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ch958

Tracks around football pitches

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just looking at some pics of Coatbridge and i wondered do these tracks generally produce good racing. I know Berwick gets criticised occasionally and I've never been to Ashfield. I personally never saw much overtaking at the Shay, although it was spectacular. What do people think

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Somerton Park Newport certainly didn't produce good racing

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Canterbury was good, although a bit narrow.

Loved the old Poole track

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From my recollection Bristol wasn't proper shale, wasn't it sand based as they had used sand old dog track. 

Steve Gresham liked it I recall.

I'm sure i went to a track at Weymouth (not Radipole Lane) that was round a footy pitch.

Halifax was horrible, everything about the place was horrible, granite dust, steel fence, dangerous banking, Charlie Monk liked it i remember and the Pusey's.

Paisley that was round a footy pitch early 70's?

Canterbury used to love going there in days when Brummies had Georgie Major and Arthur Browning and Phil Herne.

 

 

 

Edited by HGould
slight typos

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1 hour ago, stevehone said:

Canterbury was good, although a bit narrow.

Loved the old Poole track

You beat me to it!  I always enjoyed my trips to Kingsmead, but as you say, it was a little on the narrow side.

I don't know if ch958 was keeping it just to football (well, association football to be precise), but there were also tracks with rugby pitches, like Exeter and Hull (Boulevard).  I think they would be very similar.  Oh, and how about another rugger venue - Odsal?  The one observation I can make is that some of these were pretty narrow, with Hull being one.

One I never went to was Love Street, home of Paisley.  Anyone here have any memories of that?

Steve

 

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29 minutes ago, chunky said:

You beat me to it!  I always enjoyed my trips to Kingsmead, but as you say, it was a little on the narrow side.

I don't know if ch958 was keeping it just to football (well, association football to be precise), but there were also tracks with rugby pitches, like Exeter and Hull (Boulevard).  I think they would be very similar.  Oh, and how about another rugger venue - Odsal?  The one observation I can make is that some of these were pretty narrow, with Hull being one.

One I never went to was Love Street, home of Paisley.  Anyone here have any memories of that?

Steve

 

Hull reopened at Craven Park in the mid 90s, which was also around a rugby league pitch, Hull Kingston Rovers this time. Never went to The Boulevard but I was told that Craven Park wasn't quite as narrow. I've seen some good meetings at Derwent Park, Workington, which was around a rugby pitch.

Edited by Vincent Blachshadow

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The short lived and VERY NARROW track at Romford was at the old football stadium. I remember enjoying my visits as a young teenager but it may be due to rose tinted spectacles syndrome! 

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3 hours ago, coldace said:

Somerton Park Newport certainly didn't produce good racing

Totally square. Gaters track.

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27 minutes ago, Vincent Blachshadow said:

Hull reopened at Craven Park in the mid 90s, which was also around a rugby league pitch, Hull Kingston Rovers this time. Never went to The Boulevard but I was told that Craven Park wasn't quite as narrow. I've seen some good meetings at Derwent Park, Workington, which was around a rugby pitch.

I was 4000 miles away when Craven Park opened, and I really don't know anything about the place. I only went to The Boulevard once (Royal Wedding Day in 1981), but you can see from vids on YouTube it wasn't the widest track!

Yeah, I forgot about Workington. Only went there the once, but I was very impressed with the racing.

Steve

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Can't think of any track around any pitch that could be classed as a good ' race ' track , passed or present.

Glasgow is awful despite the efforts to improve it.

Berwick and Workington , much better tracks but suffer from narrow exits to the bends spoiling the overall shape and therefore racing lines, most crashes at these tracks occurred at the exits of the corners unlike smaller tracks.

Paisley was very poor, Halifax was spectacular but home riders dream. Hull was very narrow  and rough at times. Exeter was the same and , like Halifax, the steel fence put visiting riders off.

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King's Lynn was perfect...but then it was only junior soccer and/or American football playing on the green bit

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IMO 

nothing wrong with Ashfield

Halifax was good, as was Workington.

Coatbridge was good.

Old Meadowbank was great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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just looked at youtube footage of Ashfield and it looks fab racing

Rugby pitches are generally smaller than football pitches aren't they

 

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