Coventry Speedway

Here's 'The Man' in action at Banister Court, Southampton, leading the great Barry Briggs

Fabulous photo - I had the same one years ago, but lost my entire collection in a house move! I checked out your other photos, and I had many of the same from the 1960s. My collection went back to around 1950 though, including that one of Vic Emms, so it was a tragic loss. I hope someone has them safe!

If anyone has Bees team photos for the following years, I would be very interested. 1949-1951 1953-1958 1960-1962 1968. Some of the riders who would be in these photos would include Olle Soederman, Jack Young and Henryk Zyto, all of whom made great contibutions to the team in their day.

BEES FOR SALE - CONTACT DETAILS Wednesday September 21, 2011 It is with great regret that Coventry Speedway wish to announce that they will not be operating speedway in 2012 under the current management. Coventry Racing Club cannot condone the manner in which the sport is run and as a result it feels that it is in the best interests of all parties if the club seeks a new owner to take Coventry Speedway forward into the future. The club now invites interested parties on a full acquisition of Coventry speedway or a season by season lease to contact Allen Trump or Jeremy Heaver at info@coventrybees.co to take the matter further.

Where is that lottery win when you need it!!! Maybe we can form a consortium!

Congratulations to Coventry Bees asset Greg Hancock on clinching his second World Speedway Championship last night in Croatia Also congratulations to Bees assets Andreas Jonsson and Chris Harris, who finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the Croatian Grand Prix

1967 and 1968 British Lions touring test sides v Australia

Dad during his spell at Brandon 1970

Good to hear from you, Adrian Very good memories of your father (I see you use his nickname!) particularly his on-track partnership with Ron Mountford

Wonderful old photos, Hurriken. 1967 was the year I started supporting the Bees and I remember all those riders in the first photo. I think they are: Terry Betts (Kings Lynn Stars) Nigel Boocock (Coventry Bees) Eric Boocock (Halifax Dukes) Colin Pratt (Hackney Hawks) Ray Wilson (Long Eaton Archers) Roy Trigg (Oxford Cheetahs) and of course Ken McKinlay on the bike, in West Ham Hammers colours. Some of those faces also appear on the other photo, plus Mike Broadbanks of Swindon Robins in the red leathers, and Jimmy McMillan of Glasgow Tigers on the end. In those days I used to watch from next to the pits in the old stand, by where the riders used to stand to watch the racing. Ken McKinlay always had time for a chat with us kids, and would give his goggles to one of us every week. Great days.

The one you missed out is Dave Younghusband (Halifax)

Hello. Imagine Nigel Boocock racing around on a steam bike. I have copied this text from Motor Cycle History. "The Past - 1800s: First motorcycle" Quote-: The first motorbike was built in 1868. It was not powered by a gasoline engine, but by a steam engine. Its builder was Sylvester Howard Roper. His steam-powered bike was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern US in 1867 and did not catch on, but it anticipated many modern motorbike features, including the twisting-handgrip throttle control. There is an existing example of a Roper machine, dated 1869. It's powered by a charcoal-fired two-cylinder engine, whose connecting rods directly drive a crank on the rear wheel. This machine predates the invention of the safety bicycle by many years, so its chassis is also based on the "bone-crusher" bike. "Bone-Crusher's" appeared around 1800, used iron-banded wagon wheels, and were called "bone-crushers," both for their jarring ride, and their tendency to toss their riders.

I happen to be going through pics of a past holiday in Whitby & could not resist posting this pic along with the snippet above. Hope you like.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I have a distant memory of seeing an early movie film at a London exhibition, of a previous exhibition, where a steam bike was attempting to reach 100mph. I do not know if it reached that speed, but I understand that the riders trousers caught fire.

Anyone remember Henryk Zyto? He only rode for the Bees for one season - 1960 - but was such an exciting and popular rider that the Bees supporters around the pits at the 1962 World Championship Final at Wembley were going for him as if he was still a "Bee". I just received a set of photos from Poland that revived a lot of great memories - including this, with the great Peter Craven (look at the packed crowd - and this must have been only a League match!), and as winner of the 1960 Midland Riders Championship. Interesting how good the old "Bee" still looks, full-size and without being crowded out by adverts and sponsorships.