What brings a community together?

Spedeworth History at Cross in Hand - and some reader feedback!

Sharing or taking part?

Whether it be to share in celebration and praise or to compete, a community needs to come together. In the late 60's and early 70's people from Cross in Hand and miles around (including the DJs from the pirate radio station 'Caroline') gathered to see the Formula II Racing.
Families, particularly teenagers, looked forward to the race meetings. If racing "was your bag" it was the highlight of the week. One teenager at the time who raced at Cross in Hand was Mickey Thorpe. Mickey's love of the sport meant that he had to defy his father in order to race. Mickey was kind enough to tell Flea about The Cross in Hand Racing.
Stock Car Racing started in America and the first race in this country took place at New Cross Stadium on Good Friday 16th April, 1954. At this time cars were more like bangers. The words 'Stock Car' reflect the US meaning - cheap and easy to work on. The racing was not organised. Some say that the set-up was chaotic and could not have lasted as a sport without the organisation, rules and regulations to nurture it. The Assistant Editor of Speedway & Stock Car World Peter Arnold was the leader in re-organising the sport. By 1960 the British Stock Car Drivers Association (BSCDA) had laid down rules for drivers to abide by and the British Stock Car Board of Control ran the races within those rules. Cars were now numbered, graded, lighter, less armoured and faster. Although racing was now fairer, the drivers were still able to use ploys of pushing and spinning.
The constraints of rules meant that the sport became a more expensive pastime.
In 1965 Stock Cars-Formula 2 Saloons raced at Cross in Hand and were organised by Spedeworth Ltd. 3-5,000 spectators of all ages attended and the occasion brought the community together. The Cross in Hand Tigers raced from 1965 - 1972. The races were seasonal because the car park was a field and liable to become waterlogged. The track was built with a 12ft. drop from one straight to the other and for this reason it earned its reputation of causing the most roll-overs. The track was originally laid out with a hairpin bend but it was decided that it was too dangerous. In an effort to protect the drivers and spectators, licences, harnesses, secure seats and scrutineers were adopted and then methanol was used as an additive to the fuel in order to improve speed!
Many names of the time are still spoken with admiration, George Polly, Eddie James (CAR 210) Mickey Martin...
The last race took place in August 1972 and the last programme was No. 27 as shown in our picture.
Advertisements which appeared in this programme were Barley Mow Free House, Heathfield Coachworks Ltd., The Terminus Cafe and Broad Oak Garage.

If you have any memories to share of the times spent at the Cross in Hand Race Track, please contact Flea 01923 241852 or paul@fleacentral.com

Do you remember Miss Lovely Legsv:)?

____________________________________

READER FEEDBACK

While he might not admit to remembering Miss Lovely Legs, Flea reader RICHARD NEIL from London, who's an avid fan of short circuit racing, has authored four books and publishes a magazine on the subject - as well as being an occasional topic Blogger, saw our article on line and sent us an email with some interesting additional detail about the track and it's drivers.

We've reproduced Richard's text below.Thanks Richard - good to hear from you and hope you get a few book sales from the links we've left in.

Does anyone else have additional information, or even odd facts or anecdotes about the Cross in Hand track to share? - then please let us know - and you might like to copy it to Richard too..... Be sure you're happy for us to publish what you send - but it's helpful if you include permission in your email or letter.

Of course, we welcome feedback on any of our content - as well as original articles,artwork and images for publication. We look forward to hearing more from our flea readers - who, would you believe, come from all over the world - not just from the Wealden area of East Sussex !!!

^{Keep reading and enjoy.... Ed}

______________________________________

Here's Richard's mail exactly as received:

I was very interested to see your article on Cross in Hand raceway.

I’ve written four books on short circuit racing and “the Cross” features in three of them. http://www.ovaltrack.co.uk

The Cross in Hand Tigers only existed in 1971 and 1972. Auto Spedeway ran for just two seasons (or maybe one and a bit seasons as I cannot find a final results table for the second year). The dubious spelling of Spedeway is a nod to the organising company “Spedeworth International”. Each track that was operated by Spedeworth had its own team and raced in the team league. The Cross in Hand team was particularly rich in talent having two World Champions in the ranks – Dave Pierce and ‘Biffo’ Sweeney – both from the Dorking area in Surrey. The rest of the six man team comprised Art Fowler (a man of pensionable age who was a top ex motorcycle trials rider), Alan Cox, Gordon Street and Dave Hindle. Fowler passed away some years ago but I think the rest are still with us. Pierce now lives abroad but his son is the current World Karting Champion. The team was managed by the MD of Spedeworth Les Eaton.

From memory the track opened originally for a short while in 1965 but was re-laid and rebuilt in 1968.

http://www.richardjohnneil.com/autospedeway/autospedeway.htm

Regards Richard

This article was created on Friday, 25th April 2008. It was last tinkered with on Wednesday, 6th May 2009.

Please address all comments, feedback, article submissions etc. to: