Helen Charlesworth

Speedway Boys and the Skid Kids Helen Charlesworth

'Speedway Boys and the Skid Kids' is the follow-on book to 'Dirt Tracks and Shrapnel Scars' - the story of two teenage boys; Joel Armstrong and Will Roberts, who share a passion, their love of speedway. All that divides them is time; over seventy years in fact. Joel through the help of a glass lens from an old- fashioned wire framed pair of spectacles, had found a portal to the past. Each time he steps through he finds himself a little further into the future. His first encounter with Will was in the summer of 1940 but it is now 1942. No one seems to notice that Joel hasn't aged; probably due to his growth spurt, trendy pudding basin haircut and modern 1940's clothing. Time-travelling, as much as it is fun comes with many drawbacks. Joel has already been through the Blitz of 1941 and seen the destruction caused by the German Luftwaffe on the city of Plymouth for himself. Once beautiful buildings gone and, in their place - rubble. He's seen the shock and upset of losing homes and loved ones. He knows what lies ahead for the people of Britain; but you can't change the past; or can you? His 1940's pals are becoming war weary and his trips to the past more strained due to rationing and the burden the war is placing on everyone. Will enjoys his visits as there are always treats of some kind and stories of the mysterious speedway World Champion to be Jason Doyle. After visiting an elderly neighbour of his grandparents, who spent his wartime childhood in London and tells Joel of doodlebugs, dance halls and of cycle speedway tracks built on old bombsites; Joel has an idea; he gets the boys of 1942 Plymouth to build their own track and recruit a team, the 'Cattedown Kings.' They organise official cycle speedway races - long before Len Silver and the boys of South London hit on the idea. Eddie, one of his wartime friends; local celebrity and amateur boxer helps with the club and scores of boys are turning up wanting to be part of the new sport. Then the American's join the war - and life is suddenly becoming much more exciting in 1940's Britain. In his own time, Joel's is introduced to two modern day speedway riders; they tell him of their own exploits on the racetrack and the determination and ambition needed to be a real star of the dirt tracks. Joel finds himself increasingly torn between two era's.