New Cross

New Cross Stadium, Hornshay Street, Old Kent Road, London. Operated between 1934-1963.

Top 1962 New Cross, also showing the old Millwall football ground. Below 2006 New Cross and the reason why they will be no more speedway on this site. Hard to believe what 44 years can do. Tree lines now replace the rail lines, and houses over the old Millwall football ground.

SPEEDWAY racing ‘down the Old Kent Road’ in south east London is just a long distant memory.

New Cross Stadium is now parkland. But for thousands of ‘Wednesday nighters’, great names like Ron Johnson, George Newton, Jack Milne and Tommy Farndon still roared round the 262-yard speedway, one of the smallest tracks to built in Britain.

Speedway racing came to New Cross Stadium as backing for greyhound racing, and it proved an ‘ideal sporing marriage’ to help the arena pay its way.

The bikes roared into action at New Cross on April 18, 1934, when promoter Fred Mockford moved the Crystal Palace team into the new stadium at Hornshay Street, just off the Old Kent Road. New Cross beat West Ham 32-21 in a National League match before 15,000 fans.

That same year, Mockford also introduced the starting gate. Harry Shepherd and his mechanic Alf Smith played a big part in the development which replaced flag starting.

Shepherd had good local connections. For years he was a partner in a building firm at Loampit Vale, Lewisham, with team-mate Triss Sharp. Another local was Joe Francis, like Shepherd and Sharp, a pioneer member of the New Cross Rangers. He was a motorcycle dealer at Eltham, less than 10 miles from the track.

Australian rider Ron Johnson, who lost the tops of two fingers on his right hand at Crystal Palace when he bent down to adjust a clip on his bike’s primary chain, was one of the top men until well into the 1940s.

And losing parts of the hand did not worry the old-timers. American ace Jack Milne lost his right thumb in a track accident in 1937, and while in hospital practiced a new-style throttle control on his hospital bed rail.

He came out and carried on the season in brilliant form, ending the season as world champion. He took the crown from the Australian rider Lionel van Praag, who was then with Wembley.

Ten years later, after the closedown of the 1939-45 World War Two years for speedway, Praag rode for New Cross in the 1947 season. A qualified pilot, he served with the Australian air force in the war and was awarded the British Empire Medal. He rescued one of his crew from the shark-infested Tinor Sea after their plane had been shot down by a Japanese fighter.

The big pre-war hero was Tommy Farndon, hailed as England’s best rider at the time, an opinion still endorsed by many today.

Farndon was the only rider to die after an accident at New Cross. It happene in 1935, during an unimportant second-half race, after Farndon had raced unbeaten in the preceding league match. Farndon’s machine locked with close rival Ron Johnson’s bike as they went in to the pits bend. He was thrown in to the safety fence and taken unconcious to the Miller General Hospital at Greenwich.

Crowds waited for days outside the hospital for news of Farndon’s condition, and when it was announced that he had died, many fell to their knees, crying in an guish. For years after that, Farndon’s memory was kept alive by a trophy named after him,

Farndon was one of many English riders at the track who gained international honours. Another was the wildly spectacular George Newton who, like Farndon, was a legtrailer.

Newton’s best pre-war season was 1938, when he set a track record of 58 seconds that stood for 10 years. But, at the end of 1938, Newton was forced to retire because of a lung infection.

In 1948, Newton made a come-back, minus one lung. His first meeting proved a disaster, He fell in all five races, twice on the starting gate. But he persisted and by mid-season was hitting big scores until he was rushed to hospital with peritonitis. In 1949, he came back for a few meetings, then went into the Second Division and rode until the end of 1953.

The 1938 season was New Cross’ best pre-war effort, when they won the National League First Division title by five points from West Ham. Ten years later they had their only other season as champions when they finished two points ahead of a Vic Duggan-inspired Harringay.

Like most tracks, New Cross closed in September 1939 when World War Two started, and were among the first to reopen in 1945. They ran a series of open meetings before the league started in 1946.

Ron Johnson, Geoff Pymar, Les Wotton and Eric French were the backbone of the 1946 team. They also had a South African, Keith Harvey, who at 50 years was the oldest rider in the sport.

From nearby Lee Green, the local element was supplied by garage mechanic Mick Mitchell, who broke into speedway in 1939 when Crystal Palace reopned in the secon division.

Then, in 1947, amidst much publicity New Cross signed the Australian ‘White Ghost’ Ken le Breton, so called because of his white leathers. He didn’t stay long at New Cross, going to second division Newcastle with a £1,000 cheque in an exchange deal that brought Jeff Lloyd into the Rangers’ orange and black race jacket.

There was a roar of laughter when le Breton stepped on to the New Cross centre green to be introduced, a week before making his debut for the club. He was nattily dressed in a pin-stripe suit, a bowler hat and carried a neatly rolled umbrella.

Le Breton was then the sport’s supreme showman and developed riding ability to match it. But for an untimely race track crash in Sydney, Australia, in January 1951 which cost him his life, he would probably have been a world champion.

New Cross were famous for their brotherhoods. Pre-war, George Newton was joined by his brother Ernie, and Tommy Farndon’s brother Sid also tried his hand. And pre-war Australian rider Clem Mitchell’s brother Lindsay also raced at New Cross in the 1950s.

Ray and Derek Ellis were two post-war brothers who raced for New Cross, but the most famous brotherhood of the lot was a trio - the first in the sport to race for the same club ib Cyril, Bert and Bob Roger. All rode for England and became world finalists,

Another with local associations was Ron Johnson’s post-war protege Ray Moore, who joined the track as a novice after demob from the RAF in 1946. By 1948, Moore was an England international. His slump in form coincided with a loss of form by Johnson, who was never the same rider after fracturing his skull in a crash at Wimbledon in 1949.

For years after his retirement in 1954, Moore ran a car sales business in Albany Road, Peckham, next door to the famous ‘boxing’ pub the Thomas A’Becket where Moore was a ‘regular.’ He turned to car racing after a fleeting 1959 speedway return for Johnnie Hoskins at New Cross. He was killed in a car racing accident at Aintree in 1963.

Speedway flourished for many years, and the track was also the scene for many international events. The decline in spectator interest came with the sport’s change of surface for tracks from deep cinders to slick shale. The spectacular legtrail style of riding vanished, riders went foot-forward, and race results became more predictable.

The end of speedway in a big way at New Cross came on June 10, 1953, when Freddie Mockford withdrew them from the National League. In their last match, they drew 42-42 against Bradford.

Johnnie Hoskins, the veteran promoter who was reputed to have ‘started it all’ at West Maitland, Australia, in 1923, later promoted for a couple of seasons, but even he could not pull back the crowds. Hoskins’ first New Cross promotion was on August 19, 1959.

Hoskins relinquished his interest at the end of 1961. Speedway was back on April 12, 1963, when promoter Wally Mawdsley entered the team in the Provincial League, but they folded in mid-season. The last match was on August 2 when visiting Poole won 41-37.

Stock cars came in 1954, the first ever British meeting was on Good Friday, April 16. After three weeks they moved to Harringay. There was a brief late 1960s revival.

Greyhound racing had a longer life at New Cross. It started in 1933 and continued until 1969. Then the Greyhound Racing Association switched its attention to nearby Catford.

Eventually, Lewisham Council bought the land from the owners British Rail. In March, 1974, the demolition men moved in and knocked down the stadium prior to laying parkland. It signalled the end of an era that for more than 40 years had been very much a part of life for south Londoners.

Who is the New Cross Rider John
Mike Kemp says: New Cross rider is Jeff Lloyd

This fine badge with 5 year bars belonged to Montague Joy who is sadly no longer with us. Monty was a keen fan in the 1940's

Views of New Cross taken by my friend Phil Small speedway ceased in 1963 and the stadium closed down in 1969

1934 Team: Harry Shepherd, Roy Dook, Stan Greatorex, George Newton, Joe Francis, Tom Farndon, Fred Mockford, Ron Johnson and Nobby Key

1934: L to R Nobby Key, Tom Fardon, Ron Johnson, Fred Mockford manager, Harry Shepherd, Stan Greatorex, Roy Dook)

Send me an email if you can name this rider John
Hi John,
The 'unknown' New Cross rider on your 'defunct tracks' site is in fact my late mothers favourite: George Newton. The photo is also on the front cover of Norman Jacobs book 'Out of the Frying Pan' the story of New Cross Speedway.
Regards,
Jim
Thanks Jim, I have seen a couple of photo's of George and both show him to have been very spectacular. Here are the other 2 photos of George:

This has to be one of the best action shots you are ever likely to see! I am becoming a George Newton fan without seeing him race

Alan says: Dear John, Many thanks for your e-mail. I am attaching the picture of George Newton (see above), which, I am sorry to say, is the only surviving picture from my days as a fan/reporter. This particular card was with me through my days as a national service soldier in Trieste (1949-51) so it's not in bad condition considering all things. Incidentally, my time in Trieste was spent with the Forces Broadcasting Service and included doing commentaries on a couple of speedway meetings at the San Sabba (Italy) stadium where one of the stars was a German rider called Fritz Dirtl. He did appear briefly in the UK and was last seen at Harringay where he and his bike performed involuntary cartwheels down the back straight. My abiding memory of George Newton is a night at New Cross in 1951 when, having been a reserve during a match against West Ham, he won the reserves' scratch race and qualified for the first heat of the Millwall scratch race winning that, too, he qualified for the final which after a lap or so became a two-man race between Eric Chitty and George. Eric, the archetypal white liner, defended his lead until George, with the left end of his handlebars almost in the dirt, overtook him at the pit bend on the inside! The place nearly exploded. Sorry to ramble on, but at my age Memory Lane is such a seductive place. Thank you again for your website. With best wishes, Alan Goldsmith.

Hi Alan, This website is the ideal place for trips down memory lane. Your memories of George and the San Sabba stadium are very welcome. I have heard of San Sabba as a Nazi prisoner of war camp but didn't realise that after the war speedway took place there. fascinating stuff.
As I have already said, I am too young to have seen George Newton race but from the action shots of him that I have seen he must have been great to watch John

Bill Killick says: I was a Fan up until the time I went into National Service 1951...which brings me to Alan Goldsmith...I was stationed in Trieste,but must have just missed him...I was at Betfor Signals Donadoni, with Trans and Rec at Rossetti Barracks. I used to have the British Broadcasting on and the American Forces Network all through the long nights at Rossetti. Tell him thanks for all the pleasure that they gave us as we eased our way through our Service. Oh and I also worked at New Cross dogs in the 60's as an Electrician. Dogs and Stock cars. I was there when we won the World Cup so 66 it must have been. Miss the Speedway though, Boy all those Cinders and Castrol R..and Singing Marching Along together, as the St Johns men and women marched out lol Great days...Had a Gas rattle early on and a Black and orange scarf.... thanks for the memories ..Geoff Pymar had the widest handlebars I have ever seen lol Bill Killick

Update: I have had a look at the England team needing details. I am afraid I don't know the year but I know all but two of the riders, viz; Back row - Unknown, Dent Oliver, Unknown, Tommy Price; Front row - Split Waterman, Alec Statham, Jack Parker and Norman Parker. I am sure many others knew this but it's a start
Cheers Dave Beecroft
Update: Col Greenwell says: Could that be Jeff Lloyd next to Tommy Price.?....The suit looks like Alec Jackson.
Update: John Hyam says: The test team photo is 1948 at New Cross: first unknown rider is Ray
Moore, the other further along the line is Jeff Lloyd.

Enjoying looking at the defunct Teams. The New Cross team is Manager? then Jimmy Gooch, Eric Williams, Leo McCauliffe, Reg Luckhust, Barry Briggs, Tommy Sweetman, Bobby Croombs, And Johnnie Hoskins.

Regards
Bob Andrew
Hi John.

Looking at your excellent site set me to digging out the old programmes I have from the brief period (1959-1961) when I watched speedway at New Cross. And, according to the programme, the man in the suit on the left in the 1960 team picture is Stan Hinckley (co-promoter). I guess the programme writers should know, though I wouldn't put anything past Johnnie Hoskins!
Best wishes,
John Edwards