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Pontins BMX Championships by Steve Keech
The weekend everyone waited for — always the third weekend in October — took place at a holiday camp in Heysham near Morecambe, Lancashire. Well, not that close to Morecambe, but nobody really knew where Heysham was anyway. It was always held on the final weekend before the camp closed for the season. The annual…
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Revisiting the UK’s First Documented BMX Race — Brockwell Park: 1980, Not 1979
As we continue documenting the history of BMX in the UK, we want to acknowledge that this is a fluid process — we’re constantly uncovering new stories, photos, and information. We originally posted and documented that even though the first official race in the UK was held at Redditch on August 30th, 1980, there was…
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Melanie Wallhead (formerly Woods, then Gilmour)
What year did you start racing?I started racing in 1980. Which teams did you ride for?I rode for Torker. What was it like riding for Torker?Riding for Torker and being part of the Torker & Robinson family was an incredible experience—I was so proud. I remember one race where I was in second place when…
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1982 UKBMX National Number 1 – Cain Ali
1982 marked the second year of official National rankings in the UK. Cain Ali (Bradford Bandits BMX Club, riding for Cobra), a regular feature in BMX News and BMX Weekly early issues, became UKBMX National Number 1 in the 5-year-old class, putting his name in the history books alongside riders like Tim March, Andy Ruffell,…
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British BMX Hall of Fame Merch Now Available Online
Big shout-out to Kenny Hunter and Gary at Relm Clothing for working on our British BMX Hall of Fame merch — we’re now live and ready to go! All proceeds will go toward future Hall of Fame events. More items and designs will be added later this year. To kick things off, we’ve got NBMXA,…
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Q & A Dave Morris
Teams you rode for? Curtis, Ammaco, Shadow Racing/Hot Wheels. What year did you start racing? Quite late to the party, so it was early 1983. Do you remember your very first race? How did it go? Bournemouth ’83 – a load of us went on a coach from Trowbridge, Wiltshire, cramming all the bikes into…
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Filmer (UKBMX & NBMXA) Michael Watkins.
You might be familiar with the name Watkins — Michael Watkins was the father of mid-80s British, European, and World Champion Mark “Whoppa” Watkins, who rode for Halfords, MRD, and later Thruster. Michael is one of those unsung heroes of British BMX who spent countless hours at the races, often standing in the middle of…
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The Second Generation of UKBMX & NBMXA
I think it’s fair to say these photos capture some of the second generation of UKBMX/NBMXA racers competing under the EBA banner, taken at Hounslow in 1989. By then, most of the big-name UK Pro Class stars from the 80s—the magazines, the Kelloggs, the NEC, Earls Court, TV appearances, and the big factory teams of…
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Interview – Lee Curry
Team ACE is widely recognized as the first official BMX team in the UK, assembled by Richard Barrington, who also helped organize the country’s first BMX event alongside Don Smith in 1980 at Brockwell Park, London. Early Team ACE riders included the likes of Andy Ruffell, Pete Middleton, Nicky Matthews, Steve Gratton, Cav Strutt, and…
