Cinder Track Racing At High Beech

A Memory of High Beach.

My home was in Buckhurst Hill but on saturdays in the summertime my Dad would sometimes take my Mum and I to the cinder racing track at High Beech. My memories of those saturday aftrenoons come back as clear and a photograph. Each one enhanced by the smell of Castrol Oil, the lubricant of choice for the motorcycle Dare Devils. The grandstands would be full, the men selling choc-ices would wander the stands trying to earn a few shillings while getting to watch varoius racing heats. The 'gate' would fly upward and as many as ten young men , and sometimes a young woman, on  brakless motorcycles would dive for the first turn. In unison they would lay their bikes down, almost touching the ground. The rider's left knee had a steel plate strapped on it, and their left shoe had a steel toe protector. Races of five, ten or more laps would detrmine who would be in the final. The din from these finely tuned machines was as deafening as the race was thrilling.
Names like Vic and his brother Ray Duggan were top riders of the day. Their brightly coloured leather suits and helmets were all the fans could see amid the blue smoke, which made that unique smell and clouds of flying cinders. Many bikes were powered by the small but  powerful JAP engines.

This very noisy and smelly saturday activity amid the quiet green countryside of High Beech was a vast contradcition to the normal way we appreciated the countryside. However it was a fun passtime and only happened once a week for a few hours. It drew supporters from London and many of the suburbs. Dirt Track Cinder Racing would all but dissapear when war was declared, I don't remember if it ever came back to High Beech after the war, but I seem to recall the race track stadium being torn down. in the years after WW2.
Does anyone else remember those days?  

M. Denman Lalonde