Parkwood Greyhound Stadium was a
greyhound racing and
football stadium on Craven Road in
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...
,
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
.
Origins
A football ground was constructed on a plot of land in an area known as Aireworth which was a well known for
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Although some were driven b ...
s. The ground was used by local football team called Parkwood AFC, later Keighley Town until they folded in 1948. One year previous in 1947 the ground had been converted into a greyhound racing stadium. The stadium known as the Parkwood Stadium was located on the West of Aireworth Road between Beeches Road and the
River Worth
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
.
Opening
The Yorkshire track opened to greyhound racing opened on 22 November 1947. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body 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 ...
(NGRC)) and was known as a flapping track which was the nickname given to independent tracks.
History
Racing was held on Tuesday and Saturday evenings at 7.30pm, the circumference of the tracks was 410 yards and consisted of race distances over 306 and 518 yards. There was an 'Inside Sumner' hare system and photo finish apparatus. Amenities included a licensed bar a snack bar and car parking.
The greyhounds were housed in kennels located three miles from the stadium in
Steeton.
[
In 1965 the track record was broken by greyhound called Rusty after he recorded a time of 29.05 secs. It is alleged within the greyhound industry that this greyhound was actually a greyhound called 'Hi Joe' who was famously stolen at the time from the (NGRC) licensed kennels of Noreen Collin and had won a prestigious competition called the Juvenile and was one of the favourites for the 1965 English Greyhound Derby.]
Closure
The track was open for nearly thirty years before closing on 24 December 1974 due to new Airevalley Road proposals. Today the Airevalley Road (A650) which opened in 1988 covers what would have been the south part of the stadium and a local football ground covers the north part of the stadium (this football ground is sometimes mistakenly assumed that it was the exact position of the stadium).[
]
References
{{English greyhound tracks
Defunct greyhound racing venues in the United Kingdom
Defunct football venues in England