Peterborough Greyhound Stadium
Peterborough Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Fengate, less than a mile from the centre of Peterborough, England.[1]
Racing at the stadium takes place every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night with racing starting at 6:30 pm.
History
The track has held greyhound races since 1930.[2]
In 1945 Reg Perkins and George Ellingworth bought the track. When Ellingworth died Perkins took complete control. Reg Perkins retired in 1977 and since then Richard and Rob Perkins (his grandchildren) have taken control of major operational responsibilities. Rex Perkins, son of Reg Perkins worked at the track from the age of 17 and was later a magistrate and Mayor of Peterborough 1987-1988. Rex Perkins died in 2003 and the extended part of the stadium is dedicated to the memory of him.
In the early 1990s the stadium itself was built by local architects T.E. Titman Associates, initially with 600 seats, all with a full view of the track. 200 of the seats were for the raceview restaurant and the other 400 were unreserved seating.
On March 24, 1999, the stadium was severely damaged by fire which spread from an adjoining warehouse.[3] Work started immediately on repairs and refurbishment but there was no racing for 6 months; the stadium the hosted its first post fire race on 21 September 1999.
In the summer of 2003 a £3 million extension of the stadium opened, increasing the length of the stadium from 301 to 518 feet, bringing the total number of raceview seating to nearly 1000. During this extension two corporate sections were added to the stadium.
In November 2007 the car park was extended with the stadium increasing the licensed bars to eight.
Track layout
The circumference of the racing track is 370 metres, 6.5 metres wide on the straights and 5 metres wide on the bend.
The surface slopes towards the inside of the track with a gradient of two degrees on the straights, increasing gradually to four, six and then eight degrees as the greyhounds approach the bends. This eases the greyhound into the bends and also allows better drainage for consistent operation.
The racing circuit is constituted of silicon sand. To prevent freezing, up to 15 tons of salt are used during the winter months. When there is no rain, the track is watered to maintain moisture.
Competitions
During the year there are seven main greyhound events held at Peterborough, they are -
- The Peterborough Derby
- The Peterborough Puppy Derby
- The Peterborough Marathon
- The Peterborough Cesarewitch
- The Peterborough Puppy Cesarewitch
- The Peterborough Fengate Collar
- The Peterborough Veterans Derby
References
- ↑ "Track Search". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ↑ http://www.peterboughgreyhounds.com
- ↑ http://www.newflame.co.uk/Greyhound.html
External links
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