Bristol Speedway – Part 1

IN THE DOG HOUSE

Shipshape and Bristol fashion? Not quite. BRIAN BURFORD examines the ‘triumphant’ if compromised return of speedway to Bristol...

THE M32 is a short motorway that peels off from junction 19 of the M4, and leads in and out of Bristol city centre. To this day, it’s a controversial 4.4-mile stretch of road that, in 2014, was estimated to have a daily combined traffic flow in both directions of 75,000 vehicles.

Its construction demonstrated little concern for the environment, which was sacrificed for the convenience of the commute by destroying the 13-arch Stapleton viaduct and dug away part of the picturesque Stoke Park.

Many homes were lost to a compulsory purchase order and residents in Twinnell Street were forced out.

Described by a BBC report as ‘a dagger thrust into the heart of the city’, the motorway was completed in 1975 at an overall cost of £13.4 million.

It’s so intrusive that in 2008, television executive Jeremy Issacs claimed it was the M32 that prevented Bristol from winning the European Capital of Culture award because it created ‘a concrete divide between Eastville, St. Pauls and Easton’.

It was a sore that still smarted when two years after the motorway was completed, Bristol Speedway opened on Friday, April 29, 1977, with cars parked on the hard-shoulder to view the action on the third and fourth corners inside Eastville Stadium – the arena was located in its shadow.

Creating a safety hazard, police were called to move them on, but as the stadium was heaving it was an on-going task. Nevertheless, the M32 would have a small role in Bristol Speedway’s bid to remain at Eastville.

The return of the sport to ‘the place at the bridge’ came after four years of planning and cajoling from a trio of individuals, Wally Mawdsley, John Richards and the latter’s son-in-law, Pat Tapson.

At the time, Mawdsley and Richards were mostly associated with Exeter, but also had a controlling interest in Newport’s Somerton Park where, initially, Tapson and Pete Lansdale were in charge, with Maurice Morley as Speedway Manager.

Later, Mawdsley promoted there as, curiously stated, ‘on behalf of Brendon Motors (Richards’ company)’, while Morley remained manager.

Previously, speedway had been held at Bristol’s Knowle arena from 1928-1960, until it was sold for housing the following year for £132,000 – around £3 million now according to the Retail Price Index.

The bikes had been silent for 16 years, but the desire for speedway racing in the maritime city hadn’t diminished.

Richards, who had rugby union links, called the loss of the Bulldogs ‘a crying shame’. However, growing his own business prevented him from being more proactive in restoring the sport to the city until, through Exeter, he forged a friendship with Mawdsley.

When they took over Newport, Richards saw it as the first step in a long-term goal to revive Bristol Speedway.

Several potential sites were explored before they settled on Eastville, including Bristol City FC’s Ashton Gate, and according to Ivan Mauger’s Speedway Extravaganza, No. 3, a stock-car track in the Mendip Hills.

To mirror what is happening today, a planning application actually went in to the local council to open a circuit at Westonsuper-Mare. But Eastville it was, and their return could not have been better timed, as arguably British speedway was riding the crest of its popularity wave following Peter Collins’ victory in the 1976 World Championship.

Eastville was the home of Bristol Rovers FC and had been since 1896/7 when they purchased the land at Stapleton Hill from Sir Henry Greville Smyth for a bargain sum of £150 – around £18,000 today.

Greyhound racing was first staged in 1928. Actually, the Bristol Greyhound Company bought the stadium from Rovers for £12,000 in 1939, yet the sale was arranged by chairman George Humphreys without the knowledge of his fellow directors.

When his deception was revealed,

32 speedway star March 11, 2023