Harry Bastable is a former international

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 and promoter.

Career summary

Harry Bastable's was a novice at the Alan Hunt 1949 winter training school when he was signed up by

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 ...

. For experience he was loaned to the 3rd Division

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

Tamworth Hounds speedway club for the 1950 season, with occasional rides at reserve for 2nd Division Cradley. He returned full-time to Cradley Heath in 1951 and in 1952 was the Heathens' top scorer. Following the closure of speedway at Dudley Wood at the end of 1952 the Cradley team amalgamated with 3rd Division neighbours Wolverhampton Wasps to operate in the National League 2nd Division in 1953, but Harry Bastable never liked the track and didn't show his Cradley form, moving to

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Lea ...

in August of that year where First Division racing proved hard going. In 1957 Birmingham closed mid-season following the track fatality of Harry's mentor and Brummies skipper Alan Hunt and the ensuing 'South African Affair.' He then transferred to Leicester to ride for the Leicester Hunters, where he initially found a new lease of life. After much badgering he shocked no one when in 1960 he left the Hunters mid-season to return to ride for his first love,

as their skipper in the newly formed lower level

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

, where he finished his racing career. A highlight of that career was when Harry and Cradley partner

Ivor Brown Ivor John Carnegie Brown CBE (25 April 1891 – 22 April 1974) was a British journalist and man of letters. Biography Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases, ...

, became the top two points scorers in the 1961

. Although announcing his retirement at the end of 1964, Harry Bastable was recalled to make 16 further appearances for the Heathens at senior level racing in the new

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed the ...

of 1965 to cover for injuries at Cradley, before fully retiring from riding in that same year. He started a motor-cycle business "Speedaway Motors" in Blackheath, West Midlands, (later to be joined by his son

Steve Bastable Stephen Henry Bastable (born 16 September 1956, in Birmingham, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. Family His father Harry Bastable, was also a speedway rider. Career Bastable spent the majority of his career with the ...

, who like his father before him rode as another Cradley number one.) In 1973 Harry turned to the management side of speedway, to become the manager of the Cradley Heath team, whom he renamed 'Cradley United'. In 1975 he moved into promotion, taking over the licence of

Stoke Potters The Stoke Potters previously the Hanley Potters were a British speedway team competing in the National League. As Stoke, the team raced at Loomer Road Stadium in Newcastle-under-Lyme. As Hanley Potters they raced from 1929 to 1963. History H ...

with co-promoter Tony Allsopp, and in 1976 saved speedway at Cowley Stadium, Oxford by resurrecting

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 ...

after the departure of

Oxford Rebels The Oxford Cheetahs are a British Motorcycle speedway, 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 Speed ...

to White City under

Danny Dunton Dennis Clifford "Danny" Dunton (13 May 1924 – 2 January 2015) was an English international motorcycle speedway rider and promoter who reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in 1950, achieving 12th place with 5 points. As well as ...

.Bamford,R & Shailes,G (2007). "The Story of Oxford Speedway".

World Final appearances

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

–

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 ...

– Qualifying Rounds – 18 points 29th place.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071029003314/http://www.birminghamspeedway.co.uk/news.php?extend.41.1 * http://www.brummiespeedway.co.uk/earlyyears.htm * http://oxfordspeedway.ossc.me.uk/ * http://www.cradleyspeedway.co.uk/ * http://www.leicester-lions.co.uk/index.html * https://archive.today/20121223110818/http://www.cradleyspeedway.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/riders/hbastable.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastable, Harry British speedway riders Cradley Heathens riders Leicester Hunters riders Wolverhampton Wolves riders Birmingham Brummies riders Living people Date of birth missing (living people) 1928 births