The one that (almost) got away. In all the excitement of Cardiff I forgot that we'd had a meeting the previous Thursday against Eastbourne. On a brilliantly prepared track, both teams served up some racing from the very top drawer and we enjoyed a visit from the boys from Team Holta.
17th July
My Goodness McGuinness. For their meeting against the Newport Wasps, Ian and the Edinburgh team were joined by Isle of Man TT superstar and keen speedway supporter, John McGuinness.
Cardiff 2010 Day 2 Part 1 . Final preparations are underway for the biggest speedway meeting of the year and we are entertained by a surfer on a wooden pallett, until he falls off!
14th July
Holta Watch. Shock, horror! Rune is beaten by an opponent for the first time this season at Malilla as Dackarna defeat Indianerna 61 to 35. Rune scores 11+1 from 5 rides, beaten in heat 12 by Peter Karlsson (Dackarna) and the Indianerna pair of Greg Walasek and Niels-Kristian Iversen.
13th July
Cardiff 2010 Day 1 Part 1. Arrival and preparations for Practice for the British Speedway GP at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.
Cardiff 2010 Day 1 Part 2. Practice makes perfect. The organised chaos of GP practice and how well will the track hold up.
11th July
Holta Watch. Rune looked upon his semi final place at Cardiff as a relative success - it's the first time he's made a semi final there. In the leagues over the last week he top scored, again, for Dackarna as the Malilla side were beaten 49 - 47 by Indianera, registering 14+1 from 6 rides.
Today, in Poland he top scored for Czestochowa with 14+1 from 6 rides as the visitors lost 51 to 39 at Tarnow. Not bad considering he'd been driven overnight from Cardiff to catch an early morning flight from Luton to Katowice to race, leaving his van and a mechanic behind to drive all the way back to Sweden.
Stat fact! The next GP is at Malilla and Rune has yet to be beaten by anyone there this season in all matches. An omen?
Cardiff's 2010 is underway - I'll publish as soon as possible.
9th July
Cardiff 2010. First impressions from the Millennium Stadium after Friday's practice for the GP tomorrow. Click here.
8th July
The "Team Holta GB" T shirt design is unveiled in time for the Cardiff Grand Prix. Click here for the logo.
Ace blogger, Phil Rice, has already put together a written account of the sojourn (available exclusively through this link) but here is his photographic diary.
5th July
Whatever next? There is a saying that what you are now is as a consequence of what you did in a previous life! If that is the case, I must have been dreadful, because it's all coming back to haunt me now.
30th June
Holta Watch. In the latest round of matches Rune scored 17+1 from 6 rides for Czestochowa in their 41 - 49 home defeat by Torun and then another maximum for Dackarna with 15 points from 5 rides in their 62 - 34 thrashing of Piraterna. Details of his Swedish exploits can be found throught this link.
29th June
Nightmare. Three heats and three damaged air bags. It's just a nightmare as we try to keep up with repairs to the air fence at Blunsdon.
27th June
The Bloggers on Tour 2010. Blunsdon Blogger Phil Rice recounts the events of the recent Blunsdon Bloggers Tour which included visits to Ipswich, Bydgoszcz, Torun and Pila. Photographs of the epic journey will be added at a later date. Tnhaks to Phil, Neil and all the other Bloggers for their efforts.
24th June
Holta Watch. After the stunning performance at Torun on Saturday Rune returned to league fixtures with Czestochowa in Poland on Sunday and Dakarna in Sweden on Tuesday. Top scoring with 13+1 from 6 rides, he was unable to prevent Czestochowa from sliding to a home defeat at the hands of a Gollob inspired Gorzow but his last heat 4-2 with team mate Andreas Jonsson secured a draw at title chasing Piraterna.
Last heat heroes details the Dakarna match whilst Happy Holta describes his reaction to Saturday's GP result.
23rd June
Curse this hot weather. Another good week at Armadale as Ian and the team bask in the summer sunshine and prepare for the match against the Redcar team.
20th June
Holta Watch. Sorry, but we can't let that stunning performance at last night's Torun (Poland) Grand Prix go without comment. 6 brilliant rides from our man (we'd best forget his 5th ride) and runners' up place on the podium. He showed bags of speed and the style and commitment that has been drawing rave reviews in both Poland and Sweden this year.
Bloggers Phil Rice and Neil Wise have already sent back texts about what a stunning stadium it is and I hope to have the photographs next week.
20th June
A family day out. It's a Thursday, the sun is shining, Dave has almost finished his GCSE's and Steffie has a rare day off work during her gap year. Where better to spend a lovely day out than working up at the Abbey Stadium.
19th June
Programme sheet for the 2010 Torun (Poland) Grand Prix is available in Excel or PDF formats here.
17th June
Good luck to the Blunsdon Bloggers, who set off on their epic journey this morning taking in the Swindon match at Ipswich tonight (Thursday) before flying on to Poland for the GP at Torun on Saturday night and then Pila's home match, hopefully featuring Simon Stead, on Sunday. We hope that ace Blogger reporters Phil Rice and Neil Wise will bring us back a photographic report of their exploits.
16th June
Holta Watch. Rune bags another 13 point haul from 5 rides as table topping Dackarna extend their unbeaten sequence at the top of the Elitserien League in Sweden with a 55 - 41 mauling of Vargarna.
16th June
On top of the World.Congratulations are again in order to Ian and the whole crew at Armadale as the Monarchs celebrate their second successive week on top of the world - well, on top of the Premier League.
13th June
Bespoke Shale. We take in a new delivery of shale, all 60 tons of it, but it's a day of frustration as everything we try to do seems to take twice as long to complete as we prepare for the visitation of Peterborough for a KO Cup match at Blunsdon.
10th June
Holta Watch. Dackarna extended their lead at the top of the Swedish Elitserien table, after their Grand Prix stars inspired them to a 49-47 win away to last season’s play-off finalists Vargarna. Andreas Jonsson and Rune Holta both weighed in with 10 paid 11.
9th June
An eventful day but ... Edinburgh welcome a new signing in young German, Tobi Busch, but the main talking point was the rather "subdued" performance put in by their usually fierce local rivals, the Glasgow Tigers.
7th June
Holta Watch. Rune obviously overcame the disappointment of the Danish GP by top scoring for his Extraleague team, Czestochowa, in their match at Torun, the track for the next GP. In fact, he scored 14 points out of a team total of just 30 and scored more than Messrs, Karlsson (P), Davidsson (J), Woffinden and Bridger combined.
6th June
Pimp My Ride. A Thursday without a fixture but we can't keep away. While the centre green is cut by Roy, the rest of us set about modifying the new water tanker and then streamlining (Pimping) Jemima.
Jeff Scott's latest book, entitled "Shale Trek" is now available for purchase at all good track shops and also can be ordered via paypal at www.methanolpress.com.
Boldly going where no speedway book has gone before ... "Shale Trek" affords another Snapshot of the State of the Speedway Nation: endless speculation, whiffs of intrigue, daring do, plain speaking, spills, thrills, longueurs, lungfuls of methanol and oodles of excitement.
The Highs and the Lows. Time to reflect on a week of lows and highs for Edinburgh Speedway. Wednesday 26th was the day that West Lothian Council were deciding all the planning applications for new supermarket developments in Armadale, including the one we had a direct interest in - Sainsburys.
1st June
Holta Watch. In the latest round of Elitserien (Swedish) matches Rune top scores for Dackarna in their 60 - 35 away win at Valsarna and scores 13+1 from 5 rides. The Malilla side now top the league with 5 wins and a draw from their first 6 matches. For further details click this link.
29th May
Lost ... 50 tons! What a difference a win makes! The Robins have been under a lot of pressure recently with a series of below par results in the Elite League and some of the riders have, by their own admission, simply added to that pressure. How good it was, therefore, to show the doubters just what this team are capable of.
26th May
Holta Watch. OK, the GP in Prague wasn't a great result but a 15 point maximum for Dakarna in Sweden last night against Valsarna was just what we were looking for.
25th May
No swamp this week. In high temperatures, Ian and his co-workers prepare for the visit of Newcastle and welcome a representative from a national supermarket chain.
23rd May
Life in the tropics - on a day when the temperatures and humidity were more akin to those in the tropics than a mid May Thursday in deepest, darkest, rural Wiltshire.
NEW!! Holta Watch. In Holta Watch we'll be bringing you the latest news about our man, whether it be in the GPs or with his Swedish or Polish Clubs. Starting the season with a new Swedish club, Dackarna, on a real high, Rune returned to his old team, Elit Vetlanda, and did rather well. Click here.
18th May
The Return of the Dreaded Swamp! Ian Hawkins, our Edinburgh expert keeps us up to date with news and views from Aramadale and the prospect of a new venue for the Monarchs in 2011!
15th May
A Perfect Day! A free Thursday - a little bit of luxury and indulgence. After the rushing around an frantic worked involved in staging last week's match against Peterborough and then the ill fated televised clash with Coventry on Monday there was a temptation to take this Thursday off.
13th May
Should have been a surgeon. Monday morning and it's a Sky day - not only are the skies beautifully clear, but the people from Sky are here at Blunsdon for the first time in 2010 to transmit the action from the Swindon v Coventry Elite League match. This means 2 meetings in 5 days for the track staff at Swindon, and to make matters worse, despite assurances given last Thursday to the contrary, there is a day time greyhound meeting to work around.
12th May
In his blog Ian Hawkins gives us a photographic insight into life at Armadale as the Monarchs contemplate a final season at the track and the prospects of a move to a new facility in time for next season. Click here.
8th May
Squatters at Blunsdon. Illegal immigrants? Squatters? No, I'm not from Rochdale and I don't conceive of myself as being a bigot but we were made aware of a pair of squatters in the pits at Blunsdon on Thursday. Talk about the most inappropriate place to build a home.
Programme sheet for the Swedish Grand Prix from Gothenburg is available here in either Excel of PDF formats. Team Holta GB are keeping their fingers crossed that the boy can repeat his winning performance here in 2008!
5th May
The British Speedway Track Directory & Guidebook is the full colour must-have handily glove compartment sized guide to British Speedway for fans everywhere - edited by well travelled speedway author, Jeff Scott. Click here for more details of this excellent publication.
3rd May
White knuckle ride. Thursday's match against Eastbourne at Blunsdon was always going to be under threat from the weather. Forecasts the day before had suggested showers in the early morning leading to much heavier downpours as the day went on. Evening the evening was going to be unsettled.
28th April
No end to the innovation at Armadale. We reconvened on Wednesday after the Berwick meeting for some fence repairs, including straightening a fence post using the special tool developed for this intricate task ...
26th April
You'd need a miner's lamp. Under a stunning blue sky, entirely absent of any vapour trails (so few planes flying today) we started by watering both the main track and the small training track, the latter would be used by the Robins for practice during the afternoon in preparation for the forthcoming clash at Lakeside.
24th April
Team Holta GB send their best wishes to the great man and will be watching the action from Leszno this evening.
24th April
Communication Revolution at Armadale. Another busy week at the Scotwaste Arena and I am happy to report that we have at last upgraded our pits telephone system from something that was probably used by General Montgomery at El Alamein to a much more modern system.
23rd April
2010 Speedway GPs start tomorrow in Leszno for the European GP ... and the Blog's programme sheet is available for download in either Excel or PDF formats. Click here.
23rd April
Normal service will resume later today, but now it's time to wish a very happy anniversary to Mark Price and his wife Sally. Mark is an invaluable member of the Swindon track staff and Sally has been kind to loan him to us on a Thursday each week.
On behalf of all the track staff - have a smashing day!
20th April
Champions. On the day that the TRack Staff team displayed their winning trophy from the Swindon Pit Crew Darts Championship, we gather to prepare for the visit of reigning champions Wolverhampton and welcome back our favourite referee to Blunsdon.
14th April
Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge. About time I updated our various wet and dry activities at in rainy/snowy/frosty and slightly dry West Lothian. Ian Hawkins and the team cope with tons of sludge as the weather changes for the worse at Armadale.
10th April
The Four Seasons. As the speedway season really starts to kick in it feels as if we have experienced all four seasons in a day at Blunsdon. For the day of the meeting against Ipswich, our first league home fixture of the 2010 season, we really did have pretty much all that the weather could throw at us.
Soggy, Boggy, Bloggy! It is the dawning of the first day of the season for the Swindon Robins and a chance for the new septet to test themselves against the team that all of the pundits believe will be the eventual winners of the Elite League, the Poole Pirates.
Bob Kilby Memorial Meeting - Season Opener. So no pressure then! After the worst winter any of us can remember in terms of speedway track preparation, we open with arguably the biggest meeting of the year at Swindon, a 23 heat monster featuring some of the finest riders in the world (but no Rune!).
24th March
And then the snow disappeared. We were beginning to wonder if the 2010 season at Armadale would ever happen due to the severe winter weather with deep snow and severe frosts.
22nd March
Meet the Robins. And so another closed season draws to an end and the sound of speedway engines returns to shatter the peace and tranquility of deepest, darkest, rural Wiltshire ... or do they?
17th March
It's back! Edinblog hits the internet for another season as Ian Hawkins agrees to provide us with another year's worth of insight into what goes on behind the scenes at Armadale. In the first Edinblog of 2010 he sums up the end of last season at Edinburgh.
15th March
In the company of friends. With the imminent onset of the new season, tracks up and down the length of the country will be inviting volunteers to come in and help make those vital last minute alterations and adjustments necessary for a successful start to the speedway year.
5th March
With just one week to go to Press and Practice Day at Swindon and the pressure is on. That sounds like a script line from one of those dreadful reality TV programmes where the tension is ramped up by an over zealous presenter to try and inject some tension in an otherwise deadly dull and predictable situation.
But, it's not the case here.
23rd February
And Flo, the angel of the Lord appeared. Another two weeks in contrasting weather conditions. If only we could manage a couple of weeks of dry, frost free weather, we might be looking at the start of the impending season with a little more hope and enthusiasm!
10th February
So much "Ta do Ron Ron, To do Ron Ron". The battle against the weather becomes ever more serious as the weeks pass by and the start of the new 2010 season looms over us. I think we could have legitimately have expected at least a little dry weather by the end of January, but no.
4th February
Rob Woffinden.
The Blog and the track staff at Swindon Speedway would like to offer their condolences to the family of Rob Woffinden, a fine, upstanding man, who died on Saturday.
We have been advised of the following :
The Funeral will take place on 11th February at 1pm.
Woodlands Crematorium, Brumby Wood Lane, Scunthorpe DN17 1SP.
By request no flowers. If you wish to make a donation please make cheques payable to; Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund. Mark on the back of cheque; Rob Woffinden.
Address; ACU, Wood House Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 2YX
3rd February
Where the snow lay, deep and white. Just as we were congratulating ourselves on being ahread of schedule, the start of January was wiped out with heavy snow.
25th January
Printable list Swindon fixtures for 2010 available here. Correct as of 25th January. Click here.
23rd January
The first edition of the 2010 Swindon Robins fixtures are published. Click here or use the Fixtures button on the left.
23rd January
It is perverse but I have to say that I actually enjoy the winter work more than the actual speedway season. Why? In "Glad tidings of comfort and joy" I try to explain why as we complete our 2009 work on the Swindon track.
The Bistro at Number 96. It's the middle of November and the clouds are high - it will be a good day at the track. And so it transpired.
15th January
The Blog is pleased to offer this link to allspeedway.tv, one of the quickest and most visited speedway sites on the net.
13th January
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.
8th January
The desperately cold weather and the snow have given me a chance to update the links down the left hand margin and tidy up the site. Coming soon : The Bistro at Number 96 and the latest attempts to rid the Blunsdon track of the dreaded sand.
6th January 2010
31st November 2009 - Hilton Hotel, Swindon - the annual dinner and dance.
31st December
The Blog would like to wish all of its readers a very Happy New Year for 2010. As the year ends it's nice to hear that the Swindon Track has been identified as the third best track in the country, as voted by referees during the course of the 2009 season. Well done to all the track staff!
28th December
The end of an era. The last day's racing of the decade at Blunsdon is wiped out by rain and drizzle. A video blog is attached!
26th December
40 years of woe. A look back at the end of the season final against Wolves.
23rd December
Many thanks for those people who have contacted me over the past difficult couple of months. The bad news is that the blog will be back immediately after Christmas when I weill be covering the tumultuous end of season at Blundson, the Swindon Annual Dinner and Dance, the new Michelin starred Bistro at number 96 and the massive winter work schedule that we've set ourselves.
A very Merry Christmas from the blog to all the readers, correspondents, track staff and others who have helped out this year!
24th October
Apologies for not posting anything at the moment. A sudden close family bereavement means that the blogs for the lead in to the final, the final itself and a couple of Ian's Edinblogs are only partially prepared. They will be published - just give me a little time. Thanks.
17th October
Bydgoszcz Grand Prix programme sheets available in Excel and PDF formats - click here. The Blog wishes Rune Holta best wishes for tonight. Go Rune!
15th October
On the horns of a dilemma. For the second Thursday running a "Behind Closed Doors" session has been organised for the boys. This rather throws our plans for getting the place looking spick and span in readiness for ths season's Grand Finale, the second leg of the Elite League Final against the Wolverhampton Wolves.
14th October
The Strange Case of the missing fence panel ... In a mystery worthy of Holmes and Watson, Ian and his colleagues are fsaced with a mystery of epic prorportions whilst the riders of Edinburgh and Newcastle battle each other, the rule book and, by all accounts, the referee. Warning: this blog contains the word "quixotic"!
10th October
Congratulations to the Edinburgh Monarchs on their dramatic victory in the Premier League Play Off Semi Final last night. After 30 heats, 15 at Newcastle and 15 at Armadale, the two teams were locked on 94 points each. Cue a run off featuring 4 riders. Result still tied so another run off with 4 more required and the Monarchs came through with a 4 - 2. Now all they have to do is beat Kings Lynn. Come on you Monarchs!
9th October
Mirth and Misery at Monmore. There was no doubt about it - there was an air of eager anticipation when I picked up my son, Dave, from school and then keyed the Monmore Green details into the Sat Nav.
8th October
Back to normal last week- - overnight rain on Tuesday plus some probable earlier frost had made the track surface very sludgey and horrible. Ian Hawkins brings us up to date with work at Armadale as the season hastens to an end.
7th October
Congratulations to Rune Holta on winning the Czech Golden Helmet meeting in Pardubice at the weekend. Details here.
6th October
Practice makes ....This blog is written in the numbness of Tuesday morning after the bitter disappointments of Monday night at Monmore and covers last Thursday's "Behind Closed Doors" practice session at The Abbey."
4th October
Tales from Terranzano. Blunsdon Blogger, Phil Rice, brings us his account of the latest Bloggers' Tour, this one to see the 2009 Italian GP in Terranzano.
2nd October
More musings from a dry north as Ian and the lads prepare for the first leg of the Premier League Trophy against the favourites for the cup, Kings Lynn Stars, a team looking to add more silverware to the Premier League Championship.
30th September
"Way out (Points) West".Another Monday and another Sky meeting and two very welcome visitors to Blunsdon as BBC Points West come along to give us some valuable air time as we prepare for the second leg of the Play Off Semi Final against Coventry.
25th September
Draw sheets for the Italian Grand Prix on 26th September are available as Excel Spreadsheets or PDF formats. Click here.
24th September
Under Blue Skies."Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness," wrote John Keats in his magnificent "Ode to Autumn" of 1819 and so it was on Thursday.
23rd September
A thing of rare beauty. Another double header at Armadale for Ian and the team to deal with ... and it wasn't raining!
Started in 2006 as a way on keeping Swindon fans up to date with track work over the closed season, the Blunsdon Blog is up and running again after a 5 month break.
From those first few blogs, with readerships counted in terms of 10's, it has increased its readership to a level of 250,000 visitors in 2009.
It has tried to retain its aims: to reflect work done behind the scenes at a speedway track; to avoid reporting actual racing (that's done far better elsewhere), and to entertain.
The Blunsdon Blog ...
will provide you with an insight into the all year round work that goes on behind the scenes at a speedway track near you.
Each week, we'll be updating these pages with the latest developments at the track.
The Blunsdon Blog ...
would like to thank Tattinger Marsh Limited of Cirencester and Marlborough for continuing to allow us to use a small amount of their web space for the Blog.
We would also respectfully point out that the views of contributors to this site and, or the Blog, are definitely not those of the promoters or management of Swindon Speedway.
