I have started this webpage to show the following items
sent to me by John Mather, so over to you Mr Mather: -
John Mather says: The track
was in
Nun Monkton, near York.
Two long track meetings held in 1981 at the York Stadium, Nun
Monkton, about 8 miles from York. Programmes for May 17th and July
19th show some well known names amongst the competitors.
A third meeting was scheduled for
October 25th 1981 and, according to the programme notes there was
a try-out meeting for the track in 1980. |
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John Skinner says: The first racing here took place on 14th
September 1980 and was won by Trevor Banks. The final event
was on 19th July 1981 and amongst the competitors were Ivan and
son Kym Mauger. Ivan won the meeting, don't know where Kym
finished
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| John Mather says: I think this cover
photograph is of Peter Collins |
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| John Skinner says: It is very interesting to see the names
of the bikes each rider used. Some of the bikes had unfamiliar
names to speedway fans. Steve Schofield aboard a BRM, Martin
Goodwin on a Palmer GR (would the GR stand for Godden Racing?),
Alan Williams on a Renwick, Rob Homer aboard a Sigma, Frank Smith
on a Barber. I would have enjoyed a look around the pits. |
| John Mather says:
I believe that the
track is now the York Harness Raceway, Pool Lane, Nun Monkton.
Shown below
in 2002. |
Mark Pitcher says: Hi, I raced in
the national event, in 2 of these meetings, would love to find
pics from these events, I have emailed auto66 a few times but got
no reply. Keep up the good work.
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| John Skinner says: Hi
Mark if anyone gets in touch with photos I will put them on this
page. Have you tried the archive in York's local library or
newspaper? why not have a browse on their websites and see what
they can offer. |
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| Rob Lidgate's Photos |
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Hi John, I found it very interesting
to see the programmes you have found.
I can remember the one meeting I raced
at but not the second, not having
raced speedway I found the fence posts
quite intimidating but soon forgotten
once used to them, regards photos (see
attachments) I was sent 2 of them by
Deryk Wylde who puts on line 100’s of
photos from the past via ORRe, Off
road review, the colour ones were
taken by my mechanic. I see Mark
Pitcher was looking for some photos it
may be worth him contacting Deryk via
Face book.
Regards, Rob
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| John says: Thank you Rob for the 5
photos. Such a pity that there were not very many
longtracks. I have never witnessed the spectacle of the
sport. |
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More From
Rob Lidgate |
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| Rob says: Hi John,The higher speed was not
so much of a problem once you got used to the 4” x 4” posts
flashing pass your ear, it was perfectly smooth so not the same as
fields we were more used to. It was a shame that tracks of
this type could not have been used a lot more, it may have been
possibly to get the USA style flat track bikes going over here
with a proper series of meetings. I have attached a photo of the
bike we produced in 1978/9 which we sent to the USA after the
demise of BSA and Triumph, because the Yanks wanted to use British
bikes rather than letting the Japanese take over,which they now
have done. |
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| Courtesy of Rob Lidgate |
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Rob Lidgate says, This is Dave Singleton at Charlotte Raceway North
Carolina testing our British Bike.
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Rob
Lidgate says: Hi John, The engine was a 750 Nourish engine with a
reworked head, a Bewley 2 speed gearbox, frame designed by Ken
Sprayson, fiberglass made by Steve Spencer, other parts were sent
from the USA, project needed more coverage but that would require
more cash, maybe a well known rider, definitely an opportunity
lost, but you can’t turn back the clock, hind sight is a wonderful
thing!!
Do you know of any more photos from Monkton or Chasewater, I have
this one (see above), on the Triumphs with Chippy Moore, Paul
Pinfold, Me, Malc Corridine, Barry Robinson, a completely
different riding style required plus the frame dimensions needed
changing which I believe Chippy did, again an opportunity missed.
Thanks for your interest, having spoken to several riders from
that era, we certainly had the best days with so many meeting to
choose from and large numbers of entries compared to the present,
all I know for certain is I had 10 seasons of great fun and
enjoyed every moment of it. Kind regards, Rob.
PS Check my
spellings on names please.
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| John says: If Rob or any of his
competitors can supply any more pics or memories of speedway
related motor cycle racing I would be pleased to add them to my
website |
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If you can scan any pictures, programmes or badges send
me an email John
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| The contents of the site are © and should not be
reproduced elsewhere for financial gain. The contributors to this site
gave the pictures and information on that understanding. If anyone has
any issue or objections to any items on the site please
e-mail
and I will amend or remove the item. Where possible credit
has been given to the owner of each item. |
