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Ron Johnson (speedway Rider)
Ron Johnson (Born Ronald Johnston) (24 February 1907 Duntocher, ScotlandBamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway – The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. – 4 February 1983) was a speedway rider who won the London Riders' Championship in 1945 (unattached) and in 1946 whilst with the New Cross Rangers. Career Johnson emigrated to Australia with his parents when he was just a child. He started racing at the Claremont Speedway in Perth, Western Australia in 1927 (the same year the venue first held racing), before his travelling to the UK with promoter Johnnie Hoskins in 1928 to start a career with Crystal Palace. Johnson initially struggled on British tracks that were half the size of the ones he was used to (the Claremont Showground, which doubled as the speedway, was some in length, while other Australian tracks of the day, usually showground tracks, ranged from to in length).Morgan, Tom (1947) ''The People Speedway Guide'', Odhams Press, p. 76Storey, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal Palace Glaziers
Crystal Palace Glaziers were a British speedway team that existed from 1928 to 1939. History They first competed in the Southern League in 1929 and were based at Crystal Palace Exhibition Grounds, Sydenham, South London. The continued to compete in the Southern League until it changed to the National League in 1932 and won the London Cup in 1931, beating Wembley in the final. At the end of the 1933 season the team relocated to New Cross. Crystal Palace open meetings were staged at various times in subsequent years until the Glaziers returned for the 1939 Speedway National League Division Two. However the team withdrew mid-season and had their records expunged. The last speedway meeting at Crystal Palace was on Sunday, 13 May 1940 but did not involve the Glaziers. Notable riders * Tom Farndon * Joe Francis * Roger Frogley * Ron Johnson * Nobby Key Walter Charles Key known as Nobby Key (1906–1941) was an international speedway rider from England. Speedway career Key ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claude Rye
Arthur Claude Rye known as Claude Rye (1908–1988) was an international speedway rider from England. Speedway career Rye came to prominence in 1929 after gaining a two year contract with Preston (speedway) and then joined Wimbledon Dons in 1931. In 1933, he broke a leg in his first Test appearance for England. He became the captain of Wimbledon and finished second in the league averages during the 1933 Speedway National League. He competed in the 1934 Star Riders' Championship and went on to represent England against the United States and Australia. Personal life Rye was the Managing Director of one of Britain's largest ball bearing firms and became a Freeman of the City of London. Film appearance The speedway scenes from the 1933 film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at Hackney Wick Stadium and featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time including Rye, Colin Watson, Arthur Warwick, Gus Kuhn, Tom Farndon and Ron Johnson. Players cigarette cards Rye is l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wimbledon Dons
The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in London'', The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They were closed during the Second World War but upon their reopening in 1946 there were 42,000 people in attendance with an estimated 10,000 more locked outside. The club were very successful at the highest level of British speedway during the 1950s and 1960s, and attracted numerous famous riders. Having been defunct for eleven years, the team was reopened again in 2002 by Steve Ribbons & David Croucher in the Conference League but were forced to close in 2005, with Ian Perkin, Dingle Brown & Perry Attwood being joint owners of the club, when the stadium owners insisted on dramatically increasing the rent paid by the team to the stadium.. Honours National League Champions: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 National Trophy Winners ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Riders' Championship
The Star Riders' Championship was the forerunner of the Speedway World Championship and was inaugurated in 1929. The competition was sponsored by ''The Star ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...'', which was a London evening newspaper at that time. For the first year it was split into two sections, Britain and Overseas, as it was felt that the Australians and Americans were too strong for the British riders.Bamford, R. & Stallworthy, D. (2003) ''Speedway - The Pre War Years'', Stroud: Tempus Publishing. The format changed over the years until by 1935 it was run in the 16 riders 20-heat formula that was to become the recognised formula for the World Championship and most other individual events until the advent of the Grand Prix in 1995. When the World Championship was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Farndon
Tom Farndon (11 September 1910 – 30 August 1935), was a British speedway rider who won the Star Riders' Championship in 1933 whilst with the Crystal Palace Glaziers. Career Born in Coventry, Farndon started his career at the Lythalls Lane track in Foleshill and later rode for the club based at Brandon Stadium, before a spell with the Crystal Palace Glaziers. He moved to New Cross Lambs with Palace promoter Fred Mockford in 1934. Farndon was the British Individual Match Race Champion and was undefeated from 1934 until his death in 1935. Film appearance The speedway scenes from the 1933 film Britannia of Billingsgate were shot at Hackney Wick Stadium and featured some of the leading riders in Britain at the time including Farndon, Colin Watson, Arthur Warwick, Gus Kuhn, Claude Rye and Ron Johnson. Death Tom Farndon was killed after a crash on 28 August 1935 whilst racing at the New Cross Stadium in a second half scratch race final. He was involved in a collision with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gus Kuhn
Gus Kuhn (17 October 1898 – 30 August 1966) was a successful British TT and motorcycle speedway rider during the 1920s and 1930s. He was born in Birmingham, England, and served in the Royal Naval Air Service in World War I. Speedway Kuhn captained the Stamford Bridge team to victory in the 1929 Southern League Championship, and after Stamford Bridge closed in 1932, he spent nearly five years racing for the Wimbledon Dons. In 1937 he moved to the Wembley Lions and then Lea Bridge Speedway Team in 1938, where he was captain. He retired from speedway in 1939 after a season with the Southampton Saints. "A wily master of track-craft, a brilliant mechanic, a darned hard man to get past (and not only because of his portly figure), and above all a thorough sportsman and a jolly good fellow". - Speedway News 16 May 1936 Kuhn made his first appearance for England during the first international test match against Australia (1930) and went on to have a number of international app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Warwick
Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more widely believed, is that the name is derived from the Roman clan '' Artorius'' who lived in Roman Britain for centuries. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Italian it is Arturo. Etymology The earliest datable attestation of the name Arthur is in the early 9th century Welsh-Latin text ''Historia Brittonum'', where it refers to a circa 5th to 6th-century Briton general who fought against the invading Saxons, and who later gave rise to the famous King Arthur of medieval legend and literature. A possible earlier mention of the same man is to be found in the epic Welsh poem ''Y Gododdin'' by Aneirin, which some scholars assign to the late 6th century, though this is still a mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colin Watson (speedway Rider)
Colin Watson (born c.1899) was one of the most successful British motorcycle speedway riders from the sport's early years in the late 1920s and 1930s. Biography Born in Ilford, Essex, Watson was involved from the earliest days on British speedway, taking part in the early meetings held at High Beach in 1928.Storey, Basil (1947) "Colin Watson Blazed His Way Through" in ''Speedway Favourites'', Sport-in-Print, p. 3 He joined White City in 1929 and Harringay Canaries and Wembley Lions in 1930, playing a leading role in the team that dominated the sport in the early 1930s. He was a finalist in the Star Riders' Championship five times between 1929 and 1934.Bamford, Robert (2003) ''Speedway: The Pre-War Years'', Tempus, , p. 222 He was selected for the England team to face Australia in Test series in 1931, 1932, 1933, and 1934, also captaining the team.Morgan, Tom (1947) ''The People Speedway Guide'', Odhams Press, p. 73-4 He suffered a broken leg in 1935 that kept him out of the sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hackney Wick Stadium
Hackney Wick Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium located at Waterden Road in the London Borough of Hackney. Origins The site chosen for the stadium was on land known as Hackney Marshes west of the River Lea and on the west side of the Waterden Road. The stadium was constructed from September 1931 until 1932 and cost £70,000 to build and after completion £18,000 in wages had been paid to the builders. Opening Hackney opened On Friday 8 April 1932 under the affiliation of the British Greyhound Tracks Control Society (BGTCS) the rival to the larger National Greyhound Racing Club. Thirteen thousand people attended the first night and witnessed Marjorie Graves, MP for South Hackney officially open the track. The capacity of the track was put between 30,000 and 50,000 and a totalisator had been installed for the first night. A greyhound called Bullseye became the first ever winner at the track. Although the meeting was advertised as the first official meeting ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Britannia Of Billingsgate
''Britannia of Billingsgate'' is a 1933 British musical comedy film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Violet Loraine, Gordon Harker, Kay Hammond and John Mills. A family who work in the fish trade at Billingsgate Market encounter a film crew who are shooting there. It was based on the play ''Britannia of Billingsgate'' by Christine Jope-Slade and Sewell Stokes. It was shot at the Lime Grove Studios in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director Alfred Junge. Cast * Violet Loraine as Bessie Bolton * Gordon Harker as Bert Bolton * Kay Hammond as Pearl Bolton * John Mills as Fred Bolton * Drusilla Wills as Mrs Wrigley * Walter Sondes as Harold Hogarth * Glennis Lorimer as Maud * Anthony Holles as Guidobaldi * Joyce Kirby as Joan * Gibb McLaughlin as Westerbrook * Grethe Hansen as Gwen * Wally Patch as Harry * Ernest Sefton as Publicity man Speedway scenes The motorcycle speedway scenes from the film were shot at Hackney Wick Stadium and featured some of the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dorchester
The Dorchester is a five-star luxury hotel on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious and expensive hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its 1930s furnishings and ambiance despite being modernised. Throughout its history, the hotel has been closely associated with the rich and famous. During the 1930s, it became known as a haunt of numerous writers and artists such as poet Cecil Day-Lewis, novelist Somerset Maugham, and the painter Sir Alfred Munnings. It has held prestigious literary gatherings, such as the "Foyles Literary Luncheons", an event the hotel still hosts today. During the Second World War, the strength of its construction gave the hotel the reputation of being one of London's safest buildings, and notable members of political parties and the military chose it as their London residence. Queen Elizabeth II attended the Dorchester when she was a princess on the day p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
