Roller skating speedway "banned for encouraging civilian unrest"

Mr Peter Norman of East Grinstead, W Sussex wrote to the Times on Jan 04, 2010 to correct an article that it had carried on Roller Derby from the previous couple of weeks.

In his letter, he recalls the Harringay Arena's staging of Roller skating speedway in the late 40s:

Sir, Your report (Dec 26) stated that the rumbustious "sport" of roller derby was first played in the UK in 2006. Not so. Roller skating speedway, featuring men and women, was popular in the late Forties when for a couple of winter seasons it filled Harringay Arena to capacity.

Players punched, tripped and barged each other around the circuit. Few reached the finishing line, with most being thrust over the guard rails where fighting continued off track. Often the audience joined in. One buxom girl was dressed as a Native American with a feathered headdress. My father thought she was splendid. The council and the police thought otherwise, and the event was banned because it encouraged civilian unrest.

Harringay Online has some visual artefacts from this time here and a video here