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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 2, 2012 10:56:06 GMT 1
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Post by administrator on Sept 4, 2012 11:15:51 GMT 1
This is a great article about the great man - Alvin 'Spike' Rhiando. Graham - I remember you phoning me when hit was first published and advising me to get a copy. I did just that - and my opinion of Guy Griffiths article and photos? SIMPLY SUPERB!
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Post by haflinger121 on Sept 4, 2012 18:12:36 GMT 1
Yes, it is that good John, isn't it. That's why I thought someone who hasn't got it already might like this for just a couple of quid really.
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Post by tsrwright on Feb 20, 2013 2:05:25 GMT 1
By the way I have recently been supplied for research purposes of Guy's contact sheets along with information as follows:
"I am also sending you 7 scans of the Skirrow. There are some issues around the correct dates for these events; the programme for Brafield does not have the date printed, however, Guy has written 24/7/49 on it. However, in his negative index, he has listed the pictures for this date as taken at Arlington Speedway. Furthermore, there is no programme for the Arlington event, and there is no specific date for those pictures, other than 1949. I have checked in “1946 And All That” and I cannot confirm whether the reference for the picture on page 150 of Brafield 27/7/49 is correct. On page 151, Guy said the Arlington meeting was November 1949, but again I can’t confirm this."
Can anyone verify likely dates? Not mine to share at the moment but will see what can be done in due course.
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Post by haflinger121 on Feb 20, 2013 12:07:28 GMT 1
Oh, I like the sound of these Terry! Unfortunately you will need to share at least some of them, at least with me, before I can tell you where they were taken. Assuming it is in the set you have, the photo of Spike flat out sideways, wearing not much more than the trademark check shirt and a crash hat, was taken at Brafield. This iconic (IMHO the best midget photo ever taken of UK racing) picture is the one upon which the front cover of Derek Bridgett's book was based. Guy very kindly sent me a complimentary copy of this photo a few years before his death when we were in touch with one another following the publication of that Automobile article. To further help ID this pic, you can clearly see (on the car's right front) a friction shocker, but there is none on the left.
This photo (and obviously, anywhere else that looks the same) is Brafield at a test session before it ever opened to the public as far as I know. '49 would be almost exactly right, I believe Dave Hughes held the first proper meetings in 1950. There is also (maybe you have this too?) a photo of Spike talking to Reg Parnell beside the car, numbered 1.
However, by what you have been told, it sounds like the Brafield photos might have been taken at an actual meeting, if Guy had a programme for it - unless Hughes produced a prog for something which was just a test, or perhaps a test and press day. They must have been doing something special to have got Parnell up there, surely? It would be good to have sight of the prog too, the undated one (but marked by Guy as 24/7/49) as I have a facsimile of a very early Brafield prog here, also undated. I have always thought it to be from 1950, but...
It all sounds like some of the reference points here have been lost in the mists of time. If the Brafield event had a prog, maybe it wasn't just a test. Maybe it is a different event altogether from the one I think it is. Also, maybe there wasn't a prog for the Arlington event in Guy's collection because that too was just a test session.
All I can say is, I bet I could tell the difference between Arlington and Brafield (even in 1940's pix) but I'd need to see them to do that!
What I cannot do, is write anymore in this stupid little font - it is giving me eyestrain and a headache.
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Post by administrator on Feb 20, 2013 13:22:56 GMT 1
We seem to be back in action - niot to the standards we expect - but a glimmer of hope n the horizon. Further to comments re "The Automobile - Rhiando edition' this section of the site from David Kipling has some insight to the early Skirrow days at Btrafield which may be worth a quick look at. midgetcarpanorama.proboards.com/board/89/files-david-kipling
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Post by tsrwright on Feb 21, 2013 4:53:00 GMT 1
I definitely will share them but first I need to sort out the position with Guy's nephew who has supplied them to me for a modest fee for research purposes along with a lot of Cooper stuff. There are definitely two different venues and one is the "greatest pic" which I think Derek copied to me some time ago.
There are a lot of photos of the Rhiando car in the form Ivan Dutton now has which I will eventually let him know about.
Regarding ProBoards they tell me the very small font I get in "quick reply" only is only on my iPad and that is how it is for me. The font size is fine on my computer here right now. Have you tried setting the font size in your browser or system settings?
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Post by haflinger121 on Mar 6, 2013 12:19:25 GMT 1
Hi Terry. Sorry to be so long replying. The new layout of MCP makes it very difficult now to quickly see which areas have new posts so I've missed this altogether until now. I look forward to seeing the pix when you can do that - or just send them to me as an e-mail attachment if don't want to publish them on the 'net, then I can maybe ID where they're taken. Not that you COULD post them on here nowadays! I'm sure Ivan will appreciate more pix of the 'Rhiando Stars' car, given that it has been changed so much with regard to a 'stock' Skirrow. I have also uncovered one or two pix here recently which I think may help him in the restoration. Incidentally, it was while I was with him in his office and we were discussing photos from our respective collections, that Hendrick confirmed from seeing that 'greatest pic' that what they had downstairs was definitely the Rhiando car.
Regarding font size, my computer is set up to automatically write everything normally in Arial 12 point, e-mails, whatever. I can see no way of changing the size in these Reply boxes. It appears to offer this as an option but all it does is change the size once you've posted, not while you're writing.
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