00:00:01:08 - 00:00:10:18 Speaker 1 This is Ingrid Holtz conducting an interview for the Speedway at Wimbledon Stadium Oral History Project on 22nd of April, 2026. What is your name? 00:00:10:24 - 00:00:12:12 Speaker 2 Mandy Archer. 00:00:12:14 - 00:00:13:16 Speaker 1 Where were you born? 00:00:13:17 - 00:00:18:17 Speaker 2 Colliers wood. Well, Saint George's Hospital, just down the road. 00:00:18:19 - 00:00:20:01 Speaker 1 What year were you born? 00:00:20:02 - 00:00:22:21 Speaker 2 1967. 00:00:22:23 - 00:00:24:22 Speaker 1 What did your parents do for a living? 00:00:25:02 - 00:00:52:08 Speaker 2 My dad worked for London Transport. He was a platform manager. My mum's had various different things. She was a homemaker to start with. Then she went and worked in a school. My school, unfortunately, as a PE teacher. And then she went on to actually work for AFC Wimbledon with the youth team as well. So she's had various different jobs. 00:00:52:10 - 00:00:57:03 Speaker 1 We'll start with some early days. What? Years did you go to Speedway at Wimbledon Stadium? 00:00:57:04 - 00:01:16:16 Speaker 2 I probably started going in about 1976, when I was about ten, and carried on all the way through till they closed in. I think it was 2002. And then. 00:01:16:18 - 00:01:34:14 Speaker 2 Was it 2005 here? Sorry, 2005. And then we went to Eastbourne for a little while while it was closed here. And then when Speedway came back again, we came to Speedway. And then at that time I'd had my children, so I bought them along with me as well. 00:01:34:16 - 00:01:35:11 Speaker 1 Did they like it? 00:01:35:12 - 00:01:38:21 Speaker 2 Yeah, my little boy loved it. 00:01:38:23 - 00:01:43:02 Speaker 1 Can you tell us about your first visit to Wimbledon Speedway and who you went with? 00:01:43:03 - 00:02:15:00 Speaker 2 My first visit would have been with my dad and my brother. Back then, the crowds were. There were quite a lot of people. So I think we sat on the third bend, then inside a little bit of an enclosure bit, but you could go outside as well to listen and everything as well. It was just a big stadium and a lot of roaring bikes, and it was really exciting, and I think I was just hooked from that first time, to be fair. 00:02:15:02 - 00:02:19:17 Speaker 1 Can you tell us more about your early impressions, the sights, the sounds of smells? 00:02:19:19 - 00:02:44:12 Speaker 2 Oh, the smell. The smell is the one thing. As a Speedway supporter, you don't forget. That would have been one of the first things. The smell was just amazing. It's that speedway smell. It's the ethanol mixed with the shale and everything. It's just got a unique smell. Tibet at that time, as well as as speedway progressed, the bikes have got less loud. 00:02:44:12 - 00:03:07:08 Speaker 2 So it was very noisy then and they didn't have the defenders on the back. So you would often get whipped with some shale as well. But it was all. As a youngster it was all just the excitement of seeing these guys going really, really fast around the speedway track and obviously our team wanting our team to win. 00:03:07:10 - 00:03:08:20 Speaker 1 Did your brother feel the same? 00:03:08:21 - 00:03:27:06 Speaker 2 Yeah, my brother absolutely loved it as well and we carried on like that for some time until my brother, we were both a bit older. And then I started to bring one of my friends as well. So it was something we did, and it grew as friendship so that, you know that you met people as well. 00:03:27:08 - 00:03:30:01 Speaker 1 Can you tell us about any family history in Speedway? 00:03:30:04 - 00:03:51:18 Speaker 2 We my mum, new Sarah Maidment, my mum and dad both went to speedway when they were younger. They didn't know each other at that time, but they both attended speedway. One of my aunts as well. It was a big thing in the area. My mum grew up in Colliers Wood, so it's sort of in the blood a bit. 00:03:51:19 - 00:03:57:14 Speaker 2 They came, you know, from when they were young and then brought us up to enjoy it. 00:03:57:16 - 00:04:05:18 Speaker 1 Okay. We're going to talk about the experience of going to Speedway. Can you describe the stadium as it was then, Wimbledon? 00:04:05:19 - 00:04:38:01 Speaker 2 It was it was huge. It was one of the best stadiums actually, within the speedway roots. You had the grandstand. You could go go in there, you could get meals and burgers and things. We had the back stand, which was had an enclosure as well with it, and the seats at some point were wooden. So you used to have that old wooden seats until obviously that was ousted and you had to fit different seats in there. 00:04:38:02 - 00:04:56:18 Speaker 2 We had lots of burger bars. It was like, actually, I reminded myself the other day of going down to the burger bar, which used to be by the pits, so you'd stand there and you could hear the bikes revving up in the pits and like if they opened the door, all the smoke would be like coming out. So it was like that was a bit of an excitement. 00:04:56:18 - 00:05:03:02 Speaker 2 You might hang around there a bit just to see if you could see a rider or two. 00:05:03:04 - 00:05:10:07 Speaker 1 Okay. Was there a particular place I mean, just said this, but was there other particular places you like to watch from. 00:05:10:09 - 00:05:38:09 Speaker 2 Within the stadium? Well, eventually we started on the third bend and then eventually we ended up on the back straight, just we could get up outside the enclosure and stand sort of towards the back, where I'm not that tall now. So obviously as a youngster I was shorter, so it was quite nice because you could see over the fence, you could see sort of through the fence then without anybody really getting in your way. 00:05:38:11 - 00:05:40:23 Speaker 1 And you also enjoyed the pit being near the pit. 00:05:40:24 - 00:06:02:22 Speaker 2 Oh the pits were. Yeah. You had your pip and loonies that were on the first bend. So that was like your die hards that had been coming in for years and years. And it was always quite raucous around there, which was right next to the pits. So from the back straight we could watch the riders come out from the pits and like, be pushed off. 00:06:02:24 - 00:06:08:01 Speaker 1 Okay, good. How affordable was it to go? 00:06:08:03 - 00:06:25:07 Speaker 2 I think obviously, like when when I was younger my dad used to pay for it. So it was I mean, we weren't well off by any means, so it was obviously affordable. He could take both me and my brother at that time. And as I say, we did that for many years until we started work. And then obviously we started paying. 00:06:25:07 - 00:06:38:17 Speaker 2 I think it was about 10 or 15 pounds. It wasn't like that that much. I think the football that we went to as well was like on a par at that time. 00:06:38:19 - 00:06:42:03 Speaker 1 And how busy was it when you went. 00:06:42:05 - 00:07:05:19 Speaker 2 To start off? It was really it was busy. Most there would be people throughout the stadium, in the grandstand, on the bends, back straight, and then slowly after time, more so when we came back the second time, it was mainly just the grandstand open and not quite so many people back, I think because we were at a lower division back then. 00:07:05:19 - 00:07:18:08 Speaker 2 So the riders there was a lot of like younger riders, and maybe those riders weren't quite so proficient that some people either decided not to return for that reason, or not quite sure really. 00:07:18:11 - 00:07:21:10 Speaker 1 I mean, there was a time when Wimbledon was the. 00:07:21:12 - 00:07:39:12 Speaker 2 At the peak was like when my mum and dad came, and actually I think my grandad used to come as well because he lived in Wandsworth. So that would have been the peak time, which was when it was, you know, really, really busy. But as I say, when we first started coming in the 70s, it was the stadium was fairly full. 00:07:39:17 - 00:07:45:21 Speaker 2 You wouldn't necessarily, if you came late, be able to get a nice spot or a spot that you liked. 00:07:45:23 - 00:07:52:11 Speaker 1 Okay. Can you tell us about any merchandise and programs that were available? 00:07:52:12 - 00:08:14:00 Speaker 2 Yeah, programs were always available normally on the gate on the way in. So we'd pick up our program because that's part of your speedway experience is to fill in your program so you know who's going to be like top scorers for the night and how the teams are going throughout the evening. Who's winning and everything? Other merchandise they did used to have bits and pieces. 00:08:14:00 - 00:08:42:20 Speaker 2 They had photos at that time that you could buy of the individual riders. There used to be somebody set up with that and rosettes. You obviously had your scarf. I had my wins and speedway scarf. They had hats, I think, and badges used to have different badges. I actually found a photo the other day of me with some of my Wimbledon badges, like I used to someone to my coat, so they were sort of the main things, did pens and things. 00:08:42:20 - 00:08:45:18 Speaker 2 But yeah, it was, it was good. 00:08:45:20 - 00:08:47:10 Speaker 1 Did you keep programs? 00:08:47:12 - 00:08:57:20 Speaker 2 No, my brother kept his for many, many years and my friend has some of hers as well. But now I think my mum threw them all out. 00:08:57:21 - 00:09:01:10 Speaker 1 Too many hamburgers. Was there any other food and drink available? 00:09:01:11 - 00:09:23:07 Speaker 2 It was mostly burgers and chips at that stage. Obviously drinks. You could buy soft drinks and they have beer. Bars were open in the back straight and in the main grandstand. So you could, you know, you could buy beer spirits if you wanted. Plus like soft drinks. 00:09:23:09 - 00:09:25:24 Speaker 1 Can you describe a typical race night? 00:09:26:01 - 00:09:47:23 Speaker 2 A typical a typical race night would be on queuing up outside, because you'd always have to queue up to go through the big old turn styles that were really heavy, coming in and having a walk around to see where we wanted to like sort of place ourself if anybody was in our place as such. 00:09:48:00 - 00:10:09:08 Speaker 2 Yeah, exactly. If anybody was in our spot then we'd probably settle down with our programs, have a look, see which we're going to probably be like the better races if we wanted to pop and get some food at some point, which race we might go to to go and line up that we didn't mind missing as much as the others? 00:10:09:10 - 00:10:26:05 Speaker 2 Yeah. And then just watching them come out to do the parade, and then going around on their, their practice lap and then going back and then just that's it. The racing starts and you're immersed. 00:10:26:07 - 00:10:27:10 Speaker 1 And you would you stay the. 00:10:27:10 - 00:10:47:14 Speaker 2 Whole, oh yeah. Yeah. I wouldn't miss any, wouldn't miss any. And sometimes they had second halves where they had junior riders ride in as well. So we'd often stay just to watch that to see, you know, who might be coming through or so. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely don't leave before the end okay. 00:10:47:16 - 00:10:54:11 Speaker 1 So we're going to ask some questions about being a fan. Can you tell us about any particular riders or teams you followed? 00:10:54:13 - 00:11:21:17 Speaker 2 Well, Wimbledon was my big team. We did have Hackney were riding at one point and they were like the other London team, so there was a bit of argy bargy between both of those. So you used to go, you used to go to Hackney Watch and Hackney and then Hackney used to come to us. Over the years Wimbledon was our dominant one, but we always tried to go if there were big meetings. 00:11:21:17 - 00:11:47:10 Speaker 2 So we'd been up to like places like Coventry and I traveled around to see like some other stadiums as well. I mean, Wimbledon was the ultimate when it came to stadiums. We had the best stadium of anywhere else, Eastbourne we went to, so we would go to other locations just to see what it was like there. And the tracks differed as well. 00:11:47:12 - 00:12:05:15 Speaker 2 Eastbourne was very small, Wimbledon wasn't huge, was bigger tracks. Coventry was a much bigger track. So like the riding experience is different when you go to these Oxford. I mean over the years I've been to lots of different places, but Wimbledon and my team. 00:12:05:17 - 00:12:10:04 Speaker 1 So are you following when you traveled, were you following the team rather than particular riders? 00:12:10:05 - 00:12:37:22 Speaker 2 It depends if it was individual. So if there were individual competitions, I might be following somebody. That was maybe one of our team members. Like with the Grand Prix, Todd Wiltshire was in the Grand Prix, was the Wimbledon rider. He was like one of my favorite riders down here. So, you know, traveled to watch him where we could in like the I think it was called the World Championship and World Championship then, not the Grand Prix, but that's what it is now. 00:12:37:23 - 00:13:03:16 Speaker 2 So I followed him there. Also went to Redding because he left us and went to Oxford. Not reading. I get those two confused and I was reading. He went to reading, so I obviously followed him there. If we didn't have a meet for a while, we would go over there and watch him ride there. So yeah, there was lots all different reasons to, you know, like riders have riders in mind. 00:13:03:19 - 00:13:27:21 Speaker 2 Barry Briggs, Santoni, Briggs rode for a while as well. We had a really bad accident and here actually. So he was like sort of one that you kept an eye out for. Yeah. And Bruce Pennell was the golden boy in the 80s. He was the Californian golden boy. So he was one that, you know, you might go off and watch as well if you knew he was riding. 00:13:27:23 - 00:13:29:17 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:13:29:19 - 00:13:33:15 Speaker 1 Can you tell us about the different teams in Wimbledon like juniors or novices. 00:13:33:17 - 00:14:08:16 Speaker 2 Yeah. They normally had as I said, they normally have after. It wasn't so much little ones back in the day. I think they did that at practice, practice tracks. But they used to be reserve like reserve races and things after the main meeting. So we would hang around to have a look and see, you know, some of them, some of our riders had younger brothers that were coming through, so they might ride and have a, you know, a ride around after the meeting had taken place. 00:14:08:16 - 00:14:20:02 Speaker 2 So we would like sort of stay and have a look at them, see if we thought, you know, they might come, come along and sort of be a champion or somebody that was winning races in the future. 00:14:20:04 - 00:14:23:15 Speaker 1 When you talk about little ones, do you mean how young were they doing it? 00:14:23:16 - 00:14:28:02 Speaker 2 Well, now you can see really, really little. 00:14:28:04 - 00:14:51:00 Speaker 2 Four. Yeah. Five, four, five. They start out on slightly different bikes, but they'll go around the speedway track and then you know, and of course now we have women racing as well. So yeah, which wasn't so much back in the day. But there are women now and they do. They were out in Latvia I think last year they had a competition out there. 00:14:51:00 - 00:15:13:09 Speaker 2 So yeah, it's developed. It has developed. Unfortunately we've lost a lot of locations where it was, you know, people we were riding, but it has developed in that way. Like you see a lot more juniors now. And you do see there's more women within speedway now. 00:15:13:11 - 00:15:17:12 Speaker 1 Okay. How accessible are the riders in terms of being able to talk to them. 00:15:17:13 - 00:15:47:11 Speaker 2 And well, you could you couldn't get to them before a meeting because obviously they were busy. They had to set their bikes up and everything. So they were all really, really busy. But then afterwards you used to be able to go and wait outside the pits in most places and then go through. And so I mean, they were all like sort of just off after the racing, like quite tired or whatever, but they'd all be by their bikes and you know, you could go up to them, have photos, get autographs. 00:15:47:12 - 00:15:52:19 Speaker 2 Yeah. Accessible. 00:15:52:21 - 00:15:59:13 Speaker 1 Amongst the what was the general graphic of the fans in terms of gender, split ethnicity, age, families? 00:15:59:13 - 00:16:26:24 Speaker 2 I think it was quite fair read to be fair. Sorry. I want to turn that down. It was quite varied. There were there was lots. It went from youngsters up to, you know, older people. As I say, we would go, I would have my son. That would probably be five at the time. I'd be there, my dad would be there, my grandparents would be there. 00:16:26:24 - 00:16:55:14 Speaker 2 So it, you know, it spanned everybody age wise. As I said, it was lots of girls that also went to the speedway. So and that's generally going back as well because as I say, my mom and my aunt used to go back in night, sort of the glory days as such when it was, you know, really big, my friends, I introduced my friends girlfriends to Speedway and they enjoyed it. 00:16:55:16 - 00:17:14:09 Speaker 2 So yeah, it was quite mixed. I would say the area back then was probably more white British. So that's sort of the demographic, you know, demographic that you got. 00:17:14:11 - 00:17:20:16 Speaker 1 The, the, you know, girls and women would go, did they have relationships with the riders? 00:17:20:17 - 00:17:29:13 Speaker 2 Not all of them. No. Some of them just enjoyed watching the race then and that sort of proving it now. The you know, the amount of women that are now racing as well. 00:17:29:13 - 00:17:32:17 Speaker 1 What I meant was did they chase the riders? 00:17:32:19 - 00:17:35:16 Speaker 2 Oh yeah. No no. 00:17:35:16 - 00:17:37:04 Speaker 1 Not yeah. 00:17:37:06 - 00:17:58:00 Speaker 2 There was a there was always, I think in sport going to be a groupie sort of element like type thing. Like I obviously had my, my favorite riders that I like them on the track. But also you know, they were quite nice looking, a lot of them because you had a lot of Aussies and Americans back in the day. 00:17:58:00 - 00:18:08:07 Speaker 2 So yeah. So yeah, there was that. But it wasn't huge. I wouldn't say it was huge, but yeah, they could probably take their pick from a few. 00:18:08:10 - 00:18:11:22 Speaker 1 Okay. 00:18:11:24 - 00:18:20:06 Speaker 1 To what? I mean, there were foreign riders, as you say, Australians and Canadian Americans and also Polish later on. 00:18:20:06 - 00:18:20:15 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:18:20:17 - 00:18:24:12 Speaker 1 The extent did foreign riders bring their own fans to Wimbledon? 00:18:24:13 - 00:18:52:21 Speaker 2 I don't know that back in the day they really did. I think people would obviously come over to see them because we did have big, you know, big named riders. Yes. Now she's now got a stadium out in Poland which is named after him. Obviously, we had Barry Briggs over here as well, so I think they did, but I wouldn't have said it was. 00:18:52:21 - 00:19:01:23 Speaker 2 It was huge. It would probably be if people were over here in the country, then they'd come if we had like an Aussie or, or American or Polish rider riding for us. 00:19:02:04 - 00:19:04:03 Speaker 1 Like Australians living here. 00:19:04:05 - 00:19:06:13 Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. Come to see them. 00:19:06:19 - 00:19:11:10 Speaker 1 Okay. Can you tell us about any rivalries with other teams? 00:19:11:13 - 00:19:39:05 Speaker 2 Yes. I say Hackney was a big one because that was the other London team. So that that could get a bit fraught sometimes. And then east. But when Hackney goes down, it was then Eastbourne. There were like sort of our, our other team not to maybe be so fond of but yeah I mean there was obviously rivalries, there was a league. 00:19:39:05 - 00:19:51:03 Speaker 2 So everybody, you know wanted to win. You wanted your team to be top. So yeah, there was certain rivalries, but it was there was never any real nastiness. It was more like banter. 00:19:51:05 - 00:19:56:17 Speaker 1 Okay. So how important was Wimbledon Speedway in your social life? 00:19:56:19 - 00:20:23:24 Speaker 2 Every, you know, Thursday or when it changed the day, whichever day it was? Yeah. Every week. Every week. And as I say, it was nice because speed by people tend to be quite nice, friendly, sociable people. So you could go on your own. And then when my obviously when I went with my dad and then obviously later on, I started to meet people as I started to branch out a bit more, you know, sort of moving around and moving away from him. 00:20:23:24 - 00:20:46:13 Speaker 2 So yeah, it made friends with like quite a few people. We used to actually one of the guys, Larry, that we used to, we got friendly with, he used to run a minibus, so if we were away, he'd run the minibus. And I sort of, however many of us could get in the minibus, we'd all get in the minibus and go off to matches. 00:20:46:14 - 00:20:57:24 Speaker 2 So yeah, it was it was really nice. It was really, really good. Made, you know, some good friends. And I've still got friends, Larry. Still a friend. I've still got like friends from speedway. Now. 00:20:58:01 - 00:21:07:03 Speaker 1 Can you tell us about relationships with other people in the Speedway community? I mean, in the pubs, the staff. 00:21:07:05 - 00:21:42:15 Speaker 2 Yeah, I didn't really. Yeah, I suppose I wouldn't have said that. I sort of had too much. You could meet the people that were doing the groundwork as well. And I actually ended up meeting and actually having as a boyfriend one of the staff that used to rate the track. So, yeah, I mean, everybody was accessible, but it's you just chatted and just made friends with whoever was around, really. 00:21:42:17 - 00:21:47:20 Speaker 1 Can you tell us about any fan clubs for particular riders or for the dogs? 00:21:47:22 - 00:22:14:19 Speaker 2 People did have fan clubs. I didn't really get to involved in all of that, to be fair. I would just because they would have like a wards at the end and they might, they'll have like a meeting, not a meeting, but a get together at the beginning of the season as well. But there were people that did run fan clubs for some of the more like sort of popular riders, but that wasn't really something I took part in as such. 00:22:14:21 - 00:22:19:17 Speaker 1 Can you tell us about your Wimbledon Speedway heroes are your favorites? 00:22:19:18 - 00:22:48:19 Speaker 2 My favorites, I say. Todd Wiltshire, who went on to win a championship. So yeah, Todd I loved, but I also loved like some of the, Roger Johns. He was a constant rider here for years and years and years. And you just loved Roger because he was, you know, he was the staple. He was like, almost like your backbone to the to the team because he'd been there for so long. 00:22:48:19 - 00:23:16:01 Speaker 2 So there was Roger. You had Stingray Morton, who was a very big personality. He. Yeah. So he did lots of crazy, crazy things. Stingray. Well, one time he took, they had to travel up to, I think it was Glasgow up in Scotland, and he actually took his mum and dad's couch from their front room, put it in the back of his land. 00:23:16:06 - 00:23:38:02 Speaker 2 He'd have a more comfortable ride up there. But yeah, there was lots of like different bits that went on in the back that I got to know about through my brother, because he when Scott came over and stayed with my mum and dad, he then went out and did some bike stuff with him. So yeah, he got to know if. 00:23:38:04 - 00:23:38:08 Speaker 1 He. 00:23:38:08 - 00:23:58:10 Speaker 2 Was Scott Humphries. No, he was another Australian rider that came over. So yeah, he stayed at my mum and dad's because what they'd do if they had riders come over, they didn't have anywhere to stay. They would ask supporters whether or not you had a room available. And my mum and dad did at that time because I wasn't living there. 00:23:58:10 - 00:24:15:18 Speaker 2 So he came over and stayed in my room and his bike was out the back of my mum and dad and my mum and dad's in the garden for that time. We were told Pauline and things over it. Yeah, and my brother used to go and like push him off and just help him like tinker with the bikes and things. 00:24:15:18 - 00:24:19:03 Speaker 2 So he went, he went around with him quite a bit. 00:24:19:04 - 00:24:22:04 Speaker 1 So was your brother quite involved with the mechanic? 00:24:22:05 - 00:24:44:03 Speaker 2 Yeah. He was, he was not so much mechanic. He wasn't a major mechanic. He knew a few bits and pieces, which he picked up from Scott, but he was there. Unfortunately, Scott wasn't a great writer, so he he would nearly come off most races, but it didn't last too long over here. So yeah, but yeah, they were good times. 00:24:44:03 - 00:24:46:08 Speaker 2 They were fun times. 00:24:46:10 - 00:24:53:19 Speaker 1 Okay. Can you tell us about a particularly memorable night at Wimbledon Speedway? 00:24:53:21 - 00:25:19:05 Speaker 2 I don't know, there's probably so many that I can't put one as a top one. I think probably my sadness was coming back to see it just before the stadium shut down. And seeing how undone, how run down it was. You couldn't use the grandstand anymore. You had to use the back straight, which was fine. That's where we, you know, tended to stand anyway. 00:25:19:06 - 00:25:47:17 Speaker 2 But it was just that was sad. It was nice to see the bikes go around again like one last time. And they had the stock car here as well that night. But it was just I think it was sad because knowing and remembering, like the glory days of Wimbledon Stadium, everybody wanted to come to Wimbledon. We'd get loads of away supporters because it was just the best stadium in the speedway at that point. 00:25:47:19 - 00:25:57:02 Speaker 2 Yeah, I think that's my saddest. That sort of stands out to me that then you sort of knew it was finished and there was no way back, which. 00:25:57:02 - 00:25:59:09 Speaker 1 Was 91 or 2005. 00:25:59:10 - 00:26:29:02 Speaker 2 That was right at the right at the end it. We'd shut already and then they just had one loss coming back together for the speedway and the stock cars one night. And that was sad. Yeah, I think so. Just before I shut it and they demolished it. Yeah, that was the saddest time. But I try not to remember that because they were just so many good times to be had, you know, and there was international meetings that we used to have here. 00:26:29:02 - 00:26:44:16 Speaker 2 So they were always really nice because there was a bit more involved in that. There might be a few, you know, fireworks that night and things like that. So yeah, I can't point to just one. It was just the whole thing was just a really good experience. 00:26:44:18 - 00:26:47:08 Speaker 1 And did your children stay interested? 00:26:47:10 - 00:27:08:10 Speaker 2 Yeah, my son, my son, my daughter, not so much, but my son, he still loves the speedway. He'll watch it with me. If he had time, he'd come to matches. He has been to Cardiff with me for a couple of like the Grand Prix in the last few years, and he actually bought his girlfriend as well the last time he went to Cardiff and she loved it. 00:27:08:11 - 00:27:23:00 Speaker 2 She, she would, she would, she would come to a Grand Prix. Definitely. But yeah, he's he's and unfortunately now his life so busy that he can't make it, but he still keeps an eye out for it all. 00:27:23:02 - 00:27:28:10 Speaker 1 Okay. Was there any other entertainment on speedway nights like music or. 00:27:28:14 - 00:27:55:00 Speaker 2 There was music going on in the stadium? I don't remember anything as as such. I think they used to do, we used to do like a draw thing that used to get announced, you know, during the meeting break, but I don't remember. I've got a feeling there might have been a couple of brass bands and things out on the circle a few times, and maybe some cheerleaders, but nothing, nothing major. 00:27:55:00 - 00:27:55:24 Speaker 2 It's such a. 00:27:56:00 - 00:27:57:19 Speaker 1 Before the show or the interval. 00:27:57:20 - 00:28:17:07 Speaker 2 I think that was in the intervals. But no, most, most. It's not really one of those sports where you get an awful lot of that going on. If it was an international, it would be a bit more. You might have fireworks, and then the fountain in the middle would be go in and bits and pieces like that. 00:28:17:07 - 00:28:23:14 Speaker 2 But yeah, it wasn't really one for you basically came to watch the speedway. 00:28:23:16 - 00:28:26:07 Speaker 1 So no one else has mentioned the fountain in the middle. 00:28:26:09 - 00:28:33:06 Speaker 2 Yeah, there used to be a fountain in the middle. In the middle green. Originally there used to be a fountain in the middle green. 00:28:33:06 - 00:28:34:11 Speaker 1 What was that like? 00:28:34:13 - 00:28:45:08 Speaker 2 That was well, it was there. They did. It didn't always have it on, but if they did it, it just sprayed up and it just made it look a bit nicer. Yeah. 00:28:45:10 - 00:28:51:01 Speaker 1 Okay. Did you ever do any traveling to away meetings or overseas? 00:28:51:03 - 00:29:19:17 Speaker 2 Yeah. So we would travel to as many well to meetings when we could. So we'd go down to Paul. As I said, I've been up to Coventry, I went, my dad put me in the hands of Larry that I mentioned one time, and I went off on my own to Gotham burg with like a group of us went off to watch World Championship over there one time. 00:29:19:19 - 00:29:49:23 Speaker 2 So we went. So my dad told him he had to look after me. So. So we went off there. I mean, since it's closed, I've been to Stockholm, I've been to Torun, I've been to Warsaw. Yeah. So get around a little bit to watch some speedway. And also Bellevue, which is the National stadium now. Been there before they started. 00:29:49:23 - 00:30:15:19 Speaker 2 The GP is there, but obviously now the GP. So there I went last year and the year before, Cardiff was a staple for me and my son and my dad to go to for the GP every year. Where else have I been? I've been all over the place. Sheffield. Yeah, Glasgow. I was at Glasgow a couple of weeks ago for the Benevolent Fund meeting. 00:30:15:21 - 00:30:23:00 Speaker 2 So yeah, been been around quite a few different stadiums. Oxford Reading when it was open. 00:30:23:06 - 00:30:26:20 Speaker 1 So you mentioned the fact that. 00:30:26:22 - 00:30:56:16 Speaker 2 It's for riders. So obviously the sport that speedway is there's an awful lot of injuries within the sport. So it's a benevolent fund where they it's a charity as such where you just they will have the meetings, the money will go into it, they'll go around race meets with a bucket for people to put money in their the ways be something around nearly always where you can sort of tap in and put some money in. 00:30:56:16 - 00:31:08:11 Speaker 2 So if anything happens to a rider and you know they're they're having a hard time, then the benevolent fund will pay out of their funds to help them out until they get back on their feet again. 00:31:08:12 - 00:31:15:09 Speaker 1 Okay. Thank you. And what was the goal of Speedway, along with other sports in the area like the Greyhounds? 00:31:15:11 - 00:31:42:04 Speaker 2 Yeah, well, the Greyhounds were here. There was stock car here and the speedway. So they were like the main staples. And then of course you had the football ground like 200 yards up the road. So I mean myself, we were brought up on the speedway and the football which fell pretty well as in timings of seasons, because as the football season finishes, the speedway season starts. 00:31:42:04 - 00:32:04:09 Speaker 2 So that always worked out really well for us as kids. Used to come to the stock car occasionally as well. I've been to dog a cup a couple of times, but it's not really something that interest me. But they were like this. This area was really the main growing up. You know, where any sporting things took part. 00:32:04:14 - 00:32:13:18 Speaker 1 Okay, we're going to have some questions about changes, you know. So how did Wilderness Speedway change over time? 00:32:13:20 - 00:32:44:07 Speaker 2 As I say, it was really popular when we started started first come here and then I don't I don't know why I still to this day don't really understand why it's become less popular, but like slowly, slowly the crowds got less and less. And then that's obviously when it closed for the first time. So without it, for that, that limp for time and then they managed to be able to start up again. 00:32:44:07 - 00:33:13:01 Speaker 2 So we came again. But it never really got the crowds again that we had originally, for whatever reason, I'm not sure. As I say, it might well be because we were in a lower division. So there was a, you know, stars of such racing here all the time. But yeah, it's slowly unfortunately, the demise of it came because the footfall wasn't there anymore. 00:33:13:03 - 00:33:23:23 Speaker 2 I don't quite understand why because I, you know, I enjoyed it. My kids enjoyed it. I'm not sure why that happened. 00:33:24:00 - 00:33:27:13 Speaker 1 How did the closure of women's speedway affect you? 00:33:27:15 - 00:33:53:18 Speaker 2 Well, it was sad. It meant I couldn't. On what? Speedway? No, it was really sad because I couldn't watch speedway like then. The nearest ones. Well, the one really we could only go to when it first closed was Eastbourne because that was at a weekend. So unless we could travel during the week to go to any of the other ground, the other meet places, we we couldn't get there. 00:33:53:18 - 00:34:17:07 Speaker 2 So yeah, it was, it was just really sad because obviously all those people, although you keep relationships with some, they're still like some people you just say hello to and things. And it was like that. That was all gone. That was all gone. Our, our speedway Aylesbury by team was gone. And it sort of it changed. It took a little while for me to get over it. 00:34:17:07 - 00:34:29:17 Speaker 2 As I say, we did go down to spawn and try to go to light other tracks, pool and things like that, but it's never quite the same as having your own team. 00:34:29:19 - 00:34:34:05 Speaker 1 How did it feel to go to the last time at Wimbledon? 00:34:34:07 - 00:35:00:04 Speaker 2 Really sad. Really, really sad because you knew there was no coming back? Probably this time, the first time you hoped and as I say, there was more footfall before. So you hoped that we would get back and people would come. But then at that point, you just knew there was going to be no way back after that. 00:35:00:06 - 00:35:32:13 Speaker 2 So, yeah, it was really upsetting because it was a huge part of my life. I'd been watching it for 20 odd years, probably. And, you know, you get close to it and even like the stadium becomes part of you because it becomes part of your makeup, you know? So the fact that I wouldn't be coming to the stadium anymore, I was losing seeing people that, you know, you you see, you get to know you're not majorly friends with, but like, acquaintance. 00:35:32:14 - 00:35:43:22 Speaker 2 Acquaintance, you know, you're chatting that probably weren't going to see them again. And also, I wasn't going to get to watch the sport that I loved. So yeah, it was a massively sad time. 00:35:43:24 - 00:35:48:14 Speaker 1 Okay. Is there anything else you'd like to tell us that we haven't yet covered? 00:35:48:16 - 00:35:58:02 Speaker 2 I think so, I don't think so. I think I probably bored you all with my my speedway stories by now, but yeah. 00:35:58:03 - 00:36:01:02 Speaker 1 We usually get other people on. Do you have any questions, Dave? 00:36:01:03 - 00:36:02:14 Speaker 3 I don't have any. No. 00:36:02:14 - 00:36:06:13 Speaker 4 I can I might have tease out a few things to answer towards England. 00:36:06:14 - 00:36:07:23 Speaker 1 Yeah okay. 00:36:08:00 - 00:36:22:01 Speaker 4 Do you know. So your mum and dad both grew up with speedway. Do you know sort of a tricky question. Was it did they kind of bond over speedway? Do you know when they met. Was that a kind of something that in their relationship at all or was it just right. 00:36:22:02 - 00:36:45:22 Speaker 2 Yeah. Mum and dad were both athletes. So they they sort of knew each other through athletics anyway. And that's how they met. And then I think they both then discovered that they both had this love for Speedway as well. Didn't realize that both of them had gone to speedway like separately. My mum had grown up on it, gone with her sister and her brother and things and my dad. 00:36:45:23 - 00:37:06:15 Speaker 2 My dad had gone on his own. So, yeah, I think, I mean, there's obviously a bond there because they both enjoyed the sport and I think, you know, you can't really understand it unless you're both into that thing. So I think, yeah, there was a bond. 00:37:06:16 - 00:37:18:04 Speaker 4 There is your own support then. I mean, I used to get when I was into football to get to shoot magazine and posters on. 00:37:18:08 - 00:37:19:07 Speaker 2 Yeah. 00:37:19:09 - 00:37:27:04 Speaker 4 I would follow play, you know, my team and the player. Can you just tell me a bit more about how any of that was there any of that for you? 00:37:27:06 - 00:37:47:12 Speaker 2 Yeah. You used to get the Speedway star every week so that you could see what was going on up and down the country if you hadn't already heard through a grapevine, because obviously, originally back in the day, we didn't have mobile phones and, and everything else telling us what was going on. So you'd get a speedway star every week. 00:37:47:14 - 00:37:57:08 Speaker 2 You'd look through your program when you came, came into a meeting to see what was going on. Yeah. 00:37:57:10 - 00:38:01:21 Speaker 4 Okay. Do you want to tell us anything more about any of your favorite riders? 00:38:01:22 - 00:38:04:23 Speaker 2 Oh. My favorite. Oh, I had lots of favorite riders. 00:38:04:24 - 00:38:11:07 Speaker 4 Just explain. Just a couple who stand out for you and what it was about than their riding. Or about the persona that you liked. 00:38:11:08 - 00:38:30:23 Speaker 2 Yeah, well, there was, as I say, there was Todd Wiltshire, who was like sort of my little heartthrob, I think, back in the day. So I did have photos and things of some of the riders up there alongside my footballers as well, in my bedroom. So Todd was up there, definitely. He was like sort of the golden Australian boy. 00:38:30:23 - 00:39:10:16 Speaker 2 So it was like, you know, he was fairly attractive. So, you know, he was always going to be a favorite. But also he was a really good rider and he was quite tall, which you don't get an awful lot of like tall riders. So sort of his style when he was riding and I liked that. As I say, Stingray was a big, big personality, so you couldn't help but like Stingray Rogers, I say he was like, sort of, I suppose, like my father figure as such, that I sort of looked up to that way because he'd been with the team so long. 00:39:10:18 - 00:39:38:01 Speaker 2 Yeah. Bruce Penhall, when Bruce Pennell came over from America, he, he was the big golden boy and obviously went on to win at Wembley, which we were as well when that happened. Yeah. So he was the golden boy. So you always sneaked you know had a photo of Bruce Boy up there. And I actually got to meet him last year in person, which was amazing. 00:39:38:03 - 00:40:05:14 Speaker 2 Had photo taken with him. So I now have my photo with him. It was a Speedway Awards evening up in, I can't remember it was now. Oh I speak by was meeting and there was quite a few different people there and he was actually there for the evening. He doesn't come across very often, so it was really nice to see him at a meeting. 00:40:05:14 - 00:40:34:14 Speaker 2 So of course I had to have a photo and tell him what a heartfelt he was to me back in the day, and he was on my wall. Yeah. But yeah. So that was good. And there was like Scotty Nichols as well. He, he was like the British poster boy, I suppose, as well. So used to like, sort of have a didn't have a photo of Scotty, but he was like one of my favorites and he was a very good rider as well. 00:40:34:14 - 00:40:44:17 Speaker 2 He was in a Grand Prix and that. So whenever he was in the Grand Prix, we supported Scotty if Todd wasn't there. 00:40:44:19 - 00:40:51:14 Speaker 4 Just a couple more about your time there? Were there? Did you where did you wear the colors? What did you wear when you went to when you were younger? 00:40:51:14 - 00:41:12:02 Speaker 2 Basically jeans. So it was a jeans trainers t shirt and I lots of people did where the jackets in that, but I just was plastered with my so on badges on my jacket, which I would so on I would see so on because they meant so much to me. 00:41:12:04 - 00:41:13:17 Speaker 4 The badges on. 00:41:13:19 - 00:41:31:00 Speaker 2 They were like some of them were photos of different riders. Some of them just had the Wimbledon emblem on it. Yeah. So it or there might be a certain meat that they've done a badge for. So yeah, they would just get sewn on my jacket. 00:41:31:04 - 00:41:47:09 Speaker 4 And were there any you know, we know in football those were the songs. Were there any chance or any, any anything that you'd sing or any way that you would that we've heard about the Wimbledon Royal, but is there anything that you do in particular chance wise? 00:41:47:11 - 00:42:05:11 Speaker 2 No, we had a we had an air horn. So that that's basically how we said well done was by letting the air horn off. So yeah, that was mainly ours. I don't think I really chanted that much, but then. 00:42:05:13 - 00:42:23:13 Speaker 4 And now just the last one for me. If anyone else has gotten after this, been up to date. So two things really related to that. One is around you talking about women writers now. So you follow women's racers as well as men's or does that houses that? 00:42:23:14 - 00:42:46:12 Speaker 2 I don't I don't myself. My brother follows that a bit now. And he did. There was a race meet that they did. And he also sponsored like one of the heats in that as well, but I don't I did meet a couple of them at the event that I went to last year. And yeah, I don't, I don't know how they do it. 00:42:46:13 - 00:43:05:12 Speaker 2 I mean, when I was younger, I would have loved to have had to go on a speedway bike. But obviously now being that bit older, I'm a bit more sensible. But I don't know. I don't know how they do it. I love to watch it, but I don't think I want to take part. 00:43:05:14 - 00:43:17:24 Speaker 4 Just because we were going to interview Jason. Do you just want to tell us a little bit about his just just tell Ingrid a little bit about him. Just give summary of his involvement, how he went with you and now what he does. 00:43:18:02 - 00:43:50:21 Speaker 2 Yeah, he my brother obviously started with us back in the day when my dad, me and my me and my brother and my dad used to go together. And then he slowly built up friendships over the years with people. And then when Scott Humphries came to stay with us, he obviously got to know people behind the scenes a bit more, and he used to travel a mechanic for him, and like push him off because pushed the bikes off. 00:43:50:23 - 00:44:13:10 Speaker 2 And so he got to know more people behind the scene where I'd turn up, go to my meetings, didn't really get involved too much. Apart from that, he got to know, like meet referees and like other people in different places because of that position that he had been able to go in the pits and meet up with people. 00:44:13:12 - 00:44:40:14 Speaker 2 And then over the years, he's just been a supporter of Speedway as well. But like recently, because he's met up through going back to speedway again with some people, they've sort of come and asked whether or not he's able to sponsor certain meets, or take or sponsor a heat, which is quite happy to do just because of his love for speedway. 00:44:40:14 - 00:44:47:15 Speaker 2 And he's in the position to be able to do that. He gave some money towards the. 00:44:47:17 - 00:45:16:12 Speaker 2 Ronnie Moore statue out the front as well that we have out the front of the stadium, so he's just happy to help when he can in any way that he can. As I say, the Benevolent Fund, he sponsored a race last year, and then he sponsored a race up in Glasgow this year. And also they do sell off sometimes the bibs that they wear after the meetings. 00:45:16:12 - 00:45:21:19 Speaker 2 So he's bought a few of those as well to help along. 00:45:21:21 - 00:45:25:01 Speaker 1 How much does it cost to sponsor a race or heat? 00:45:25:03 - 00:45:36:20 Speaker 2 A couple of a couple of hundred pounds. About 300 pounds to sponsor a heat is like 15 heats normally, so if you can, you know you it's about 300 pounds of race I think. 00:45:36:22 - 00:45:41:05 Speaker 1 And what sort of prizes do the riders get? I mean is it is there. 00:45:41:05 - 00:46:05:24 Speaker 2 Any money. It's not really very profitable sport at all, which I think a lot of riders now have gone over to Poland to ride, because in Poland it's more like football. Over here in Poland, the massive crowds, you know, that's where you go to see the chanting and everything. It's like being at a football match. 00:46:06:01 - 00:46:07:00 Speaker 1 And there's more money. 00:46:07:04 - 00:46:21:10 Speaker 2 Yeah, and there's more money for the riders. It's literally you go there where you see posters with our footballers here. You go out there and you'll see posters with their speedway riders, you know, advertising watches and things like that. 00:46:21:12 - 00:46:34:03 Speaker 4 Could you just just one more for me because how your your habits now. Obviously not. You haven't got Wimbledon to support. I mean what's your what keeps you in it and how do you go to matches. How do you decide who to go see or what to go see. 00:46:34:04 - 00:46:55:16 Speaker 2 Now I sort of getting harder now because like, I was going because I did know a lot of the riders back back then. Not personally, but you know, new of them where it's changed quite a lot and I can't go to I don't get to many meetings now. You sort of miss, I miss out and feel quite sad about that. 00:46:55:16 - 00:47:19:09 Speaker 2 I miss out on seeing like the new riders coming through and how who might be like a top rider for us in the future. So it's difficult, but you tend to follow your riders. I love I've always liked Jason Doyle and up till last year he was riding the Ipswich, so I would always try and get to an Ipswich match to see him ride. 00:47:19:11 - 00:47:44:19 Speaker 2 They also had MLC food and off ride in there, who I also liked as well as a rider. So yeah, I'd try and go where where I had an interest in a rider or it was a rider. I knew we'd try and go like Sheffield. They had the holder brothers there so and Taiwo for done his world champ as well. 00:47:44:19 - 00:48:05:12 Speaker 2 So it's yeah it was going to meetings where I knew of riders. But then obviously doing that you get to see other riders as well. So yeah it's just trying to keep in the thick of it really. I mean, I watch all the Grand Prix and I'm going to the Grand Prix again this year. It's a back to back Grand Prix. 00:48:05:12 - 00:48:25:00 Speaker 2 So there's two of them in Manchester. So I'll be going there in June to that again. So you get to see other riders coming through. Unfortunately this year a lot of riders have gone to Poland, so we're not the not as many big names over here this year. 00:48:25:02 - 00:48:26:06 Speaker 1 Okay, okay. 00:48:26:08 - 00:48:32:06 Speaker 4 Wonderful, wonderful. Have you talked about everything? 00:48:32:07 - 00:48:44:14 Speaker 2 Yeah, I think so. I could probably go on for years. I says it pops in your head isn't it. But no it was. Yeah, it was great times and very sad that it's in the state. It is at the moment. 00:48:44:16 - 00:48:53:07 Speaker 4 How about any. I mean England ask you about memorable race. Are there any stories of a race night that stand out. Because what's the story that comes into your head from? 00:48:53:09 - 00:48:56:15 Speaker 2 There's two, but they're not particularly nice things. 00:48:56:17 - 00:48:58:06 Speaker 1 Okay. 00:48:58:08 - 00:49:20:08 Speaker 2 The night that Rudy Marks, who also was one of my favorites, who I had on my wall as well, he was riding and there was an English, there was a rider called Steve Bastille, and he took him off on the fourth bend and he went into there was a metal post. They didn't have the airbags and things like that at that time. 00:49:20:08 - 00:49:45:22 Speaker 2 And there was a metal post there and he got he oh, he was ages in that. So I was that, that was horrible. Just waiting for them to try and get him out of the fence. Really awful. That will always stick in my mind seeing like being there, seeing that and just, you know, then he gets carted off and you don't know what state he is going to be in. 00:49:45:24 - 00:50:10:07 Speaker 2 But Steve's Bestival had a lot of beer thrown over him that night. He was. Yeah. The pit Ben loonies let him know from that day on. Is that what they thought of him every time he was here? So that was probably a big thing. And then Tony Briggs, Barry Briggs son, was riding and he came out the second bend and his bike, like, reared. 00:50:10:12 - 00:50:36:01 Speaker 2 And he literally flew like a ragdoll, like just around hit the top of, like, the safety fence and then just bounce back literally in front of us. And I was like, oh my God. He's got, you know, he's going to be dead or something. It's just Watts. And he got up and he walked away eventually, which was great. 00:50:36:01 - 00:50:58:03 Speaker 2 But those two massive things really stick in my mind of my time at Wimbledon. But as I said this, this so many, there's so many like the nights, you know, we used to have international meets here or whatever, that would always be like really exciting because you had people from all around the country. So they were like always like really good, good night's. 00:50:58:03 - 00:51:02:06 Speaker 2 You had to get it ready then. I've watched it loads of space. 00:51:02:08 - 00:51:14:13 Speaker 4 Was there an amazing moment, you know, like in football that you often football fans remember a particular goal or a save? Was there a particular moment in a race that. 00:51:14:18 - 00:51:36:00 Speaker 2 I don't know there so that I'm I'm not very good. My brother's a great one at remembering scorelines. Is that the who was in a race at a particular time on one on how they did it. I don't it all gets jumbled up with me, but I would just have to say there were so many good nights that I couldn't pick one out. 00:51:36:01 - 00:51:58:16 Speaker 2 There were so many good races that I watched that I just couldn't pick one out when we got A51, of course, that was that ultimate first and second. So you got five points and and the away team got one. The night that you get the most five to ones, that's that. That's the best night okay.