Welcome To The Veteran Cycle Speedway Riders Association Home Page
Welcome to the VCSRA website, an attempt by Old Skid Kid's to
create a virtual museum of the first 20 years of Cycle Speedway
dedicated to the memory of many of our founder members.
Sadly with the passage of time the Association has ceased to be an active
organisation and has discontinued collecting membership fee's!
It is the current committee's intention to keep the Association's presence
online as long as it is finacially possible.
However should any Cycle Speedway enthusiast be interested in maintaining the
site and ensuring its future please get in touch.
SKID KIDS
Undoubtedly the seeds of Cycle Speedway were sown in 1928 when the
Australian sport of 'Dirt Track' motor cycle racing first appeared
in the UK. Whether it was at 'High Beech' in Essex or some other
circuit it does not alter the affect it had on the youth of the
country. There have been many references published of youths attempting
to imitate their dirt track heroes.
In 2001 the VCSRA Secretary
received a letter from a Bob Spence recalling such an attempt in
1929. View
Track Record March 2001
and in 2019 a copy of a cutting from a 1929 Halifax newspaper was
sent to the Editor of the Track Record. View
Press Cutting
**
However the effect of the return of Motor Speedway on the youth of
the UK in 1945/46 after WWII was to initiate a sporting phenomenon
that had not been witnessed before and probably never will again.
Hundreds of lads throughout the country converged on available open
spaces, there were many about at the time, makeshift tracks were
hurriedly laid out, old cycles stripped down and racing commenced.
Youthful entrepreneurs emerged and leagues and championships
organised.The press took notice and christened the youthful racers
'SKID KIDS'.
(The term Skid Kids was not initially, and still isn't universally
accept by those who wished to be identified as serious sportsmen)
The VCSRA
By 1996 many of the young 'Skid Kids' of the 40's & 50's had matured,
made a successful transition to motor speedway and had retired from
both sports. A Veteran Speedway Riders Association had been formed and
was thriving. Two of its members who had originally been 'Skid Kids',
Vic White of Hackney's 'Warwick Lions' and Jimmy Heard of the 'Stratford
Hammers' had already organised and held several joint reunion dinners
for their clubs.
The suggestion was made that their reunions should spread their 'wings'
and include all ex-cycle speedway riders. An initial committee of
volunteers was gathered, opinions canvased from interested parties,
a meeting held, a Secretary/Treasurer appointed and the Veteran Cycle
Speedway Riders Association was established. Membership in the first year
reached nearly 200 and has averaged around 230 ever since.
Since its foundation the Association has regularly issued a News Letter
made up of Notices and Nostalgic Reminiscences. At first it only
consisted of one or two pages but in June of 1997 it was given the title,
'The Track Record' and has continued to be issued on a quarterly basis and
now can boast of 12 or 16 pages each issue. In 2003 Bill Gadsby a former
Wembley rider who at one time worked with Graham Payne who published the
'Cycle Speedway Annual' in the 50's volunteered to edit the magazine.
It is a post he continued to fill untill the LAST issue in January of 2019.
Cycle Speedway History
This site, sponsored and put on line by the VCSRA is dedicated to recording
and preserving the memories of the first two decades of our sport ' 1946 to 1966.
A companion site,
www.cyclespeedwayhistory.org.uk originally sponsored by The Late Dave Hunting covers all the years
1946 to 2015.
Cycle Speedway Today
Cycle speedway is still flourishing in the UK
although not as widespread as in the heady days of
the 40's and 50's. Racing is held under the
auspices of British Cycling with approximately 30 teams countrywide. Spreading from Edinburgh in the north
to Exeter in the south east.
For more details visit 33/18 News www.3318news.co.uk
**
Please Note - The Majority of the items displayed on this site are 'pdf' files.
When viewing please click on the navigation arrows at the top left of the 'Adobe Reader' screen to
return to the page you were viewing.
The VCSRA hope you will enjoy browsing our site - A collection of memorabillia
from the sporting explosion that was the phenominal birth of cycle speedway in the
40's & 50's - Ideally we hope that it will encourage some budding journalist or author
to embark on the preparation of a illustrated chronicle of those early days for
publication and distribution to the public at large!
HELP NEEDED ! If you are interested in and would like to get |
LATEST ADDITIONS !
October 2019 |
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