- This topic has 148 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 3 months ago by
.
- Posts
There have been 69 Ashes series in 133 years, so it’s every other year over the course of their history, give-or-take a war or two.
Mike
Hi
If you wish to look at some old tv listings, have a look at
and for some archive TV Times magazines
http://radiosoundsfamiliar.com/the-tv-times-archive.php
It’s quite interesting how racing on tv has changed over the decades.
Also, as a starter for ten, can anyone remember what the BBC equivalent to the ITV7 was called?
Totepunter, those are great links: just clipped the following from Gold Cup day 1967 – note the 11k prize money is worth £139,592 (online inflation calc). Assuming it was total prize money and not just to the winner, it’s only 25% of today’s prize money for that race
There have been 69 Ashes series in 133 years, so it’s every other year over the course of their history, give-or-take a war or two.
Mike
Or one in every three to four years if you include home series only. They were more frequent back in the late 1800s/early 1900s as they were the only two test playing nations at the time.
Intrigued to find from those Radio Times back issues, that on the middle Saturday of that sequence I listed in 1977, Grandstand showed three races from Lanark on Sept 3rd, 1977.
I wonder if anybody was aware at the time that it would be the last meeting ever held at the course?
It would be fantastic to see some TV pictures of Lanark.
I’ve been meaning to pop down and try and find the old course which I believe had point to point racing until fairly recently.
It’s probably the selective memory of a wasted childhood and youth but Grandstand always seemed to begin with Football Preview presented by the bull-necked Sam Leitch swiftly followed by Rallycross with Murray Walker coming over all orgasmic about ‘Hairy Hill’ or Motocross aka Scrambling which always seemed to be won by a bloke called Banks
Meanwhile over on World of Sport there was Wrestling with expert analysis from Kent Walton before the ITV7 began. A cherished memory is of a rugged-up-but-still-cold-looking Brough Scott (I think) on-course at Catterick welcoming the expectant and hopeful with words to the effect ‘welcome to what is probably the worst ITV7 ever’. I can’t remember the away meeting
Different times, it was sports-a-go-go-chop-and-change on Saturday afternoons so no time or need for superfluous chatter; just the introductory voice-over then the action
Moto cross was always won by Dave Bickers when I watched it Drone and I think wrestling always followed the ITV7 at 4.00pm. Seem to remember it was usually preceded by some bizarre “sport” such as lumberjacking or highwire walking.
Boxing from Madison Square Garden was always a staple on Grandstand and David Coleman was incomparable doing the teleprinter for the football results.
Can you remember when McCririck used to sit behind Coleman on screen and was called upon to give a commentary on a 4 runner race when the commentary was lost and got the race completely wrong? Think Venture to Cognac might have been one of the runners.
Think McCririck never forgave Coleman and blamed him for his humiliation.
The wrestling was on at 4pm. I couldn’t stand it(still can’t) but my dad always wanted to watch it.
As for bizarre sports I remember World of Sport featuring frisbee golf in which you threw the frisbee towards a basket on a tree.
And who can forget the double decker buses and caravans racing round the stock car tracks. Good times.
“The wrestling was on at 4pm. I couldn’t stand it(still can’t) but my dad always wanted to watch it.”
I remember the wrestling – Kent Walton was the commentator:
I seem to recall the betting slip mostly blue on white – didn’t settle many of them though! It was a disaster as a response to the ITV7
I’ve been meaning to pop down and try and find the old course which I believe had point to point racing until fairly recently.
Yup, the joint Point-to-Point for the Lanark & Renfrewshire and Eglington fixture was held there from 1995 to 2000 but was already set to move on again in 2001 before foot and mouth scuttled the sport for that season anyway. Another ex-Rules course, Bogside, had been used from 1966 to 1994 before ICI determined the site unsafe for public activity, on account of its proximity to its explosives factory.
The aforementioned hunts moved to Ayr for the 2002 and 2003 seasons before settling on their current home at Overton Farm, still near Lanark, which is owned by have-a-go permit holder Willie Young of Meadowleck and Son Of Snurge fame.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Shirley Crabtree – Easy, Easy, Easy…and so on
That pantomime killed UK wrestling.
The kids and numpties were only interested in seeing Daddy squash his baddy opponent and the diehard fans checked out. When Daddy inadvertently killed Mal Kirk it was game over and the U.K. scene has been a backwater ever since.Re- The 1975 Ashes visit. I’m pretty sure that it was as a result of the South Africa boycott. Their expulsion had left us with only 6 Test playing nations and the previous 2 seasons had seen 3 Test series between New Zealand and West indies in 1973 and India and Pakistan in 1974. Rather than the Rest of the World series that had taken place in 1970 instead of the South Africans, we then had the inaugural World Cup in the early part of the 1975 season followed by 4 Tests against the Aussies. They won the first easily, Mike Denness was sacked as captain, Tony Greig took over and insisted they pick David Steele – who performed so well he won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
– Announcement re presenters will be before the Euros (June 10)
– Three “frontline” presenters to share duties across the 94 days each year
– Over 60 people interviewed across all roles (ie including pundits, betting etc)
– High degree of knowledge is a must
– Frontrunners for main presenter are Pougatch, Balding, Luck, Oli Bell, Ed Chamberlin and Inverdale
– Jeremy Kyle can be discounted
– Coverage will be produced in-house by ITV Productions
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.