Ian Berry

Ian Berry was born in Crowborough, Sussex in 1959. From an early age he took an interest in cars and motorcycles and attended his first motorcycle event, a scramble at Cross-in-Hand, as a six-year-old. He was immediately bitten by the bug and after moving to East Anglia the following year, he spectated at events at venues such as Wakes Colne, Hintlesham Park and Hadleigh, Essex. It was after one such visit to Tye Farm, Great Cornard,Suffolk, that he was inspired to write for the first time about what would become his favourite sport:

'On Sunday I went to a scrabel. A scrabel is a race and they use moterbikes. They go fast on them. It is a muddy track. The winer of the races was Arthur Browning. He was going very very fast. He won all the races he was in, he was very good.'

This was the entry in his school diary dated March 28th 1967 (he was eight years old at the time, so please excuse the spelling mistakes!).

Today he is still writing about off-road motorcycling in Britain in the 1960s and 70s and has had three works published; Jeff Smith - Trials Master, Motocross Maestro (Motorsport Publications LLC 2018) the biography of the two-time motocross world champion, Out Front! British Motocross Champions 1960-1974 and Motocross On Air! The BBC Grandstand Trophy 1963 to 1970 (both Panther Publishing).

Since 1988, Ian has lived and worked in Portugal, where he teaches English for a living. He lives near the sea with his wife and two children and jokes that one day he hopes to write the Best Seller which will enable him to retire to the sun in Portugal!

Contact Ian at ian.berry@netcabo.pt