Oldtime speedway journal

Transcription

1 July 2013 OLDTIMESPEEDWAY JOURNAL Oldtime speedway journal Vol.1, No.3. July 2013, Vol. 1, No.3. :::: This is the third edition of the quarterly journal for oldtimespeedway discussion group members. :::: Contributions are always welcome and should be sent to :::: The next issue is October 2013 ENGLAND S TOP SCOT GORDON McGREGOR enjoyed a distinguished career which spanned 25 seasons. The action photo shows McGregor as a member of the Scotland team leading England s Norman Parker in a 1949 test match. The portrait is of Gordon in his early days as one of the leading riders for the famous White City Glasgow side. His career spanned the years from 1947 to 1971 in which he time he rode for White City, Motherwell, Leicester, Oxford, Belle Vue, Long Eaton, King s Lynn, Doncaster and Birmingham. Although a Scot, talented McGregor was capped 19 times for England. As an Oxford rider he did not miss a match in six seasons with the club. He died aged 80 in Photos: MIKE KEMP ARCHIVES

2 Swastika mystery AFTER 77 years, this speedway mystery is unanswered: why was the German star Herman Gunzenhauser wearing this swastika armband? The photo of Gunzenhauser, seen with the Czech rider Frantisek (Franta) Juhan, was taken at the Czech Golden Helmet meeting in Pardbice on September It was the second win for the German in successive seasons. Was Gunzenhauser wearing the armband for political reasons to escape Adolf Hitler's wrath or because riders wore national identity armbands to assist the pits staff? ::: Research: IAN PRESSLIE SHY ROD LAUDRUM TOUCHED THE STARS By TONY WEBB ROD Laudrum, the former Chapelzoid and Ipswich rider, sadly passed away in January of this year. He was my lifetime friend, mentor and inspiration. Rod lived and breathed speedway, he was one of the first signings for the Witches in their initial 1951 season. After learning his speedway skills on the post war army tracks the former paratrooper was earmarked for the Wembley Lions by Bill Kitchen, with whom he had a lifetime friendship. His subsequent travels took him to Dublin in 1950 and then on to Ipswich. He was the resident reserve in Dublin, he would often say he was in awe of the top stars as he lined up alongside them in the pits. Promoter Ronnie Greene would bring over six star riders every week. The team was made up with Rod and local riders. Ronnie Moore, Aub Lawson, Split Waterman and Wally Green were regulars. After Rod lost his place in the Witches side after injury he became a regular member of Phil Bishop s touring teams to the Continent. He often talked about fun he had with Australian Frank Malouf and New Zealander John Lawrie on these trips Rod's active speedway career spanned only a few years, but he remained an ever present at Foxhall Heath and with his family never missed a top meeting and the VSRA.dinners. Speedway was his life. Rod was the local hero to all us kids in his home village in Essex. Local boy made good he was a legend, we would cycle past his house just to get a glimpse of his speedway bike. He was a relative of mine so there was a strong bond. My journeys with Rod began when I aspired to take up speedway in Bikes were hard to find in those days, we searched all over London. Eventually after calling in on Len Silver and then Peter Smith we turned up at the home of Vic Gooden, he had a bike that was ridden by Swedish star Birger Forsberg. With Rod s help a deal was done. With Rod there was always fun on the road. To celebrate we stopped at a posh steak house in Woodford, white table clothes and silver ware. The waiters eyed us with suspicion from the start, no doubt the scruffy Zephyr with a speedway bike in the boot was not the best advert in car park.

3 July 2013 OLDTIMESPEEDWAY JOURNAL Vol.1, No.3. ::::: Above: The point of no return for Rod at Ipswich in Right: Rod proudly wearing his WSRA tie at a 2010 function. Drama was to come in the dinner room, we were served our soup, Rod took the large heavy silver salt cellar, giving it a vigorous shake. It shot out of his hand, torpedoed into the tomato soup and splattered everything.we did eventually get our steaks with an eat this and do not come back look! The winter of 1963 was a hard one with deep snow, all the training tracks were closed. No worries said Rod we will go and practise on the ice at Gosfield Lake. Rod marked out a track and put on his ice skates. We had to start the bike by towing it behind the car. Then as I slid around the lake Rod would skate around shouting instructions. I quickly learnt throttle control. Rod s connections got me rides at several tracks. Problem was I could only ride a wet slippery track I think I was a disappointment to Rod, I had promise but lacked commitment. I had my own business and could not devote myself to speedway. The journeys carried on when I went into the spares business and Rod became my traveling companion again. He loved to be able to help me in the pits. It was always a laugh a minute. Sometimes when we went to a track as spectators he would pretend to be a foreigner and offer half the admission price, invariably the gatekeeper would give up and let him in. Journeys with Rod continued in Australia when he came over for the 2000 Grand Prix. Dramas continued even then when my car s timing belt broke, they had to catch a flight that night and we were stuck out in the bush. We made the airport with little time to spare.he possessed a quick wit. When held up in the customs at an airport, the official remarked you have not got a beard in this passport. Quick as as flash Rod replied, No. I did not have one when I joined this queue a few hours ago, but I have now! Classic Rod. My last journey with Rod was in 2006 to the GP at Cardiff. Rod made friends everywhere. My memory of Cardiff is not of the speedway but the time we spent in the bar with a group of Polish fans. You see friends and having a good yarn about speedway was Rod's life. One always thinks life will go on for ever and that there will always be a next time. Alas, often we leave it too late. I did. I still had so much to share with Rod but suddenly he was gone. THE NEW CROSS FINALE THE 50th anniversary of the last speedway match at New Cross on August 2, 1963 takes place next month. They were beaten by Poole in a Provincial League match. Nowadays the site of the stadium which also housed greyhounds and stock cars is parkland.their greatest rider was probably the 1937 world champion Jack Milne (USA). Other stars were Tom Farndon, Ron Johnson, Lionel van Praag, Split Waterman and Olle Nygren.

4 :::: Palace from left, Harry Shepherd, Fred Mockford (promoter) and Triss Sharp Harry put the kettle on... HARRY Shepherd was the Crystal Palace, New Cross and Bristol rider who in 1933 was involved in designing and building the sport s first tapes starting gate. Seemingly, off-track he was also something of an inventor and designed one of the first tea-making machines. Basically, it was an electric kettle with a teapot and alarm clock attachments. When the water transferred from the kettle to the teapot, the alarm went off. A drawback was that the alarm was so loud that those people living either side of the Shepherds home often complained about the intense noise. Diamonds other Lloyd WHEN the name of Lloyd and Newcastle are mentioned in regard to the post-war seasons, the talented Jeff Lloyd springs to mind. But in those initial post-war seasons Peter Lloyd also crops up. Never a star rider, he was dedicated to the sport for some 15 seasons, and rode for a variety of tracks. More about Peter Lloyd in future oldtimespeedway journal. SPEEDWAY MEMORIES ::: LATER this year Retro Speedway will publish a new book called BRITISH SPEEDWAY MEMORIES. It will be a compilation of special memories as recalled by supporters of our wonderful family sport. ::: Whether your interest dates back to the post-war boom period or you have only been following the sport for a short while, we all have special moments in time and favourites we like to remember. ::: All you have to do to be part of it and ensure your name is included in the book is answer the following simple questions. If not all, then as many as you can. ::: Firstly, please state YOUR NAME, POSTAL ADDRESS, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER (Don t worry, apart from your name, other details will NOT be published in the actual book!) ::: FIRST TIME. Tell us about the first speedway meeting you can remember attending and what led you to go? ::: TEAMS & TRACKS. Where did/do you watch speedway most regularly?what was/is your favourite away track to visit, and why? ::: FAVOURITES. Name your three most favourite (not necessarily the best) riders, and why you have chosen them? ::: CLASSICS. Of all the meetings you have been to, do you have one memorable classic that stands out from all the rest? Can you single out one particularly great race that will live longest in your memory? ::: THEN AND NOW. What do you miss most about speedway in the past? ::: WHAT, if anything, would you like to see reintroduced to speedway today? ::: MOMENTS TO TREASURE. What is your favourite memory you take from speedway? ::: WHY SPEEDWAY IS SPECIAL. Whether you used to attend speedway meeting or still do so today, describe what makes speedway so special to you? ::: Thank you. your answers to Tony Mac at editorial@retro-speedway.com. Deadline is August 31st, 2013.

5 Ernie Baker all at sea... By JOHN HYAM THEREʼS nothing like telling a porkie-pie to help get rider into a team. I must confess that I was involved in such a harmless prank - just once. It was in the mid-1950s when south Londoner Ernie Baker - who was closely involved with famous New Zealanders Ronnie Moore and Barry Briggs - was trying to break into racing. Sadly, no tracks in 1957 seemed to be interested until I turned Ernie into a merchant seaman. I then contacted Dickie Case, who was part of the organisation involved with Rye House in their Southern Area League days. I told him that Baker has been at sea for months, had shown promise as a rider before going away, but now wanted to resume his speedway career. That was enough to tempt the pre-war Aussie test star. So it was arranged for Ernie to have a trial ride at the Hoddesdon track. Before any deal could be sealed, Ernie became part of the Eastbourne scene. Two years later, in 1959, Baker finally donned the race jacket of the Hertfordshire side. Later, in the early days of the Provincial League in the 1960s he was one of the sectionʼs top stars at a variety of tracks, but especially so with Bristol in the first seasons of the league where he was a master on the tiny Knowle Stadium circuit. However, what has puzzled me to this day is ʻwhy should the fact he was - or may have been - a seaman persuade Rye House boss Dickie Case to give him his initial trials?ʼ I may have indicated, without actually saying so, that Baker had appeared on Australian tracks while sailing round the world. Could this have persuaded pre-war Aussie international Case to give Baker a trial? Thereʼs no prize for the answer! :::: Rye House Ernie Baker, left, with team mates Clive Hitch and Bobby Croombs. All three went on to have impressive careers in the sport. Photo: MIKE KEMP ARCHIVES Riding talent in track rakers ranks THE track raking staff at Wimbledon in 1954 had some keen racing aspirants in its ranks, writes John Hyam. Regulars at the between races tidying up were California (Wokingham) junior Al Holliday and Eastbourne aspirants Bob Warner and Dave Freeborn. Holliday, who went on to ride for the Maury McDermott-Stan Clarke regime in the ill-fated Metropolitan League era at Rayleigh in the 1960s, also appeared at Wembley in a 1950s World Final...as part of the Plough Lane track staff who looked after a meeting won by Ove Fundin. Holliday was one of the starting gate marshals. And in the early days of the Southern Area League in 1954 and 1955, Holliday was also machine examiner at Eastbourne. In the early 1960s, Warner also had rides for Bradford and Wolverhampton when they entered the Provincial League. Towards the end of the decade he reverted to being a Wimbledon junior and once guested for Norwich when they turned up a rider short at Plough Lane. He was also for several seasons in the 1960s a member of the troupe of English riders headed by veterans George Bason and Stan Tebby who competed at meetings in France which were promoted by the legendary Claude Boston Warner's comment after a race to describe his effort was usually, "I rode like an old plum!" Oh yes, there was another 1954 Wimbledon track raker. No names, no pack drill. But the by-line to this article reveals his identity! The pay rate for a night s work was seven shillings and sixpence (in real terms today 8.70). The bonus was free admission to the meeting and the close up view of the spectacular racing from the centre green.

6 When the legtrailers thrilled us IT S a sight long forgotten in speedway. Top exponents of legtrail riding in action in 1940s Holding the inside line is West Ham s Fred Kid Curtis with Bradford s Oliver Hart on the outside. Hart, below left, is generally regarded as the sport smost spectacular legtrailer but Curtis looks a big challenger. PHOTOS: (action) JOHN CHAPLIN COLLECTION; (portraits) MIKE KEMP ARCHIVES. Nearly the last word... ::: RIP - the following have passed away since our April edition: Jim Chalkley, Jim Shepherd (Australia - speedway historian), Tony Childs. ::: August 4, 2013 marks the sixth anniversary of the introduction of the oldtimespeedway forum which curently has more than 450 members. The forum is moderated by John Hyam, Ian Presslie and Tony Webb. ::: Oldtimespeedway journal will feature largely on the early years of speedway history. Members should send items for publication by to: speedstox12@yahoo.com and marked in the subject box as: oldtimespeedway journal. ::: If you are specifically interested in both the history of speedway in London as well as present happenings at Rye House and Lakeside, the place to visit is London Speedways at ::: The legal publishing address of oldtimespeedway journal is: 1 Ivychurch Close, Laurel Grove, Penge, London, SE20 8QF UK.