In the next of the "catch up" blogs it's time to start the tidy up of one season and then begin the planning for the next. Way back in the depths of time I started up the Blunsdon Blog in order to show that the work at a speedway track goes on throughout the entire year. And here we are three years on, and the cycle of work continues.
With riders scattered around the globe and speedway fans anxiously counting down the months and weeks before the next season, the Thursday track team continue to meet at Blunsdon. This blog deals with the early part of November and by and large that team was made up of Ronnie Russell, Punch Ford, Roy Hicks, Mick Richards, Mark Price and yours truly.
Unfortunately I missed the first couple of Thursday's due to a family bereavement but for the first Thursday in November we were all back at Number 96 (our staff room) in the pits at the Abbey Stadium in Swindon.
Perhaps the starts are a little more relaxed and we end work when the sun goes down or the rain kicks in, but it's still important work and there's a massive works list (called "To do Ron, Ron, Ron .. Ta do Ron Ron") that has to be completed before the 2010 season can begin.
So at 8.30am we can be found huddled in the coy and convivial confines of Number 96, mugs of tea in hand and a bacon butty on the way, care of our resident gourmet, Ron.
In addition to his many other capabilities, Ron is very serious about preparing and cooking good food. This is a convenient because the rest of us are very keen on eating good food. Put the two together and you have Swindon's coolest and most vibrant restaurant, now known as "The Bistro at No. 96".
Warmed by the tea and fueled by the bacon roll, we venture out onto the track to carry on with the work that the lads started at the end of the actual season - taking down the air fence and cleaning it. This year we were working under the impression that we were cleaning the air fence prior to its re-location at another track. Rumours of a new air fence were intoxicating. But, we pride ourselves on the work we do and had determined that the old fence would be as clean as possible.
While Mark and I unhitched it and dragged each panel across to the centre green, Roy inflated them and then allowed Mick to pressure wash as much of the grime off as possible. Once cleaned they were allowed to dry and then Mark and I loaded them onto a low loader.
One problem with an air loss fence such as ours is that while the seams are designed to allow air to seep out while the panels are inflated, water seeps in when they're not. Consequently most of the panels are filled with several gallons of slimey water and weigh a ton. We drain as much out as possible and then take them back for, what we believed was, temporary storage back in the pits.
But while we were doing this, what of Ron and Punch? Well they had their own agenda to work to.
In the excellent article penned by Brian Burford entitled "An Inspector Calls" Speedway Star focused its might on the "Track Curator" and featured the work of Colin Meredith. Colin comments, "Every track has got characteristics that only the track curator will find out. At Swindon the dog track is higher than the speedway track, so sand off the dog track runs onto the speedway track. Sand doesn't bind at all, so all of a sudden, going in to turn 1 you get a soft patch where the sand is - and that will create a problem, especially after a heavy downpour."
The fact is that we have been battling against the run off from the dog track ever since I've been up at Blunsdon. Each year we dig out the area between the dog track and the speedway fence. This is usually a mixture of sand and some shale - hopeless to both the greyhound people and ourselves. This year we're going to go one stage further. To stop run off, especially on the corners, we're going to sink kickboards right down in the shale. This means that we must remove the build up behind the safety fence and then dig a trench in the shale and drop the boards in.
While we work away at the air fence panels, and there are over 40 in use at Swindon, Punch and Ron make a start on the excavation project.
Fortunately, as can be seen in the photographs, the weather, although cold, was bright and the bags dried well.
Back in the pits we laid them out as flat as possible.
Lunch was special - Ron was cooking up a super hot chili for us. Using our new Slow Cooker and fresh ingredients from the local market and Punch's allotment, the serving was piping hot and quite excellent.
So good was it that we determined that a decent cooked lunch would be a pre-requisite of winter work on a Thursday up at Blunsdon.
Refreshed and re-vitalised, we soon had all of the air fence panels stored in the pits. It had taken three Thursday's to get the old fence cleaned and stored but this still represented a record!
As the afternoon wore on Punch started work on the significantly expanded tractor and equipment area high on the terracing above turn 3.
Hitherto we have always had a problem with tractors, trailers and water carts at Blunsdon during meetings. With no space to turn around, tractors have to be reversed through the pit gate and then turned sharply at 90 degrees. They are then reversed for 15 yards or so along the dog track before another 90 degree turn sees them inch into a small area occupied by at least two other tractors and a small water cart.
For serious watering we have had to bring the water bowser through the crowded pits - not something for the faint hearted.
How we have avoided wiping out the gates, competitors, track staff, the clerk of the course's office etc. I do not know. We have had some scrapes though. On one occasion I turned to find the entire pit gate being dragged down the main straight after it had snagged on a grader. On another, a significant brake failure meant that I found myself, the tractor and the filled water tanker behind it, rolling down towards the greyhound fence while I desperately tried to engage reverse.
But the plan is to double the size of the waiting area so that tractors can be driven on and off the track easily and turned around safely. The increased area also means that we will be able to keep the water bowser away from the pits during a meeting and fill it from the water tanks as a meeting goes on.
To protect the area (keeping out members of the public etc) Punch has found a supplier of old telegraph poles. Using a massive augur (yes, there is an endless supply of jokes here about large screws ... but I will refrain) we make a series of deep holes in the ground and then sink a full sized pole and several cut down ones. The large one will have a light positioned on top so that we can actually see what we are doing - luxury! The smaller ones will provide the basis for a fence.
As the sun sets and a chill wind wafts around Blunsdon, we pack away, satisfied that we are actually ahead of schedule.
One week on, and a week closer to the really cold weather of winter, Punch and I set to empty all of the water tanks around the changing rooms - we don't want any burst pipes in the showers or lavatories.
Out on the track everything looks wonderful. We've had quite a lot of rain but the surface looks excellent and there is no doubt that if asked, we could get a meeting on. But it's the close season and we have our new project to occupy our minds - Operation Keep Back the Sand.
Roy's job is to remove the old kick boards from the back straight. Many of these are in a poor state of repair but would be cut down to make the new boards that will be sunk into the track surface on the inside of the safety fence.
While he lines them up, the rest of us set to digging our trench and removing excess material from behind the safety fence.
As can be seen above, grass and weeds are growing in the sand on the other side of the kickboards - all of this will have to be dug out before new boards are put in. Down in turn 2 the first few boards are sunk into the shale. This area of the track is always very wet indeed. Water runs down the greyhound track's back straight and then gathers under the air fence on turn 2 before spilling across the shale towards the main drain on turn 1. This flow not only cuts through the shale surface, it also deposits sand along its course and weakens the track. The result is usually a break up of the surface and an inconsistent and potentially dangerous track.
In this area we dig down six or so inches and sink the board in it. These will not be seen during the speedway season (they will lie behind the air fence) but we hope they will go a long way towards curing the sand problem. The concept is that the excess water from the dog track will settle alongside the boards. While the water will settle into the sand and shale and eventually find its way through, it will drop all of its sand away from the track.
While Mark and I dig out the trench and line up the tops of the boards, the others are filling up a dumper truck loaned for our use by the Track Staff Main Sponsor, Andy Nurden - cheers mate!
It is hard work - the shale is very compacted round here, and progress is slow. But the early signs are that the boards work - run off is significantly reduced and there is no sand on the track.
And so we carry on, turns 1 and 2 taking three weeks of Thursday's to complete.
But, after what has been a pretty awful month for me, there is at least the prospect of seeing my favourite group, the mighty Deep Purple, at the NEC on the Friday night.
And mighty they were. My son and I met up with an old school friend of mine, the person who, on my 16th birthday, introduced me to the music of Deep Purple by giving me "Machine Head". Over 30 years on and we're still fans.
Centre seats on the first row of the balcony and 120 minutes of sheer adrenaline rush blew away all of my worries. Just brilliant.
Two more weeks in November and two sessions in December left of 2009 and the "To Do Ron,Ron" list was heavily balanced in the "To Do" side with little on the "We've Done"!
There's a lot to be done ... but more of that next week.
