Speedway sheilas

1929 was a good year for the girls, with Babs Nield, Jessie Hole, who initially raced as ‘Sunny Somerset’, Dot Cowley, Gladys Thornhill, Eva Askquith and Frances ‘Fay’ Taylour featuring on race programs across the country.

The latter two, Askquith and Taylour however, were considered far superior to the others, and Askquith generally held to be the top woman rider. It was Taylour though, born in Birr, Ireland in 1904, who seemed to garner the major share of the publicity, as much for her take-no-prisoners demeanour as her results.

Askquith, on the other hand, was reportedly reserved, sensitive, peace-loving, and strictly teetotal. Eva, one year younger than Taylour and a native of North Yorkshire where she worked initially as a butcher’s delivery girl, was a versatile competitor, excelling in grass track, trials, and hill climbs prior to turning to speedway aboard a Dirt Track Douglas. As well as competing at tracks all over Britain, Eva took her Douglas to Copenhagen, Denmark in May 1929, where she was very successful to the delight of the local