On 2nd Apr 2016 9:45am, walrus said:
In the early 60s a group of lads formed a cycle speedway team in Courthouse Green. They turned up one day at the fields we used to play on, the land on Bell Green Road between Nuffield Road and Sewall Highway, and started digging until they had formed an oval dirt track, banked up on the perimeter. I watched a meet there against Coventry Eagles. I've found a mention of Courthouse Cobras and also Courthouse Cobbers on a cycle speedway site and I'm assuming that gang of lads were the Cobras/Cobbers.
Amazing to think now that it used to be possible to go out and find enough bits to put together a useable bike. Character building.
I used to watch the Courthouse Cobbers in the early 1950's, I also have copy of a aerial photo of Courthouse Green taken by the RAF on the 9th of June 1953 which shows the cycle track, most of the cycles had cow horn handle bars. One meeting of the Cobbers v The Red House Lions would draw a big crowd, Mr Fenton in Tackford Road had two sons who rode for the Cobbers would run a very long garden hose to the edge of the track from his back garden and douse the riders in the last heat. Any forum members interested in the aerial photo can obtain a copy from The National Monument Records in Swindon film no sop/225 frame no vp4 0118.
