Rayleigh Weir Stadium

In 1947 the area chosen for a new stadium was a small village called Weir between the small market town of Rayleigh and the district of Thundersley which was largely rural. It would be situated just six miles from Southend on the south side of the Southend Arterial Road. Opened on 25 March 1925, this particular stretch of road is of historical importance to the motoring world as it was the first road to be built in Britain specifically for motor vehicles.^[1] The new stadium could be accessed via Claydons Lane or Rat Lane.^[2]

The 1947 application by Francis Bernard McGreavey to the Benfleet Union was originally refused but later granted on appeal.^[3] McGreavey had made his fortune from building Morrison and Anderson shelters.^[4] The director of public prosecutions then took McGreavey (the builder and owner of the stadium) to court in 1949 because it was claimed that the application to construct the two grandstands had been approved in principle but later refused. However, the grandstands had been erected in-between which led to the prosecution. McGreavey argued that all material used was from government departments and the local authority had supported the application so he would appeal against the £2,000 fine issued. The appeal saw the fine reduced to £1,000.^[5]

Speedway began on 17 July 1948 with open meetings before the Rayleigh Rockets team were set up in 1949 and finished in 1973.^[6][7] The owners wanted to maximize the use of the venue and over the years it also hosted harness horse racing, open air wrestling, cycle speedway, midget cars and firework displays.

The stadium opened to greyhound racing in March 1948 and just five months later a new totalisator was brought into the track. The track had a 450-yard circumference circuit with distances of 275, 510, 725 and 960 yards.

The stadium suffered during 1949, due to entertainment tax; general manager Frank Whelan publicly slammed the authorities over the tax. Losses of £5,000 on the speedway and £6,600 on greyhound racing led to a closure for a considerable part of 1950. McGreavey with his business partner Frederick Leslie Rundle filed for bankruptcy leaving the stadium without any direction.^[8] Two West Ham Stadium directors, Mr & Mrs Atkinson reacted by taking up the lease afterwards.^[9]

Racing settled into a Tuesday and Saturday night schedule during the 1950s and two buffet bars were available for the general public. During the 1960s the circuit was all-sand and the Saturday night meeting was replaced by Friday evenings with race distances of 290, 510, 740 and 960 yards.^[10] In 1965 the track became a National Greyhound Racing Club (NGRC) licensed venue^[11] and in 1969 the track was listed as the only NGRC approved all-sand surface.^[12] Totalisator turnover peaked in 1969 at £302,316.

The promoter was a Thomas Stanley who also covered the roles of general and racing manager. The resident kennels were situated at the track on the south side of the stadium which backed onto woods. The trainers attached to the track included Janet Tite, F Rayner, L Byrnes, John Edwards and Alec Taylor.^[10]