John "Noddy" Newbold -  Heron Suzuki Team -  by John Holmes

John "Noddy" Newbold, a Butcher by trade, his family kept the village butcher's shop which is now a kitchen showroom opposite the old ‘Grey-Topper club’ or the Lamp-shade factory as it has been recently. His racing career started in the 1970’s when the family and some of the workers won a large amount on the football pools, possibly equivalent to a million on the lottery by today's standards. His earlier racing started like most with club racing at the likes of ‘Darleymoor’ & ‘Mallory Park’ using a close friend of the family's bike. That close friend was a certain Mr ‘John Cooper’ (moon- eyes), as he was known from Derby, another local racing hero, and the bike was a ‘Yamsel’, which was a 350cc Yamaha engine in a Seeley frame.

John Newbold - Photo kindly provided by a Westwood Resident

 John used this bike and took various local club titles, one of which was the Derby Phoenix club and to this day they still have ‘The John Newbold Trophy’ Meeting which is usually held at the Mallory Park Race track, his wife Alison or John's son Michael presenting the award to the winner. 

 John did all the usual meetings on the short circuits, also the ever-popular Mountain Course of the ‘TT’ and the Northwest 200 Road races in Northern Ireland, which later was to tragically cost him his life. 

During his racing career John was sponsored by Dave Orton’s team ‘Appleby Glade’ but prior was a member of the ‘Heron Suzuki GB’ Grand Prix team and was a Team rider, riding along side the famous World champion ‘Barry Sheene’, if I recall though at this time Sheene had parted company with ‘Suzuki’ and was now riding the ‘Akai’ sponsored Yamaha.  John's companions in the team were Keith Huewen (now a TV presenter), Mick Grant and Roger Marshal.

The team were in Ireland for the 1982 NW200, and the race started with Roger Marshal, Mick Grant, John, ‘Rocket’ Ron Haslam (Local lad!) and a famous ‘TT’ rider by the name of Mr Joseph William Dunlop or ‘Yer Maun’ as he is affectionately known, all these were together on the opening lap. Then as the bunch approached ‘Juniper Hill’ John went to overtake one of his fellow team mates and his bike went down at about 130 mph. John was killed instantly, and as the saying goes the rest is now history. 

His family have lived in the village till recently and his Mother Lillian and Father Maurice both passed away last year after moving from Middlebrook Hill,  Selston  to Harrogate to be nearer there daughter Jane.

John never quite made it to the heights of GP racing but he was an excellent rider and a much respected and missed rider when he was no longer around the paddock.  He achieved lots of excellent results in his racing career, but below I have just put the ‘TT’ results that he gained on the Capitol of Road racing, the Isle of Man:-

Steve Henshaw by John Holmes

 Steve Henshaw. Steve used to live in a detached house at the bottom end of Wagstaff Lane with his wife Val. He worked at a Motorcycle shop in Nottingham and could be very often seen riding through the village on a normal road bike which he would have come home on.  Sometimes he would go down on the forge area to get a bit of practice in on a Motocross bike, and he could always been seen working away in his garage preparing his bikes for the various meetings that he would travel to all over the country, and of course the Island, of which during his racing career must have became an affectionate place to him judging by the amount of times he actually raced there.

Steve Henshaw - Photo kindly provided by a Westwood Resident

  Now I am not sure of the dates of when Steve got into racing but I first started noticing him when he became involved with a chicken farmer from Wiltshire by the name of ‘Harold Coppock’, now Harold had been involved in motorcycle racing for some years as a sponsor. Steve as I can remember spent quite a few years with Harold’s team, racing a variety of different size bikes, for instance at the 1980 ‘Transatlantic Meetings he was in the 500cc race on a 497cc Suzuki then he was out in the 250cc race on a Yamaha and to top it all off in the 1000cc Race he was on a 750cc Yamaha. In these modern day Superbike Races this doesn’t happen, but it did then!

Steve wasn’t actually in the British Match Race Team at these meetings,  he was only in the support races, which was a pity really, as he would have been up against the likes of Kenny Roberts (Snr.) Freddie Spencer, And Randy Mamola but our village hopes in the Match races were left up to ‘Noddy’ on a ‘Appleby Glade Yamaha.  

Steve visited the Island for the ‘TT’ races from 1981 until his untimely death in 1989. His worst result other than DNF’s was a 32^nd in the 1981 Senior race and his best was a 7^th position in the 1983 Formula 2 Race, he raced for various sponsors over there, one of which was Tillstons.                                          

In the 1989 1300cc Production Race Steve lost his life at ‘Quarry Bends’, and if you ever visit the Island on the exit of the bends on the right in the small stone wall is a memorial to Steve and to his years of dedication to the TT Races, take a good look as they tend to bale it well around that area for the races but it is there, and for a moment give Steve, and ‘Noddy’ for that matter a thought or two before you come home.

The Isle of Man 2004 - Photograph & Article Courtesy of John Holmes