Have never been to the new stadium, but spent many an evening at the old stadium watching stock cars, bangers and speedway. Sad day for Crayford and all those who work at the stadium.
Sad to see a local landmark close, but to be honest I miss the OLD stadium there much more, as it also held banger racing and speedway as well, which meant it got a lot more use during the week. I used to really enjoy watching banger racing as a child.
The whole area needs a proper redevelopment plan, as the Sainsbury's carpark is a massive waste of space, the store itself is unnecessarily large while the petrol station is too small.
Used to love going to speedway there, went to banger racing as well a few times, a long time ago now
Dog racing has been in decline for years, so no surprise.
I think it's a sign we are getting old to be honest, times move on and things change, much like pubs closing.
Not sure why, darts and horse racing have reinvented themselves a bit in the last 10-15 years and are now much more appealing to a younger audience. Not sure why dogs should be any different.
Thinks horse racing is a dress up day out, often followed by entertainment (that's the one's my daughter goes to anyway).
Darts has become more like football with the spectator interaction.
Dog racing I find it more like a cross between going to an old bookies and a poor 1970's lower league football ground, which is probably why I quite like it! It hasn't;t moved on in 40+ years
I think the 'youth' of today just see that as zero appeal, much like going out drinking. Amazes me how many of the under 30's at work rarely drink, certainly never at lunch and rarely after work - that was a daily occurrence for me. I was out 4 nights a week at their age.
When I started work in 1970 for an insurance broker it was perfectly normal to go to the pub at lunchtime everyday.
With difficulty filling traps I don’t know why they just don’t reduce the number of races in a meet. 12-13 race cards has always felt a bit unnecessary for me and the gap between races pretty narrow. A lot of people have gone before the last races. Reduce the card down to 9-10 races, gap it a little more and get full trap cards again and I think most people would like that.
Its being developed from Maxim Road round the back of the industrial units right to the boundary of the Greyhound track circa 15 blocks its a massive development. Not doubt a few extra blocks will go in its place.
They should never have moved the busy Saturday evenings racing to Sunday evening. It’s almost as if they wanted the decline to justify closing it down and selling to developers.
Comments
That is a shame to hear its closing however I don't think I'd been there for the best part of 15 years
'Let's go Catford dogs'.
'Ok let's go next week'.
This went on a few years and then Catford get's shut and a few hundred flats now in place.