Post War - Newcastle Riders
1945 to 1951 - Part 3
Jeff Lloyd Herby King Don Lawson Son Mitchell Will Lowther Wilf Jay Tommy Bateman Derek Close
Picture Courtesy of Colin Greenwell
This is 1946 and Brough is full to the rafters. Jeff Lloyd poses for this shot which shows the "pudding basin" helmet. Open faced helmets like this one were in use right up until the 1970's when full faced ones became a must. My first helmet was exactly like this one and I bought it in 1968. They offered no protection to the face as only goggles and a leather mask or silk scarf were used to "protect" the rider. Face protection by mask or scarf was only protection from the weather. Many riders must have suffered bad injuries due to a lack of protection to the jaw.
Jeff's bike is not well displayed in this picture but it appears to be a JAP engine in an Excelsior frame. The grandstand in view was on the back straight and it was an excellent spacious place to view from. Sadly it fell into serious neglect from the 1980's onwards and has recently been demolished. Brough Park now has viewing from the home straight only, so god knows how we would house a crowd the size of those attracted in the 1940's.
Courtesy of Gordon Heiniger
Jeff Lloyd in New Cross colours
Courtesy of Gordon Heiniger
Leo Lungo
Barry Wallace says: Leo Lungo was a Scot who rode in the
1946 Newcastle team - featured in the first programme of 2009 - but sadly he
died during the winter of 1946/47 after falling ill with pneumonia.
Thanks Barry, your knowledge is second to none
Don Lawson
Newcastle Diamonds / Ashfield Giants
Courtesy of Norman McNamee
Newcastle side which was transferred by Johnnie Hoskins to Glasgow Ashfield in 1949, Newcastle then imported Middlesbrough's team
This is Son Mitchell another of the ex Middlesborough riders who came to Brough when the Boro's license and assets were transferred to Newcastle for the 1949 season. As he is wearing a diamond and not the Magpies "N" it appears to be from a year other than 1949, my guess would be 1950? Tell me if I am wrong!
Eric Watson has been in touch about the above picture he says: -
Answer : Well the picture could have been taken 1950 or even 1951 as the Jacket was used in both of these years. Likewise Son Mitchell rode for Newcastle in both years. So you can safely annotate it "Newcastle 1950-51"
Thanks Eric
Benny King leading Alec Grant and Don Lawson
Picture Courtesy of Colin Greenwell
This is Jack Hodgson ex Middlesborough rider who came to Brough when the Boro's license and assets were transferred to Newcastle for the 1949 season. Jack was one of a few Brothers double acts that the team has had in their colours. The Creasors, The Hodgsons and the Owens spring to mind. Anyone know any other Brothers who rode together for Newcastle?
Picture Courtesy of Colin Greenwell
This is Jacks brother Frank Hodgson signing something in 1950 ish or was he just marking up his programme?
Well it appears he was signing his Newcastle contract? The witness was the Newcastle promoter Harry Whitfield who also rode pre-war, here's a shot of Harry (below), in his younger riding days at Wembley, Gordon Byers told me that Harry was a rider who should have won more races than he did. But riding for the Wembley Lions must have been lucrative as Gordon says he often picked up 50 quid for a nights work when the weekly wage back home in the Naval Yard back on Tyneside was about £2.10/- in them days
Wembley stadium was often packed for speedway matches then and both Gordon and Harry were riding in front of 70 or 80,000 crowds: - My last visit to Wembley was way back in 1975 for a world final won by ex-Diamond Ole Olsen. It was a full house then and I remember being carried along without my feet touching the ground by the crowd on the way out!
Anyway this page is supposed to be post war so enough of Harry and Wembley. Back to humble Brough Park.
Picture Courtesy of Colin Greenwell
Frank Hodgson riding in the 1949 Newcastle race jacket. Look at the face mask! was he a fan of Al Jolson I wonder?
Thank you Colin for these pictures all of which are of Newcastle riders with a Middlesbrough connection. Let's hope your team gets back on track somewhere on Tees-side real soon.
Update speedway is back on Tees-side The bear roars again under the name Redcar Bears.
Eric Watson has supplied an additional pen picture for Will see below:-
WILL LOWTHER. Born Gateshead 1913. A man of many tracks, Lowther started riding on grass at Tyneside and got his first ride on cinders at Bristol in 1934. He was afterwards identified with Harringay , New Cross, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Wimbledon, where in 1936 an injury to his spine almost threatened to end his career. He was Captain of Glasgow ‘Lions’ (yes Lions not Tigers) in 1939 and immediately prior to the War rode for Middlesbrough. Then after the War he re-joined Glasgow as Captain again and was their top points scorer in 1946 with 172 pts. In 1947 he got 253 League points (an average of 10. 4), and in 1948 totalled 403 pts for a % of 62. 3. In 1949 he scored 247 pts. In 1950 he moved to Newcastle and scored 134. 5 points. He moved to Motherwell in 1951 scoring a total of 120 pts and in 1952 a total of 166 pts. After that he must have retired as there no more information on him at all.
Thanks Eric
Wilf Jay and Derek Close in the N racejackets, what imagination whomever it was that decided to dispense with the diamond in favour of it had. Although It looked ok on a pair of novelty ear rings! pictured below.
A great sight Wilf at full speed
Norman Evans and Wilf Jay
Courtesy of Gordon Heiniger
Wilf Jay
This is Tommy with Derek Close
Tommy posing at an unknown venue
Newcastle 1948
Courtesy of Barry Stephenson
1949 Earrings
Norwich v Newcastle. Norwich's Paddy Mills leads the Hodgson brothers
Son Mitchell
Wilf Jay leading from Ern Brecknell with what appear to be visiting Stars
John
Update: Dave Train says the visitors with the small stars
were Stoke Potters, can anyone name the Stoke riders and put a year on this
picture.
Split Waterman Wembley with Newcastle's Derek Close
Ern Brecknell 1951
1950
Derek in action.
1950 Derek Close with Tommy Bateman
Newcastle closed at the end of the 1951 season and did not re-open until Promoter, Mike Parker came along in 1961. So the 1950's more or less passed by without any speedway on Tyneside. Can anyone tell us the reasons why? as the crowds were bigger in them days than they are now. So why was Newcastle a speedway free zone for most of the 1950's?
Update: the possible reason for the absence of speedway during the 1950's may have been due to the government introducing an "entertainment tax"? Can anyone confirm that this is why there was no speedway in Newcastle for 9 years?
QUERIES ON THE NEWCASTLE WEB SITE
Question :
Was the Entertainment Tax the reason for no Speedway at Newcastle for 9 years (from 1952 to 1960) ?
1. To answer this I should like to give you my background experience to show that I have some sort of answer for you. I first saw Speedway at the age of 12 in 1947, in my home town of Southampton, at Charlie Knott’s Banister Court Stadium, just two years after the War and with Food Rationing still in force. After 6 years (1939-1945) of Cinema entertainment, Speedway Racing was a ‘God’ send, with its ‘Thrills & Spills’ and the smell of Castrol R oil fumes. For 3 years up to 1950 we revelled in this fantastic new sport. But in 1950 it all changed, yes the Entertainment Tax of 45% in the £1, was to be a MAJOR contributory factor in Speedway’s decline for the next 10 years until 1960 when it was abolished. The Tax caused Gate Prices to almost double overnight – bringing a rapid fall in attendances, with the consequential closure of 24 Tracks between 1951 and 1958. Four Tracks closed down forever, 14 more didn’t re-open again until after 1960 when the Tax was stopped.
2. However it wasn’t entirely due to the Tax, the British Isles had a new form of entertainment to counter the sport of Speedway, in the form of Television and where previously TV sets had been very expensive and beyond the means of the working man, they were suddenly available to everyone to rent from Radio Rentals, for a reasonable weekly fee. So every one was viewing the new media in the comfort of their own homes. Another thing that didn’t help the lost Gate attendances, was that Petrol (rationed all through the War & for several years after the War) became de-rationed in May 1950, so allowing Families to use their Car again to travel long journeys all over the Country and on Holiday.
3. At Newcastle the distress signals came all season and it was only the sensational riding of newly discovered Star Rider Derek Close that kept them in business. The 3rd New Management in as many seasons, were constantly demanding bigger crowds by July 1950, to be viable. Rumours of closure in August 1950 were denied – but they did sell popular veteran rider Frank Hodgson to Glasgow-White City.
4. It was much the same in 1951 and Roy Dook was appointed as Team Manager. But the Team performance was so bad, that Roy put his leathers back on and started riding again. But the Speedway was virtually dead in Tyneside and any hope of revival went with the Transfer of Derek Close to Motherwell. Even with Close the Team performances were bad, with only Derek Close, Son Mitchell & Don Wilkinson escaping any criticism.
5. A further nail in the coffin was that the Government increased the Entertainment Tax from 45% in the £1 to 52% in the £1, arguing that it was classified as a sport of speed rather than of skill. Needless to say Newcastle finished bottom of the 2nd Division National League table with only 15 points from 30 matches, winning 7 with 1 draw and 22 losses. They had 1039 Match points for them and 1472 Match points against them. This was so sad for a quality side like them. They were (when at their best) an excitating Team to watch and rode very well against Southampton ‘Saints’ at Banister Court (a Match I saw) in 1950 although ‘Saints’ won 53-31, the ‘Diamonds got their revenge back at Brough Park beating Southampton 46-38. In those days (at Southampton) the League Matches were over 14 Heats, with 6 Main Riders and 2 Reserves per side. Then a 2nd half of 6 to 7 Heats of Scratch Races, with 2 Heats always dedicated to Juniors/Novice Riders.
6. I know this is no consolation but in 1951 Southampton closed down a lot earlier than your Newcastle did. ‘Saints’ only rode for 7 meetings before closure. Although we were lucky as we re-opened the following year in 1952 in a lower Division in the newly formed Southern League. We had 3 seasoned Riders plus a lot of Juniors & Novices in our side, which of course kept the cost of wages down, and running Speedway in a lower Division was also cheaper. I was amazed that we didn’t fail in that return year. But we developed a lot of good Riders that got better with each season. We lasted until our final closure in 1963. The Stadium plus Ice Rink Arena (with the Southampton ‘Vikings’ Ice Hockey Team) all closed down with site being sold for Housing Development. The closure was so unexpected because the year before in 1962, the ‘Saints’ had just won the National League Championship Title, with top Riders such as Barry Briggs, Bjorn Knutsson, Peter Vandenberg plus strong support riders Alby Golden, Cyril Roger and Dick Bradley. Sadly Southampton has now been without Speedway Racing, Ice Skating & Ice Hockey for 46 years. If I want to see Speedway now I have to travel to Poole in Dorset or Swindon in Wiltshire.
7. As to why you didn’t have Speedway in Newcastle for 9 years (1952-1960) I don’t know. I have given you the cause for closure (Tax & TV viewing) so I can only assume that because of the crippling Tax 52% most of the prospective Promoters, couldn’t persuade their Financial backers to open their purse strings and take a chance on the situation getting better – which of course it did in 1960, and by 1961 you were back in business. I sure the Council would have supported any application to run Speedway again as would have the Speedway Control Board Authorities. Because after all the Brough Park Stadium was still there, intact and ready to go. As the re-opening in 1997 by Promoters George English & Dave Rowlands proved when they opened up on behalf of ‘Newspeed Ltd’.
8. I hope this throws some light on the topic for you, and allows you to put some snippets into the Web site to show why Newcastle was without Speedway for so long.
Best Regards,
Eric Watson
The list on the next page shows details of the Tracks that closed & re-opened
TRACKS THAT CLOSED BETWEEN 1951 AND 1958
1951 - Closures
SOUTHAMPTON – then re-opened again in 1952 in lower Division Southern League
SHEFFIELD – closed for 9 years & re-opened in 1960
1952 - Closures
WALTHAMSTOW – closed and never opened again.
HALIFAX – closed for 13 years and re-opened in 1965
FLEETWOOD – closed and never opened again.
NEWCASTLE – closed for 9 years & re-opened in 1961
1953 - Closures
NEW CROSS – closed for 7 years & re-opened in 1960
ALDERSHOT – closed for 4 years & re-opened in 1957
ASHFIELD GLASGOW - – closed for 47 years & re-opened in 2000
1954 - Closures
EDINBURGH– closed for 6 years & re-opened in 1960
PLYMOUTH– closed for 5 years & re-opened in 1959
GLASGOW WHITE CITY– closed for 10 years & re-opened in 1964
WOLVERHAMPTON– closed for 7 years & re-opened in 1961
1955 - Closures
BRISTOL– closed for 4 years & re-opened in 1959
WEYMOUTH– closed for 8 years & re-opened in 1964
RINGWOOD – closed and never opened again.
HARRINGAY – closed and never opened again.
1956 - Closures
EXETER– closed for 1 year & re-opened in 1958
WEST HAM– closed for 8 years & re-opened in 1964
1957 - Closures
BRADFORD ODSAL– closed for 2 years & re-opened in 1960
BIRMINGHAM– closed for 13 years & re-opened in 1971
POOLE– closed for 1 year & re-opened in 1958
WEMBLEY– closed for 13 years & re-opened in 1970
1958 - Closures
RAYLEIGH– closed for 2 years & re-opened in 1960
In 1959 the health of the sport began to improve and it looked like Speedway was coming out of its depression. Then in 1960 with the foundation of the Provincial League things looked a lot better, especially when the dreaded Entertainment Tax was abolished. But in its 10 years duration it did untold damage to the progress and development of SPEEDWAY.
Of the 24 Tracks that closed due to the TAX & TV Media 4 of them never opened again, and 14 didn’t open again until 1960 when the Tax went, or even later like ASHFIELD GLASGOW who closed in 1953 and then took 47 years to come back again in 2000.
Thanks go to Eric Watson for supplying his views on the decline and rebirth of many speedways including Newcastle.
A 1951 programme. closure at the end of this season and a long wait until the 1961 reopening
Newcastle 1951
The modern era next 1960's and that man Ivan Mauger!