Event Type: Branch

Takes Place: 9th March 2027

Time: 18:30

Venue: The UEA

Description: Twentieth century East Anglia was a vibrant hub for international motorcycle racing. Such sports as speedway, motocross, and motoball brought world champion riders and mysterious teams to the eastern counties. In the process, they embedded the region in a diverse network of provincial heartlands, from outback Australia and rural Scandinavia to Soviet Siberia. UEA’s ‘Racing in the East’ project explored East Anglia as host for such encounters, but racing also offered rare opportunities for East Anglian-based riders to travel through the Iron Curtain at the height of the Cold War. What did the pioneering Norwich Stars team make of 1950s’ communist Poland? Which challenges did the region’s riders face when venturing to the outer reaches of the USSR to partake in ice racing? How did a group of motorcycle enthusiasts from Harwich end up in 1980s’ Soviet Ukraine? And why were the Ipswich Witches among the first to witness the seismic impact of communism’s collapse across the former Eastern Bloc? Through archival research, fieldwork, press accounts, and testimony, this lecture by Dr Richard Mills sheds light on a two-wheeled Cold War phenomenon.

How to book: By email norwichha@gmail.com

Price: Free to HA and branch members; otherwise £10 for guests

Tel: N/A

Fax: N/A

Email: norwichha@gmail.com

Website: https://www.history.org.uk/branches

Organiser: Simon Kinder

Lecturer: Dr Richard Mills

Comments: Dr Richard Mills is Associate Professor in Modern European History at the University of East Anglia. He served as Director of the Centre of East Anglian Studies between 2022 and 2026, and is currently Deputy Head of the School of History and Art History.

Region: East of England

Branch: Norfolk & Norwich