quite on the same lines as the other posts but I bought some photo's off Vinted from Newport that were taken on the corner I used to stand with my old man after a few too many sherbets last week. 

The lady kindly put in a host a of old programmes that her uncle had left, opened the package at my old mans and they turned out to be his old programmes dating back to the early 70s and up to 2004. He'd sold them on just after Newport closed and I've somehow managed to get them back. 

Great Sunday afternoon reminiscing over lunch

[SUPERACE]

1 hour ago, IainB said:

Waiting for tales of all the great meetings/memories from the Manchester dog track to flood this topic 😂

There was loads of great races back in the day. Before bikes got too fast.  Watch any race with Moran v Nielsen in it.