Sport
The town was formerly home to the Cradley Heath Heathens, a Motorcycle speedway team, which originally operated as Cradley Heath Cubs. They participated in British speedway from 1947 until 1995, featuring World Champion riders such as Erik Gundersen and Bruce Penhall.
The speedway track was situated in Dudley Wood, outside the town boundaries in nearby Dudley, but was closed and demolished for redevelopment in the mid 1990s. Now operating as Dudley Heathens, the team currently race in Wolverhampton, with plans to develop a new stadium alongside Gornal Athletic F.C. somewhere in the Dudley area.
Read more about this topic: Cradley Heath
Famous quotes containing the word sport:
“If a walker is indeed an individualist there is nowhere he can’t go at dawn and not many places he can’t go at noon. But just as it demeans life to live alongside a great river you can no longer swim in or drink from, to be crowded into safer areas and hours takes much of the gloss off walking—one sport you shouldn’t have to reserve a time and a court for.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
““Justice” was done, and the President of the Immortals, in Æschylean phrase, had ended his sport with Tess. And the d’Urberville knights and dames slept on in their tombs unknowing. The two speechless gazers bent themselves down to the earth, as if in prayer, and remained thus a long time, absolutely motionless: the flag continued to wave silently. As soon as they had strength they arose, joined hands again, and went on.
The End”
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
“For generations, a wide range of shooting in Northern Ireland has provided all sections of the population with a pastime which ... has occupied a great deal of leisure time. Unlike many other countries, the outstanding characteristic of the sport has been that it was not confined to any one class.”
—Northern Irish Tourist Board. quoted in New Statesman (London, Aug. 29, 1969)