York Park Speedway Launceston (Those were the days !)

When I was a kid, one of my fondest memories of cycling in the sixty’s was the annual 6 Day Race at York Park. My Dad would take me out to the track, find our spot in the seating stands and we would watch one of the best sports events there was in those days. And it was a thriller. Although the racing was often carefully orchestrated, the results and bursts of speed would bring the huge crowds to their feet with loud cheers and whistles . As a kid it seemed to me that all the people in Launceston were there at the ” Six”. Cycling was a very popular sport in those days and the riders were like modern day superstars. Names like Patterson, Gilmore, Grenda, Whetters, Ryan, Oliver and the list goes on. They were super riders thats for sure even though some of the results during the week may have been a bit flakey in the interests of keeping the suspense happening but never the less the spectators in the stands loved it and at the end of the week…  the best riders usually won anyway and we all went home happy that we had been entertained.

Those days, there was an afternoon session in the heat of the day and then the big show was at night, when the real action and sparks happened, often literally with pedals hitting the rather shallow banked concrete track as the riders entered the home straight.

The falls were often terrible. The concrete surface was not only hard as you would expect but it just ripped the the skin off the riders as they slid along the course surface . Somehow they would get up and continue with their ride, they were a special breed of bike rider those days !

Nowadays, unfortunately the York Park Speedway as it was called has been let disappear without trace. Strangely enough it does not seem to figure in the contemporary history of the York Park Precinct at all  which is a shame because it was an amazing era and an example of life in the sixties and the sport we all love so much … cycling.

The photos in this post were supplied to me by Peter Quill who I might add was  a not too shabby rider in those days either. These amazing images were passed on to him by an old guy who was an avid photographer and took these shots on colour slide film. As a photographer, I was really grateful to Pete for passing on this small remnant of life at York Park Speedway and track stars of the sixties.

One of the great things for me however is that the old railway buildings in the background of the shots have been retained on the whole in their original design and construction as the Academy of the Arts complex

Included below is an amazing account by Graeme Kearney called “Those were the days”. He has described the era far better than me, I just take photos really.