News and Updates
Future Policy
The Speedway Researcher magazine which can be viewed on the Speedway Researcher web site was set up by Graham Fraser and Jim Henry to promote research into the history of Speedway and Dirt Track Racing. It was intended to help those with an interest in any aspect of the sport and its history to make others aware of what their interests and to encourage others who had similar interests to work together. It provided a vehicle whereby researchers could advise others of what they were doing and make others aware of what they were looking for.
The magazine published articles on a wide range of topics related to speedway and dirt track racing.
The web site came along a good while after the magazine, the idea of the late Ron McNeil who gave us the idea of using this medium to provide a platform for sharing information about speedway meetings held in the UK from 1928 to date. At first the site was funded by income generated by the magazine but since the magazine closed down the funds have become nearly exhausted and it is now largely privately funded. The costs are dictated by the amount space taken to host the information and are currently not unreasonable. The next step up, is, however, a significant leap.
Taking this into account the space available has to be prioritised. The first priority is to ensure the base source of information, meeting details, are fully provided for.
For the foregoing reasons we are going to decline to carry any additional items which are compilations of information drawn from our meeting details. However, in a bid to facilitate networking we intend to continue for the time-
April 4
No new files this time around but some lovely updates. Graham and Les have been chipping away at the early years, some updates from Steve Wilkes and some great information from marked programmes.
Updates
1928 -
1929 -
1930 -
1932 -
1938 -
1946 -
1959 -
1966 -
1971 -
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1976 -
1980 -
1981 -
April 18
Great news to see Oxford back in the sport and league racing return to Iwade, despite the loss of Central Park, Kent. All this is overshadowed this week by the tragic passing of Nigel Pearson. I was really shocked to hear the news and I am sure I speak for all the users of this site when I offer my sincere condolences to Nigel’s family and friends.
New this week is the season results file for 1932 and there are some great updates, particularly for Preston -
New File
1932 -
Updates
1928 -
1929 -
1930 -
1932 -
1937 -
1946 -
1949 -
1959 -
1967 -
1970 -
May 6
The fixture list for 1932 is now on the site and there are the usual batch of updates. Many thanks to Ian Moore for helping out with the Ipswich and West Ham information.
One of the many reasons I love doing the site, it that the most unlikely information crops up from time to time. In the 1928 High Beech file we had a rider called P. Stansfield, who was also programmed as S. Stansfield, but we knew nothing about him. Out of the blue came a contact from the granddaughter of Percy Stanfield, providing us with the correct details of the her grandfather and enabling us to fill in another tiny piece in the history of the sport.
New Files
1932 -
Updates
1928 -
1929 -
1930 -
1932 -
1936 -
1937 -
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1946 -
1947 -
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1950 -
1951 -
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May 19
No new files this week, but the usual pile of updates with thanks to Graham Gleave, Joe Wake, Mark Aspinell, Steve Wilkes and Gary Done -
Sad news reached us recently of the passing of Glynn Shailes who was a great friend of the site and was a great source of information for tracks like Oxford and Swindon. He was a lovely chap and I really enjoyed my phone calls with him although I never got the chance to meet him in person. The speedway world will be poorer without him.
Updates
1928 -
1929 -
1930 -
1935 -
1936 -
1937 -
1938 -
1939 -
1940 -
1948 -
1950 -
1963 -
1978 -
1982 -