Defunct Speedway Tracks
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Defunct Speedway Tracks |
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Middlesbrough Speedway Middlesbrough has had only one home Cleveland Park, Stockton Road, Middlesbrough which operated off and on between 1928 and 1996.
Middlesbrough's opening meeting 23rd August 1928 which means Middlesbrough introduced speedway to the North East of England, rivals Newcastle did not get underway until 1929. Local Butcher, Fred Creasor won the first ever race at Cleveland Park in a time of 95.00 seconds and received £5.00 for doing so. Fred was also a member of the Middlesbrough Motorcycle Football Team.
JACK ORMSTON. 1909-2007 Jack Ormston has died at the age of 97. Born on October 30th 1909 at West Cornforth, County Durham, he was the son of a wealthy farming family. After leaving school in 1926 he bought his first motorcycle and began grass track racing in the Middlesbrough area. He became a member of Middlesbrough Motor Club in 1929. Jack turned his hand to speedway and was a member of the very first Middlesbrough speedway team in 1929.The Middlesbrough team for that very first league meeting was, Charlie Barrett (captain), Jack Ormston, Frank Harrison, Alec Hill, Charlie Sanderson and Norman Evans. Jack had also been appearing at North East tracks Gosforth and Whitley Bay where he ended up receiving £100 appearance money and £40 a match race. Jack soon moved on to Wembley after being recommended by Wembley rider Harry Whitfield who in 1928 was the Cleveland Park champion. In these early days of speedway Wembley had a large contingent of riders from the Middlesbrough area including, Harry Whitfield, Charlie Barrett, Norman Evans, Cliff Parkinson and Bert Fairweather. Jack was a success, being top of the Wembley averages in 1929 and 1930. He was so successful and with earnings of £15,000 a year, (The average wage at this time was £200 a year!) he owned a two-seater Tiger Moth aeroplane and bought himself a Bugatti car. (His hobby was flying and he twice competed in the famous Kings Cup air race.) In 1929 Jack was one of the first English riders to ride in Australia. It was in 1930 Jack represented England in the first ever Speedway test series against Australia. It was in this year that Jack won the London Riders Championship at Crystal Palace. Jack was made Wembley captain in 1932 and it was a very successful season for Wembley, winning the National League, the National Trophy and the London Cup. Jack didn’t ride in the 1933 season as he was attending to the family butchers business. He returned to speedway in 1934 riding for Hall Green (Birmingham). Hall Green was not a success and closed at the end of the season. 1935 would find Jack riding for Harringay who were managed by Tom Bradbury Pratt*. Jack rode for Harringay for four years .It was during this period Jack was runner up to Frank Charles in the “Star” Championship (the forerunner of the World Championship). In 1936 Jack appeared in the first official World Championship scoring 8 points and in 1938 he was reserve in the World Championship scoring 5 points from 2 rides. He took 2 of Frank Vareys rides. (*Bradbury Pratt ran open meetings at Middlesbrough in 1936-37-38 until his untimely death in December 1938 at the age of 39. Jack appeared as a Middlesbrough rider in some of these meetings, such as Middlesbrough v The Australians. Middlesbrough v The Americans. The North v USA, Australia & Canada. The North v The World.) Jack retired from Speedway in September 1938 and moved to a farm near Richmond in Yorkshire. He married in 1940. He was then to become a successful racehorse trainer before retiring in 1976.He went to live in Spain for a decade before returning to live near Darlington where he spent the remainder of his life… Died June 22nd 2007. Jacks Wembley statistics. National League averages Matches Rides Points CMA 1929 7 19 53. 11.16 1930 23 69 173.5 10.06 1931 34 100 207. 8.28 1932 14 42 56. 6.57. National Trophy matches 1931 8 32 71 8.86 1932 16 48 86 7.71
Norman Evans, Charlie Barrett and Jack Ormston. Practice day at Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough May 15th 1929.
Jack Ormston at Wembley
Jack Ormston in Harringay colours
Jack Ormston 1970
Middlesbrough Bears 1946 L to R
Wilf Plant, Geoff Godwin, Jack Gordon (on bike), Fred "Kid" Curtis, Jack
Hodgson, Len Tupling, Frank Hodgson...and.........I think..???....Alec
Peel.
Trevor Peel says: It is Alec Peel at RHS
.
Another 1946 photo
L to R
Wilf Plant, Jack Gordon, Fred "Kid" Curtis, Len Tupling,
Geoff Godwin,
Frank Hodgson, Eddie "Crusty" Pye, Jack Hodgson.
Will Lowther in the red and white bands of 1939 Middlesbrough MIDDLESBROUGH SPEEDWAY. 1928-199CLEVELAND PARK STADIUM.
Cleveland Park Stadium was opened as a greyhound stadium in May 1928, but it was in was on Thursday August 23rd 1928 that dirt track racing began after Johnnie Hoskins constructed a track. Some of the local riders who appeared in that very first meeting were, Harry Whitfield, Charlie Barrett, Charlie Sanderson, Alec Peel, Ron Carling, Fred and Walter Creasor and Phil Blake. After the first season of open meetings Middlesbrough joined the English Dirt track league for 1929. The teams competing alongside Middlesbrough in this league were, Barnsley, (who have the distinction of holding the first ever league meeting in Britain, losing 26-36 to Leeds), Belle Vue, Bolton, Burnley, Halifax, Hanley, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Preston, Rochdale, Salford, Sheffield, Warrington and White City (Manchester). Among the riders who appeared for Middlesbrough were, Charlie Barrett, Jack Ormston, Norman Evans, James “Indian” Allen, Frank Harrison, (who also called himself “Yank” Harrison), Alec Hill, Dick Bailey, Alec Peel, Eddie Crenston, Ron Carling, Jack “Broncho” Dixon, Dan Buck, Billy Blincoe, R.C.Pick, W. Brown, E. Johnston, G. Bower, Arthur Moore and Charlie “Tiger” Sanderson.1929 was a year of recession and teams had to close down. The league ended in somewhat of a farce with teams withdrawing from the league during the season and their results expunged. This meant Middlesbrough finished second from bottom in the final league placing having won 6 and lost 13 of their league meetings. Middlesbrough reverted to open meetings for seasons 1930-31 and then closed down until opening again in 1936 for more open meetings. These open meetings were such as Middlesbrough v The Australians, Middlesbrough v The Americans, and The North v The World. Local riders such as Jack Ormston, Cliff Parkinson, Jack Dixon, Harry Whitfield, Norman Evans, Frank Hodgson and Gordon Byers were some who appeared in the Middlesbrough colours (White with Union Jack). After several years of the open meetings run by promoter Tom Bradbury Pratt who died at a very early age in December 1938, Middlesbrough were to join the National League Division 2 for the 1939 season under the guidance of promoter Vic Wealand. It was Vic who gave the Middlesbrough team the nickname of the Bears for Middlesbrough’s ill-fated season of 1939 that was cut short by poor attendances. The Bears colours in the 1939 season were Red and White horizontal stripes. The first man ever to captain a Bears team was Yorkshireman George Greenwood. George had appeared at Cleveland Park in 1929 riding for the Leeds team. George who became England’s first ever test captain was with Wembley in 1930-1932 and 1934-1937.He also rode for Nottingham and Hackney Wick before joining the Bears. Other riders who rode in 1939 for the Bears, who were a very successful team despite the low crowds were, Phil Bishop, Wilf Plant, Will Lowther, Jack Hyland, Bob Wells, Aub Lawson, Geoff Godwin, Jack Tidbury, Tommy Bateman, Alec Peel, and Fred Belliveau. Teams taking part in the league were, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Hackney Wick, Sheffield, Norwich, Bristol, Crystal Palace, and Stoke. Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace withdrew from the league after 8 and 10 league matches respectively and their records expunged. Stoke also withdrew after 8 meetings and their fixtures were taken over by Belle Vue Reserves. Middlesbrough once more re-opened on Sept 25th 1945. Four open meetings were held. In 1946 Middlesbrough were Northern League champions fielding a strong team including Frank and Jack Hodgson, Wilf Plant, Fred “Kid” Curtis and Geof Godwin. 1947 would see Middlesbrough as National League division 2 champions, fielding very much the same team as 1946 with the addition of Herby King. In 1948 it was deemed Middlesbrough were too strong a team and this was keeping spectators away! Kid Curtis left for West Ham; Wilf Plant was sold to Fleetwood. The Bears finished 3rd in the league and surprisingly closed at the end of the season. Other riders who appeared for Middlesbrough during this era were, Jack Gordon, Eddie “Crusty” Pye, Len Tupling, Tip Mills, Doug Mclachlan, Sam Marsland, Alec Peel, Benny King, Derek Close, *Billy Wilson, George Farmer, Joe Arthur, Dick Tolley. *Billy Wilson lost his life in a track accident at Norwich on July 3rd 1948. In the 1950’s Middlesbrough Motor Club ran seven Speedway meetings of a kind at Cleveland Park. One in 1953, three in 1954 and three in 1955. According to the Speedway Star (March 25th 1961) the track operated on an A.C.U. centre permit as a grass track and all competitors were members of the club. Machines had brakes fitted but the riders never bothered to use them. It was the nearest they could get to speedway under the conditions of the permit. Among those who rode in these open meetings were Jack Hodgson, Peter Lloyd, Jack Watts, Fred Fewsdale, Norman Johnson, Bob Fox and Bill Dale. 1961, and the Cleveland Park gates opened once again when Middlesbrough joined the Provincial League. They were to run for four seasons before withdrawing from the league. Among the riders who appeared for the Bears in that very popular period were, Wal Morton, Geof Pymar, Eric Boothroyd, Don Wilkinson (on loan from Newcastle), Eric Boocock, Dave Younghusband, Brian McKeown, Clive Hitch, John Fitzpatrick, Tommy Roper, Vic Lonsdale, Rick France, Freddie Greenwell, Bluey Scott, Alan Butterfield, Slant Payling, and Ray Day. 1965 would see three open meetings only at Cleveland Park. In 1966 Eric Boothroyd promoted a series of open meetings, but these were not too successful and once again Middlesbrough closed. 1968 and Middlesbrough bounced back as the Teessiders under Ron Wilson in the newly formed British League Division 2 and Teessiders Graham Plant (son of 1940’s Bears star Wilf Plant) won the second division riders championship. This was the start of an unbroken run until the end of the 1996 season when Cleveland Park was sold for re-development by the owners to the neighbouring Macmillan College. During this period Middlesbrough had several name changes. Teessiders, Middlesbrough Tigers and then reverting back to Middlesbrough Bears. Highlight of this long period was the winning of the League Championship in 1981.Other highlights were Steve Wilcock and Mark Courtney winning the National League pairs in 1980, The National Fours Championship in 1985 and Paul Bentley won the Second Division riders championship in 1994. In 1985 the main grandstand was destroyed in a fire and was never replaced. Attendances gradually dropped from that instance until the closure. The last meeting at Cleveland Park took place on September 19th 1996. The Bears defeated Bradford. The last race winner at Cleveland Park was Bradford’s Bobby Ott with Bears captain Shane Parker 2nd. Among the notable riders of this period was Steve Wilcock who is known as Mr Middlesbrough speedway with the most appearances for the team and Gary Havelock who went on to become World champion. It was five years from the closure of Cleveland Park before redevelopment actually started to take place.
Norman "Pansy" Evans MIDDLESBROUGH SPEEDWAY 1928-1929 Born in 1904, Norman Evans was from Middlesbrough. Norman was one of the pioneers of speedway in the North East. He began his speedway career at Cleveland Park, Middlesbrough in 1928. A member of the 1929 Middlesbrough league team, he was to become captain when Charlie Barrett left for Wembley. Middlesbrough's season ended early as they withdrew from the league because of declining attendances. 1930 found Norman also with Wembley and it was in that year he won the Wembley supporters trophy. It was at Wembley where Johnnie Hoskins liked to give his riders a nickname and he named Norman, “Pansy”. This was to remain with Norman throughout his career, as was his other trademark of always wearing a beret! Norman was with Wembley 1930-1933 and also 1935. He also rode for New Cross, Harringay and Wimbledon. After world war two Norman could be found at Newcastle where he was captain of the Diamonds 1946-47-48. Along with most of the Newcastle team Norman moved up to Glasgow Ashfield for the 1949 season. Middlesbrough had closed at the end of the 1948 season and most of the Middlesbrough team, Frank and Jack Hodgson included moved to Brough Park, Newcastle, where they became the Magpies! Normans career was ended at Glasgow after a track accident in which he badly broke his leg. A very dapper chap, Norman often attended at Cleveland Park up until his death
Dapper until the end, Norman (no Pansy) Evans at Cleveland Park
L to R
Maurice Morley, Eric Boothroyd, Don Wilkinson, Rick France, Vic
Lonsdale, Tommy Roper, Geoff Pymar, (on bike), Freddie
Greenwell. (kneeling). This must have been taken after a few weeks
into the season,( if my memory hasn't gone completely.) Wal Morton was
captain, but broke his leg in the first heat of the opening
meeting!!!. I seem to remember that Wal Morton and Geoff Pymar were or
nearing 50 years of age!
Eric Boothroyd riding for England at what looks like Old Meadowbank. Eric is aided here by Overall wearing Dave Younghusband Teesside v Nelson
1960's Reg Fearman, Dave Younghusband, Ray Day, Eric Boocock, Bluey Scott, Alan Butterfield, Clive Hitch, Slant Payling with Sabrina, she's the one in the dress.
1963: M'Boro Speedway Battle of Britain Trophy Eric Boothroyd Wayne Briggs Reg Fearman
1963 Middlesbrough team, interesting front forks on this bike?
I say rear: Alan Butterfield, Eric Boocock, Dave Younghusband, keeling
at right hand side Slant Payling. That makes three I cannot name,
please help John
Wal Morton
Middlesbrough 1963
Eric Boocock 1964
Johnny Fitzpatrick
Ray Day
Brian McKeown 1962/63
2 pictures of Cleveland Park, taken by Phil Small
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Copyright
© 2005 John Skinner. All rights reserved.
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