Coventry Bees Speedway - Brandon Stadium

Nigel was a great team captain first and foremost, and could be forgiven for not making it to the World Final. Love that photo of the '71 team. There is even a proper speedway bike in the there. Re the sale of Brandon, for the second best team in the land (Mauger always seemed to captain the best), it is very sad news. To be honest, as the Bees team filled up with 'foreigners', I lost interest, but for the Bees to lose their home too..

Mike, I agree with what you say about Nigel Boocock. He was, in my view, the greatest rider ever to wear the 'Battling Bee' colours, even above the likes of Olsen in what they did for Coventry, as opposed to their careers as a whole. You could always rely on him, and as the CO used to say about him in his programme notes, 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going!' On a point of order, Nigel Boocock was not Bees captain in 1967. That was Ron Mountford.

Coventry Speedway late 1950's film - also features Noel Gordon of Crossroads fame

I'm listening to C&W for the football and they have just discussed the Brandon situation. As I suspected, it does mean the end for the Bees at Brandon. The new owner has said that they can ride there for 3 years but will need to find an alternative venue after that. It's a long time away but there is a massive process to find a location, go through planning, then actually construct a stadium. I'm afraid I do fear the worst. By 2017 Coventry may not have either a football team or a speedway team. Northampton Bees, anyone?

Bees boss Mick Horton says it would great if we were at the Ricoh Arena, but we would have to look at the cost - funny how things go round in circles as there was speedway at Lythalls Lane in the late 1920's, only 200 yards from the Ricoh - perhaps the Rowley Green Racers

Statement from Avtar Sandhu today gives some hope for a future

It does give some hope, but there are no guarantees. Speedway tracks are not popular with residents because of the perceived noise, even though races are short and bikes having better silencers than years ago. So finding a venue won't be easy, even given 3 years. CCFC have had almost a year and made no progress whatsoever, and planning could take 1-2 years before a brick is laid. I suppose they may even end up sharing at Perry Barr.

I don't think it would be possible to share at Perry Barr MrD-Di. I'm pretty certain the council only allow Birmingham Speedway so many meetings a year. What with that and the inevitable fixture congestion due to postponed meetings throughout the season I think it would be a non-starter. I'm sure you feel the same, just like the Sky Blues, we want our own stadium!

Perry Barr would be the nightmare scenario, I suppose. But I'm sure it had been mentioned. And didn't the new Cradley team ride some challenge matches there? Plenty of people have mentioned the Bees riding at the Ricoh. Unlikely, I know, but I'd like to see that. The alternative might be a new track in the middle of nowhere with a couple of Meccano stands and a hot-dog van. What the Sky Blues need is the Ricoh. This mythical new stadium may as well be on the moon. If it were ever built, there would be so few people there it would be a joke. I'm with the majority who think the first brick will never be laid.

Here's the 1962 Bees team Bryan Elliott, Nigel Boocock, Jim Lightfoot (on bike), Les Owen, Peter Brough, Ron Mountford, -, Ken McKinlay, Bob Mark (team manager)

It's somewhat hard to believe but Nigel Boocock will be 77 later this year Here's a photo of a fresh-faced 22 year old in the Brandon pits in 1960 - in black leathers!

Thanks for the photos MR. That '62 one was three years before I ever set foot in the the stadium, but I still spotted a few familiar faces (Booey, Jim, Les, Ron and 'Hurriken'). I really fear for the Bees, but will carry on hoping that Mr Sandhu is as good as his words.

Good to read all the post regarding the Bees back in the early 60's. I used to go to Brandon between 1960 and 1968, then girls got in the way!! Decided to revisit last year with my grandson but think things have changed for the worse. WHERE HAS ALL THE GRASS GONE from the centre, it looks really scruffy to how I remembered it. Posted the pic of the late Les Owen leading the legendary Ove Fundin, with Nigel Boocock in the rear. That's how I remember speedway Cheers Bri

Girls don't get in the way if you tell them that Saturday evening at Brandon comes first..

I started going to the Bees meetings in 1954. I attended every home event for the entire season. I bought all the usual paraphenalia of fandom that year, including several "bars" from previous seasons, to none of which was I entitled. I was introduced to the Brandon Bees by my neighbour and school chum Rodney and his gorgeous older sister, Bernice. With them, it was necessary to attend every event at the stadium, and - as I cite above - I did. Through the following off-season I read all the magazines (I think there were but two) dedicated to the sport, following the adventures of my heroes involved in speedway on ice in Scandanavia, and I waited, waited, and waited more for the 1956 season to open. That day finally arrived, and neither Rodney nor Bernice were planning to attend. With all the insouciance of youth, of youth with a few bob in its pocket, I decided to go it alone that evening, catching the Brandon bus at the Ford Street stop, beside my much-loved Alexandra Cinema. I arrived safely, and - after hanging around with the stars of the upcoming event (and I thought - based on one season's experience - that the Bees riders were always generous in this regard) I made my way to my favourite spot - the first turn from the starting gate. I stayed till the last race was over - and cannot remember if the Bees won. I never attended another event. I conclude (rationalized/intellectualized) that the sport was not all that I thought it to be. I determined/imagined that the first rider into the first corner was invariably the winner of the race, that all was decided within a hundred or so yards. This, of course, was not true. My problem, not understood for quite a while, was that Rodney and Bernice were not there to worry about the outcome. to set my concerns aside, to keep me company. Really understanding friendship - its comforts, reliability and such - takes time. It certainly took time for me. Though I in no way blamed Rodney and Bernice for not being there for me on opening day, 1956, the friendship drew to an end. As an aside, my favourite Brandon Bee of the 1955 season was Leo Ramm. Quite forgotten today, even by those who saw him, as I did, in 1955. Nothing daunted Leo, save - perhaps - for the prospect of going around that quarter-mile track at high speed, for he proceeded with enthusiasm but without much in the speed department. His style was superb, because - like the speedway riders of old - he was a "leg-trailer", keeping his left leg at all times in contact with the grit on the track. (True aficionados of the sport will probably correct my terminology.) He was so slow, so uncertain, that he went around the bends like he had experienced a flash-forward in time, and had been advised by some workplace Health & Safety official of the imperatives of care and restraint. I confess that my chronology may be out a jot or several, for I recall thinking at the time that I could have been around the track faster than Leo ion my Raleigh Palm Beach Tourer bicycle, and I had no such thing as a cycle until reaching the age of fourteen and obtaining a newspaper round, or route as I now would say. Nothing herein is said to deprecate Leo Ramm, for I believe he went on to greater things after this, his first season (and saying that, I'm sure there are many who will correct my chronology through this assertion). Fact is, Leo was my favourite, and while I have approached life with the vigour and confidence of a Lightfoot, a Vic Emms, I do appreciate now that there was/is much to favour the the less adventurous approach of Mr Ramm in his first season. This is not a Ramm's tale, nor even a Ram's tail, but a mere remembrance of a friendship lost many years ago in Longford in the city of Coventry, and I trust it will be taken for as much.