Norfolk Family History Society is looking for volunteers to take on important roles within the organisation.
The society is looking for new trustees and also people willing to take on roles in finance, IT Management, property maintenance management, business planning, membership and many other areas.
NFHS currently has over 4,000 members throughout the world and is entirely run by volunteers from its headquarters at Kirby Hall in Norwich. Kirby Hall is currently shut to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic, but there is still plenty for volunteers to do.
"This is an excellent opportunity for members of the society to become involved and help shape our future," said acting chairman Phil Whiscombe.
If you are interested in becoming a trustee or helping an any other way or would like more information on what the roles entail please e-mail volunteer co-ordinator Carol Reeve on [email protected].
Volunteers must be members of the Norfolk Family History Society. You can find out how to join by visiting our website at: https://www.norfolkfhs.org.uk/
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I often muse on the past and my musings today took me back to my tender years and speedway at the Firs Stadium in Hellesdon, just outside Norwich. I remember being very upset when the stadium was sold for housing in 1964. Over the years there have been numerous attempts to bring the sport back to Norwich. None have borne fruit and I doubt that they ever will with tracks at Ipswich, Mildenhall and King's Lynn.
I was into speedway long before I developed an interest in football and I went to the Firs before I went to Carrow Road. It helped that I was just five minutes walk away from the stadium and it also helped that my cousin's boyfriend was also a big fan and took me there for virtually every home game. We would sit at the top of the main stand. I couldn't understand it when he and my cousin split up. It could of course have had something to do with the fact that he preferred taking me to speedway on a Saturday night than taking her out.
I remember being upset when he found a new girlfriend who I told my mother was fat. She tried to explain to a 11-year-old me that she wasn't fat but just big busted! Not sure what words she used to explain that.
Speedway finished shortly after and I transferred my allegiance to football where it has been ever since.
The other thing I remember about Peter (for that was his name) is he had a Bubble Car. I would go with him and my cousin for outings (can't remember where). You climbed into the tiny car and sat three abreast in a very confined space. It was claustrophobic and I can still remember the smell of oil and the travel sickness that went with it.
The thing I remember about speedway at the Firs was the noise of the bikes and the smell of the shale - it was really special and pretty awful at the same time.
Norwich had the great Swedish rider Ove Fundin in their team. This guy was World Champion five times and, to my mind, the greatest exponent of the sport that has ever lived. In 2006 he was given the Freedom of Norwich and still visits the City. When his autobiography was published he did a signing session in Jarrolds department store and the queue went through the shop and around the block - that's how well he is remembered in Norwich. Today he is 87 and lives in France.
I was also a big fan of his fellow Swede Olle Nygren who is also still alive at the age of 90. He never had the grace and power of Fundin but I have always rooted for the underdog. There must be something about speedway riders living to ripe old ages because another Norwich rider - Billy Bales - was 91 last week. Perhaps its the smell of shale and engine grease that did it. Billy was born and bred in Norwich - a true local hero.
But back to Fundin. The guy was so good that they brought a rule in that the top riders in each team should be what was called back markers. That meant they started behind other riders. There were also frontmarkers who started ahead of everyone else and were usually young or inexperienced riders. More often than not Funding still won the races. He had often caught the others up by the first bend.
Of course speedway was (and is) a dangerous sport. Those bikes have no brakes. Riders often fell at speed and could shoot across the track and often into the side boards. I still remember how sad I was when Peter Craven died in a speedway accident in Edinburgh, aged just 29.