New Cross Rangers

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New Cross Rangers
Club Information
Track Address	New Cross Stadium Hornshay Street Old Kent Road London
Country	England
Founded	1937
Closed	1963
Club Facts
Colours	Orange and black
Track size	262 yards (1934 - 1953) 278 yards (1959 - 1963)
Major Team Honours
National League Champions London Cup Winners	1938, 1948 1934

The New Cross Rangers were a Speedway team which operated from 1937 until their closure in 1953. The track reopened in 1959 under Johnnie Hoskins for a series of open meetings and then in 1960 and 1961 operated in the National League. After closing at the end of the 1961 season they re-opened again under Pete Lansdale and Wally Mawdsley in the Provincial League in 1963, but had to close down before completing the season. New Cross had previously been known as the New Cross Lambs from 1934 to 1935 and then the New Cross Tamers in 1936 . ^[1]. The track was often referred to as 'The Frying Pan'. It was built inside the greyhound track and had banking all the way round.^[2]

Fred Mockford opened Speedway at New Cross when he moved his team from the Crystal Palace in south London. In 1935 Tom Farndon was killed after crashing at the stadium. ^[3]

New Cross Stadium was used as a film set for some of the action and crowd scenes for the film "Once a Jolly Swagman" which starred Dirk Bogarde.

[edit] Notable New Cross Riders

Ron Johnson Tom Farndon Joe Francis Jack Milne George Newton Stan Greatrex Eric French

Bill Longley Cyril Roger Bert Roger Split Waterman Eric Williams Barry Briggs

Note: Ron Johnson was born at Duntocher, Scotland.

[edit] Meeting Details

Details of meetings staged at New Cross in the pre-war era (WW2) and 1946 - 1951 can be viewed on www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk . The records are incomplete and any help to complete them would be welcomed.

[edit] References