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Alan Butler, died on Saturday March 15th 2008, he was 93. Among the clubs that Alan rode for pre war were Belle Vue and Stoke, he also had two brothers one of which was killed in a speedway accident. Alan did not ride again after the war due to an accident in which he badly damaged a leg. Vic White (secretary)
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| Ernie
Hancock, one of speedway's men of many parts, Ernie Hancock,
died on January 5th 2007 in Lewisham General Hospital after a long
illness, he was 74.
Ernie was closely associated with New Cross in both the 1950s and 1960s and at one time was secretary of its supporters club. He set himself up as a one-man information centre and spent hours on the telephone gathering details of meetings throughout the country, that he filed in to numerous motorcycle journals. He idolised Ove Fundin and was instrumental in forming the Friends of Fundin League (Ove's official fan club) at a time when the five-times world champion was taking some stick from the terraces. Ernie was the general manager at Rye House during the late 1960s and early 1970s when the promoters were Jack Carter and Gerry Bailey. He wrote a number of books on speedway and also ran a theatrical agency. More recently he was responsible for getting the speedway results on teletext - a position that curtailed his speedway spectating because he preferred to be at home so that clubs could telephone the results through to him. Ernie was effectively housebound for the last five years or more and led a rclusive lifestyle. It meant he was cut off fro most of his former colleagues and his passing will come a a shock to the many speedway fans who knew him. Vic White (secretary)
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Brian Hanham, Brian sadly passed away in February following a massive heart attack at his home, he was 75. Born in Ferndown he was a team mate of Brian Crutcher in the Newtown Eagles Cycle Speedway Team. He learned to ride speedway at Matchams Park (Ringwood) and signed for Southampton in 1952. In 1953 he was nominated Speedway Novice of the year. He developed into a top class rider with his full throttle approach to racing making him a fan's favourite. He rode for Southampton for 10 years and at one time held the Bannister Court track record. although he had offers to ride for other clubs his reply was "I am happy where I am and happiness means more to me than money". Away from speedway Brian ran a successful garage business. Vic White (secretary)
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Cyril J Hart, Cyril was one of Speedway's most respected journalists for many years (may be even the oldest) and he passed away in February in a Bournemouth nursing home after a stroke. He had previously had a stroke which put him in the home. Cyril was instrumental in the controversial move of the young Brian Crutcher from Poole to Wembley. Cyril was 88 and he leaves a wife Marian. Vic White (secretary)
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| Pete Jarman
also known as "Speedy" died on the morning of July 23rd 2007
after a spell in hospital. Pete had not been well for a long time and
was in remission from Prostate Cancer, which we understand had spread to
his liver. Pete also had respiratory and heart problems. Pete was one of
the stars in the Provincial League at Stoke in the Sun Street days and
after leaving Stoke amongst the teams that he rode for were Cradley
Heath and Wolverhampton and he was a consistently good scorer for all of
his teams. He was a popular rider and will be sadly missed.
Vic White (Secretary)
Reg Fearman Photo show Peter with Colin Pratt as England team mates.
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| Larry
Lazurus, 88 passed away in June
In 1953 Larry, real name John, joined the Glasgow Tigers. He did reasonably well and might have done even better but for a second half injury at Liverpool on June 8th which ruled him out for a couple of weeks. He had a difficult spot as partner to Tommy Miller but the pair scored well together and Larry went on to work for his team ate in his post speedway years. Whilst International outings were rare, he did face the visiting Kiwis at White City in July. Larry added a cap against England in 1954. Tigers folded and he joined Motherwell where he was a regular for the rest of the season. He then joined Ipswich but this saw the end of his speedway career. Speedway had a revival in 1964 in Glasgow and he played his part in their return. In recent years he was a occasional visitor to WSRA events and kept in touch with his long term pal Jimmy Tannock. Vic White (secretary)
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Maury Mattingley. Former Poole Pirate, who was President of the VSRA in 2000 died on the 8th November 2007, he had been in hospital since September after suffering a severe stroke, which was followed by pneumonia. Maury will be remembered mainly for his performances with his local club, Southampton. He also had spells with Coventry and Plymouth. When the Devon side closed at the end of 1962, Maury returned to the Midlands and joined Wolverhampton, enjoying one of his better seasons helping the Wolves to pick up the Provincial League title. However this success led to the break up of the Wolves side, with Maury moving on to Provincial League newcomers Glasgow where he stayed before deciding to retire at the end of 1967 to concentrate fully on his successful frame building business. A skilled engineer away from the tracks, Maury combined his frame building business with his love of miniature steam railways, building several locomotives that remained in service to this day on lines all over the country including the West Moors Country Park. Vic White (secretary) Maury Mattingley's wife Rosita, would like to thank everyone who came to say goodbye and for making a sad occasion into a truly wonderful one. We are sorry that we did not meet everyone but sadly we ran out of time. Rosita, Tom, Marie and the grandchildren. MAURY MATTINGLEY - his funeral "Our Association lost one of
our past-Presidents when Maury Mattingley died in Southampton
Hospital on 8th November at the age of 84.. Bert Harkins
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| Bob
McFarlane - former Oxford rider passed away in the middle of
June. Bob was 80 and had been ill for a long time, he was almost blind
and also suffered from Parkinsons disease.
Vic White (secretary)
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| Albert
Mitchell. Passed away in Melbourne - July 1st. Albert
emigrated from the U.K. some 30 years ago, a native of Stoke he raced at
Stoke in the 1950s in the Ken Adams, Les Jenkins era. Reg Fearman paid
Albert a visit in the nursing home, courtesy of Ray Cresp who drove Reg
and Eileen to see Al. He is survived by his wife Winnie and son Lindsay.
Vic White (Secretary)
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| Jack Ormston,
the last surviving rider for the historic 1936 World Championship final
has died aged 97. he was one of the pioneers of speedway in Britain
right from the beginning.
John Gladholme Ormston (always known as Jack) was born on October 30th 1909 at West Cornforth, Co. Durham, the only son of a prosperous farming family who also had a butchery business. From the age of 14 he was borrowing a friend's motorcycle with the help of his mother and launched himself into grass track racing in the Middlebrough area. Soon he was being sponsored by Shell on the new Middlesborough dirt track, which opened in 1928. Signed by Wembley in 1930. Jack won the first London riders' Championship, representing England in the first official Test series against Australia at Wimbledon that same year. He captained Wembley in 1931 and 1932. In the winter of 1932-33 he toured Australia and, with the Australian rider Frank Arthur, formed a company with the support of promoter Johnnie Hoskins to take a group of riders to New York with a view to operating speedway at Madison Square Garden. But the venture collapsed when he returned home to be with his dying farther. After missing the 1933 English season, he made a comeback the following year. Transferred to Harringay he was second to Frank Charles in the 1935 Star Championship - the forerunner of the World Championship. Jack finished equal sixth with Dicky Case in the first official World Final in 1936 above such major names as Vic Huxley, Jack Milne and Ginger Lees. He was a reserve for the 1938 World Final and took Frank Varey's last two rides, winning one and coming second in the other, retiring from the track at the end of the 1938 season. After retiring from speedway, Jack became an established racehorse trainer. He had about 400 winners before retiring in 1976. Jack died on June 22 and is survived by his wife, their son and daughter. Another son died in a riding accident in Austrailia in 1968 John Chaplin
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Dennis Parker was a member of one of speedway's most famous families. The nephew of former great Jack Parker and his brother Norman, he followed in the family tradition and became the third of the clan to represent his country. Dennis made his debut in 1948 with Sheffield. After a season and a half at Edinburgh, he joined uncle Jack at Belle Vue before ending his career with the 1953 Leicester side. Dennis had suffered from ill health for sometime and was admitted to hospital in Telford last October with acute pancreatitis, later he developed into a pulmonary embolism and pneumonia. He died on January 15th in hospital, aged 83, leaving a widow Peggy, son Michael and two sisters in Australia, Joan Anderson and Bernice Dodd. Vic White (secretary) From Reg Fearman.20th February 2008 Eileen and I arrived home on 1st February from our cruise around the South China Seas to find a letter from Peggy Parker to say that Dennis died on the 15th January in Telford hospital. Dennis had suffered ill health for some time but had managed his acute arthritis quite well. He was admitted to hospital in Telford last October suffering from acute pancreatitis but developed a pulmonary embolism and pneumonia. He was 83 and the private funeral took place on the 26th January. He leaves widow Peggy, son Michael and two sisters in Australia, Joan Anderson in Miranda, Sydney and Bernice Dodd in Ashmore, Queensland. Dennis raced in the late 1940s and 1950s for Belle Vue and Leicester he was an English International and toured Australia with England under the Captaincy of his uncle, Jack parker. He also made private visits to Australia. Legend has it that Johnnie Hoskins transferred Bruce Semmens ---- who had a very hard man reputation in Division Two ---- to Belle Vue from Glasgow. Johnnie traveled to Belle Vue for Semmens first meeting to collect the cheque. Semmens was partnered with Dennis in that first meeting and managed to dump Dennis into the Belle Vue solid wooden fence breaking his leg. A price was immediately put on Semmens head and before the meeting was over Semmens had been dumped and was laying on the track unconscious, Johnnie raced out of the pits to the prone Semmens shook him by the shoulders and cried don't die on me you bastard, they haven't paid me for you yet.
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Peter Jarman died
on 23 July aged 72 and his funeral was on 6 August in Poole. He
struggled with cancer over the past ten years. He was a cycle speedway
'kid' in the 1950's and graduated to the sport of speedway racing. He
raced for me at stoke Speedway, 1960-63. It was while he was at Stoke
that he gained his first call-up to represent England in Test Matches.
He gained two nicknames - 'Speedy' and 'PLJ' (Pure Lemon Juice) Kid.
When the Stoke Speedway and Greyhound Stadium was sold for development
at the end of 1963, Peter moved on and saw service with a number of
clubs including Cradley Heath, Eastbourne and Wolverhampton. In the late
1970's he moved from his roots of South London to Poole and became the
track curator at Poole Speedway for several years. He leaves a widow,
Ann, two sons and a daughter.