How Many Were Once Speedways?

[Guest]

How many of these tracks were once speedways - and do you have any memories of the venues as speedways?

 

http://www.simonlewis.com/sc5.html

[steve roberts 9,242]

How many of these tracks were once speedways - and do you have any memories of the venues as speedways?

 

http://www.simonlewis.com/sc5.html

Fascinating site! Brought back memories of Brands Hatch!

[Guest]

This is just one of the references on Simon Lewis' excellent website. So many of the tracks listed were used for both speedway and stock cars. Here's how Simon viewed the dear old Belle Vue at Hyde Road written some years ago before construction of the NSS in Manchester:

"Belle Vue: The original Hyde Road venue with it's huge wooden stands was demolished to much shock and rage in the late 1980s in the wake of the Bradford City Football ground disaster. Its now huge car auction site which I've read fell into disuse in the mid-2000s. Is anything operating there now? An aerial photo of the site is visible on Google Maps and some photo of it just before the bulldozers moved in on SPEEDWAYPLUS The "new" version in nearby "Kirky Lane" opened in spring 99,this was the smaller dog track which had apparently held car racing in 1954, and has the famous Speedway team sharing the track, much to the recently departed promoter's vocal objection. Nice aerial shot of this on Google Maps and plenty of YouTube clips including this one from 1984."

 

PS: Click on the SEEDWAYPLUS Link especially (see above) for some fascinating memories of the REAL Belle Vue.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Guest

[Sidney the robin 4,735]

Brilliant stuff and Hyde Rd was a special place the best racetrack i ever saw Cardiff for me is not in the same league.My greatest memory was the 1983 BLRC it was very wet and most tracks would of never of held up with the amount of rain that had fallen.Erik Hans Lee, Carter fighting for the title a great meeting a really SPECIAL ride that sticks out is Morton passing Carter in the 1983 NLRC great memories.

[Guest]

This is what the Simon Lewis website at http://www.simonlewis.com/sc5.html has to say about 'my first speedway love' New Cross - saw speedway there for the first time in April 1946.

"New Cross the tiny (just over 200 yards round) venue of the first ever British stock car meeting and long-time speedway venue. Located on Hornshay St. in south London and known as the 'Frying Pan' it was closed in 1963 and is now a sort of public park/garden in amongst housing estates. The bowl of the stadium is visible but grassed over with a trace of terracing, bits of wall, gate posts and other features surviving. Google maps shows how small the stadium area was and there are some photos of it in better days on SPEEDWAYPLUS and click here for some 2009 photos."