Coventry Bees Speedway - Brandon Stadium

This is all super-sad news. How can playing Call of Duty or Battlefield 1942 possibly compare to a night of Speedway. The week was never complete unless you came away from a meeting with a small piece of shale in the corner of an eye and lungs fighting back the negative effects of burnt Nitro-Methanol. Everything is going to the dogs.. oops, no, they've gone too..

or Castrol-R!! Oh no they haven't! Coventry Dogs

I'm amazed at the dog track news. Warwick Greyhound Stadium, said to have been the oldest in the country (and it looked like it was too. The hare was thought to be steam powered, a Mamod traction engine disguised to look like a rabbit) is only used for training now, apparently. I didn't know that Coventry had a dog track even. I thought that it was just the 'proles' of Leamington and Warwick doing it because they had no Speedway track..

Thanks for the information, MR. It seems that my concerns were correct. I had thought they were doing OK at Perry Barr. It is, of course, primarily a greyhound venue, and a thriving one as far as I know. So it would be sad to see another speedway venue disappear. I used to go to the old Perry Barr Stadium across the Walsall Road in the 70s when some of the Bees junior riders were on loan at the Brummies, then in the second division. That is now just a shopping centre.

Further to what we were discussing last week, it has been confirmed today that Birmingham Speedway at Perry Barr has closed with immediate effect. The team's record has been expunged from the league according to the table shown after the match on Sky tonight. Coventry Bees have announced on their website that they will honour Birmingham season tickets for the remaining league matches at Brandon this season.

Relieved to see Bees' skipper Chris Harris (no.37) walk away from this high-speed crash at the Latvian Grand Prix in Daugavpils yesterday The "upside-down" bike in the distance belongs to former Bees No.1 Krzysztof Kasprzak, who ended up trapped beneath the safety fence in the incident - KK also walked away, and went on to win the GP

Excellent shot Cliff ! That tog in the background; what's the point of having a camera, in a position like that, and pointing it skywards whilst watching the action?! [edit]... unless of course he's actually stepping back to avoid being hit!

His camera is set facing the first bend - Chris Holder, as you can see, is straightening up coming out of bend 2 into the back straight, having nudged KK into Bomber! So he was actually in a good position for action photos - but not this action!

Here's Chris Harris at his best in heat 11 of the Swindon meeting

Ah, the "good old days" - Briggs, Ashby, Kilby, Broadbank(s) et al Here is Martin Ashby (Man of Marlborough, as CO always referred to him), chasing the late Col Cottrell, albeit at Rugby Road!

I haven't seen any mention of John (Nick for short) Nicholls, how come nobody seems to remember him. I am sure he had a place in the Bees team at some time or other.

Go to post 104 where he was remembered at the time of his passing, and in the next one too! Here is a team photo which includes Nick Thanks to Johnnie Walker, there is also this one

Notices have been circulated by the Banbury office of Framptons Town Planning, advising local residents of a forthcoming meeting - I will quote from the notice:
Dear Resident TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 LAND AT BRANDON STADIUM, RUGBY ROAD An outline planning application is being prepared for a residential development on the site at Brandon Stadium, Rugby Road. An exhibition to display these proposals has been arranged for: SATURDAY 18th OCTOBER 2014 BETWEEN 10.15AM - 1PM IN THE BINLEY WOODS VILLAGE HALL, RUGBY ROAD, BINLEY WOODS, COVENTRY, CV3 2AX You are cordially invited to view these proposals. Members of the planning team will be in attendance to answer any questions and you will have the opportunity to leave your comments and feedback. We look forward to welcoming you at the exhibition.
This clearly is the second stage towards all sporting events (speedway, stock car, greyhound racing, etc) ceasing to exist at the stadium after over 85 years - the first stage was putting the site up for sale, see this link. Hopefully, HCF members concerned about the future of the stadium will endeavour both to attend this meeting, and also pass on to as many like-minded people as possible the date and venue of the meeting, to ensure a good attendance from those who may wish to oppose any redevelopment of the site.

Hello Midland Red My heart goes out to the Bees supporters. Sincerely hope Brandon Stadium remains intact. I admit to only being a very occasional visitor to Brandon but appreciate all the history attached to the site and the fact Bees fans can truly say: "This is our home". From what I have seen on television recently, it is obvious that Speedway is an honest sport with extremely brave riders who certainly earn their money, unlike the pampered, over-paid, cheating pansy footballers who play the game today. Good luck to the Bees in their final and I hope planning permission is refused.

Excellent post the vocalists. I concur with every last word you say.