Alastair Heptonstall has kindly given permission for this splendid photo of his grandfather to appear on the blog. He tells me that Eric Heptonstall lived in the Liverpool area and was quite succesful with the outfit in Amateur speedway races. I have not researched to what extent side-car events were held in the early days of speedway but I am fairly sure they did not catch on here as much as in Australia, for instance. I suspect that the photo dates from the early thirties bearing in mind that the sport did not hit our shores until 1928. The bike looks to be a 1926-ish Model 19 - note the steel strip bracing on the forks, quick action twist grip, larger capacity tank with alloy filler cap - and somewhat bald front tyre, perhaps no disadvantage for drifting round corners!
