The Blunsdon Blog

The speedway racing season ends in October but track staff up and down the country work throughout the winter to prepare their tracks for the new season. The Blunsdon Blog shows our winter work at Swindon Speedway. Remember to visit the all singing / colour version on : www.tattingermarsh.co.uk/blog/index.html

Name:
Location: Malmesbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

Trained as a teacher and then taught for over 20 years at a Wiltshire comprehensive, moving up to the giddy heights of Senior Teacher and then Assistant Headteacher. Taught English and, latterly, Information and Communication Studies (Computing). Gave up teaching and re-trained as a Ceramic Artist and work at The Malmesbury Pottery producing all manner of ceramic artefacts. Also offer computer consultancy work for individuals and small companies, sourcing hardware and software and giving instruction on implementation. Married with 2 children and happily working alongside Gerald and Punch every Thursday at Blunsdon.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Pneumatic tyres and graders don't mix!

Click here for the all colour version of the Blunsdon Blog.

Punch and I pitched up early for work on Saturday morning. There had been no rain since last Thursday and the track looked in great shape. We had spent a long time preparing and repairing the track on Thursday and that hard work looked to have paid dividends.

Our first job was to clean as much shale off the kickboards and then away from the boards as possible. It is impossible to get the baldes right up to the kickboards without running the danger of ripping the boards out. This means that shale builds up alongside the boards and needs to be removed manually.

There is moisture in the surface of the track so we decide to regrade and then pack it firmly once we have finished top dressing areas of the track where damage has been done.

We distribute new shale at the entrance to turn 1, through turns 1 and 2, on the entrance to turn 3 and by the start gate. It's warm work on a fresh spring morning.

If we can pack this new material down thoroughly it will stand a chance of binding with the base if there is moisture in the air between now and the next meeting against the Lakeside Hammers this Thursday.

The major packing work will be done with the big water tanker. Avid readers will know that I was taught how to drive the tanker last week. They will also appreciate how amzed I was that Punch should trust me for a second week behind the wheel of the leviathon.

Even half empty, the tanker is extremely heavy and, as Punch gradesand smooths the surface I begin to work from the outside of the track inwards to the white line. The harder we can pack, the more water will run off the surface in the event of rain and the better the chance of the new material binding. We circulate for the best part of an hour, by which time Adam Laws has turned up.

We turn our attention to the ugly scars across the centre green left by the excavations of the archaeologists. Punch grades and I pack and then he grades and I pack and soon the surface looks to be flat enough for the scattering of some grass seed in the next couple of weeks. The burial site behind the pits is now almost entirely surrounded by boarding, presumably to keep prying eyes away when the bodies are uncovered. It might also be used to keep Sky Presenters out when they search for yet more ancient anecdotes for the Monday live fixture.

And then disaster strikes. Deflated ... I should say so. Whilst trying to manoeuvre the tanker into a tight parking space behind the pits I knick the front driver's tyre on the corner of an errant grader. It deflates with an awful hissing sound. I am distraught - Gerald will murder me.

Punch appreciates my concern and relates a story about when he punctured the rear tyre of a lorry he was driving. Determined to discover the cause of the puncture he stopped the lorry and reveresed back, puncturing another tyre in the process!

Thursday 29th March - Race Day
The weather forecast looked to be against us with showers coming in on a regular basis from the west and there had been some overnight rain in the area. However, the track looked in fine condition when I arrived at 8.45 on Thursday. Roy Hicks was already there although there was no sign of Gerald or Punch. I’ve taken to bringing a lap top to the track with DVDs of recent Sky meetings to keep us entertained. Once that has been set up in our rest room Roy and set off in search of the terrible twins!

The air fences are already partly inflated in readiness for Mick Richards and his pressure cleaning unit. When we find them Gerald and Punch are both in good humour.

“Morning Graham! Feeling deflated or depressed this morning? Or are you tyred? We don’t want to puncture your dreams. Have we taken the wind out of your sails, or tyres?” The barrage of cruel puns continues, referring to my faux pas when I punctured a tyre on the water tanker at the weekend. Brian Cox, John Nobbs and Shirl enjoy the banter. Apparently John managed to run over a rake within minutes of the tanker being delivered. The result was the same! There is a really good feel to the team, and that is important; there are times when everything gets tense and the elements turn against you so a team spirit is valuable.

I help Brian Cox to carry the advertising A boards out on the centre green. Last year we had two small vans from one of our sponsors; they were perfect for carrying air pumps, advertising A frames etc. around. This year we have lost them so my Peugeot is used to carry air pumps and other heavy items around. Brian and I now have to carry the frames out. They’re not heavy but in a sharp wind they do tend to take on the aspect of a sail. One of these days we’ll take off and will be last seen disappearing over the horizon. While Roy hangs the green catch netting on turns 3 and 4 I set to hanging the netting on turns 1 and 2.

By half nine all of the air fence and catch fencing is in place. Punch and I put the safety fence inserts into place. We have three areas of safety fence that are removable so that the greyhound starting gates can be moved in and out during dog meetings. Mick has arrived and, with Roy, is setting up the pressure cleaner. The air fence has to be washed with warm water mixed with detergent and then rinsed with cold water. It’s important that the minimum of water is used – too much and we get a boggy area near the fence that’s virtually impossible to drain.

Punch, Gerald and I turn our attention to the problem of pressure washing the white line and the boards. We’ve been given a pressure washer, a large industrial one that runs off mains electricity and heats water via a diesel powered heater. There is no chance of running a cable out to the unit when we’re out on the centre green so a new generator has been provided for us. We suspect that the gleaming little generator is a little to small to power the jet washer but we are forever hopeful.

Gerald has found the wheeled unit that was used when the wonderwheel was delivered. We decide that, with a few minor modifications, this could be made into a pretty decent wheeled platform that could accommodate washer and generator while being pulled around by a tractor.

Punch cuts up some steel with an angle grinder – he doesn’t immediately get the inadvertent joke – “Have you got your old grinder with you today?” – and is temporarily bemused as Gerald and I fall about with laughter. With steel sections cut and the frame marked up with an indelible marker, Gerald sets to with the arc welder.

Punch and I load the pressure washer and the generator onto an old trailer that Punch has brought along. Mick stands back and giggles. He’s sure the generator wont have the b.lls to power the washer. With every derisory comment Punch and I become more determined that the generator will work – let’s face it, if it doesn’t we’re in deep do do!

Out on the track we connect up the main hosepipe and then start the generator. All is well. We smile smugly. We turn on the pressure washer … and the generator stops, the trip switches having tripped at the same time. We check the water supply, we try again, the generator stops and the trips trip. Mick looks on with a self satisfied smirk on his face. Punch mutters beneath his breath – not a happy bunny.

We decide to try plugging the pressure washer into the mains supply near the start gates. Stan Potter, the start marshal is measuring out his tapes, and offers to help. We plug in … and nothing happens. Stan and I trace the mains cable to a circuit breaker switch up in the referee’s box. Punch stomps off disgustedly. All seems well in the box but no signs of life from the washer. After much cursing and the trying out of several combinations of on and off settings Stan and I reach the conclusion that the power box by the start gate is as dead as the proverbial.

When I reach the pits to tell Gerald and Punch of our failure they have already devised a cunningly plan involving a mop, a bucket of detergent, a cleaning brush and a length of hosepipe. Amidst all the glamour and sophistication brought to Elite league speedway over the last few years, the three of us are left with no alternative but to use a mop and bucket to clean the boards. It is a dull and slightly demeaning task, but one that has to be done properly. The shale sticks to the boards with amazing strength. Gerald mops, I brush and Punch tries to blast off the remaining grime with the hosepipe attached to a water pump. By common consensus, the boards still look very ordinary by the time we finish. Gerald even suggests that we might like to paint over some of the more discoloured ones. Punch and I mutter under our breath and secretly question his sanity.

Despite the frustrations of the morning, lunch is a jolly affair. Punch has brought in his trusty sandwich maker – it’s a case of Better the Breville you know! – and a supply of the thickest cut bread and cheese that I’ve ever seen. We even have a table cloth! I must bring in some silver polish to brighten up the cutlery. Gerald and I feast on hot cheese toasted doorsteps while Punch eats a cold Baked Beans sandwich.

Still no sign of the promised rain. The track is looking very smooth but is drying out rather too quickly for our liking. Unless we can get some water into it soon the base will remain bone dry and the dust will appear after the first round of heats. We also need to get some moisture into the newly laid parts of the surface – the top layer will break up otherwise.

Punch and I work our way round the air fences pinning them to the safety fence. The referee will check on the bindings and fixing of the fence prior to the meeting and will include comments on the safety aspect in his report.

Gerald hitches up the Blunsdon Ripper – no not some psychopathic murderer – the device that rips up the surface to give added grip. He rips the start line (our lads like nice grippy start lines) and the exits of turns 2 and 4 on the inside. Once the surface has been ripped it needs to be tyre packed and watered to stop it from breaking up completely. However, all chances of watering are swiftly curtailed by news that a heavy rain band would be depositing its riches all over the stadium at about 4pm.

I take the chance to go round and check the kickboards and the cable ties that keep them in place. I think that the experiment to replace the old rivets with cable ties has been a success so far. Even though I have to replace about 20 ties, mostly broken by the weight of shale that is deposited upon them during a meeting, this is still much faster than replacing 10 rivets.

While I have been away from the pits the riders and their entourages have started to appear. Other track staff are arriving and a group set about putting out the boards on the greyhound track where the tractors drive. Like the parting of the Red Sea in biblical times, the dark, looming rain clouds pass on either side of the stadium and not a drop is deposited upon the hallowed shale. With two hours to go to the start of the meeting we have to take a calculated risk and water the track. Failure to do so now would be disastrous for good racing later in the evening. Riders appear at the pits gate and then furtively move onto the track, digging into the surface with the toes of their shoes. At this stage they’re not really supposed to be on the track; track staff are still working and Health and Safety demands that riders and track staff should not be working at the same time on the racing surface.

While one rider believes we should flood the track now another thinks it looks fine. Another believes that there is too much dirt on the track, his colleague would like more. You cannot please all of the riders all of the time. Gerald adopts the approach that if Terry (Russell) and he are happy then all is well. Terry is happy because it now looks as if there is no threat to the meeting and Gerald, while a little concerned that the moisture has not reached the base in sufficient quantities, is a satisfied man.

I remove the greyhound gate and then make sure that the water tankers are all filled to the brim. I also check on each of the air pumps to make sure that they have sufficient fuel for the evening and that a full petrol can and a funnel is placed on each of the corners. Bob, air pump and starting gate supremo, is a great help, especially when one of the air pumps cuts out intermittently. Apparently each pump contains a very small oil reservoir. When the oil level drops below the permitted level the pumps cuts out. We bring out a reserve pump just in case.

The riders have completed their track walk so we venture out to repair the gardening that has taken place at crucial parts of the track and then seek a few minutes rest in the rest room with a cup of coffee and a sandwich. This is the quiet before the storm – there is little we can do but wait for the referee’s comments and the start of the meeting. Mick Hunt, Clerk of the Course, reports that the ref., Tony Steele, has found that one clasp on an air bag is missing. It’s a minor problem and one we can manage easily. Considering how big the Abbey Stadium track is, we are delighted that he has had to work so hard to find a minor problem.

Tractors and track equipment are removed from the track and parked alongside the pits. The parade begins and the pits fall silent. We’re one or two track staff short this evening so arrangements have to be made to ensure the correct numbers of rakers and flag marshals are on each corner.

Punch, Gerald and I find a place to watch the first heat. Adams and Chrzanowski roar to a fine 5 – 1. The racing looks to be good and fast, although the lads from Lakeside are outpaced. As the reserves come out Leigh Adams come across for a chat with Gerald. He’s happy, and so we’re happy.

One of the problems with having so much dirt on a track is the need to pull it back into place at the end of the each race. The lack of moisture in the surface means that a vast amount of dryish shale is shifted out to the fence – fortunately there is no dust! I join the staff on turn 3. The rakes are unnecessarily heavy. They do a job but I’m soon building up a good sweat. The top surface does begin to break up but it does so quite evenly and nobody gets out of shape. Times are uniformly fast and the large crowd are obviously delighted as the Robins hammer (sorry about the pun) out a series of maximum heat wins. It’s particularly pleasing to see that, when the Robins don’t make the gate, they are choosing inside and outside lines on each corner to eat into any Lakeside advantage and the number of overtakes, whilst not vast, are acceptable.

Gerald and Robert Nobbs drive the tractors round, Robert with a small blade which pulls the shale back towards the white line, and Gerald initially with the wonderwheel to fluff up the surface and latterly the mesh to even out the coverage of the shale over the base of the track.

At the end of the main meeting I spend my time trying to dig out the massive amounts of dry material that are lying against the kickboards on the back straight. In this way I hope that we can get as much material regraded as possible. Three junior races prolong our agony – it’s getting rather cold now and we all want to get started putting the track to bed.

When the referee calls an official end to the meeting we start the hard work all over again. Gerald, with the blade and the harrow, drags back as much material from the fence as possible while Punch performs a series of perfectly formed “doughnuts” with the grader. This latter process, straight out of “Come Dancing” is the perfect way of repairing the corners at the end of a meeting. While they continue with their tractor work, other staff have turned off the air pumps and have started to remove the green netting and take out the pins that attach the air fence to the safety fence.

My task is to collect the air pumps and return them, together with the pins and the petrol paraphernalia to the lock up. I use the car to fetch the pumps from the bottom end of the track. When they have been retrieved I hitch the tyre packing wheels to the small tractor. The light that is supposed to illuminate the area behind the pits has failed and trying to hook up the tyre packer in the dark is a test for more temperament as much as for my dexterity. The arrival of the tyre packer is always a cue for laughter and derision – it squeaks appallingly! Having parked it one the centre green, I return to collect the air pumps from turns three and four.

The track is looking very good now. Gerald has pinched my tractor and is tyre packing. At least he now appreciate how cold I get in the open topped tractor and how that squealing sound gets to you after a lap or two.

Punch and I re-attach the greyhound gate. The stadium is empty now, apart from those hardy folk inside the main bars.

10.40pm and we are ready to lock up. Quite how we’ve managed to pack up so quickly is anyone’s business. We have one last cup of coffee before making our respective ways home. Punch is to meet up with Gerald at Lakeside tomorrow night. He leaves to collect his wife from the main stand. Gerald is preparing for another marathon midnight journey down to Thurrock so that he can start on the Arena Essex (Lakeside) track at first light in preparation for the return fixture on Friday night. My journey back to Malmesbury is a mere 18 miles.

We will meet up on Saturday to finish the work on the track. My son, David, assures me he will help out. As a reward I am offering him a burger meal for lunch and then a chance to see the mighty Shrewsbury Town as they come visiting the County Ground in Swindon for a Division 2 promotion contender.

Oh, and the lack of photos? My daughter laid her claim to the camera on Thursday so she could record a trip to a classical concert in London. I could have put up a defence but two major factors accounted for my meek, “Oh, all right” as I handed over the camera – one, she would have hit me and, two, it is her camera!

Friday, March 23, 2007

Reasons to be cheerful ... Part 2

A small reminder - the all colour version of the blog can be found via this link.

First of all, allow me a little self indulgence. The photograph in the colour blog is of young Adam Laws. Adam is a member of the track staff at Swindon and gets up to Blunsdon on a Thursday whenever work and college timetables allow.

Adam's been training to become a motor mechanic and we were all delighted to hear that he has passed his final examination with flying colours and is now a fully qualified mechanic! Well done!

We managed to get a lot of track preparation completed after last week's win over Reading and on Saturday, so we had a little more leeway than usual today in preparation for the night's clash with the Wolves.

Bob, he of the starting gate system and the maintenance of the air pumps, helped me to get the pumps out and inflate the fences so that Mick Richards could pressure wash them. Roy Hicks then helped me to clip the green catch netting in place.

Adam, Punch and I then started on the cleaning of boards and white lines. First task is to fill the Mowlex (looks like an old slurry tank) with water. We have a motley selection of water containers at Blunsdon and Punch soon demonstrates his climbing techniques to get the pipes in place.

As I drive around slowly Punch and Adam pressure wash the boards and the white line. The boards need to look spick and span - they add greatly to the visual impact - while the white line must be clearly visible all the way round the track, or the referee will become unhappy and report us.

It is amazing how hard it is to dislodge dried shale from the boards and we have to be careful about how much water we use - it's very easy to flood the metre or so of track by the boards and that turns into a Somme like morass very easily.

The drains continue to work well on turns 1 and 2 and there is no noticeable run off from either the grey hound track or the air fence. We also use this opportunity to see how well the new shale that we laid last Saturday has bound with the base. It all looks most satisfactory. Certainly the track feels very hard indeed and that should allow Gerald to work his magic later in the day.

Punch has brought his toasted sandwich maker into work today so we are all treated to piping hot cheese toasties by our resident gourmet. The heat is much appreciated - it's a bit on the chilly side this morning.

He's very proud of his offerings. Subtle, they may not be, but tasty they certainly are.

A closer inspection of the photograph reveals an uncanny resemblance to Pop Eye and I cannot resist the opportunity to do a little cutting and enlarging to bring you the full effect.

Inevitably talk turns to track matters and the performances of the Robins in their home and away victories against our old foes from down the M4 in Reading. Having seen the Sky coverage of the Reading and Peterborough clashes earlier this week we can't help but feel confident that, injuries aside, we stand a very good chance of bringing home some silverware this season.

Talking of injuries, can I say, on behalf of everyone in the Track Staff at Swindon, how sad and shocked we were when news came through of the serious injuries sustained by Mark Loram at Ipswich. I have yet to meet anyone who has anything other than praise for our 2000 World Champion. "Get well soon mate!"

While we go about our everyday tasks we notice some strange building work going on in the field adjacent to the pits. Rumours abound! Is it Blundson's answer to Stonehenge? Is it a satellite tracking station? Have the Martians arrived?

Has someone discovered the remains of an original set of Barry Briggs leathers?
Most popular is that the posts in the ground represent the outline of the new stadium at Swindon - OK, so it's in the wrong place, but who cares. Sadly our hopes are dashed when Swindon Supremo Terry Russell arrives in this rather smart car. The new stadium will be on the other side of the existing one, alongside the new A419, and these posts are being put up to fence in an ancient burial ground while the bones are dug up and moved to another spot. Some of the bones buried there are very old indeed - some might even be older than the Tony Millard book of anecdotes and wisdom that he trots out during the Sky coverage of speedway matches.

I turn my attention to the much abused and largely ignored Junior Pits. We will have to use them this year so Adam and I remove the old air fence panels, advertising hoardings, bits of detritus etc. and stack them elsewhere. The design and placement of these pits is remarkable.

Not only have they been sited below the level of the main pits, the floor of the Junior Pits is actually lower than the surrounding ground. The result is that water, sand and mud / slime from everywhere pours into these pits and lurks in fetid pools. I dig a small drainage hole carefully - there are live electricity cables buried nearby - yes we even have electricity here in the wilds of Wiltshire!

Not only do we have electricity, we also have underground and overhead cables. Quite what the spaghetti like mass of overhead wiring does is beyond me, and probably everyone else concerned with the stadium, but some of the cables are hanging rather too limply for the liking of the Health and Safety Officer. Last week we had to rope off a section of the grass banking on turn 4 in case someone reached up and grabbed themselves a few thousand volts. Punch, who else, knows someone who can put in some new telegraph poles. A giant augur arrives and the holes are made and poles erected. I will not sully the reputation of the Blundson Blog by recalling the various comments about it being the biggest erection we'll see and probably the best screw!

Gerald has been out on the track with the ripper to rip up the starts and also the exits of turns 2 and 4. The ripped areas are tyre packed but should produce plenty of grip and drive for the riders. Talking of riders, the vans start to appear from 4.30pm onwards. It's a strange time for the track staff because there's not a lot to do apart from watch the clouds and pray that the mist that is enveloping the stadium will not turn to rain and ruin all of our work.

I take a while to check the air fences and the kickboards. As we suspected, a number of the cable ties that we used to attach the rubber kickboards to the bottom of the air fence have broken and need replacing. The ref is also concerned that some of the green netting is flapping on turns 1 and 2.

Mick Hunt, Clerk of the Course, goes about his pre meeting checks but takes time to pose for a photo for the blog, alongside Dave, on half of the DaVinci boys.

Start Marshals Stan Potter and Mike Saunders check with Assistant Clerk of the Course, Andrew Reynolds that everything is ready. The roar of the bikes shatters any possible calm that we may be feeling.

I've noticed that, during their track walk, some of the riders have been over zealous in their digging - great chunks of the top surface have been gouged out by errant boots. It is especially galling that much of this gardening has been carried out on areas we have repaired since last week and on the entrances to turns 1 and 3. I accept that they need to check for levels of grip but it is the same gardeners who will complain of ruts in the first two heats - ruts they made themselves!

With heat 1 a matter of minutes away I meet up with our Christmas Quiz winner, Malcolm Gough and present him with the signed copy of Jeff Scott's latest literary masterpiece, "When Eagles Dared". Malcolm is a staunch supporter of the Blog - the phrase, get a life Malcolm, springs briefly into my mind. I've invited Malcolm to pen a piece about being on the terraces during a meeting and hope to be able to feature it here soon! Hint, Hint!

Swindon Supremo Terry Russell beams proudly for the Blog's camera as he looks out upon another bumper crowd. In fairness, the old stadium looks a treat (it's very dark so you can't see the the untidy parts).

Even though Terry claims not to have found the blog yet, there's no chance of any adverse comment from this neck of the woods!

As the meeting gets underway I check the petrol in the air pumps and meet up with an old friend, Neil Wise. Neil is one half of the team that makes up the hugely successful gift and luxury item chain Tattinger Marsh (branches in Marlborough and Cirencester). It is Neil who actually hosts the Blog website - thanks mate!

Space is against me so I'll sign off here. We get away from the track relatively early - at 11.10pm. I'll feature post match work in a subsequent blog.

Oh, and the result. A Swindon win but none of us have time to check the actual score.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

The start of the new campaign at Swindon

For the full colour Blunsdon Blog remember to click on this link.

OK. Hands up! The blog is late. There is no excuse .... really.

In an attempt to keep the blog current and fresh, there is a slight alteration to the style of the blog as it morphs into "The everyday tale of track folk during a speedway season".

The final week of the close season has been manic here, and probably at every speedway track in the country. Our timetable has reflected this.

Saturday we worked from 8am to 2pm.

Sunday (behind closed doors practice) started at 8am and finished late afternoon.

Monday (Press Day) started at 8am and ended at 7pm.

Thursday started at 8am and finished at 11.15pm.

Saturday started at 8am and finished at 1pm.

I sense a feeling of neglect when my children starting asking my wife if I have really left home!
Nevertheless our Monday work starts with a good clearing of the area at the back of the pits.

We decide to line up all of the machinery that we use on the track on one side of the area and set aside the other side for our cars. Punch erects a taped fence in front of our restroom to stop vehicles from blocking us in. As we finish I decide to make a brief record of some of the equipment we use on the track.

The yellow "Wonder wheel" is used to create dirt on the track during the meeting. Complete with 66 metal spikes, the wheel rotates quickly behind a driven tractor and disturbs the surface of the track to help the riders gain much needed grip during the meeting. We don't tend to use the wheel much during preparation - it's main use is during the meeting itself.

The little yellow blade is the subject of some controversy. Punch is adamant that he and an ex Clerk of the Course bought it themselves. Somewhere along the way a promoter added it to his list of equipment and the sold it to the stadium, who now use it on the dog track. It may be very old but it does do a very good job (when we can get our hands on it) and is capable of blading right up to the fence.

Next up is "The Ripper". As its name suggests, this is used to rip the top half inch of the track surface. We use it on the start line (our lads like plenty of grip off the tapes) and on the exits of turns 2 and 4 (to help them power out of the corners).

The red grader is one of the most used pieces of equipment. It has four bars that cut away any ridges on the track and then allow excess shale to fill up holes etc. This us extensively used during the preparation and during meetings.

The riders are due to arrive soon and we work feverishly on the track to make sure that everything is ready for them.

Mick Richards has already been out to pressure wash the air fence and all of the banners have been cleaned. The itinerary is that the riders will arrive late morning and unload their bikes. They will then go up to the Legends' Lounge at Blunsdon for food and a chance to meet with the press.

After their interviews they will return to the pits, get changed and then pose for photos with sponsors and officials of the club. They will then take to the track for their final practice session in front of invited guests and members of the public.

Rico is an early arrival. He is a delightful chap, almost too honest for his own good. He chats with everyone and is absolutely confident that he can put his misfortunes of last year behind him.

As we admire his new bikes a local business man, Andy Nurden, appears. Andy has put his hand in his pocket this year to sponsor Lee. Andy is a great motor sports enthusiast - he's already completed the Paris Dakar rally in a converted fire engine and is an accomplished motor cyclist. It's people like Andy who provide the vital extras that can help turn around Lee's career, and the better tat Lee does, the better the team will do.

In the midst of a packed pits area Rosco, in pristine white Robins shirt, oversees all that goes on. The bikes splutter into life and we are ready for the off - the last practice session. In fact, because they were in Poland on Sunday, the only practice session for both Lee Richardson and Seba Ulamek.

The start line girls appear in their new uniform. One of them, Gemma, is Punch's grand daughter and he is inordinately proud of her. But there are only three girls present - so an unlikely candidate steps forward to fill the void.

We remind Punch that if he wants to be a start line girl he must wear the figure hugging body suit. Gerald, who's listening, makes a gagging sound at the prospect of this happening. Punch, crest fallen, takes the point.

The press swarm out onto the centre green to take team and individual photographs.

There is little that we can do but stand around and wait for the jamboree to finish. We are a little concerned that the fresh wind that blasts across Blunsdon will dry out the surface too much - we don't want a dust bowl, nor do we want to do too much damage to the newly laid track.

It is unfair perhaps to pick out one rider's bikes for special praise but, when Swindon do come to a track near you, try to get a good look at Seba Ulamek's bikes - they are immaculate. The anodised wheels and beautifully carved frame are works of art in themselves.

As the riders take to the track in ones, twos and fours the track staff work feverishly to make sure that the surface stands up. We've spent a long time packing down the holes that appeared on the entrance to turn 1 and at the apex of turns 1 and 2.

Like the other riders Tomasz waits at the pits gate for his turn. Tom's English isn't the best but he is appreciative of our efforts on the track.

Tommy Allen, our number 8, is the first to test the air fence when he picks up too much grip coming out of turn 4. He picks himself, uninjured. Of more importance, the surface wasn't to blame and the air fence is undamaged!

At the end of the session the track staff set to work feverishly, dragging back the enormous amount of dirt back onto the racing lines. The track is graded and tyre packed and the air fence deflated. It's been an exhausting few days and we are all in need of a good rest before the action begins with a season opener against our friends from down the M4, the Reading Bulldogs.

Thursday 15th
This is it - the start of the 2007 speedway season. five months of winter work has all been building up to this. Jeff Scott (Showered in Shale) has joined us for the day to research for a forthcoming publication.

Our first task is to inflate the air fence and put up the green netting (that prevents too much shale from being thrown up onto the dog track). The fence is then attached to the safety fence to lock it in place. Mick Richards pressure washes the fence and the advertising banners. Gerald and Punch work on the track, blading, grading and lightly harrowing the surface. We keep an eye on the weather - rain is forecast so watering has to be carefully considered.

Since the equipment was stolen in the break in we have been without a functioning pressure washed. Mick's pressure washer can't reach the kickboards on the main and back straights so we have to rig up a hired washer. Heath Robinson it certainly is, but it works - thank God for nylon rope and the ingenuity of Punch.

With the fences clean it is now up to us to pack the track down using the small tractor. We must do this in case rain comes. An unpacked track soon turns into a quagmire in a burst of rainfall. With the surface packed and hard at least the rain cannot penetrate the surface and we will be able to cope with the ragings of Jupiter Pluvius!

We have also hired a sit on roller so that we can pack down the newly laid areas on turns 1 and 2. We've dug out masses of sand affected shale and replaced it with new shale. This has been well watered in, to help it bind to the base, and then tyre packed. The larger roller should help firm up the surface. Gerald is smiling for the first time today - he's in his element on the roller - talk about kids and toys!

The track is almost ready. Gerald rips the start line and also the exits of turns 2 and 4. This ripping is then lightly tyre packed. In this case it should hold together but provide loads of grip for the riders.

As the riders start to arrive, at about 4pm, we try to keep out of their way. Inevitably there is talk at the pits entrance. Our lads want to know what the track is like while the opposition's promoter swaps stories with gerald about winter track preparation.

This is a strange period of the day for us. There is little that we can do, and all we want to do is get some shut eye, but we're all too tense to relax. One aspect that I have come to appreciate in my year working with the team is that you feel responsible for the race track. If we haven't done our job properly, or if the weather turns against us, then we are stuffed! We are also very aware that riders' safety is in our hands; we must produce a safe race track for them whilst still encouraging them to take the risks that are part and parcel of the sport.

Punch collapses in his chair in the work room. Like the rest of us, he just wants the meeting to get going.

With the light disappearing and a cold Spring evening enveloping the stadium, the red overalls are donned and we go out to meet up with the race night track staff who have been arriving since 6pm. Bikes are being warmed up and the whole pits area judders with the noise of highly tuned engines. The smell is intoxicating - if you could bottle it it would be the speedway fans ideal Christmas present. The smell may not be so rich as it once was (the synthetic nature of the chemicals has taken away the edge) but it's still a wonderful odour!

The riders climb onto the wagon and make their way to the start line. They are joined by Don Rogers and other glitterati from the 1967 League Cup winning football team, together with the actual trophy. A new link has been forged between the speedway and football clubs in the town.
The pits are an eerie place at this time. Spare bikes stand silently alongside mountainous tool boxes (if only we could lay our hands on on just a few cast off tools to help with our work - it's time like these when the Heath Robinson like solutions that we have to employ to get work done are put firmly into focus).

We're all very pleased to catch a glimpse of Rosco's notes in the programme where he thanks us for our work over the winter break and even mentions the Blog! We don't go out of our way to seek praise and thanks but it does feel so good when someone makes the effort to acknowledge our work!

And so the meeting starts. It's not the job of the blog to write reports about the meetings this season - that is done in a much better fashion in other web sites and other publications. However, we are all relieved when Leigh wins the first heat in a good time and gives us the nod of approval as he enters the pits.

Those of you who have read the Blog through the winter (the old articles are all available in the Archive on the Menu Bar) will know that we have worked hard to remove the bumps and make the corners more evenly cambered. This hasn't been received with universal approval. At least two of the side have complained that the removal of the banking will affect their riding styles.
However, we wanted to smooth out the camber and open up the entrance to the corners to increase the racing lines. This apparently controversial decision is vindicated in full in heat 2 as Mads Korneliussen swoops from 4th to first on turns 1 and 2 with a real blast around the boards.

Rumours come from the turnstiles that cars have been turned away in significant numbers because the car parks are full. I wander round the track to make sure that the air pumps are topped up with fuel and as I do I am able to appreciate the size of the crowd - huge - and many enthusiastic comments about the quality of the racing on offer.

Don't get me wrong - we enjoy the win - but we are more pleased with the way that the track has held up. Sure, the turns have cut up but no one has got out of shape and the racing has been sensational. Turn 1 isn't as bad as it was after the Press day and is immeasurably better than it was after the behind closed doors practice.

We clear the boards and pull back the loose shale as Gerald and Punch grade the track. Punch, Gerald and I then take to the track as the stadium empties. Gerald leads the way with the grader and the harrow, I follow in the small tractor pulling the tractor tyres which pack down the surface and Punch follows me in the water tanker flattening out any inconsistencies in the surface. It has started to drizzle - a fine rain sweeping the stadium. It is the perfect way to water and prepare a track, so we decide to make the most of it. A major part of our work is working with the weather - in Britain in March you can't afford to miss any opportunity.

At 11pm we leave the track, park the tractors, close the gates, pull up the metal sheets that protect the dog track from damage near the pits gate and make our way out of a near deserted stadium.

It's been a very long day and I am exhausted, as well as stinking of diesel, the result of a broken pipe on the diesel tank that showered me with the foul smelling concoction earlier in the day.

Saturday 17th March
Punch, Keith and I pitch up for work at 8am. Our first task is to pull back the shale that has been thrown against the kickboards on the straights. In some places the mounds are 6 inches deep - and they say that there isn't dirt on modern speedway tracks!

As Keith and I tidy up along the kick boards Punch fills the bucket of the JCB with new red shale and then takes it out onto the track. We spread the shale over any problem areas and top dress the entrances to the turns. If we can do this on a regular basis this year we should be able to keep the track in pristine condition throughout the season.

The rainfall of Thursday evening has sealed the surface which now is drying out. Large cracks meander their way across the surface of the shale. A speedway track track changes its nature from day to day, and these cracks show how much it's changed in just 36 hours!

Punch now uses the medium blade and the harrow to pull the loose shale that we've dug out from the boards across the track as evenly as possible. The track is looking good again.

Our last task is to pack the surface down. Punch suggests that now is the perfect time for me to learn how to drive the big water tanker. By pathetic attempts to drive a tractor have been well catalogued here so the prospect of driving the massive tanker is a daunting one.

Punch drives it onto the track for me - we don't want to start demolition work on the stadium now by demolishing the pits gates!

It's surprisingly difficult to tyre pack with the tanker because you can't see the wheels and you are very high up in the cab. Nevertheless, it's great fun and, with practice, I do improve, even if it means going back over the same section of track several times to pack it all down.

At 1.30 we leave. Oh God, am I tired but the track is in good order and ready for next Thursday!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

The Last Rites - No time to lose!

Remember, if you want to see the colour version of the Blunsdon Blog you need to click on this link.

Another fine day in North Wiltshire – the sun shines and there is a cool fresh feel to the air. Normally we would be looking forward to such a day but this is the last weekend before the start of the season so there is a certain tension in the pits area. As soon as I park the car my eye is caught by a new water tank that has appeared on the top of the changing rooms. I gather that it’s there to increase the pressure in the riders’ showers but I am reminded of Prince Charles’ comments about a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a long lost friend”.

As the season approaches so we are joined by more of the characters who are necessary to keeping the meetings running smoothly. Kenny Bradford and his wife Mandy join us. One of their many jobs is to make sure that the pits are kept clean and tidy and then brushed out at the end of a meeting.

Out on the track the DaVinci boys are now turning their artistic attentions to the white line – they stand back and admire their craftsmanship – proud purveyors of the noble art of the long handled roller.

My first task is to get the green netting attached to the back of the air fence and then make sure that it is long enough to clip on the top of the safety fence. This netting, which stretches around the bends, is designed to keep as much of the shale on the track by preventing it from flying off over the dog track and beyond. We experimented with some yellow netting but it was curiously opaque and was swiftly discarded in favour of the green. Punch works on the track while Keith and Ernie make the final touches to the air fence. Clerk of the Course Mick Hunt “tarts” up his area of the pits with the liberal application of copious red paint.

By the end of the session, at about 2pm, the place looks ready for the behind closed doors practice session on the Sunday.

The drive to Blunsdon on Sunday morning is a “Curate’s Egg” – beautiful weather, empty roads and a twenty minute hold up at a complex set of traffic lights where every set is stuck on red.

As I drive in through the Pits’ Gate I can hear the distant whine of the air pumps. Keith, Ernie, Punch, Adam and Gerald have beaten me to it and are already inflating the air fence on all four turns. Our next task is to fix the advertising hoardings to the front of the air fence. These have a multiple use; they provide useful finance for the club during the season; they bind the fence panels together even tighter; and they keep the flying shale from besmirching our pristine air fence.

Work out on the track continues with grading, packing and watering. Practice sessions put a great degree of strain upon a newly laid track and we want to be in the best position to be able to see where any potential problems may occur.

The final piece of the giant jog saw that is the air fence is put into place - the section that covers the pits' gate. This has to fit snugly - any gaps and we would be looking at having to adjust all of the bags on turn 4 - not something we want to contemplate in our worst dreams!

Once this is done there is a quiet spell as we wait for the arrival of the gladiators. Fuel levels in all the air pumps are checked and then double checked.

First to arrive is Charlie Gjedde. He’s a little upset that the track has lost some of its banking but appreciates, from a distance, that it does look nice a flat. The air fence is completed when the pit gate section is in place.

The bright sun and keen wind are drying out the surface of the track rather too quickly for our liking - we need to keep applying water to prevent the surface from breaking up in a dusty cloud as soon as the mighty behemoths that are the bikes come out .

After all of the trials and tribulations of the last 5 months, the old place really looks good. The white line shines, the camber is smooth and the place is ready for action. In a strange way part of me doesn't want the bikes to come out onto the track - they might mess it up. Seriously, we are all slightly concerned that the riders approve of what we've done to smooth out the track and develop more riding lines.

As the first engines fire up in the pits even more water is put down on the quickly drying track. It's ironic that having spent all winter improving the drainage to get water away from the surface we are now faced with the task of keeping water on the surface. Even at this late stage, too little or too much water could ruin the practice. Punch and Gerald monitor the situation very closely.

Leigh Adams is the first of the 2007 Robins to ride on the track. Billy, his ever reliable mechanic, is on duty on the centre green. Leigh puts in a series of steady laps, stopping each time to allow Billy to make adjustments. Leigh settles in and puts in a series of startlingly quick laps.

It is immediately apparent that the old problem on turn 1 has appeared. A closer inspection shows that the sand in the shale is breaking up.

Mads Korneliussen is next up and it after he has been around that we are able to make a close inspection of the track on turn 1.

Under Gerald’s guidance, Keith removes as much of the sandy material and then drags new shale into place and hammers it down with the back of a track rake.

It’s a temporary fix – we really need to remove all of the suspect shale and replace it before running a vibrating roller over it to really pack it in place.

Apparently a promoter of some decades earlier used to solve the problems of holes in the track by mixing concrete in with the shale. This fixed the hole but made a rock solid section in the track. Where other surrounding areas of the surface would wear, the concreted section remained proud of the surface. When asked if this was dangerous he is reputed to have said, “Our riders know where the lumps are, they ride the track every week. If they’re daft enough to ride over one then it’s their own look out. As for the visitors, well, who gives a dam.”

Fortunately we live in more enlightened times!

Tomasz Chzanowksi powers around the track. It is interesting watching Tomasz in action; he moves around on the bike very fluently and tries out all manner of lines during his practice spins.

Further into the apex of turns 1 and 2 we find some more loose material with a higher than necessary sand content. There’s also an area of caking, where a layer of shale comes away from the base. It doesn’t look too good but it is much easier to fix and, frankly, it is the type of damage that we expected from such a newly laid track.

Gerald stalks the infield, frustrated that he can’t do more. He watches the riders with an intensity. Punch and I make sure that the water tanker, know colloquially as the “Mowlex” is full of water. The March sunshine and brisk wind is drying out the track quickly and we want to avoid a dust bowl at all costs.

Lee Richardson and Seba Ulamek are in Poland today for the press day for their Polish League teams and so there are nasty rumours that they may want to practice on Tuesday – my back goes into spasm just thinking about it.

Last out on the track are junior rider Billy Legg and our new number 6, Andrew Moore. He’s been held up in the aftermath of a motorway crash but soon impresses all of us. He has a smooth and economical style that seems ideally suited to the “wide open spaces of Blunsdon.”
As the riders make their way back to the pits and then the changing rooms the track staff leap (on second thoughts “lurch” would be a better verb) into action.

The loose shale around the kickboards and the air fence is inches deep and it all has to be dragged back onto the track where Punch and Gerald are able to grade it away This process takes the best part of an hour. The fence is deflated and the air pumps collected up and returned to the store room.

At the end of a stop start sort of day we are generally pleased with the way things have gone. No-one has been openly critical of the track, although there have been a few mutterings about where the steep camber of previous years has gone. Given that it is a newly laid track and that we have had the equivalent of probably two meetings worth of racing and riding on it, the surface has held up well.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Ode to a speedway track

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past ....

John Keats got it just right. He didn't ride a speedway bike; he died in 1821! Yet his opening lines from the sublime Ode to a Nightingale sum up how I feel at the moment.

The weekend blog may appear here in the next day or so, according to how I feel, but the last two days have been shattering and the next two look to be the same. Saturday and today, Sunday, have been full on days at the track, and every part of my sad, pathetic little body is aching at the moment. When, after a glass of red wine, or four, I feel the muse, I will consign the happenings at Blunsdon to the computer.

For those desperate to know the latest - sorry, desperately and achingly sorry!

Friday, March 09, 2007

One week to go ...

Just one week before the mighty 2007 Robins take to our beloved track against the Bulldogs of Reading.

We are assisted in our Thursday work by a number of helpers including author and speedway nut Jeff Scott.

Time and a business to run prevents me from writing much more here but the full account and all the photographs are available on the main colour blog site, available through this link.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

Kicking on ...

The full version of Saturday's blog can be found on the main site - click here.

A full morning's work at the track with kickboards being cable tied to the air fences and the pits receiving a liberal coating of bright red gloss paint.

Time and the pressures of work mean that the full blog can only be found on the main site .. sorry!

Friday, March 02, 2007

While the cat's away ....

To view the colour version of the Blog, click here.

Gerald is not with us today - he's under the weather - so it's down to Punch and me. The original plan was to make a concerted start on the kickboards but the weather people have got it all wrong again and we just had to work with what we were given.

Heavy rain was forecasted. This would have meant no real track work and plenty of time fro the kickboards. But today it was the perfect spring day - bright sunshine and a sharp wind. Perfect for getting the racing surface in real order.

With rain forecast for virtually every day up until the start of the season we decided that we ought to grade and pack as much as possible. The grading would take out as many of the bumps and ruts as possible while the packing would firm up the surface, bring any existing patches of moisture to the surface and harden up the top to resist any further rain.

Our first task was to dig out the inside of turns 1 and 2. Despite the fact that the new drain is working so well, and no water is puddling on the apex of the corner, the inside is still very spongy. When we dig down below the shale we find a thick layer of wet mud. We dig this all out and then refill the space with new shale and then pack it down hard using the smooth tyred tractor. As we pack some moisture is driven to the surface but is soon dried by the combination of sunshine and wind.

While Punch drives the grader round I start packing down from the inside out. The aim is to make sure that no part of the track is left unpacked and that the speed of the tractor is set so that no material is brought up on the tyres. This means that where a wet patch appears you must slow right down or the shale will peal back and detach itself in great lumps.

Round and round we go, only brought to a temporary halt when Shirley calls us in for a welcome cup of coffee. Punch has been round that many times that he claims he's dizzy. But the track looks good and the surface is hardening up well.

Rosco appears with words of encouragement - much appreciated.

Press and Practice Day is just over a week away and there will be a number of practice sessions on the track in the next 14 days. We need to make sure that the track will be able to handle all of this usage.

By four o'clock we are pretty well finished. The list of things still to be done is still daunting :

Paint the white line all round
Attach the rubber kickboards to the air fence
Clean the air fence
Put up all the advertising banners
Re-assemble the starting gates and mechanism
Finish the painting in the pits
Clean up the junior pits at the back of the main pits
Top dress the track
Tidy up the main drain on turn 1/2 and so on and so forth.

But we don't mind - speedway's coming home! And soon!

Oh, and if you're reading this, GET WELL GERALD!!