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Tam’s Brig, Limekilns Road, Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland.

POSTCODE———————————-KA8 8DG

LOCATED————————————About half a mile west of Ayr’s town centre, close to Newton Ayr railway station.

ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Constructed on the site of an old shoe factory which is shown on ordnance maps dated 1911.

DATE CONSTRUCTED——————–1933

DATE VENUE OPENED——————-December 1933.
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.

FIRST MEETING—————————-December 16th 1933.
Greyhound Racing only.

LICENSED OR INDEPENDENT———-Independent
All venues covered would have to be licensed with the government, licensed suggested in this section would refer to tracks operating under NGRC Rules.

INSIDE OR OUTSIDE HARE TYPE——Outside Sumner.
Please note that the Electric Hare suggested is only a guidance and would have been in operation for a certain amount of time at this venue. Although it is not necessarily guaranteed that it was operational all the time, as other types of lure may have been used and updated as time progressed.

DISTANCES———————————–250, 400 and 550 yards.
Please note that most racing venues distances had become varied throughout the years, the ones given above were at once point set and offers only a guidance to the track size.

CIRCUMFERENCE—————————A tight 300yards circuit.
Please note that alterations at most racing venues throughout its existence would see that the circumference of the track would vary, the one shown above offers only a guidance to the track size.

BIG RACE NAMES—————————Nothing found.

STADIUM SHARED WITH——————Nothing found.

LAST MEETING——————————-Saturday December 30th 1972.
Greyhound Racing only.

STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-As above.
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.

STADIUM DEMOLITION——————–Began October 1973.

BUILT ON SITE——————————–Curling Rink built in 1974.
In some cases, structure’s that originally covered the venue after the stadium had been demolished, may have been themselves demolished too, so the one described is more likely to be the one which now presently covers the site.

EVIDENCE LEFT TODAY——————–Nothing

FURTHER COMMENTS———————Sources say that up until its closure Tam’s Brig was the best attended independent track in Scotland.

1937 OS Map Courtesy of old maps.
Greyhound Owner announces closure of the track.
Tam’s Brig during the 1940’s.
A race card from 1946.

The greyhound track at Tam’s Brig became the first of two greyhound racecourses that operated in the Scottish town of Ayr. The purpose built greyhound track was constructed on the site of an old shoe factory on Limekilns Road, not far from Ayr’s sea front.

It had been constructed within a budget of around £5,000, on a section of land that was limited in size due to it being hemmed in by a high wall on Limekiln Road on one side, and the back gardens of houses on the other. So close were the houses on Elmbank street, that residents could easy watch racing from their bedroom windows as they overlooked the start and finish straight. A small stand and a Judges box, both constructed on the gardens side, became the venues main building features, yet the track was a smallish grass circuit, roughly 300 yards in circumference, which created distances of 260, 400 and 560 yards.

Opening up as an independent track, Tams Brigs first meeting came on the 16th of December 1933, with six hounds competing in events, that chased a trackless type hare system. An inside Sumner type hare would replace this system during the post war years. As time moved on, the venue built a reputation of being one of the best attended greyhound tracks north of the border, with more than 16 bookmakers standing regular.

The late 1960’s had seen £20,000 spent on improvements, which saw an all sanded track replace the grass surface in 1969. With more improvements needed at the stadium, along with the concerns regarding the UK Governments introduction of the 10% VAT levy on all services and goods expected in April 1973, an offer of £80,000 by the Ayrshire Curling Club to purchase the stadium, was accepted by the stadiums owner.

Tams Brigs staged their final meeting on the 30th of December 1972, and became the fourth greyhound track in Ayrshire to close within a three year period, after neighbours Kilmarnock, Galston and Stevenston had already closed. The stadium became demolished during October 1973, with the site cleared to make way for a new curling rink, which was built during 1974.

The curling rink still exists today, and is found roughly half a mile west of Ayr‘s town centre, close to the Newton Ayr Railway Station. Part of the site was never built on, with a car park and wasteland still undeveloped, but sadly nothing really remains evident of the track ever having been there.

A programme, photograph or even memorabilia for this track is required for this page, if you can help please contact me.