Take One Wet Track, Just Add Shale and Hey Presto!

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Free Extract from my book!

An extract from the Arena Essex chapter of my book has appeared on a leading speedway website. Go to:

http://www.speedwayplus.com

If you haven't purchased the book already this a great way to get a completely free flavour of the thing


The very dedicated speedway enthusiast Allan Melville runs the great Speedway Plus website, which is a resource that is well worth a regular visit. Particularly since it's packed with tons of information and lots of other interesting stuff! Have a look.

Review by Tony McDonald, Backtrack Editor, July-August 2006

“A very worthy effort by this very candid author…supplemented by 409 interesting – if rather small – offbeat black and white photographs. Liberally laced with Scott’s dry humour and pithy observations, ‘Showered in Shale’ is a thoroughly absorbing travelogue that presents a whole new angle on the sport – from a fans perspective. Never afraid to ask a loaded question and attempt to get to the bottom of everything, Scott seeks out promoters, staff, supporters and a host of characters up and down Britain. The result is an entertaining read…it’s unique and refreshingly honest”

For more information and subscriptions go to www.retro-speedway.com

Boiling in Buxton

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Drama at Derwent Park Stadium

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Run Rabbit Run

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Dave Rattenberry, ICA Crook and John Rich in the warm Buxton track shop

A concerned Comets fan looks on at the injured Ritchie Hawkins

Book display outside the Workington track shop

Chelsea, Shannon and Mercedes pose with the book everyone's talking about...

Sunday in Sittingbourne

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Vic Harding versus England

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Future Lady World Champion in waiting: Chelsea Lee-Amies

A big crowd gathers at Rye House to see England go out on penalties

Andy Griggs sets up his track shop to exacting specifications

The Suzi Perry Question

In the August edition of ‘Motorcycle Racer’ there’s a feature article on Suzi Perry. Or, as Jonathan Green would doubtless have it, “the lovely Suzi Perry”.

Always the consummate professional, Suzi has some interesting comments on life, motorcycling and her career but two sentances leap out in particular:

“I spent three years at Sky and had a brilliant producer; he could make a really sh*t sport look really good, and he did it occasionally with speedway. I’m not saying speedway is sh*t, but sometimes it is and they would make the programme look really cracking.”

Quite properly Suzi goes on to praise the creativity and the renowned production values of the programme makers, but this raises some worrying questions for fans of our sport.

Is speedway really mutton dressed as lamb?
Is this how it’s generally perceived, when they’re honest, by the talent that is involved in these programmes?
Or is it how speedway is perceived by the apparently important wider general audience we’re often told we need to attract – from prospective sponsors to new fans - to watch the action at tracks around the country?

Does anyone have the answers? May be Suzi does but hasn’t yet been asked?

Some Review Comments

“A superb new book chronicling speedway across the length and breadth of Britain…Dozens of quirky stories make the book as enjoyable for non-fans as those likely to be found near the third bend of any track….after reading Scott’s chronicle, Wildcats fans will be hoping even more speedway in Weymouth has another chapter to run”
Matt Pitman, Dorset Echo

“A fascinating book that holds up an illuminating mirror to both the sport and the community as a whole…Scott’s pithy turn of phrase helps him to capture accurately a whole raft of personalities – his description of Arena Essex promoter Ronnie Russell is simultaneously laugh out loud funny and hugely respectful… through it all – and this big format softback runs to 500-plus pages – Scott’s love of the sport and his fellow man shine out. Highly recommended.”
Tim Hamblin, Wolverhampton Express & Star

http://www.expressandstar.com/artman/publish/article_91600.php

“A refreshing change…Scott is not coming at the sport from an anorak-type perspective, but a far more open mind and he finds out plenty of information on the way”
Mike Bacon, East Anglian Daily Times

“I don’t know how the freak you did it!”
Dave Fairbrother of the Speedway Star

“Readers will find plenty to reward them”
Brian Owen, Brighton Evening Argus

“A completely refreshing book to read. Totally different from everything else out there. Everyone should read it, but especially every promoter, so that they can understand the complexity of our sport from a unique perspective – how the fans really see it!”
Graham Drury, Workington Promoter

“A fascinating speedway travelogue”
Berwick Advertiser

“already dubbed Speedway’s version of Fever Pitch”
Newcastle Chronicle

“Better than the usual boring speedway book full of stats or races from long ago”
Trevor Geer, Co-Team Manager, Eastbourne Eagles

“If you have read any football books then you'll appreciate the difference between the typical Keeganesque "I were as sick as a parrot..." type autobiography and the works of authors such as Hornby, Davies, McIlvenney and Garry Nelson who have taken football writing to a new level. Well this book does this for speedway, it's thoughtful, intelligent, witty and interesting and takes the viewpoint of the people on the terraces rather than disappearing up its own bum the way too many of the books by riders, ex-riders and promoters have tendency to. Due to the way it's written you can read it cover to cover or you can dip in and out”
Neil Dyson, Sheffield Speedway Fans forum

“Definitely a must-have for any speedway fan - it is an detailed and informative, but amusing and off-beat look at what goes on before the turnstiles open (and after).”
Neil Watson, ex-Peterborough Promoter, British Speedway Forum

“Some speedway books can leave you feeling quite cold and uninspired, but this one you can really relate to because a lot of what Jeff writes is what we all think as fans, naturally opinions can differ, but reading through this book is like chatting away to your mates on the terraces!!!!”
British Speedway Forum

“It is very different from any other speedway book, the nearest comparison I can make is 'Fever Pitch', Nick Hornby's famous football book… I think it is likely to end up as one of the best speedway books I've ever read”
Andy, British Speedway Forum

Pirates Ahoy!

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

The new deluxe sign

Turning Japanese

June 23 - Eastbourne v Peterborough

Eagles promoter Jon Cook has kindly given me permission to hand out my leaflets to the fans as they enter Arlington Stadium through the cluster of entrance gates. Unusually this fixture is staged on a Friday - solely because of the clash that the Danish Grand Prix the next night will cause. As a consequence, the fans will be deprived of watching any of the Grand Prix stars ride –notably Nicki Pedersen and the rider of the moment Hans Andersen – nor will any GP riders be secured as guest replacements. One of the experienced staff says, “it’s another rip off the public meeting this week, just like last weeks was against Arena”. In fact Eastbourne have secured Mark Loram as a guest and the absence of the so-called GP stars won’t make any difference to the racing, though it will weaken the title chasing Panthers much more than the Eagles. Peterborough do have Billy Hamill and Todd Wiltshire as guests and now that he longer rides in the GP’s, they already have Ryan Sullivan on hand. So, on consideration, maybe I’m deluding myself that we’re stronger on paper.

While I lurk in the car park until the gates are unlocked, Martin Dadswell from the track shop calls through the fence “we still haven’t sold a single copy of your book yet!” Not the best news or most auspicious update when you consider that I’ve already had a signing session, the book has been announced on the tannoy by Kevin ‘KC’ Coombes and that there has been a mostly praiseworthy article in a recent pink coloured Sports Argus. Martin is taciturn by nature and the trials of running the track shop don’t always fill him with the joys of life, but the lack of sales appears to summon a glimmer of reaction. Though I couldn’t say whether it was joy, schadenfreude or sympathy. After I briefly mention my recent track tour, Martin also goes out of his way to tell me that John Jones at the Belle Vue track shop is “alright” and a “good bloke when you get to know him”. Though apparently he “does instantly take against people and once chased old Sid [Greatley], you know him, round the car park trying to hit him”. The recollection of this approach to customer care definitely brings a smile to Martins face, before he wryly observes “I don’t suppose you got any Belle Vue programmes for me then?” Martin retreats chuckling, “I really must call him about your visit”.

Peterborough had tried to postpone tonight’s fixture without success. The combination of the World Cup, the warm weather, the Friday night staging and the ‘weakened’ teams does have an impact on the size of the crowd. This is a shame as I get to hand out less leaflets than I’d expect at a usual Saturday night fixture but it has the advantage that I can chat a bit more to anyone, if they are so inclined. I have had quite a bit of experience standing round handing out my leaflet by now. You get handed out so much rubbish on any High Street – from pizzas to burgers, to phone companies, credit cards and limited time sales, even about books from the ubiquitous Scientologists who’re keen to advertise the acclaimed life changing Dianetics treatise by Ron L Hubbard – that some people have a tendency to be reluctant or disdainful. Others remain curious.

Unfortunately now that I’ve had the chance to study my leaflet on many occasions I’d have definitely presented the information more clearly than I have. But then that’s hindsight and another lesson to be learnt. I’ve been so active at giving them away that I have nearly exhausted my initial supply of 5000 copies. Hopefully, it has encouraged the elusive WoM (word of mouth) that any book requires to be successful. Judged from an actual demonstrable results perspective I have (so far and maybe there’s a flood of them waiting) only received one order written on this card. In the flesh, people refuse them with varying degrees of politeness but, at least, don’t seize the card and immediately rip it into to lots of pieces as someone did on Monday night. A simple “no” or “no thank you” would suffice and be more greatly appreciated.

Standing around does give me the opportunity to renew my acquaintance with a friendly lady I met at the Eagles Dinner Dance who remembers me and apologises if she appeared a little tipsy that evening. She wasn’t as I recall though I do remember she was keen, travelled quite a way to watch most meetings from the ‘Hailsham Bend’ (the third one) and that her sons were already showing some talent on a speedway bike at the training track here. In fact, her son glances casually at the postcard flier and impressively immediately identifies that the photo was taken at Weymouth, that Dave Mason is being thrown in the air in celebratory fashion and that riders Dan Giffard and James Purchase are some of those doing this. I’m very impressed at his knowledge and observational skills!

I speak with Kevin ‘KC’ Coombes as he makes his way into the stadium. He rather worryingly tells me “until I started reading it I had no idea what it was really about”. I make a mental note to try to describe it to everyone much better, but especially announcers!

I make my way inside just before the tapes go up and Martin again calls out from the track shop “no-one’s bought one still and there have been loads of leaflets thrown away over there”[he gestures towards the home straight]. I had already intended to circle the stadium after the meeting to bin discarded rogue leaflets – partly so as not to devalue people’s impression of the book, when they start to see it as litter, and partly to save the OAP who cleans the stadium any additional grief. A brief glance in the nearby litterbins confirms that some people have saved me the trouble. At least they have been tidy.

In his always thoughtful programme notes, Jon Cook sympathises with Arena’s Ronnie Russell and his ongoing difficulties in his attempt to secure a full team, in this case for last week’s meeting. “Ronnie must have tried 20 riders all of whom for various reasons could not or did not want to come to Arlington and it is a situation that has to be addressed over the winter as the dynamics of world speedway have changed to such a degree that rider availability is now probably the biggest problem we face in this country”. Given that all riders are self-employed, understandably they will always try to maximise their earnings. For the top stars, the only game in town is the BSI run GP series, which provides valuable airtime for their many lucrative sponsors and will, therefore, always remain a priority (and it is best to not even consider how UK club assets can appear without payment in the GP series, never mind that these assets can get injured). The potential level of earnings for riders in Poland are reputedly huge and far in excess of that in this country. Added to that, Sweden also represents a more attractive proposition than the UK. It would appear that we definitely face a problem when it comes to hard cash before we factor in the strenuous demands of our British season and the associated travel. More problems definitely lie ahead for the sport in this country, particularly at the Elite League level, where the financial and commercial considerations of the Sky Sports contract also exerts a huge and distorting influence upon priorities of the riders and English clubs.

This season the group I stand with has undergone a crisis of confidence, well viewing position. Quite how this has happened I don’t know. This week we all stand at the exit of the fourth bend. Notable by their absence from our group (and pictured on page 318 of my book), we all still miss Dave and his wife Margaret, while he recovers from an operation to remove an aneurism. They are a lovely couple and when Dave woke from his operation he immediately checked that it all wasn’t a dream and asked his wife “Am I alive?” He then immediately caught up with that week’s edition of the Speedway Star and specifically asked Margaret to tell me that he liked my advert for my book. What a gent! This week, I notice that on her programme scorecard Karen, who stands by me, has written, “Mum still misses Margaret”.

Eastbourne win the meeting easily 55-35 but the fixture is enlivened by a bad rut on bend four (most unusual given Bob Dugard’s superb and fastidious preparation of the track) and also in Heat 10 when David Norris takes Ryan Sullivan into the fence though the referee rules this to be first bend bunching. During the interval, Mark Loram voices what everyone knows, namely that Reading “is not really a World Cup track”. You would like to think that these things were chosen on merit and the facilities offered rather than the ever-tightening circles of influence and commercial complexity. If I were running Poole Speedway Club, I’d feel aggrieved that after last year’s great atmosphere, crowd size at the same event - never mind their much better facilities - that they were dropped in favour of the new kid on the block, in this case John Postlethwaite’s presently rather dilapidated Bulldogs stadium in Reading.

Much entertainment is always provided by KC, the man on the mike with the always unique turn of phrase, choice of question or observations about speedway, life or, another important ongoing reference point, himself. Tonight’s gems include:
“Is there anyone here from Ecuador?” [we struggle to get them to come from other parts of England, even when their team is here]
“I’ve been short listed to appear on the television show ‘The Weakest Link’ – you know the one – I think I’ll wear my Eastbourne top”
[On Trevor Geer's birthday the next day] “He’s 53 but he looks 70”

After the meeting I walk around the stadium picking up stray copies of my discarded leaflets. While I do this I’m reminded of a story from the last football World Cup when the Japanese supporters passionately cheered on their team before they then all stayed for another hour afterwards to clean up the grandstand of all the (minimal) mess they’d created. They left it cleaner afterwards than when they arrived. I can’t claim to have done the same but maybe the book is causing me to turn Japanese?

http://www.elite-eagles.com/

Charmed in Thurrock

SORRY! This page has been removed…

A fully revised and updated version of this blog entry now appears in my new paperback book Shifting Shale (Methanol Press £20) published in June 2007.

All my blog entries from 2006 are included in this book along with many other accounts from my travels that I withheld from the blog. These include the SRA Dinner, Brighton Bonanza, Riding with the Ref’s at Sittingbourne, the Corduroy Revolution at Reading and many, many more!

A fuller description of this book is below




Shifting Shale: 2006 A Race Odyssey


Like the modern-day gladiators of motorcycle speedway, author, observer and minutia obsessive Jeff Scott goes round in circles, Shifting Shale - just like his fearless heroes.

Only the shale he is shifting is not the pinky gloopy stuff which adorns the tracks in the rundown stadiums of broken dreams but his masterwork – a 320,000 word analysis of what once was “Britain's second largest watched sport” (after football).

Entitled Showered in Shale, this epic tome published early in 2006 received plaudits like no other speedway book and, taking his author role seriously and ignoring the edict of one who said “I'd like to write and be published, but I couldn't bear the endless rounds of book signing”, he sets off around the tracks once more to 'press the flesh', meet his public and most importantly, sell some books.

So, not only is this another unique speedway observational book - but a book that will appeal to anyone who has promoted their own work. Scott sets up his stall in the shadows of these mostly decaying yet hugely attractive full-of-triumph-and-tragedy corrugated arenas to sell his wares. His only weapons are charm, humour and unsold volumes.

And it is mostly from this table-side vista a freshly askew insight into the joys of watching four riders race four laps on an uncertain surface on a methanol guzzling 500cc two wheeled monster with no brakes. It’s a spectacle that defies logic insomuch as firstly, four riders try to squeeze into the first bend when there is only space for one and secondly, to turn each corner, the rider actually accelerates and steers to the right. Although he's turning left …

Which, in effect, is the power of this new book - built as a blog, but now read as a book. Reading Jeff Scott, there are no brakes. To stop, you have to throttle off and put your foot down. But the buzz is so captivating, it is a very hard thing to do.

And when he leaves his tableware to the elements and wanders into the pits, the bar, car park, centre green or up to the referee's box, once more, you are actually there.

Elsewhere, he enjoys being a guest of Sky Sports at the prestigious Speedway Riders Association end of year bash, a day astride an actual speedway bike at Sittingbourne Speedway, comparing sales figures with legendary former riders, hobnobbing with riders on the Isle of Wight ferry and even spending the night sleeping with two speedway riders at the Norfolk Arena ...

It's dafter, funnier, deeper and a 'must have' companion to his masterpiece Showered in Shale, and his other books – the hilarious When Eagles Dared or the poignantly photographed Shale Britannia.

Track Shop Stockists

All these tracks stock my book:

Rye House
Arena Essex
Coventry
Poole
Eastbourne
King’s Lynn
Mildenhall
Somerset
Ipswich
Workington
Wolverhampton
Stoke
Buxton
Edinburgh
Sheffield
Redcar
Boston
Isle of Wight