PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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When the Second World War ended in 1945 much of Plymouth was in ruins. It was out of the devastation that a new sport developed - cycle speedway. Known as "Skid Kids" the sport was said to be 'The little brother of motor speedway'. It was all the craze in 1946 and when the club championships were held during Carnival Week 1949 it was watched by a record crowd of over 5,000 people, a record that was never beaten. The Foulston Eagles, whose home track was on the waste land at the bottom of Rennie Avenue, St Budeaux, beat the Manadon Lightnings by just three points. During the twenty years of the sport's popularity the team names were:
Some of the personalities involved with the sport were Peter Coleman; Peter Cooke; Brian Cooper; Vic Foster; Rex Grayling; David Livermore; Peter Neale; and Alan Trace. In 1966 Honicknowle Hornets became the Plymouth Devils and joined the Devon League, alongside the Dawlish Demons, Exeter Buccaneers, Exeter Tigers, Exmouth Vikings, Shaldon Kestrels, and Whipton Aces. They ended that year second to Whipton Aces, 18 to 22 points. 1967 was both a good year and a bad year. The Plymouth Devils' home track was at Knowle Fort and they were host to the only international match ever held in the City: Devon took on Scotland. The Devon team included Peter Cooke, Vic Foster, David Livermore and Peter Neale from Plymouth and Geoff Patman from Exeter. Devon lost by 45 points to 50. But cycle speedway in Plymouth came to an end in 1967 also. The Plymouth Devils took part in the Ekco Cup in the Southend and District League (Sussex) but lost by 44 points to 52. Apparently most of the local riders never rode again.
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