High Beech Speedway

This is where it all began in Britain

Fred Ralph (Coventry Eagle) Leading Ivor Creek (Norton)

Can anyone name the riders? John

High Beech Pits,  The crowd lining both sides of the track had to be dangerous and I am surprised that they allowed it back in 1928.

At High Beech at the first ever meeting Billy Galloway, left shows off the first steel shoe, actually a steel toe cap on the boot of rider Keith McKay.

Unknown rider (Ariel) Billy Galloway (Douglas) crashes
Norman Jacobs says: While looking at the High Beech page of your defunct tracks site, I see you have a photograph captioned, "Unknown rider (Ariel) Billy Galloway (Douglas) crashes".
The "unknown" rider is Reg Pointer.

Courtesy of John Chaplin

Courtesy of John Chaplin
High Beech 1928 This picture shows Billy Galloway taking a tumble, again on the first day

High Beech 1928 The fifth picture shows turn four at High Beech but I have no idea who the rider is

Johnnie Hoskins (left) and Jack Hill-Bailey at High Beech in 1929
 

Courtesy Ted Hearn

Dicky Bird, did he jump or was he pushed! We get a good look at his AJS which is nothing more than a stripped down Roadster, the bike has front and rear brakes which would have been disconnected for speedway

Courtesy of Ted Hearns

It appears that early machines suffered a bit from the extremes of Dirt Track racing

Courtesy of Niall Strudwick
1931 issue of Speedway News, The cover shows the crowd at King's Oak Speedway

Courtesy of Niall Strudwick
1931: King's Oak captain Syd Edmonds

Courtesy Ted Hearn

Norman Jacob's father Ikey Jacobs inspecting what was left of the track in 1960, This was the starting line

Young Norman, leg trailing at High Beech

High Beech Team?

Courtesy of FORMBYFALLS

Can you advise me on this photo.  Looks like a  HB team mounted on Rudges or early JAPs  John

High Beech Now

The back straight reclaimed by mother nature

The fourth bend

Home Straight Terracing

Thanks go to Norman Jacobs for supplying his photographs shown above.  They were taken in 2007

If you can scan any pictures, programmes or badges send me an email John