Luton Speedway

[HertsRacer 222]

I have been researching the history of speedway in Luton. It is known that the track operated between 1934 and 1936 on an open licence primarily as a training track for Wembley. Most articles state that the track closed after 1936 due to poor crowds and financial reasons. However I have discovered that the track was then taken over by former rider and Birmingham promoter Arthur Westwood who planned to join the Second Division in 1937. There are several articles in the local newspapers about this, and of fund raising events being organised to achieve this. Then these articles suddenly stop and nothing more is heard of Luton Speedway. I have read that there may have been noise complaints from residents but can't confirm this. Does anybody know what actually happened to end speedway in Luton.

[norbold 7,113]

According to a dusty old book on my bookshelf called, "Speedway in the South East" there was an injunction granted to local residents over the noise levels forcing Luton to close down. The last meeting was held on 13 July 1936.

[BL65 657]

Arthur Westwood was optimistic about staging Provincial League speedway at the Luton track in 1937, but when that was not possible, he turned his attention to opening a track in Reading, again without success.  Undeterred, he looked at re-opening the Tipnor track at Portsmouth only to be frustrated for a third time.  Portsmouth did stage a couple of meetings later in the year.  It proved to be fourth time lucky when he finally got permission to re-open Hall Green, Birmingham.  Les Bowden and Cecil De La Porte were included in the Hall Green team, both originally destined for Luton.

[HertsRacer 222]

31 minutes ago, norbold said:

According to a dusty old book on my bookshelf called, "Speedway in the South East" there was an injunction granted to local residents over the noise levels forcing Luton to close down. The last meeting was held on 13 July 1936.

Thanks for that. Looking at an ariel photo of the track there were houses close on two sides, but probably no worse than many tracks of that era.

[BL65 657]

34 minutes ago, HertsRacer said:

Thanks for that. Looking at an ariel photo of the track there were houses close on two sides, but probably no worse than many tracks of that era.

According to the Speedway News (17th April 1937), the principal reason for Luton not proceeding, even though preparations were at an advanced stage, was a protest from the local hospital, presumably on noise grounds.  

[chunky 6,094]

Unfortunately, there is not a huge amount of info on the track at Luton, but some can be found at the links below:

http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Luton.htm

https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/luton.html

[norbold 7,113]

1 hour ago, chunky said:

Unfortunately, there is not a huge amount of info on the track at Luton, but some can be found at the links below:

http://www.defunctspeedway.co.uk/Luton.htm

https://www.speedwayresearcher.org.uk/luton.html

And in that dusty old book I mentioned above......

[chunky 6,094]

31 minutes ago, norbold said:

And in that dusty old book I mentioned above......

Well, upload it to the internet so we can link to it!!! 

[Lefty 1,268]

Did Luton have a 'nickname' ?

[racers and royals 8,730]

2 minutes ago, Lefty said:

Did Luton have a 'nickname' ?

The Hatters- probably mentioned in the dusty old book. 

Edited October 9, 2022 by racers and royals

[chunky 6,094]

2 minutes ago, racers and royals said:

The Hatters- probably mentioned in the dusty old book. 

And on the defunctspeedway website...

[racers and royals 8,730]

Just now, chunky said:

And on the defunctspeedway website...

You didn`t think i knew it did you ? 

[chunky 6,094]

1 minute ago, racers and royals said:

You didn`t think i knew it did you ? 

Of course not!

[Guest]

Keith Harvey the Luton team captain?

Edited October 11, 2022 by Guest

[HertsRacer 222]

On 10/9/2022 at 3:46 PM, BL65 said:

According to the Speedway News (17th April 1937), the principal reason for Luton not proceeding, even though preparations were at an advanced stage, was a protest from the local hospital, presumably on noise grounds.  

That's interesting. Makes you wonder why they didn't complain back in 1934 when Luton opened. Probably because the Luton and Dunstable Hospital, which was a fair distance away from the track, wasn't built until 1939. Looks like they assumed there were going to be noise problems and complained accordingly, even though the track was there first.