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Ghosts in the Bull Pens - Speedway Racing at the Sydney Showground Royale

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SKU:
9780980858921
UPC:
9780980858921
MPN:
9780980858921
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New
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  • Ghosts in the Bull Pens: Speedway Racing at the Sydney Showground Royale
  • Ghosts in the Bull Pens Back Cover
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Description

By: Tony Loxley, Dennis Newlyn .

Forewords by Bryan Cunneen, Bob Levy, Jim Airey, and Steve Raymond (OAM)

Over 1600 images covering the years from the '20s to 1996.

 

Book Description

The Sydney Showground Speedway had a mystique about it that no other race track in Australia was able to reciprocate. From its early beginnings in the '20s to its final race meeting on 27 April, 1996, this hallowed and daunting race venue captured the imagination of competitors and race fans around the world — simply put, there was nothing like it — anywhere.

Today however, the majestic and monolithic Clock Tower still oversees this historic venue, now home to Rupert Murdoch's Fox Studios, yet despite the fact that much of the original venue is now hidden behind industrial and office facades, and the once lethal, narrow racing oval now removed to make way for a footpath, the aura of this amazing venue still echoes with the roar of racing engines, and the smells of burnt methanol, cooking hamburgers, chips in the fryer. Pluto pups, and of course, the murmurs and cheers of the massive crowds who freauented the track throughout each summer racing season for six, wonderful decades.

Gone too is the annual two week extravaganza of the Royal Easter Show, but if the imagination is allowed to run free, the specter of the Bull Pens turn, the race track's most lethal corner, is still present; so too, perhaps, the ghosts of the 28 riders and drivers who were lost racing at this imposing speedway.

About the Authors
Historian Dennis Newlyn, who covered the halcyon days of the '60s and '70s as a journalist for the periodicals and newspapers of the day, and who was a leading magazine publisher at the time, and publisher Tony Loxley, who attended on many occasions as a spectator and later photographer, have put together a treasure trove of images and memories of this much lamented venue that allows the reader to drift back into the past, and relive those glory days of racing at the Sydney Showground Royale that continues to mean so much to so many.

 

Other Details
Publisher Code:

ISBN 10:

ISBN 13:
9780980858921
Published:
2013
Dimensions:
Hard Cover, A4
Pages:
520
Illustrations:
1600 images

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Additional Information

Condition Sync Code:
1000
Sync Category Code:
261186
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11 Reviews

  • 5

    Overall Presentation

    Posted by Garry Ward on 14th Sep 2020

    Fabulous book, packed full of information of a wonderful time and such a wonderful place!

  • 5

    Excellent content

    Posted by Ian Sellar on 4th Jan 2020

    Superb!!

  • 5

    Ghosts in the Bull Pens:

    Posted by Guest on 7th Jan 2017

    Great book brought back many memories both glad and sad. Worth the money

  • 5

    GHOSTS IN THE BULL PENS

    Posted by Peter F. on 24th Nov 2016

    What more can I say Bloody Fantastic, a true work of art. All that remains now is to remove the Fox and bring it all back, boy only if we could. Keep up the good work preservation of history should never die

  • 5

    Given as a gift 20/7/16

    Posted by Lesley M. on 21st Jul 2016

    Given as a gift 20/7/16

  • 5

    Ghosts in the Bull Pens

    Posted by David M. on 16th Jun 2016

    Brilliant - history, photos, interviews, presentation. I will treasure it forever ! If you love Speedway, it is a must have.

  • 5

    Very informative book

    Posted by Unknown on 25th Jun 2013

    Reading this book brings back many heartfelt memories of my childhood going to the show ground every Saturday night from when I was a wee lad. The many greats stories from this period, so I sincerely that the writers and all those who assisted in providing the stories and pictorials. Effect well done, and a must for those enthusiasts.

  • 4

    SPEEDWAY AT IT'S BEST

    Posted by Unknown on 4th Jun 2013

    This is about real Speedway , racing in the Arena just as a Matador fights with a bull to the death , these guys quite often paid the ultimate price , their life . Very good images of an era that is from a time we should all remember for the great times and close racing that the RAS gave us. I pit crewed there as a young fellow or caught the train to watch every Sat night.Great book about a great place

  • 5

    Turning Back the hands of time

    Posted by Don Morgan on 28th May 2013

    This book has brought back the memories of my youth and great times that i had at the Royal.As a Teenager at the showground in the sixties i marvelled at those men who put their lives on the line on a saturday night to entertain and thrill the patrons.Now as a man in his sixties i am a member of the Vintage Speedcar Club of NSW and mix with some of these people and those great cars i still get that same feeling. This book captures all those feelings and i can even get the smell, Fantstic

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