Galgate’s Speedway King was probably Lancashire’s finest all round biker in the 1930s

Most readers will have passed it on the A6.

The story begins with the Burgess cycle shop (near the Galgate SPAR today), and most of the buildings involved can still be seen.

The cycle shop (which repaired as well as selling bicycles) was started by Richard Burgess in the early 1900’s.

He was a Yorkshireman, being born in Pudsey in 1864.

In 1881 he crossed the Pennines and found work at the Galgate Mill as a silk card winder.

He lived initially in Chapel Street and married Mary Ann West in 1887, and the couple had 22 Children, of whom 15 survived.

Richard and Mary Burgess’s eldest daughter, Margaret, married the village butcher William “Pop” Kitchen.

William served in the Army Service Corps in the Great War in Egypt and Palestine, and later as an infantry soldier in the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

The family made their home in Mainstone House, which is opposite the current Fishers Garage.

Margaret and William had two sons, John and William- inevitably known as Jack and Bill. Jack and Bill -along with some of the other Burgess children- got into many scrapes together.

In a shade of things to come, Bill was given a brand new 350cc Sunbeam, which met its end round a lamp post in Main Road!

It later was rebuilt and was used in several races.

A big friend of Bill’s was Lionel Cordingley, who was a famed rider in his own right, and married Ethel Tyson from Salford Road.

Bill earned enough money 1929 to buy his own bike and he rode this at Scale Hall grass track meetings.

Bill approached the famous Scott motorcycle company (the Bradford factory still stands) asking if they would loan him a bike for dirt track racing, but instead they signed him up as a TT and trails rider!

However, this happy interlude ended with the worldwide depression, and in 1931 Bill returned home to the newly established W Kitchen and sons Limited, an engineering works and Garage -still on the same Main Road Galgate site today.

Bill continued riding locally, including speedway at Preston, in the 1932 TT and at Belle Vue (Manchester).

He was also the winner of the Yorkshire grass track championship at Harrogate.

In 1933 he was signed by the Belle Vue team. He initially rode a Speedway JAP but upgraded to a Victor Martin JAP, winning too many prizes to mention here.

He made his last TT appearance in 1933.

From the mid 1930’s he took over the family garage. The sign proclaimed his fame!

Bill stayed with Belle Vue up until the late 1930’s- he qualified for his first World speedway final in 1937, travelled to Australia with the England team in 1937/8 and was appointed England captain in 1938.

World events cost Bill his chance of becoming world champion-he was hot favourite for the final at Wembley on September 7 1939, but of course the war intervened.

Bill joined the Army and became a Sergeant in the Royal Army service corps, and sympathetic officers arranged for him to ride at Belle Vue (the only track allowed to operate in wartime), where he won several prizes.

Following the wars end, Bill raced in Germany and in New Zealand and reached the world championship for the last time in 1949. He also rode for Wembley.

He finally retired in 1953.

Bill died in 1994 aged 85. He had ridden for 22 years and captained two teams.

During the 1930’s he was probably Lancashire’s finest all round motorcyclist.

Bill’s son, Eric, founded the highly successful motor spares business EK brakes which again will be familiar to many.

But this is not the end of the Speedway story in Galgate-not by a long way!

Thanks Mrs Jean Fisher and family and Adrian Pavey for pictures, help and background material.