Tamworth Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing and

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

stadium in

Fazeley Fazeley is an industrial town and civil parish in the Lichfield District in Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Fazeley is located on the outskirts of Tamworth and the civil parish of Fazeley also inc ...

near Tamworth, Staffordshire. Tamworth Greyhound Stadium c

Origins

The

Drayton Manor Drayton Manor, one of Britain's lost houses, was a British stately home at Drayton Bassett, since its formation in the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. In modern administrative areas, it was first put into Tamworth Poor Law Unio ...

Estate on the west side of Fazeley had existed since the Norman conquest of England and survived until 1929 when the Drayton Manor house was demolished. The grounds covered a large expanse and included deer parks, the large deer park to the north of the estate and below Long Wood eventually had a cricket ground in a small section just above Bourne Brook. The cricket ground came into existence after Sir Robert Peel laid out the first-class cricket facility including a pavilion and dance hall.

Opening

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

in 1946 Captain Arthur Westwood began the construction of a greyhound track on the site of the cricket ground as much of the estate was sold off. Access to the stadium would be from Lichfield Street/Watling Street. The greyhound racing started on 30 August 1947. The main area that had included the house and gardens was sold in 1949 and became leisure gardens which was the early form of the

Drayton Manor Theme Park Drayton Manor Resort is a family theme park, zoo and accommodation in the grounds of the former Drayton Manor, in Drayton Bassett, Staffordshire, England, UK. It covers , of which about are in use, and hosts about 1.5 million people each yea ...

. The remaining parts of the estate were divided into farmland, a business park and a considerable amount of housing.

History

Speedway ( Tamworth Speedway) took place in 1947 and ran until 1950 with the speedway track inside the greyhound circuit and pits behind the main stand. The greyhound circuit consisted of race distances over 268, 500 and 700 yards races and appointed race days in 1949 were Monday and Friday at 7.30pm. It was described as an average size course with a 432 yards circumference and an 'Outside Sumner' hare system. Facing the Watling Street side (the back straight) was a covered stand and a Junior Club with refreshments and on the home straight was the main covered stand and Senior Club featuring a restaurant and snack bar. There was a maximum capacity of 2,500 and the racing kennels were situated on the first bend. The resident kennels were nearby at Park Farm, just a twenty-minute walk from the track and this allowed the trainers to exercise the hounds throughout the whole of the estate. With each trainer having their own kennel range in a rural setting it resembled a smaller version of the

Greyhound Racing Association The Greyhound Racing Association was a UK-based private company founded in 1925 and existed until 2019. It was involved in the management of sports venues, notably greyhound racing stadia. The GRA was responsible for introducing Greyhound racing ...

's Hook estate in

Northaw Northaw is a village in the Welwyn Hatfield district of Hertfordshire, England. It is part of the civil parish of Northaw and Cuffley (where at the 2011 Census the population was included), which was originally known as Northaw. The parish ha ...

. The kennels would have been very close to where the Drayton Manor Zoo is today. The stadium was affiliated to the

National Greyhound Racing Club The National Greyhound Racing Club was an organisation that governed Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom. History The National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) was formed in 1928 and this body would be responsible for regulation, licensing and the ...

when it opened.

Closure

The stadium is believed to have been closed in 1962 making way for housing called Reindeer Road and Dama Road.

Track records

References