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Post by haflinger121 on May 3, 2009 0:41:04 GMT 1
Hi John - looks like you've been writing an electronic book for us here! An historical look at midgets is long overdue and this is excellent reading.
You asked for corrections or comments on anything we believe to be untrue or wrongly spelt. In the Greenford section you said:
"The site, in a triangle of land now involving Birkbeck Avenue, Stanley Avenue and Jayners Drive includes an open space which hosted a horse trotting track from 1919. Greenford, was in fact, a horse race venue rival to another track at nearby Northolt, which was later developed as an airport."
The 'Jayners Drive' you refer to, is actually called Jeymer Drive. There is also another road on the site of the old track, cutting across roughly where I guess the infield would have been, this road, which links Stanley Ave and Jeymer Drive, is called Lincoln Close.
The other (much larger) horse racing course at Northolt was not later developed as an airport. Northolt Aerodrome existed at the same time as Northolt Park Racecourse (it opened as an RFC base in 1915) and despite its name, is really in Ruislip!
The Northolt Park Racecourse was actually alongside Eastcote Lane and is nowadays a large housing estate. The developers gave a nod to the history of the ground they were building on, and roads on the estate have names like Plumpton Close, Ascot Close, Kempton Avenue - well, you get the picture.
Graham Brown
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Post by tobyhalter on Jun 6, 2009 10:20:31 GMT 1
Wasn't Greenford one of the pioneer motorcycle speedway tracks in 1928? That must have been before cars raced there?
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Post by haflinger121 on Jun 6, 2009 19:13:03 GMT 1
Hi Toby. You're right, but speedway didn't beat the cars to Greenford by very much, due to Greenford being (probably, until someone proves any different!) the first ever track to host any kind of oval racing by cars in the UK. Speedway was first staged at the venue on April 7th 1928, with the cars first appearing on June 23rd.
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Post by administrator on Jun 12, 2009 22:26:21 GMT 1
This is from the London Motorcycle Museum site. It mentions this about the first car meeting there in 1928 - the forerunner of UK midget car racing? I wonder:
23 June – Loudspeakers installed around the track. Small racing cars of the Junior Car Club competed for the first time with guests Malcolm Campbell, Kaye Don and George Newman
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Post by haflinger121 on Jun 12, 2009 23:43:29 GMT 1
As far as I'm concerned John, that's exactly what it was. The true ancestor of all UK short oval car racing in fact. But as I said before, until someone proves any different!
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