Fullerton Greyhound Track

Bunkers, shelters and other buildings
Loiner1960
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Joined: Fri 28 Aug, 2009 3:42 pm

Post by Loiner1960 »

Leeds Greyhound track. Oh been there a couple of times. Greyhounds were okay and I seem to remember going a couple of times with my late Dad. In the later years it was also Hunslet RLFC ground. Saw some matches there. And yes there was a hot food van. If you want to see the training pitches watch "Damn United." It shows the pitches before they knocked down the sheds!    

sara_loubelou
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Joined: Thu 19 Jan, 2012 10:10 am

Post by sara_loubelou »

From what my grandad said the Fullerton track did shut down because it struggled to compete with the already established Leeds Greyhound Track so that all makes sense.It's such a shame that there don't seem to be any pictures of it. It would have been nice to find something to show him. Other than the YEP, can anyone think of any other local newspapers that may have been in print at the time where he might have entered the competition? Would be great if I could find the article archived away somewhere to show him.

String o' beads
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Post by String o' beads »

http://www.greyhoundderby.com/Leeds%20G ... m.htmAbove a reference to greyhound racing starting in 1927.There are a couple of pictures on Leodis.http://www.leodis.org/display.aspx?reso ... =9829There are some others but it isn't clear whether they are this one or the one over the road.     

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uncle mick
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Post by uncle mick »

This article gives a good insight into greyhound racing in 1927 but doesn't throw any light on our query.http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bi ... hounds--At the end of the article it says Leeds was attracting 40,000 spectators per week.

The Parksider
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Post by The Parksider »

uncle mick wrote: This article gives a good insight into greyhound racing in 1927 but doesn't throw any light on our query. From all the articles, it seems to be the case that the boom years for greyhounds were post war. In those boom years attendances were massive and you can't blame the owners of Fullerton Park wanting to get in on the act. They had a perfect stadium, and I suspect there weren't 358 council hoops and a million "regulations" to jump through to set things up..I do recall seeing a map that had both Fullerton Park and Elland Road tracks on and they were marked as belonging to two different "associations" or governing bodies. We see that today especially in boxing so it's no suprise.As I say there was a third track "Parkside Sports Stadium" the site of which was just behind the Engine pub covered later by Blackburns. so three tracks serviced a thirst for Greyhound Racing at one time.Most "sporting" attendances started a heavy decline mid fifties as we moved away from post war austerity and towards the TV age. The declining audiences will have taken Fullerton and Parkside into closure and eventually the same at Elland Road.

BIG N
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Joined: Thu 06 Dec, 2007 10:29 am

Post by BIG N »

I have often bemoned the fact that a city the size of Leeds has no permenant Ice rink, Speedway team or indeed a Dog track. Of course I'm aware of the old rink off Kirkstall Rd and i once visited Leeds Greyhound Stadium on Elland Rd but not for a dog meeting - we went to a custom car show there (any photos or any references of this folks ? ). Now I find out the city did once have Speedway facilitys too - oh for the good old days.    

Johnny39
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Joined: Mon 11 Jun, 2007 3:54 pm

Post by Johnny39 »

BIG N wrote: I have often bemoned the fact that a city the size of Leeds has no permenant Ice rink, Speedway team or indeed a Dog track. Of course I'm aware of the old rink off Kirkstall Rd and i once visited Leeds Greyhound Stadium on Elland Rd but not for a dog meeting - we went to a custom car show there (any photos or any references of this folks ? ). Now I find out the city did once have Speedway facilitys too - oh for the good old days.     And I seem to remember a Rollardrome too - on Roseville Road I believe.
Daft I call it - What's for tea Ma?

dizzy marsh
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Joined: Fri 20 Jul, 2012 8:00 am

Post by dizzy marsh »

With reference to Fullerton Greyhound track, the Daily Mirror of 21 Nov 1927 features a statement by the Greyhound Racing Association which mentions Fullerton Park as one of its racetracks. The statement says that a prospectus is to be issues next week advertising shares in the GRA. On the 5th of December 1927 a full page ad is taken out by the GRA in which the shares are put on offer and the track at Leeds is mentioned as being leased until 1948 at a rent of £1,800 per annum. Elland Road does not appear to have been owned by the GRA. If anyone is interested in finding out about the history of tracks in their area the first place I`d recommend visiting is their local library. Usually they have books or photos of the area but if not they can advise where to find archive materials. The best sources are very often old newspapers, local ones being available on microfiche in most of the big libraries. They really are a fantastic resource. National dailies can be found in libraries too, usually online but if you can afford it or you are in higher education you can find newspapers on line through the British Library or at the Daily Mirror archives which also contain other newspapers. Be warned though, once you start looking, it`s addictive! I am at Sussex university doing PhD research on the history of greyhound racing 1926-51 so if anybody has info about the Leeds tracks - particularly anecdots relating to this period - I`d be interested to hear from them.
dizzymarsh greyhound research

String o' beads
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Post by String o' beads »

I trust we are all furiously sucking our eggs?     

somme1916
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Post by somme1916 »

I have some vague memories of attending the dog track on Elland Rd opposite side of the football ground.I recall it was a very tightly bended track and in one particular race,a greyhound was hurled over the fence landing just in front of us ! It was none the worse for this unfortunate experience however.My dad was mad keen on all sporting animals back then.On other occasions we would go to watch Hunslet play rugby league there for the limited tenure of the ground.I recall they had the unfamiliar(UK) goalposts like you see in American football i.e.just the one post to half way up then branching out into the more familiar two posts for the upper portion of the goalposts.Happy days....sadly,they came to an abrupt end early eighties when a marauding mob of Hull "fans" just about managed to wreck a large portion of the ground at what I think was a cup tie.
        I'm not just anybody,I am sommebody !

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