Sorry this has now sold out . . . BRITISHSPEEDWAY MEMORIES
Re-live great times from speedway's past with this new 256-page collection of personal contributions from supporters, promoters, team managers, ex-riders, announcers and media representatives.
*Your first time at speedway *Favourite teams and tracks *Favourite riders *Most memorable meetings *Classic races *Moments to treasure *What you miss most *Why speedway is special to you *Packed with superb colour and black & white pictures
32-page colour photo section includes pictures of: Tai Woffinden, Mark Loram, Gary Havelock, Peter Collins, Jeremy Doncaster, Kelvin Tatum, Lee Richardson, Scott Nichols, Chris Harris, Joe Screen, Greg Hancock, Tony Rickardsson, Leigh Adams, Jason Crump, Per Jonsson, Erik Gundersen, Hans Nielsen, Jan Andersson, Jimmy Nilsen, Tommy Knudsen, Jan O Pedersen, Andrew Silver, Martin Dugard, Simon Wigg, Joe Owen, Neil Evitts, Kenny Carter, Sam Ermolenko, Kelly & Shawn Moran, Bruce Penhall, Dennis Sigalos, Bobby Schwartz, Scott Autrey, Billy Sanders, Michael Lee, Phil Crump, John Boulger, Mitch Shirra, Malcolm Simmons, Gordon Kennett, John Davis, Chris Morton, Dave Morton, Barry Thomas, Ole Olsen, Martin Ashby, Bob Kilby, John Louis, Dave Jessup, Barry Briggs, Eric & Nigel Boocock, Ray Wilson, Tommy Jansson, Anders Michanek, Bernt Persson, Soren Sjosten, Christer Lofqvist and more
REVIEWS
SPEEDWAY STAR
YOU must have spent evenings down at the pub reminiscing with like- minded mates over a beer about the 'good old days' of speedway.
Well, now you can explore the same delights in the peace and comfort of your own home with the dog at your feet or the cat on your lap, courtesy of this superbly illustrated bible of yesteryears from the king of recollections Tony McDonald.
Tony, and about 200 others, from both sides of the safety fence and from all walks of life, will supply the golden memories; all you have to do is supply the beer (and the cat or dog if desired!), stick the Carpenters' Yesterday Once More CD on the player and imagine it was your first LP on the old Dansette, and just drift back in time.
And if you can't associate with any of the countless stories enthusiastically retold, then I suggest that either your pulse has stopped or you haven't truly got the speedway bug the way the rest of us have...
Memories are strange things - they can be so clear, like it did only happen yesterday, but there is always that lingering doubt, that thought in the back of your mind, that when we look back, it is through rose-coloured spectacles.
Rubbish!
At least it is according to scores of folk who responded to a short questionnaire that Tony distributed, canvassing their views on the present as well as reflections of the past.
Seven chapters of text complemented by wonderful black and white photographs dug from the archives, plus an eighth section of cracking colour from the seventies onwards, make up the 258 pages of unadulterated nostalgia - enough to get you through countless Christmas movies, inane festive chatter with the in-laws and many days subsequently passing time on the train to work too.
So many entries seem so familiar that it could be you, the reader, reminiscing as, even if you weren't there, you can still hear the roar of the crowd, the snarl of the bikes and the smell of the Castrol R.
Tony lays bare the reasons he, and the others, were hooked in the first place: the people, the places, the excitement, the expectation...
The book answers many questions, yet throws up many more...like whatever did happen to his childhood sweetheart Joanne Bond?
Tony's formative days, and mine, go back to the early seventies - a time of significant change for the sport with colour not only taking a grip on photography but also riders' apparel - yet so many fans delve much further back in time, to the fabulous late forties and five- figure crowds, roaring fifties and swinging sixties.
Whatever era, we all had hopes, we all had dreams and we all have memories, surprisingly not so dissimilar.
Tony, and most of the other contributors, could be speaking for almost any one of us when answering questions on the first time you ever witnessed speedway, favourite teams, tracks and riders, the classic meetings and races you'll never forget, comparing then and now and the almost unfathomable 'why is speedway so special?'.
Although chapters inevitably begin to encroach on each other, the eclectic mix of memories is invariably good, as you cannot have too much of a good thing.
Weird and wonderful facts are revealed like the short-lived and relatively little known Romford Supporters' Club once boasting over 1,000 members, more people than most tracks get through the turnstiles in total these days!
In the immediate post-war years, the sport's stars and top meetings were paraded across, and even sponsored by, the national press and even 25 years later, before the immediacy of the internet, fans would wait anxiously for news of their favourites after the ten o'clock news bulletin on BBC Radio.
Dick Bott, one of the few 'national rag' scribes still showing an interest, is asked what he misses most and, in common with many others, retorts: "Rider of the Night competitions in second halves", adding: "Fans are being short-changed these days."
Cornwall-based fan John Brownhill, comparing then with now, insists that promoters used "to run tracks as businesses" whereas currently so many these days are "hobby" promoters who have made their money elsewhere.
Current Sheffield administrator and presenter David Hoggart reflects on experiencing a raw but unforgettable first-ever Division Two Riders' Championship at a packed Hackney in 1968 when, as a child originally brought up on Teesside, he witnessed his hero, Middlesbrough's Graham Plant, take the honours.
"Atmosphere - that's what speedway is all about," he so rightly observes.
The 1981 World Final not surprisingly crops up quite frequently in the book but another devout follower John Murphy accurately points out:
"Take away the two stand-out Penhall races and, in all honesty, there have been better meetings. But throw in 92,000, night-time, Wembley as it was and what turned out to be speedway's swansong beneath the twin towers..." and he meanders back to the equally common thread of unrivaled atmosphere.
Even my boss - Speedway Star editor Richard Clark - has a poignant idea of what he misses most - "my innocence," he says, whilst mourning a plethora of sadly gone forever circuits like Hyde Road, the County Ground, Waterden Road and Dudley Wood.
And then there's those pictures...rekindling magical memories better than words can ever do.
This is a fabulous Christmas present (if you haven't yet got me anything!) and brings back in abundance exactly what it says on the tin - memories! Speedway Star, December 2013
SPEEDWAY PLUS WEBSITE After concentrating on the DVD market in recent years, Retro-Speedway have published a new book (just) in time to catch the Christmas market. British Speedway Memories is their latest publication, a compilation of great tales looking back over years gone by.
The book was compiled from hundreds of surveys completed by fans and other speedway personalities over the summer. There are a few former riders included, but this is largely a book 'by the fans, for the fans'.
Editor Tony McDonald leads us into the book with a chapter of his own cherished memories, starting with childhood reminiscences from Hackney and moving on to reflect on how fortunate he's been to meet many of his heroes through his professional involvement with the sport.
Thereafter the book takes a slightly different form, mixing up contributions from different people into themed chapters, rather than telling each individual's full speedway history in one block. This approach works well, allowing the editor to cherry-pick the best of the surveys rather than merely reproducing the whole thing verbatim.
The sections on favourite riders and tracks often see the same names and places come up, but the different perspectives offered by the contributors mean this isn't a problem. There are also a few seemingly unlikely choices thrown in, demonstrating that everybody's tastes are different and that speedway offers something for everyone.
Similarly, 'favourite meetings' throws up a wide range of different events - from classic World Finals to run of the mill National League meetings at Scunthorpe. Some of the tales will be familiar, others much less so, but clearly all still fondly remembered by those who were present.
The book spans virtually the sport's entire history in Britain, contributor Bert Loader having been present at Midlands meetings in 1930, while relative newcomer Maurice Plowright can 'only' trace his own personal speedway history back to Eastbourne in 1932. Maurice worked on the Arlington track staff right up until the start of WWII and has fond memories of watching the likes of George Newton, Rube Wilson and Bob Lovell. He also recalls Bluey Wilkinson signing his autograph book, rather disappointingly signing as 'Arthur' rather than his more colourful nom de plume.
'Then and Now' allows the contributors to offer suggestions on how to reshape the sport for the better, principally by bringing back something from the past. While it's debatable that reintroducing second-halves or tactical substitutes would transform speedway's fortunes, there's a palpable frustration that, in many respects, today's speedway is a pale imitation of that in years gone by.
The 'Why Speedway is Special' chapter is much more uplifting, really highlighting what speedway has meant to people over the years, how much pleasure can be derived from it and how loyal speedway supporters can be. Even those that are slightly disillusioned with the sport can't quite give it up entirely.
A book with so many contributors should have a ready market from those who feature in it, but there's more than enough in here to appeal to the speedway community in general. Fans will enjoy reading the experiences of others and will undoubtedly recognise many parallels with their own. Promoters might like to read a copy also, you can never know your customers too well and there's plenty of food for thought in these pages.
The book is beautifully illustrated throughout by photographs, magazine scans and programme covers. There's also a selection of colour photographs of some of the sport's legends in a 32 page appendix at the back of the book, starting with Barry Briggs and ending with Tai Woffinden holding the World Championship trophy in 2013.
http://www.speedwayplus.co.uk/ WHAT READERS WHO HAVE BOUGHT THIS BOOK SAY: Brilliant read, loved every minuite of it - a lot of today's promoters could do with reading it and taking a lot of the points raised on board.Howard MurphyJust a quick note to congratulate you on doing such an excellent job with British Speedway Memories. I hate to think how much time, effort and soul-searching went into selecting and collating such a compilation.Ken Wrench
TRACK MEMORIES DVDs
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DVDS... DRAMA OF THE BIG OCCASIONS
RACING DVDS... HOURS OF THRILLING NON-STOP ACTION FROM THE GREATS
INDIVIDUAL RIDER INTERVIEWS... INCLUDING ACTION FOOTAGE
DVDs ON CLASSIC ERAS OF BRITISH & NATIONAL LEAGUE RACING...
GENERAL DVDs
CINE CLASSICS
PRINTED PAPERBACK BOOKS
eBOOKS... ONLY AVAILABLE DIRECT FROM AMAZON.co.uk
MAGAZINES
BACKTRACK Final Issue 111 out now! For fans who loved speedway in the 1970s & 80s
CLASSIC SPEEDWAY Final Issue 57 out now! Launched in May 2008, the glossy quarterly specialising in the 50s and 60s eras
BLOGS
THE best, most thought-provoking, pieces written by our knowledgeable team of writers that have appeared in Backtrack and Classic Speedway magazine since Retro Speedway was formed in 2004.