Staines Greyhound Stadium
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 Interactive map of Staines Greyhound Stadium | |
| Location | Staines, Surrey |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°26′22″N 0°31′56″W / 51.43944°N 0.53222°W |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1928 |
| Closed | 1960 |
Staines Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing stadium in Staines-upon-Thames.[1]
Staines Greyhound track opened on 21 January 1928, and the first race was won by a greyhound called Oojah over 525 yards.[2] The stadium was at Hythe End just north of the River Thames, south of Wraysbury Road. Previously this area was an unpopulated rural area that today makes up some of the Colne Valley Parks.[3] The track was very basic with one main stand on the home straight.[4] During its early existence it was sometimes referred to as Bell Weir Park.[5]
Affiliation
Cheetah racing
In 1936 Arthur Leggett, the owner of Romford Greyhound Stadium, decided to bring cheetah racing to the UK. Twelve cheetahs arrived from Kenya in December 1936, courtesy of explorer Kenneth Gandar-Dower. After six months of quarantine, the cheetahs were given time to acclimatise before Romford, Harringay Stadium and Staines were earmarked for the experiment with the cheetahs, running for the first time on Saturday 11 December 1937 at Romford.
The experiment failed and the racing was stopped because although the cheetahs were able to better the greyhound times, they had to be let off first when racing greyhounds, and when they raced against each other they became uninterested and stopped chasing the lure.[8][9]