In memory of George Barclay – speedway gentleman

The lovely ‘Gentleman George’ Barclay has sadly passed away, aged 90, RIP. Always friendly and self-deprecatingly charming, George had a curiosity about people. He wore his speedway credentials casually, his depths kindly and mellow modesty lightly. Whenever you saw George, you wanted a word or time in his kindly company.

Along with his wife Linda, they made an inseparable but indefatigable team who, as Speedway Star rightly notes,  “were the inspirational driving force behind the hugely successful nationwide fundraising effort that, in 2007, enabled the creation of the National Speedway Museum”.

Travelling to every track in British speedway to research and write my books inevitably meant bumping into Linda and George either fundraising or encouraging and nurturing young people to explore their dreams and hone their talents. They were everywhere (but especially Sittingbourne and Rye House) and are both sadly missed

still smoothly stylish (on & off the track)

Below are some accounts of various brief encounters with George and Linda out and about enjoying their speedway while fundraising too:

Representing the Speedway Museum and raising further funds for its construction from donations or purchases of a limited but snazzy range of branded memorabilia are George and Linda Barclay who have thrown themselves into the fundraising with a dedication, gusto, belief and charm that really should get wider recognition than it has. They’ve travelled countless miles to an endless number of meetings to put the best foot forward for the Speedway Museum and represent these plans, the sport and themselves with great knowledge, capability and grace. Despite some sceptical opinion, they clearly really believe in the project and (modestly) delight in the success of their fundraising efforts. “We’ve raised £72,000 at the last count – seventy percent of that from the public – they said it couldn’t be done but we’ve proved them wrong! April 28th is the tentative opening date – the VRSA started it and we’ve finished it.” Apart from the displays to be erected in the physical museum itself (inside Paradise Park, located near Harlow), there are still some important administrative details to be resolved including its charitable status but also a bid for supporting funds from outside agencies, “we’re fighting with the Lottery – maybe they’ll just be giving all their money to the Olympics?” (High Beech 18.02.07)

George & Linda in fundraising action!

The indefatigable George and Linda Barclay, who have worked so tirelessly to raise funds and awareness for the Speedway Museum at the nearby Paradise Park through their regular travel to every (or almost every) speedway track in the country, actually have the Premier League trophy with them. They place it on a blue box-cum-pedestal in the centre of the table they’ve set up to draw attention to tonight’s raffle to raise monies on behalf of the Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund. The fine details of which are advertised on specially printed plastic cards which George and Linda display prominently on the table and also hang round their necks to further draw the eye….The lovely George Barclay brings the irredeemably positive outlook of his faith-healing work wherever he goes and so consequently delights in the spectacle, “Some of the passing is fantastic!” (Rye House 20.10.07)

from Concrete for Breakfast

It wouldn’t really be a meeting at Rye House if George and Linda Barclay weren’t present. They have a lot more time to attend Hoddesdon meetings nowadays since they no longer diligently fundraise on behalf of the Speedway Museum. George is always mild-mannered, quietly spoken and optimistically philosophical, “Health is luck, isn’t it? I said that to a consultant and he looked surprised but agreed. You can do everything you think is right and still just get struck down! I’m tremendous! I’ve never felt better apart, of course, from the Alzheimer’s, but I live with that.” Linda Barclay is a huge fan of speedway racing at the Conference League level. “Sittingbourne is the grass roots of the sport! But, on crowds of 100, it’s never going to do anything but lose money! I know Graham [Arnold] is worried that some of the riders go on to other things but Sittingbourne is always going to be a stepping-stone. They should do more corporate days and training sessions as they’d make more money that way than running Conference League meetings!” Brendan Johnson passes and has a brief chat with George and Linda as well as myself. After he’s gone George remarks, “He really is a very nice young man! People expect motorbike riders to be rough and ready but so many of them are nice!” (Rye House, CLRC, 27.09.08)

from Quantum of Shale

man of many talents

At the top of the steps adjacent to the doors that lead either to the toilets or the home-straight grandstand bar, George and Linda Barclay patiently Blu-Tack speedway action photos to a large wooden board that they’ll later display on the steps to advertise the increasingly popular Rye House Training Days. George explains, “It’s a good way to let everyone know about the Rye House speedway tuition training dates. Tutors are Len Silver, Alan Mogridge and myself. With three of us, we can really give them the attention! We run them on many Sundays during the speedway season, every Saturday in November and the first two Saturdays of December. It’s £40 if they bring their own bike and £80 if they don’t for the bike – and that includes the dope and oil and everything! We get all ages and it’s up to a maximum of 20. We find the big difference is that we offer tuition! There’s no point having them go round and round making exactly the same mistakes again and again! Last year, we [George and Linda Barclay] did the corporate training days at Sittingbourne. It was £135 per person and that included everything. Linda did the sandwiches, I did the tuition. People used to say what good value it is. It’s £500 for the day at Scunthorpe – as many can go as you like – and £195 at King’s Lynn. We get some of the King’s Lynn National League riders come here though ’cause they know they’ll get the tuition! We’re going to depend on young riders for the future. Look at that [photo] it’s little Ben Morley. He’s only 15. We saw his first time ever on a speedway bike at Sittingbourne on the practice track. You could see straight away that he was meant to ride and would do well. He’s very nice and a nice family supports him. It’s important to have that support given how expensive it is! His dad is particularly nice. Ben rides at reserve for our Cobras National League side. He rides flat out.

[Linda] “He’s had a time of 59 seconds.”
[George] “That’s very good for his age, only 15.”
[Linda] “He’s smaller than me.”
[George] “The National League’s all about bringing on the youngsters! There are lots of riders in the league who are much older who’ve never gone anywhere and won’t go anywhere!”
[Linda] “If Buzz had ridden here tonight he’d have made a difference to the average age.”
[George] “I wonder what the average age is tonight and in the National League? There are some old ones. You have to call it our League Riders Championship as it’s no longer just youngsters, as it should be! Some of the teams have many older riders!” George doesn’t have the involvement with the current crop of speedway riders that he once had. “I don’t get to chat to the riders much nowadays. They’re so busy on race nights and have their minds on other things. I’m looking forward to seeing that Kyle Hughes tonight. Watch him. He’s so smooth on the bike. Really stylish! He’s always going in the right direction. Some of them [holds imaginary handlebars and makes jerky motions with his arms and upper body] struggle with the bike but he’s effortless!” (Rye House, NLRC 26.09.09)

from Shale Trek

George and Linda Barclay also arrive early. Linda’s another who takes extreme pride in youth. “Three of our lads were in the recent Southern Riders [championship] and they finished first, second and third! Len [Silver] has given them their first ever second half as a reward tonight. Jack Nottingham was about 13 when he started at Sittingbourne, Joe Exley might have ridden at Lydd starting around 18 months ago while Jake Hallett has only been here probably since the beginning of last year. They’re all 15 and they’re all really keen!”

[George] “They’re all J’s!”
[ Jeff ] “All the best people are.”
[George] “They’ve all been coming virtually every week since we started.” [Linda] “It’s so popular, Len’s letting us put on an extra day.”
[George] “It’s nearly always over-subscribed. Tonight their names are in the programme! Wow! You can imagine the thrill! They always used to put me in as A.N. Other.”
[Linda] “It’s really some incentive for the lads. The hardest thing is to get them in their age groups so you can put them out together. I dunno if it’s right but, I’m told, there’s hardly any 14-year olds. We’re running an extra session tomorrow. Shame it said on the website Saturday 6th June. People have been ringing to find out if it’s the day or the date that’s right. They had to ring anyway to book. Most weeks we get 18; 20 is the maximum. They’re split into three groups and taught by Len, Alan Mogridge and George. It’s the tuition and individual attention that makes the difference!” (Rye House, 05.06.10)

from Bouquet of Shale

Back outside I bump into the charming George Barclay and we have a brief discussion about the Vic Harding Memorial meeting the evening before at Rye House. George is a lovely man but also is sincerely convinced that we are continually surrounded by the spirits of dead people who are present but invisible to the majority of people, including himself. Unlike the insight his children have into this parallel world, he himself can’t sense or see these spirits but his belief in them is, nonetheless, unshakeable and he takes real delight in what he thinks would be Vic’s enjoyment of the various celebrations in his name down the years. (Sittingbourne 02.07.06)

guest tutor for the day [is] the perpetually hyper-friendly and genuine George Barclay. The referees are chuffed to learn that they will have the honour to learn under the watchful tutelage of the perma- smile of steely silver-haired George, who’s just arrived from some sort of road trip with his wife Linda. Their car is impressively full with a variety of boxes but not the suit that George needed to wear the night before at the event he attended, since he absent mindedly set-off without it, even though Linda had hung it up on the cupboard at home in a suit bag. Typically, no obstacle or upset appears to faze George or disturb his calm approach….Back over with the grown-ups at the pits, there’s a happy and voluble crowd of contented referees. Everyone has had more rides this year because of the reduced number of attendees and under the expert guidance of the calmly helpful George Barclay their general confidence and ability has grown. Barbara Horley has “set her own targets” and advises that I do the same for my one ride on the big track. Chris Gay is ecstatic since he has finally mastered the art of “getting it to slide” which is “a great feeling.” He has responded well to his teacher, “George Barclay really wanted me to do that – when I couldn’t quite manage it earlier he noticed that my steel shoe was too rough so he went and got his own ‘smooth’ steel shoe from the car – it’s amazing he still travels with it never mind that he wanted to lend it to me so I could succeed!” Chris is transformed, like a refereeing version of Cinderella, since after the steel shoe was fitted, his circumstances dramatically changed. Nearby Christina Turnbull is very impressed with the facilities, and the tuition offered but mostly with the number of young riders on display, “somewhere like here gives you hope for the future – there are huge numbers just champing at the bit with real enthusiasm – they’re without fear and they all look really good.” …The referees start getting ready to leave but Graham Arnold asks them to hang on a few more minutes for the arrival of George Barclay, “he’s always the last to leave the track as he just loves teaching, particularly with the kids, we have to drag him away!” As if on cue, a smiling George B arrives to say “thank you to everybody for making it so enjoyable – getting on a bike takes some doing and I’m really surprised to find that the refs are as mad as the riders!” I’m then surprised that he has an Olympic-like presentational medal to hand out to everyone who took part. On one side of the medal it has a crest that says “Sittingbourne Speedway” and on the other it has been engraved with the legend, “SPEEDWAY RIDER FOR A DAY”. (Referees’ Practice Day, Sittingbourne 19.11.06)

from Shifting Shale