Dudley Wood Stadium also known as Cradley Heath Greyhound Stadium was a

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tra ...

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.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''.

Origins

The origins of the track date back to 1917 when the Cradley Heath St Lukes Football Club built a new ground after the First World War because the lease at their previous ground had expired. They found farmland that was suitable for a pitch and constructed a basic football ground and stadium east of the Dudley Wood Road.

Speedway

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the ...

speedway team first raced at the stadium on 21 June 1947. The third division "Cubs" became the "Heathens" in the National League Division Two in 1949, and raced continuously until 1952. In 1959 the track reopened for one unlicensed meeting and in 1960 the Heathens entered the newly formed

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

. The club then operated continuously, at top flight level from 1965, until 1995 when they were evicted by the new landlords who had bought the stadium to redevelop into housing. The speedway track measured with a shape and size modelled on the track at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. The 4-lap track record (clutch start) of 60.7 seconds was set by Hans Nielsen on 18 July 1990.

Greyhound Racing

Opening

Cradley St Lukes were in debt and after

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

a betting licence was obtained and Cradley Heath Enterprises started work on the stadium that would include a speedway track. The football club successfully gained permission from

Stanley Rous Sir Stanley Ford Rous (25 April 1895 – 18 July 1986) was an English football referee and the 6th President of FIFA, serving from 1961 to 1974. He also served as secretary of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962 and was an international ...

(

Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...

) to play on a ground that also held the other sports on the proviso that they did not interfere with the running of the club. So in December 1947 the racing started and the football club decided to sell the ground to the greyhound company for £3,500.

History

Racing continued throughout the 1950s as an independent track (unaffiliated to a governing body) and the football club moved out in 1960. During this time the track continued to apply 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 r ...

(NGRC) for a full licence without success, the first application had been in 1948 had been refused and subsequent applications had all been refused. Finally in 1966 the track then under the management of Fred Jeffcott received the news that they would be under the NGRC banner by the end of the year. NGRC racing began in September 1966 under the supervision of Racing Manager Lionel Clemmow and a new competition called the Golden Hammer was inaugurated in 1968. The first winner of the event was Shannon Water from Perry Barr. The event was suspended after the 1972 running until 1983 due to the fact that the track flittered in and out of NGRC status. Derek Pugh a former Monmore trainer purchased the track and introduced the popular Cradley sales trials during the eighties as the auctioneers Hall, Wateridge and Owen held regular events. The Bridgewater family also had a stake in the company and despite the limitations of the venue there were eight bookmakers, a manual tote and automatic ray timing. Racing was held on Tuesday and Friday nights with trials on Wednesday mornings, the circumference of the circuit was 413 metres with distances of 231, 272, 462 and 647 metres behind an 'Outside McGee' hare.

Success

Pineapple Choice won the 1980 Stow Marathon, Red Prim trained by Jim Barrett claimed the 1981

Eclipse Stakes The Eclipse Stakes is a Group races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Great Britain open to horses aged three years or older. It is run at Sandown P ...

. Michael and Barbara Compton's Pineapple Barrow reached the 1982

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

final and won the St Mungo Cup, the Ken Reynolds trained Slender Boy was victorious in the 1983 Northern Flat and the puppy Glenamona lifted the 1983

Trafalgar Cup The Trafalgar Cup is a greyhound competition held at Monmore Green Stadium for puppies under the age of two. It is the oldest puppy competition in the racing calendar. It was contested at Wembley Stadium from 1929 until 1998, but when the Wembley ...

Closure

Cradley Heath closed its doors in 1995 and the stadium was demolished in 1998 by the new owners (

Barratt Homes Barratt Developments plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It was founded in 1958 as Greensitt Bros., but control was later assumed by Sir L ...

), despite not receiving planning permission for their home development project.

Golden Hammer winners

1968-72 (500y), 1973-82 (not held), 1983-90 (462m)

Track records

External links

Cradley Heath Speedway website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley Wood Stadium Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom Defunct speedway venues in England Demolished buildings and structures in the West Midlands (county) Defunct sports venues in the West Midlands (county) Sports venues completed in 1947