The volunteers at Chetham's Library have been working hard to expand the collections on the Virtual Belle Vue webpage. A collection kindly given to the library by Eunice Dodgeon has now been digitised and uploaded to the Virtual Belle Vue site by Ciara Foley, an MA Public History and Heritage student from Manchester Metropolitan University.
Syd Newiss |
The collection contains many items that were previously owned by Syd Newiss, a Speedway racer who was a member of the Belle Vue Aces, born in 1909. Newiss first made his riding debut in 1923 when he rode at Audenshaw and had been described as a 'consistent racer' by the local newspapers. Newiss took part in the Speedway tour of Buenos Aires from September 1929 to the early months of 1930 with his fellow team mates. The tour included many trips through the streets of Buenos Aires, showing off their riding skills and also competing in races at the Club Athlético Huracán. The Speedway team also had fun aboard the liner 'Royal Mainline' and the collection has many pictures of the team aboard ship and playing games. Other team members that joined Newiss in Buenos Aires were popular riders such as Bob Harrison, Oliver and Oliver Langton, 'Sprouts' Elder and 'Dusty' Haigh.
Syd Newiss, Bob Harrison, Oliver Langton and other team mates |
Syd Newiss and team mates aboard ship |
This collection includes many photographs of Syd Newiss, team mates and fans on tour in Buenos Aires. It also contains racing programmes, Argentinian newspaper articles and guidebooks from the tour, showing what the team got up to during their months abroad. Syd Newiss also collected signed postcards of the Speedway team, as well as Belle Vue programmes and newspaper articles from Manchester and other local areas. The collection also contains scrapbooks made by Newiss himself, that offers an insight into his interests and there is another scrapbook in the collection from the kind donor, Eunice Dodgeon.
Speedway Beunos Aires Programme |
Speedway racers on the track |
We are hoping to gain
more information about the Buenos Aires tour of 1929 and about the
Belle Vue Aces team during that time, so we are calling for readers
and Speedway fans to have a look at the colllection and either email
us at librarian@chethams.org.uk
or write in the comments box below the collection.
The Belle Vue Gardens.
Newiss Collection can be viewed at http://www.chethams.org.uk/bellevue/collections/show/10