Ekka reunion dinner

[Rosco86]

Went to Davies Park last night for the Ekka Reunion Dinner. Being an ex Victorian there weren't a heap of faces I knew. Bert Kingston spoke and Nigel Boocock was there, John Titman was another I recognised. Sewell junior talked about his sidecar days as Dad was unable to make it. Tony Webb had an excellent display of photos and publications and a lovely Rotax Jap with a pommy flag and John Lennon on the guard was on display. Had Ron Langdon and his mate Les on our table and they had a huge history of the old days. The evening also incorporated the car boys as that how speedway used to be in the old days. The grandson of AJ Huntington did a great presentation about how his grandfather had pioneered speedway first at Davies Park in the early thirties and then also at the Ekka. Very interesting and very informative. Believe Tony has a publication about it. Try him at binbooks as he has a treasure trove of speedway publications. Food good and plentiful and drink at reasonable prices. Well done to Scott Brazier for organising. If you are a banana bender oval enthusiast place it on your calendar, if you are a blow in like me it's still a great night.
Rosco 86

[allan hughes]

any talk about a race meeting
at the ekka

[Rosco86]

Unfortunately no. They have even banned the once a year vintage speed car ( used to include solos and sidecars) spectacular which was just demo laps and a static display. Pity!

[allan hughes]

to think the amount of money
the r.n.a  (promoters of the ekka)
have taken from speedway over 40 years

[Hoony]

At least the track is still there. In melb they removed it completely . I was horrified when I saw the so called upgraded show grounds with no track. The place is bland now that its gone and there is no venue in melb now

[firko]

The Sydney Showground speedway is now a part of Fox movie studios and a trendy shopping mall /restaurant precinct. The infield is still there pretending to be a park so you can get a rough idea of where the track was but other than that and a pissy little plaque it's been obliterated from Mother Earth. They used the rodeo arena at the replacement Homebush Showground  a couple of times but it wasn't very good and one got the impression that the Royal Agricultural Society and the government didn't give a rats arse anyway. The greatest speedway in the world deserved a better fate than it got.


                                                                                         
The late Jim Shepherd, Publisher, Sports Historian, Speedway Commentator, Patron of the Veteran Speedway Riders Association of Australia, shown here with the two plaques laid on a brick wall in front of the old Suttor Stand at what was the Royale, now Fox Studios in Sydney. The bronze plaque on the left I had cast, on behalf of the Australian & NSW Vintage Clubs, to commemorate the venue and all the riders and drivers who lost their lives at the track, 28 in all. The coloured plaque on the right was initialised by Fox Studios to recognise the grounds had been used for Speedway. The outline of the old dirt track is still present, although in a concrete and pebblecrete form.

[firko]

                                                                                       

On September 7th. 2002, the members of the Vintage Speedcar Associaton of Queensland, saw fit to honour the competitors and erect a plaque on the site of the Exhibiiton Grounds Speedway, Brisbane, Queensland. Speedway ran at the venue from 1926.  It never really had a recognised final meeting

[IT400C]

Hmmmm....  I'll go through my records, but I probably have a few Ekka negs/slides etc. of Dad's from the 70's.