Passing the Torch
The Woman Behind the Man
Throughout my story I haven't mentioned my mum much. Behind every man is a good woman, this is certainly true of my mum. She would often go with Dad to watch the Speedway, her favourite rider was Halifax and England's Kenny Carter. In truth I don't remember mum watching Speedway at all, she was distraught when she found out the awful news that Kenny shot dead his wife Pamela before killing himself in 1986. Kenny's death didn't just end my mum' interest, and I'm sure looking back that this was a pivotal moment in the general decline of the sport in the U.K. Her interest in the sport quickly dwindled. By the time I was old enough, she didn't follow Speedway in any capacity, despite the families' continued link to the sport.
We would often spend lots of time on the road away from home, my mum pretty much had a meltdown when Martin and I started racing, but she was always supportive. Mum's health was slowly declining, and in August 2020, amid the pandemic, she was admitted to the hospital with an unknown infection in her legs. The overbearing restrictions on medical facilities meant we couldn't visit her, which was very difficult for Dad. In January 2021, she was rushed to the intensive care unit at our local hospital, the day after, she passed away. As you would expect, our family was devastated, and it was just as Boris brought in substantial restrictions to prevent households mixing. Dad, like myself, was an introverted soul, his wife was his world, and she was now gone, after 37 years of marriage.
A new life
Not long after mum's death, we started to talk about Speedway again, it looked like we would finally see the sport return after the enforced hiatus. It was time to start building some more memories with my Dad and help him get through the most challenging time I'd ever known for him, and myself in truth.
We made the journey up to Leicester for their league match against Edingburgh, despite a positive forecast the weather turned against us and we watched the speedway track turn into a good venue for jet skiing. Bank Holiday Monday we finally got back to watching some Speedway, we travelled together with my father-in-law Roger to Manchester for my first visit to the National Speedway Stadium. Despite the heavy covid restrictions we got tickets on the third and fourth bend for the afternoon encounter and watched a terrific encounter between the Aces and visitors Peterborough, ending in a 45-45 draw. It was like old times, flask in hand, programs filled in, trying to predict the reserve changes and tactical rides, the Speedway was back, and we were loving it. We made the return trip back to London via the East of England Area and watched Belle Vue get revenge on the Panthers with a late surge to claim all the points. We then made the journey south the see Kent King's and Glasgow do battle, the Tigers were in control throughout but it was still a lot of fun! Family friend David Wolff offered to take Dad to a match at Ipswich for the visit of Peterborough, I managed to join them when I had business not far away from Foxhall. We were finally enjoying our Speedway again.
We had our rain-off tickets from Leicester earlier in the year so we planned to go back to Beaumont Park for Redcar's Championship match. Leicester are a strong side and they overpaid Redcar from the off, the Bears did make an effort but in the end, the Lions won convincingly. I noticed Dad was unusually tired, he had been telling me he was struggling to sleep and not eating much, we talked regularly but I put it down to stress after the bereavement. He was sitting down between every race which, was a little unusual and he was nodding of intermittently all the way back to London which, was very out of character.
The week after our trip to Leicester my sister who was still living with him called an ambulance as his persistent tiredness and overwhelming fatigue was not improving, he was taken to the hospital to be checked over. He wasn't very well and restrictions enforced due to the pandemic made visiting tough, I managed to get into the hospital to see him 3 days after he was admitted but in truth, I barely got 2 words out of him in 2 hours. That night I rode up to King's Lynn to watch them get well and truly beaten at home to Peterborough. I left the stadium and realised there was an empty space in my heart, I enjoyed the racing, but it just wasn't the same.
The next day we got bad news, Dad had a massive seizure and was transferred to ICU, he was put into an induced coma to get things under control. Blood tests revealed there was a possibility of cancer, those fears were confirmed the week after when the hospital found he had pancreatic cancer. The tumour had already spread to his lungs, spleen, liver and this was coupled with severe abnormal activity present in his brain.
He didn't even know he had cancer, just four days before he was admitted he was swimming at the local gym. On 10th July 2021, Barrie passed away from Pancreatic Cancer and Heart Disease at 76 years old. Exactly six months to the day after we said our goodbyes to mum at her funeral service, I found myself doing the same thing for my Dad. I can tell without any doubt in my mind, reading the eulogy I wrote for my Dad was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. So it was, 57 years after his first match at Wimbledon, Dad has seen his last speedway match. The sport lost one of its most emphatic fans, and we lost our Dad, the strength and core of the family taken away just as the pandemic was starting to wain.
Peter Oakes at Speedway Star published a story on Dad in the September 11th 2021 edition, a fitting tribute to the man who decided over 4 decades of his life to all things Speedway.
I was devastated, I couldn't function properly. It was a week later, I would stare at the screen for what felt like an eternity trying to do some work but everything was covered in mist. I needed to get out of the house, I turned to my wife Eloise and said something truly bizarre; 'Fancy going to Sheffield tonight for the Speedway?'. Instead of saying something a normal person would say like, what? are you insane!! she said; 'yeah ok'. Just like that, we chucked the kids in the car and made the 3 1/2 -hour drive to Owleton for the visit of Peterborough.
My eldest daughter Evie had been to Speedway before, but not for a few years so it would be interesting to see what she thought. She loved it, she filled in the entire program and was following what was going on, the Panthers won the match and Chris Harris put in a true Bomber performance, we even saw Chris and Panthers number 3, Michael Palm Toft, in KFC across the road after the racing. It was only after I got to Sheffield I found out the match was on T.V. that night! Never mind, watching on T.V. can never replicate the smell and sound of the live event.
Evie loved it so much she kept asking me when I was going again so I could take her. I realised the fundamental reason she enjoyed it so much was because she filled in a program and followed what was going on. It wasn't just riders randomly racing four laps! There was jeopardy for her, and she cared who would finish where! Eventually, I managed to take her and my youngest Katie to Peterborough for their league match with Wolverhampton, and we watched some of the best Speedway I'd seen in years. The racing was intense, the score close and unpredictable, there was controversy, the crowd was massive and the atmosphere was fantastic. It was a spectacle, and she loved every minute of it! Not surprisingly, she decided her favourite rider was Chris Harris after his stunning performances and Bomber kindly posed for a picture with her after the match.
She would come with me for another 2 visits to the East of England arena, including the spectacular season finale where the Panthers clinched a well-deserved premiership title over the Aces, I would then take the whole family to Wolverhampton for one of my favourite annual meetings, the Olympique.
Of course, my kids are still very young, and this could be a faze, but let's hope the family legacy started in 1964 won't just finish with me and will live on with her for many years to come.