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Hackney Reunion Website.para { FONT-SIZE: 13px; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif}.paraLink { COLOR: #000000; TEXT-DECORATION: underline}.sidePara { FONT-SIZE: 12px; COLOR: #FFFFFF; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif}.sideParaSmall { FONT-SIZE: 10px; COLOR: #FFFFFF; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif}.heading { FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Times, serif; LETTER-SPACING: 1px}.subheading { FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 15px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Times, serif}.sideLink { COLOR: #FFFFFF; LINE-HEIGHT: 120%}  Hackney Reunion Website Home of the Hackney reunion web site 2006 Vic Harding Memorial Trophy Match Report Vic Harding Memorial Meeting 2005 Details on the Vic Harding Memorial Meeting Photo's from the 2005 Vic Harding Memorial Trophy. At Rye House 2005 Hackney Reunion Match Report Match report Tony Kasper 1962 - 2006 a tribute by his former mechanic and friend Chris Callaghan 1962 - 2006 Colin Richardson tribute To Vic Harding Reunion Photos A selection of Photos from the Big Night Tony Hurren Remember him ! He writes Prewar Hackney Reunion Posters Reunion & Vic Harding Meeting Poster Programmes of Hackney Speedway Front Covers Hackney Speedway Vote's Important Questions Need Answering... Photo Gallery Photo's of Hackney Waterden Road in 2005 and now in 2007 How our beloved Waterden Road is doing today Leszno, Polish Friends Universal Language of Roman Jankowski Guestbook A place to leave a message in the guestbook Message Forum A place for all speedway fans to chat... Links Links To Other Websites Hackney Reunion Website  Snowy Beattie RIP
It is with deep regret that I must tell you that the former Hackney Speedway Supporters Club Secretary Snowy Beattie died on Thursday 10th July 2007, he was 87.
The funeral takes place on the Monday 21st July at 3pm at the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium
His family have requested no flowers but a donation to the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund. Any cards or donations please forward them to
Jessica Beattie,
c/o 37 Moreton Close
Upper Clapton
London
E5 9EP
Tribute from Hawkeye. Taken from the 1976 Hackney v Wimbledon programme
This is speedway’s most famous supporters club secretary, Snowy Beattie. Hackney Speedway has been fortunate to have a few key men working behind the scenes who carry on the good work year after year. Snowy comes into this category having been elected to serve under Ron Dyer on the original post-war committee in 1936, and remaining a loyal servant with an unbroken run up to the present time.
However, before we look at Snowy Beattie the speedway secretary, lets find out something on the personal side. He was born in Shoreditch, the son of an insurance broker and when I interviewed him I had memories of the time I asked him his age under similar circumstances in 1970, when he told me to “mind my own business!”
It was with little trepidation that I said
“How old are you?”
He paused for a moment and then said
“All right, let them know, I’m 55!” He certainly doesn’t look his age does he?
Snowy, who has a married brother, has lived in Shoreditch district all his life and currently has a bachelor flat. He went to school in Shoredich and upon leaving took a job in the engineering trade, making loose leaf metals, which is still his profession today.
He was chistened Arthur Richard Beattie and it was at that time he started work that the nickname of Snowy was bestowed upon him. It transpires that the young Mr Beattie had pure white hair and his boss re-christened him.
Snowy served in the Royal Air Force for three years from 1944 and his two permanent stations were in Derby and North Wales.
It was soon after starting work at the age of 15 in 1936, that some workmates talked him into accompanying them to Harringay Speedway. He was a regular at the Green Lanes until the outbreak of war and also held a staff post at Rye House, where he used to cycle to the meetings.
Snowy also attended the occasional meeting at Belle Vue during the war but it was his demob in 1947, which coincided with the re-opening of Harringay, that saw him begin to make his mark as a backroom boy in the world of speedway racing.
He approached the late George Kay-at that time the Harringay promoter- with a view to running a cycling section of the Harringay Speedway Supporters Club and permission was duly granted. He also started to work for the Harringay promoter and used to sell badges, rosettes, photographs, etc until the demise of his beloved Racers at the end of the 1954 season.
Snowy was a always a keen cyclist and if you want evidence of this, he points to the occasion in 1948 when he and another eleven of his colleagues cycled to Perry Barr, Birmingham to watch the Racers in action against the local Brummies. It is worth mentioning that one of the other cyclists was current Hackney committee man, Reg Stracey.
During the days of Harringay Speedway there where two separate clubs, one a social club, and the other majoring on travel. After the speedway closure the two clubs amalgamated with Snowy as the secretary and the club still runs today, meeting every Tuesday at Wood Green.
When Harringay closed, Snowy watched his speedway racing at West Ham in 1955 and then Wimbledon and Rye House. It was at the latter track, when doing a security job, that snowy relates an amusing story. It appears that he was so positioned to stop people bunking in via the River Leas and amongst those he regularly sent packing were a few names that might be familiar to you, Mike Broadbank, Dingle Brown and Colin Pratt!
Snowy’s links with Hackney started at a staff meeting prior to our 1963 season opening. He was elected to serve on the committee and for the initial season he sold our novelty lines from a tray, before we opened kiosks as we have today.
The original committee was disbanded during the winter of 1963/64 and wasn’t reformed until after the 1964 season when Len Silver took a hand in the proceedings, Snowy was elected secretary at a supporters meeting and has held the position ever since. Indeed Snowy is one of only a handful of people who have worked behind the scenes at The Wick continuously since 1963.
Such is the devotion to The Hawks that Snowy will travel anywhere to watch them. He never misses a Saturday away fixture and in 14 seasons has only missed a handful of mid week ones. Many riders who have worn the Hackney colours have been grateful to snowy for his assistance in the pits on their travels when their own mechanics have been unable to make the trips. He has travelled abroad to World Finals in Poland and Sweden and to other parts of the continent for international events. He is a great friend of Danny Leno and played no small part in clinching the Warner’s sponsorship deal on our Champions Chase Knock –Out and Superama classics.
He was instrumental in popularising the sale in the sale of ‘old programmes’ from which at Hackney go to the Riders Equipment Fund. However probably his best known brainwave was the launching of the London Speedway Honours Ball, involving Hackney, Wembley, West Ham and Wimbledon.
Apart from his secretary’s duties, Snowy’s has also acted as Chairman and Treasurer on occasions when these posts have fallen vacant. He spends every Sunday at Hackney during the close season assisting with track and stadium maintenance.
Snowy owns a small piece of land at Laindon, which he often been the venue of barbecues, organised for the Hackney riders and their friends. His ambition is to see a much stronger social side to Hackney Speedway and he feels that our dinner / dance in October could well be the platform for swift developments in this particular area.
There have been many riders at Hackney who Snowy has idolised including Colin Pratt, Bengt Jannson, Barry Thomas and Zenon Plech. How ever when I asked him who he thought was the ‘all time great’, I was not too surprised when he plumped for Vic Duggan.
Nobody has served Hackney Speedway better than Snowy Beattie. Such is the respect that he commands here, I think we’ll be seeing him around for a good few years yet!
Although no connection with Hackney I wish well to one of my hero's former Romford Bomber Colin Sanders  I make no apologies for the following article on one of my first speedway hero’s Romford Speedway's Colin Sanders on the Hackney Reunion website. Colin had a stroke in early June while riding a speedway bike in America where he now lives. It did seem very touch and go if he would survive.
The latest update below is courtesy of Bomber from the speedway-forum website:-
“I have today received [Monday July 9th] this news from Colin's family:
We have phoned Colin's doctor in the states and it is now stated that
Colin suffered a "massive stroke " whilst riding his speedway bike at Dade City
Raceway. This caused his accident and he is not brain injured apart from
the stroke which has affected his speech and right side. The doctor feels
that Colin is making satisfactory progress for someone in his situation."
Whilst this is much more encouraging news, Colin is still very ill - however, the situation does not appear to be quite as bad as first thought.
My thanks to Colin's sister and brother-in-law for keeping me informed about his condition.”
Without Romford Speedway I may never have got the bug that has lasted and lasted. I lived in Brooklands Road, for those who are not aware of Brooklands Road, it led to Romford Speedway, and I lived three doors from the main gates! On a Thursday night it was the highlight of my week, watching the Bombers. The riders would drive past my house, into the stadium with their bikes hanging out of the back of there boot. Funny how you remember things, Ian Gills had a dark blue Ford Consul or Zodiac bit clapped out I recall but he lived in Bristol so it could not have been that bad I guess. Then from about 5.30 the fans would start to walk past my house, just amazing times.
Colin Sanders arrived at Brooklands from Plymouth in 1970, as did several other riders before him namely, Phil Woodcock, Tony George, Bob Coles, Ian Gills and Clark Facey. Wally Mawdsley & Pete Lansdale promoted at Plymouth in 1968 and when they sold out to local businessman Fred Osborne for 1969 several Mawdsley/Lansdale assets eventually ended up at Romford.
Colin never became number one at Romford that he had been at Plymouth. But he was a good second string. He did have some individual glory finishing third in the 1971 Romford Carnival Rose Bowl Trophy, won by Kevin Holden and again came equal third in the same year in the Romford Spring Cup Classic, again won by Kevin Holden. Also on equal third was Tony Childs, boy was he unpopular at Romford!
Colins Averages from 1969/1971
1969
Plymouth 7.17
1970
Romford 6.17
1971
Romford 5.22
Colin went about his business on the speedway track being a good middle order man. He did have a few nasty knocks, especially one coming out of the forth bend in which I believe he broke his leg.
When Romford closed at the end of the 1971 season, I never saw Colin ride again. In fact I’m not sure if he ever rode in the UK again.
Obviously he never lost the bug went he went to the states and still carried on having a ride. I also think I read somewhere he had his own track.
Hopefully Colin you may get to read this and it may just bring a few memories back. Good luck on your road to recovery
Sad to report the death of Hackney pre war favorite Archie Windmill. Archie rode for the Hackney Wick Wolves from 1937 until the outbreak of war in 1939. Archie was still seen around at speedway events until recently. Condolences to his family and friends.  Taken at the 2005 Hackney reunion Archie Windmill is standing to the left of Len Silver. Also in the picture, L/R meeting compare Gareth Rogers, Banger, and Trevor Banks Below : Archie in his riding days at The Wick   Ex Hackney rider Antonin [Toni] Kasper [above] has sadly passed away aged 44. Many fans will remember his father Antonin Kasper riding for East End rivals West Ham. When Toni rode for the Hawks he was a breath of fresh air. Tony made his Hackney debut at Coventry on the 15th May '82 scoring three points from three rides He was in many ways like the great Zenon Plech, a typical Eastern European. He was much under rated as a rider and in later years of course rode in the Speedway Grand Prix’s.
I did try to contact Toni for last year’s reunion. We managed to get a contact number, but where unable to make any contact with Toni. Oh how I wish I had tried just that little bit harder.
A full tribute by Toni's mechanic and friend Chris Callaghan can be found on the Tony Kasper page. Thanks to Chris for writing such a lovely piece and also for the pictures.
Condolences of course to the Kasper family and friends,
from everyone at Hackney.
Toni Kasper RIP
1962 – 2006
Ist Speedway meeting at Hackney in 1935   The last Hackney programme, the 2005 Hackney Speedway Reunion The 2005 Hackney reunion programme. Still available at £4.50 inc p/p. More details contact hackneyreunion@btopenworld.com  Len Silver and Finn Thomsen meeting for the first time in twenty years!  The four musketeers at Rye House. From left to right, Keith White, Bengt Jansson, Malcolm Brown and Finn Thomsen The fantastic book on Hackney Speedway, will bring the memories flooding back!  Text-only version of this page | Edit this page | Manage website | Website design: 2-minute-website.com |
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