Berwick Bandits Speedway

Shielfield Park, in the quaint town of Berwick in Northumberland is home to the Berwick Bandits, but the only thing they'll steal is you heart!

Date Visited
Saturday 16th April 2022
Fixture
Berwick v Edinburgh followed by Berwick v Armadale

Shielfield Park
Shielfield Terrance, Tweedmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Northumberland TD15 2EF
Official Length: 386 m
Track Record: 62.9 by Dan Bewley in 2020
Home Team: Berwick Bandits & Berwick Bullets
Standard: Champioinship (Divison 2) and National Development.

Dimensions	Metres
Inside Curb	375
Outside Fence	455
Circuit Width	84
Circuit Length	173
Home-Straight Length	TBC
Back-Straight Length	TBC
Home-Straight Width	8.1
Bends 1&2 Width	12
Back-Straigth Width	7.5
Bends 3&4 Width	13.5
Track Average Speed	54.9 mph

Today marked the start of my journey across the UK to soak up every speedway experience available to the paying public. The venture will take me to all 18 tracks in the leagues, two that sit outside the league and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff for the British Grand Prix.

The original plan was to start a 6 day trip across the UK, starting at Sheffield on Thursday and then travelling up north to Glasgow on Friday, then on to Berwick, Newcastle, across to Manchester, down to Wolverhampton and finishing at Plymouth before crossing back to Essex. All the arrangements were in place, hotels booked, but I got struck down with a fever at the start of the week. I definitely wouldn't make Sheffield, and to be honest, I looked at the Glasgow fixture who hosted Newcastle and couldn't face the 400-mile journey, especially as it was broadcast on BSN.

Instead, I stayed at home and recovered, watched Glasgow destroy the diamonds on tv, and then planned my departure on Saturday instead. The destination is Shelfield Park, home of the Berwick Bandits, a mere 345 miles from my home in Essex, just inside the M25.

So, I packed my programme board, speedway star, flask and thermal undies and departed for the trip up north! I was a little nervous. The furthest I'd ever ridden in one sitting previous to this was Belle Vue, 140 miles short of the total to Berwick! I had no reason to be nervous. I broke up the journey with stops at Peterborough and Carcroft near Doncaster. One of the many things I have to consider on a bike, besides the weather, is the size of the petrol tank. I can only manage around 200 miles before needing to fill up!

The beautiful view from the road into Coldstream, the Scottish Border town.

I made good time and arrived in Northumberland at about 4 pm, just enough time to scope out my accommodation and have a shower before heading to the speedway. I stayed at a little pub in the town of Coldstream, just inside the Scottish Border, a beautiful little place and worth a driving threw for the views alone! I changed into my local riding gear and headed to Berwick, all fresh and clean. Shelfield had a slightly earlier start time than usual as both the Bandits and the Bullets would be in action, a doubleheader!

Berwick is a quaint place. It is tucked away right on the northeast coast of England and only a stone's throw from the Scottish Border. When driving into the stadium's colossal Car-Park, I instantly felt a sense of Community about the place. The communal feeling reverberated around my whole experience at Berwick. The venue and club felt like an integral part of the town. I was also impressed with the number of youngsters and families in attendance. It's great to see and not something you can say about every track!

The track is big but the viewing facilities are good round the circuit

The facilities at Berwick are pretty impressive! When you consider the size of the track, you can get a good few from both the home straight, and it has seating, the back straight has a covered terrace, plus there's enough banking to watch from the entrance to turn 1 and exit of turn 2. The only section you can't view from is turns 3 and 4, but considering the outside of the track is 455m long, that's not an issue.

The stadium itself has some unique features and visuals, for one, the huge Simpsons Malt, which produces malt for beers and whiskeys. The malt overlooks the site from the northeast, just behind the pits. It's enormous and industrial, but it oddly adds to the stadium's charm. Then on the third turn, there's a phone mast! The stadium gets paid a fee to have the structure on-site. What a great way to generate revenue from unused space!

I have one criticism, you can't get near the pits, which is a shame. The riders are tucked away on turn 4 and there's a steward blocking any approach to get a view of what's occurring! I think the club is mindful of this as the riders came out after the meeting and mingled with the supporters in the grandstand, so fair play to them!

The riders mingling with the supporters after the racing

Catering facilities are what you would expect for a venue like this, the main food outlet on turn one was bustling throughout the speedway, and the smaller option on the backstraight wasn't much quieter, always a good sign! The track shop was tiny and had a queue to get in most of the time. The locals were keen to get their FTS Fire Training Services Bandits merchandise!

Shielfield Park has a reputation for being a large track with limited overtaking opportunities, although my experience didn't reflect that opinion. The long straights do sometimes kill momentum for outside blasts, but there are passing spots that the senior riders utilised on a few occasions. The standout race of the night was from the Monarchs. Josh Pickering hunted down Theo Pijper to earn the only Edinburgh 5-1 of the night. Otherwise, the Bandits were in control from the early doors, and the match result was never in doubt. The Bullets later in the national league fixture mirrored the Bandit's dominance.

You could tell all the dirt had moved to the outside towards the end of the second meeting. A few crashes were caused by the younger riders trying to ride near the fence and find the drive, but their judgment wasn't quite as sharp as the championship guys. I like the idea of a doubleheader, but I've always found 30 races a bit too much in practice. Tonight didn't do anything to dispel my thoughts on the matter. National League is always prone to more crashes and delays. Coupled with the main meeting's 2 hours run time and the curfew, it was a big ask to complete all 30 races. The promotion did well to get through the Championship racecard, only for a late delay caused by a nasty crash with Josh Pickering hitting the fence in heat 15. A tapes offence from Ricky Wells further delayed the re-run!

Unfortunately, the National League fixture had to be abandoned with one heat remaining. Truthfully, I don't think anyone was that worried. The evening started to get cold. The Bullets concluded the result long before that, and everyone certainly had their money's worth by then!

I rode back to the hotel, thoroughly satisfied with the evening's entertainment and for a well-earned night's sleep! Tomorrow morning I would explore Berwick more before heading south to Newcastle, who would host the Monarchs in the late afternoon. I ended the night on a slightly sour note. I left my potnoddle at home!

Berwick-Upon-Tweed
It's worth mentioning how beautiful the town of Berwick is. If you ever plan to travel to Berwick, leave yourself enough time to explore! The town has suffered centuries of conflict as control has bounced between Scotland and England until the late 17th Century. Adding to the town's interesting history are the stunning views, as the town is situated at the mouth of the River Tweed, which borders England and Scotland in the East. You can find more information about the town's fortifications, ramparts and general history on the English Heritage website.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/berwick-upon-tweed-castle-and-ramparts/history/

Final Thoughts

Parking
Very straightforward, plenty of parking on-site

Admission
I paid £24, but that was for a double header. The Bandits usually charge £17 for adults and the Bullets £10. Very reasonable! Concessions/OAPS/Students £13 or £10, Juniors 12 to 15 £5 or £3, Under 12 go for £1.

Programme
£3. Excellent design. I like the cover. Plenty to read, and the racecard is tidy.

Viewing Facilities
Excellent, I watched racing at every viewing spot available. I would recommend the terrace on the backstraight as the best spot. You get the extra noise from the roof, you have the height to see the whole track, and you're close enough to feel the racing speed.

Catering
Two different spots to get your grub, although you need to get there early. They were both busy throughout the night!

Escaping!
By the time the national league fixture concluded, the crowd had halved, so it's difficult for me to judge, but getting out of the car park doesn't seem too onerous. The main road wasn't hectic, so the traffic wasn't too bad.