A new local hero has been inducted into the Oswestry Sporting Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame marks outstanding sporting achievements by local people, such as representing their country.   Graham Drury, international speedway racer and promoter has joined the 36 existing local stars who are members of our Hall of Fame.

Speedway is a team-orientated motorcycle sport, where bikes with a single gear and no brakes, race around an oval track of packed shale and dirt.  Riders use this surface to be able to slide their bikes sideways into the bends.  Four riders race over four laps, reaching up to 70mph on the straight sections of the tracks.

Graham Drury represented England in several speedway meetings in the 1970s.  Graham’s widow Denise and daughter Helen met Oswestry Sports Forum’s Jonathan Yates and Susie Hancock to admire Graham’s citation, which is now on display in the upper gallery of Oswestry Leisure Centre.  They were joined by Graham’s life-long friend and speedway colleague, Jim Rowlands, who had nominated Graham for the Hall of Fame.  Graham, Denise and Jim had all been at St Martins School together and shared happy memories of their speedway experiences.  Jim described the exhilaration of speedway: Each four-lap race is over in seconds – a thrill of deafening revs, bright lights and rush of speed.

Graham enjoyed a full and busy career, racing for clubs all around England as well as a season on the German Speedway Bundesliga.  Denise remembered that he continued to live at home in Chirk Bank but drove across to Germany to race each weekend, with his bike and sleeping bag in the back of the van.  After 14 full and successful years of racing, along with several injuries and hospital stays, Graham retired from racing aged 33.

He continued as a Speedway manager and promoter and invented Indoor Ice Speedway, launching the new sport at Telford Ice Rink.  Graham organised a Telford Ice Speedway challenge every February (during the speedway off-season) for the next 25 years, while introducing Ice Speedway to other countries such as Oman.

Sadly, Graham passed away in January 2024.  He is sorely missed by his family and friends but his full and successful life will continue to be celebrated as a member of Oswestry’s Sporting Hall of Fame.

The citations are on display in Oswestry Leisure Centre and are inspiring!  New nominations to the Hall of Fame should be sent to halloffame@oswestrygames.co.uk .

Graham Drury at Ellesmere Port, courtesy of the John Somerville Collection.

L-R – Jim Rowlands, Denise and Helen Drury, Jonathan Yates.