Edwin Vernon "Chum" Taylor (born 4 April 1927) is a retired Australian

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider who won the

Australian Individual Speedway Championship The Australian Solo Championship is a motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. It is organised by Motorcycling Australia (MA) and is the oldest continuously running national speedway champion ...

in 1966.

Biography

Born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia, Taylor received the nickname 'Chum' after his grandmother's comment of "oh, my little chum!" on first seeing him when he was a day old.MWA Hall of Fame 2013–Inductee-Chum Taylor
", Motorcycling Western Australia, 22 November 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014 He competed as an amateur jockey and worked as a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

at the

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

brewery near his home, which allowed him to buy his first motorcycle. After trying road racing and

scrambling Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing (as a “scramb ...

, Taylor began his speedway career at the

Claremont Speedway The Claremont Speedway was a racing circuit in the grounds of the Claremont Showground in the suburb of Claremont in Western Australia's capital city of Perth. The speedway held its first meeting on 14 May 1927, and its final meeting on 31 Ma ...

in 1948. Early success led to an offer to ride for the

Ashfield Giants Ashfield Giants were a motorcycle speedway team based at Saracen Park, Glasgow, Scotland between 1949 and 1953. The track operated on an open licence in 1953 and were reformed for a one of season during the 2000 Speedway Conference League. Hist ...

in the United Kingdom, going on to ride for Cardiff Dragons for two seasons. He raced in Britain for several teams from 1951 to 1966 including Ashfield Giants (1951), Cardiff Dragons (1951-2),

Bristol Bulldogs The Bristol Bulldogs were a British motorcycle speedway team based in the Knowle Stadium, Bristol, England from 1928 to 1978.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History The club was formed in 1928. Their first trophy ...

(1953),

Southampton Saints Southampton Saints were a speedway team which operated from 1928 until its closure in 1963. Its track was located at Banister Court Stadium in Southampton, Hampshire. History Southampton was one of the founder members of the 1929 Speedway Sout ...

(1958-1961),

Oxford Cheetahs The Oxford Cheetahs are a British speedway teamLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. based at Oxford Stadium, in Oxford, England. They were founded in 1939 and are five times champions of Britain, in 1964, 1985, 1986, 1989 and ...

(1963),

Poole Pirates Poole Pirates (also known as Poole Speedway) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the SGB Championship. The club have been the champions of the United Kingdom on ten occasions. Poole Speedway is promoted by l ...

(1964) and

Cradley Heath Heathens Cradley Heathens was a motorcycle speedway team from Dudley, England. The team was founded in 1947 and competed at the top level of British speedway until its closure in 1995. It was revived as Dudley Heathens in 2010, competing in the National L ...

in 1966.Oakes, Peter (1999) ''British Speedway Who's Who 1999'', Sportsdata, p. 107 He represented Australia in the World Final in 1960, finishing in 11th place. He won the Western Australia Championship on a record five occasions (1958, 1962, 1963, 1968, and 1970), all at Claremont, and won the Australian Solo Championship in January 1966 at the

Rowley Park Speedway Rowley Park Speedway is a former dirt track racing venue that was located on Torrens Road in Brompton, South Australia and supplanted the Kilburn speedway (1946–1951) on Churchill Road, and the earlier Camden motordrome (1935– ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

."Chum Wins Title", ''

Speedway Star Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks * Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cour ...

'', 21 January 1966, p. 2 Taylor represented Australia (and Australasia) several times at international level, first in 1958 in the second Test against England and again in 1959, 1960, 1967/68, 1969/70, 1970/71 (a series in which he captained the team), 1971/72, 1972/3, and for a final time in 1973, a series in which his son Glyn also rode.Foster, Peter (2005) ''A History of the Speedway Ashes'', Tempus, , p. 165-230Strong team in speed Test
, ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...

'', 22 December 1970, p. 11, retrieved 7 August 2012 Glyn Taylor would go on to emulate his father by winning the WA State title in 1982 and 1983. He retired from racing in 1973 at the age of 46 after a crash in a second half race at

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...

in which he broke his shoulder blade. The Chum Taylor Cup is contested annually in his honour at the

Pinjar Park Speedway Pinjar may refer to: * Pinjar, Western Australia Pinjar is a rural locality in Perth, Western Australia. Its local government area is the City of Wanneroo. History The suburb of Pinjar is named after the large swampy lake of this name located ...

north of Perth.Pinjar Park Season Opener 2010
, sportingpulse.com, retrieved 7 August 2012 Chum Taylor's autobiography, ''A Dangerous Life'', was published in 1986. In November 2013 he was inducted into the Motorcycling Western Australia Hall of Fame.

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

- 11th - 5pts

Biography

World Final Appearances

Individual World Championship

References

Further reading