Saturday night saw the final ever programme of greyhound racing in the capital as the last existing greyhound stadium at Wimbledon closed it's doors for the final time after 89 years. At one time there were 33 venues in London when it reached it's peak in the years just after the 2nd World War. I remember as a kid going to Stamford Bridge dogs on Saturday evenings when my dad bought his first car, an old Ford Anglia. At 9 years old it was great seeing the races and the excitement once the bell went to set the hare off. There was the buzz of the punters and the shouting and tic-tac of the bookies, it really was a great night out especially when dad's dogs won. In later years we often had a workplace night out on Friday night at Catford, anything up to a dozen of us having a very sociable evening with the added bonus of taking a few quid home if you won. Sadly, that is all in the past now, another of our memories disappearing thanks to the relentless march of the property developers. Catford went about 15 years ago and more recently Walthamstow was the last of the North London tracks to close. Many, like Walthamstow had that unique look of the 1930s which added to their style. What's next, look no further than Horse Racing venues, Kempton Park has been earmarked for a major redevopment, scene of some fantastic races over the years, I was there a few years back when Kauto Star was winning for fun. The way things are going nothing is sacred, it's really so sad...
AFC Wimbledon are no better than Franchise FC for doing this, the shighthouses. Used to go all the time when I lived in earlsfield. Last one in London
Wembley was my local dog-track when I was a kid - loved it. We still have dog-racing in Glasgow, only been once, but it was a great night out..... http://www.shawfieldgreyhounds.com/
Me too, my dad used to take me on a Thursday night in school holidays. We would also go to the Greyhound Derby, which was a really special occasion with 30 or 40 thousand there.
Romford still has a dog track, took my kids a few months ago. They loved it. So it's not that there isn't the interest anymore. perhaps all the serious money is gambled online now?
Online betting doesn't help but in London it was mainly the value of the land the tracks were on plus a gradual decline in attendances over the years. I know the last time I went to Wimbledon I was shocked at how run-down the place was. That was down to the GRA who seemed reluctant to invest in the place whilst the value of the site was rapidly increasing. The South London Press ran an article a few years ago about why tracks had closed down and the blame seemed to lie with the governing body. I suppose south of the river Crayford is probably the nearest track still going...
I used to be in a syndicate of twenty in the late 80's that owned a dog that raced at Wimbledon. The dog 's racing name was 'Mine For Keeps' and was trained by Philip Rees. She did well in a few races and even won a trophy. I kept her as a pet when she had to retire due to a shoulder injury. We had some good nights at the dogs back then but the sport has sadly died out now due to the GRA's lack of investment. Going to the dogs seems to have become unfashionable and it appears that the working class have sought their entertainment elsewhere. The last time I can recall going to a meeting was about 12 years ago.
I was part owner of a horse that we used to run at Windsor and a few other tracks in the summer. Never got close to a place but we all had a great time going to watch her run.
I have been to White City and Wimbledon dogs in London. I was only in White City once when I was a kid on holidays there. When I lived in London, we used to go quite often to Wimbledon. It was always good craic. Over here, the dogs has changed too. Rather than being full of lads gambling, it has become a centre for Corporate nights out and stags and hens parties. In Dublin, there was two tracks, Shelbourne Park which is the main one and Harolds Cross. Harolds Cross just closed recently as the Greyhound Board incurred debts doing up the track in Limerick. There was a dispute with the neighbours over developing the ground and they just shut the place and sold the land for development as a way of clearing the debt on the Limerick track. I haven't been for about 8 years but I am in the middle of making plans for a gang of us on my Brother's stags party to have a sit down meal etc at the track in Galway in May. Looking forward to the night.
When my wife worked in James Lane, a chain of bookies shops back in the 70s there used to be morning races at Hackney, they were sponsored by bookies to give them a bigger spread of punters through the day. My wife said there were often more punters in early who would often have a win and disappear into a pub at lunchtime and then roll back in pissed in the afternoon and lose what they'd won in the morning. Hackney also had a great speedway track which was banked at both ends which produced spectacular racing as the bikes could go full throttle round the turns...
I have been to Romford dogs hundreads of times. Was there a couple of years ago, but it is not as well frequented as of a decade or two ago.
I used to go to Wembley, White City, Walthamstow and Oxford dogs years ago when my then girlfriends dad had a couple of dogs. Great night out. Sad to see the last London track close down. There are still a lot of local tracks running though and we are lucky enough to have Henlow Dogs on our doorstep. It's no Wembley, in fact it is little more than a flap track, but bloody good fun in the summer. I would recommend it to you.
I lived 400 yards away from White City. My brother got the gambling bug as a 12 year old going with my Dad (he wasn't too pleased in the end). Very sad, as a poster has already said, horse racing seems to be going the same way
