Club Cradley Heath Speedway

Club CH are inviting all supporters to the first social evening on the 2006 calendar this month with a Quiz Night at Cradley Heath Labout Club. The event takes place on Friday 17th March with an 8pm start. The quiz takes the format of trivia questions and teams of up to five people are welcome, comprising either members or non-members. There will also be an update on the 2006 speedway trips planned by Club CH and Bob Edwards is expected to give more details on current situation of the ongoing site search.

The Club CH Supporters Club AGM was attended by around sixty people at Cradley Heath Labour Club last night. The evening included a summary of last seasons events, plans for the forthcoming year and an update on the site search from Bob Edwards.

Last season, Club CH ran relatively well-attended coach trips to Peterborough, Exeter and Scunthorpe. Although a coach also ran to Oxford on a Thursday night, it did not attract the anticipated interest. The most successful excursion as usual was the now annual pilgrimage to the Grand Prix at Cardiff. Video nights for the other Grands Prix did not attract sufficient interest to continue.

The British GP will once again be the highlight of the planned trips for 2006 with tickets being purchased at the same price level as last year. Coach travel is expected to be £15 (subject to confirmation). Definite fixtures were not yet known for the domestic calendar this season, but suggested dates for supporters trips are Sundays 9th April, 2nd July and 23rd July, plus Bank Holiday Mondays in May and August. Possible venues and destinations discussed include Mildenhall, Reading (incporporating Windsor), Weymouth (if they run this year) and Sean Wilson's Testimonial at Sheffield.

Club CH now has around 110 paid-up members and the membership fee has been increased to £2.00 this year. The only committee change was the appointment of Tim Green to replace Sophie Hill. A special mention was reserved for the late Mark Steel, who tragically died last year. Enock paid tribute to the former Club CH rider and particularly applauded his attitude when racing for the Heathens, adding that the club had spoken to Mark's family and that he would be very fondly remembered.

The site search update included statistics that around sixty sites had been identified over the last six months, options remain on 11 of them and around 8 have realistic or encouraging possibilities that can be taken forward. The list of un-named sites include land in both Sandwell and Dudley, comprising an oil depot, a chemical works, other industrial sites, green belt land, a football pitch, a waste site and an extraction works.