Great Wakering Rebels' Den Winch provided a galaxy of past and present cycle speedway stars at the village club's Sports Centre for his 50th anniversary trophy meeting.
It was probably the best individual line-up ever seen in the district. Sportsmanship was outstanding, with all riders helping each other with repairs to damaged bikes.
Probably the biggest surprise of the afternoon was the appearance of Andrew Quelch, the promising junior of some 20 years ago, who retired suddenly.
He showed he'd lost none of his dash, and, from two reserve rides, scored a very creditable five points.
A number of riders who had represented Essex over the past half-century supported the event, which eventually saw two of the "comeback" men in a ride-off for victory. This went to Barry Chalk from Eric Hemsley.
Rebels are looking for riders and there's no doubt that Chalk could do them a big favour, but he was adamant that he'll be returning to retirement.
Scores: Chalk 19, Hemsley 19, Tom Hughes 18, Tony Marsh 16, John Spooner 16, Vic Duffy 13, Paul Lancaster 12, Brian Barnett 13, John Woolnough 12, Phillip Gray 11, Shaun Spooner 10, Quelch (reserve) 7.
On the previous day, Tony Marsh had been in devastating form at the Sports Centre when he rode a 20-point maximum for victory at another special meeting.
Hemsley and Chalk took second and third spots respectively.
The Ellen Winch Memorial Trophy was presented to Marsh by Den Winch, son of the late Ellen.
Scores: Marsh 20, Hemsley 19, Chalk 18, Ian Friday 17, Gray 16, Woolnough 15, John Helbin 14, Sean Livingstone 14, Hughes 14.
Great day - for Rebels' Den Winch (second left) who staged his 50th anniversary trophy meeting at Wakering. Also pictured (left to right) are veterans' association president John Brown plus riders Paul Lancaster, Brian Barnett and Phil Gray.
Picture: MAXINE CLARKE
Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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