Meeting Old Speedway Friends

We arrived in Valcros on Sunday evening 25 February after 14 weeks away.   We had a week in Henley either side of our 3 months' tour.   There was plenty of mail etc: to catch up on there and even more here.  We have breezed through it and the fact that it has been between 20c and 25c I am sure helped.    Our first stop was Singapore for three nights where we did a tour of the island and visited what was Changi Japanese PoW prison.   We had been recommended to visit Sentosa Island which we did and where we went up in the corkscrew lift to the top of the tower from where there were magnificent views over Singapore.   A highlight there was a visit to Raffles for a Singapore Gin Sling followed by afternoon tea, which was a meal in itself!!  

We had a marvellous trip catching up with a lot of ex riders, most of whom raced for me, at Halifax, Reading, Long Eaton / Leicester and other tracks.    Mick McKeon put on a BBQ for Eileen and me at Perth.   Among those who came were John Berry, Bob Humphries, George Craig, Chum Taylor, Chris Bailey, Colin McKee, Craig Pendlebury, Con Migro, Mick Moores, Mick's brother and Sheila Biggs.  Most of the boys had their wives with them.   Colin and Trish took us to Kwinana Speedway which is all different disciplines of car racing.   Although it has a small track in the centre of the arena, unfortunately no solos race there any more.    Last year, Ron Johnson was voted by the West Australian public their most successful sportsman ever.   To this effect, a plaque was presented to former Clarermont and Kwinana Speedway Promoter, Con Migro.    I was proud to be asked to place this on Ron's grave in Karrakatta Cemetery which I did on behalf of all Speedway fans.   Whilst there, I also visited my mentor's grave, that of Aub Lawson.  

In Adelaide John Boulger arranged a reunion in a very nice fish restaurant.  About 20 including wives were invited - Geoff Mudge, Charlie Monk, Malcolm McKay, Dennis Gavros, the Admuson brothers, Dene Davies and Brian Elliott.   They all looked in good shape and Charlie was very talkative and even let me take his photo!!! 

Ray Cresp who captained Long Eaton met us in Melbourne and had us stay with him and his wife, Marion.   Our first visit was to Melton outside Melbourne to see an old friend who raced a bit at Stoke in the ' 50s - Albert (Chinny) Mitchell who is being looked after in a nursing home.   His wife, Winnie, is in an adjacent annexe.    He recognised me and we had a good chat about the old days.    Ray then took us to Phillip Island to see the 12 inch tall Penguins come ashore at dusk.   There were about a thousand of them.   They waddle up the beach and make for their burrows.   God only knows how they know which burrow belongs to who.    He also took us to the Superbikes race circuit and to a Koala reserve. 

In Adelaide John and Jackie Boulger took us to Mount Lofty which gave beautiful views all over the City.   They also took us out to the wine growing country in the Barossa Valley.    We had a tour of one vineyard, Seppelts, which specialises in Port.   They have one hundred year old at £1000 per bottle which started coming on stream a few years ago. We were allowed to sniff it in a very small bottle but no tasting. We bought a bottle of 20 year old and drank that in Sydney over the Christmas and New Year period. On New Years Eve we booked dinner on a Harbour cruise boat and saw the Harbour Bridge firework display at midnight on the water, a truly magnificent spectacle.  A couple of days before New Year, we hosted a drinks party at the Manly Pacific Hotel.  We were pleased to see Peter White, Howard Cole, Allan and Colin Quinn, Jim Shepherd, Peter Speerin, Jack Helbeck and Lionel Benson some with their wives in attendance.   So many of the boys have moved out of Sydney and so many have passed on.   Jim and Judith Shepherd very kindly invited us for a traditional Christmas dinner at their home - roast turkey and all the trimmings plus Christmas pud.    They were perfect hosts to their 16 guests.   Allan Quinn kindly gave us a tour of some of the places we had not been to before in the Sydney area finishing up for a nice lunch at the famous Doyle's Restaurant at Watsons' Bay.   We appreciated so very much him meeting us at Sydney Airport and taking us to our hotel in Manly as well as doing the trip in reverse order when it was time for us to leave for NZ. 

The 80th Birthday lunch on 3 December for my old pal Jackie Gates which I hosted on the Gold Coast was a huge success.   It was kept as a secret and surprise for over eight months of organising from France.    All the invited turned up before 12.30 pm and were in place for Jack's entrance accompanied by Bluey and Ann Scott.  He just couldn't believe it, I had spoken to him on the phone just two weeks before from Henley.   We have some wonderful photos of the event. The Album of This Is Your Life contained 150 photos and a few write-ups of his career.   He wondered how I managed to get them ----- the web and e-mails are a wonderful thing.   A 'Thank You' page was included from those who had contributed.    Thirty-Six of us including wives sat down for lunch, 2.30pm to 6. 30 pm, including Ivan Mauger, Nigel Boocock, Jack's old team mate from Wembley Eric Williams, John Titman, Bill Goode (former promoter at the Ekka), Bert Kingston, Martin Rogers, Ian Hoskins who flew over from New Zealand, Bill Bryden, Allan Quinn, Kevin Torpie, Greg Kentwell, Beau Guest, Bluey Scott who helped in the organising, Bob Sharpe and Jim Shepherd.    It gave Eileen and me as much pleasure organising the event over the eight months as it did Jack being on the receiving end and we were most appreciative of the support from all those invited.     Later in the week, Greg Kentwell gave us a tour up the coast to Sanctuary Cove where the seriously rich people live.    

After New Year we moved on to N.Z. for three weeks flying into Christchurch where we met up with Ronnie Moore, his mum and Geoff and Val Mardon.    Val put on a super dinner for the six of us.   Geoff is still restoring old motorbikes and like Johnno, playing a lot of golf.   We drove down to Dunedin and met up with the ex-Belle Vue hard man Ron Johnston and his wife, Josie.    Also in Dunedin we met up with Eileen's godson who is an orthopaedic surgeon on a one-year contract from the UK.   We did some of the places we had not been to before and then drove up to the North Island calling in on the way to Ian Hoskins in Waitara.   Bob Andrews put on a reception for us at the Auckland Returned Soldiers Club.   Another 20 ex-speedway riders turned up, some I raced against and some who raced for me.   Among those were Tommy and Chris Sweetman, Roy Trigg, Rim Malskatis, Norm Ward, Bill Mudgway, Colin Tucker, Bob McFarlane, Bob Duckworth and Bob's son, Robert.    Some of the wives came along too.    

We had over 5 weeks in OZ and managed to do Darwin, Kakadu, Katherine, Alice and Ayers Rock.   We visited the Flying Doctor station --- the original  -- and also the learning by wireless and computer for the children who live on cattle stations 300/ 400 kms away.  We learned much including the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese in 1941 where over 250 people were killed in the bombings.  We saw the Crocs and many Eagles and other birds. Ayres Rock and the Olgas are a bit spooky especially at dawn or dusk.  In NZ we went up to the Bay Of Islands, which is very beautiful, and where Cpt: Cook sheltered then landed. We went to the most northern part where the Tasman sea meets the Pacific Ocean and on to 90 mile beach, the coach specially adapted drove along it for about 40 miles ---- the tide was out. The sand dunes were as high as a mountain and the coach drivers had on board snow / sand boards many climbed to the top and boarded down.   We also spent some time in the Waitangi Treaty House where the Treaty between the British and the Maoris was signed in 1840.  

In Honolulu, we stayed at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider on Waikiki beach.   Terrific.   The year round temperature is 27c. We went out to the Arizona Memorial and Museum at Pearl Harbour which was quite emotional.    2500 were killed there in just a few hours by the surpise Japanese attack and almost the whole U S fleet sunk.    From there to San Francisco.   We love that city and walked miles to various places including some we had visited before.     Pier 39 is always a great attraction.    We hired a car and drove a 1000 miles up the coast road to Seattle taking in Fort Bragg, Eureka and Florence passing through the Redwood Forests.   It is hard to believe that some of the trees are 2500 years old.   In some of the towns much of their early 1800s houses survive, mostly in timber - I think Redwood  and very Victorian.  As we neared Seattle the weather changed and I think we saw the sun once in ten days, it mostly rained. The object was to meet up with Eileen's cousin and family which was a great success.  We took a two day trip from Seattle to Vancouver Island on the Catamaran, a 70 mile trip in 2 and a 1/2 hours. The only package we could get was the Romantic Overnight package which consisted of a half bottle of bubbly each with breakfast on the Cat, a bottle of bubbly in the room, a Rose Petal bed turn down at 8 pm. When we got back to the room after dinner the bed was turned down with rose petals scattered over the pillows and sheets, the radio turned on and romantic music playing, a tray at the bottom of the bed with herb teas, two white dressing gowns and white slippers to match and aroma candles. The next morning breakfast was served in the room with smoked salmon, poached eggs and lots lots more.  We had a good laugh.  We did a coach tour and also spent a few hours in the museum which has the history in themes which is similar to the Viking museum in York. 

We are indebted to Colin and Trish McKee, Bluey and Ann Scott, John and Jackie Boulger, Ray and Marion Cresp, and Bob and Lynda Andrews who shared their homes with us and turned on the hospitality, we thank them all so much. 

It was a wonderful trip and wonderful to meet up with so many old friends and colleagues.     

Reg Fearman

March 2007