Dillington Park, Highstone Road, Barnsley, South Yorkshire.
POSTCODE———————————S70 4DX
LOCATED————————————Amidst a housing estate about one mile south of Barnsley, directly behind the now closed Prince of Wales Feathers public house.
ORIGINAL SITE—————————–The site was originally a brickworks but was demolished in the early 1900’s and became a recreational ground. for other amateur sports including boxing football and rugby.
DATE CONSTRUCTED——————–Not known
DATE VENUE OPENED——————-Possibly early 1930’s but whippet racing took place originally.
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING—————————–May 25th 1934
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——Inside 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———————————–240, 368, 462 and 600 metres.
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—————————Don’t know
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—————————-None known
STADIUM SHARED WITH——————Nothing found
LAST MEETING——————————-May 1990
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-1990
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————–Early 1990’s
BUILT ON SITE——————————–Highmews Carehome and new housing on Highstone View.
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——————–A stone boundary wall on the sites north eastern fringe includes a bricked up possible entrance.
FURTHER COMMENTS———————A fire in May 1990 destroyed some important buildings and was enough to close the venue for good.
Dillington Park eventually succeeded but Dearne Stadium failed
Another of South Yorkshire’s greyhound tracks was the one known as Dillington Park Greyhound Stadium, a venue situated amongst a housing estate one mile south of Barnsley’s town centre. The original site of the track had been a brickworks, which had ceased production during the early 1900’s, before being demolished and levelled to create a recreation park. The park became used for local sporting events, such as athletics, boxing bouts, and even the occasional whippet racing gathering.
However, it was during the 1920’s that the site began to establish itself as an amateur football and rugby ground. It wasn’t until the 25th of May 1934 that greyhound racing first featured at Dillington Park, the idea having been triggered by the success of the Whippets racing previously. By the end of the 1930’s, Greyhound Racing had proved a success also, more so that Whippet Racing moved elsewhere, securing that Dillington Park had become another addition to the long list of Yorkshire’s flapping tracks.
It ran six dog races over distances of 400 and 500 yards, before later in its life switching to the metric versions of 240, 368, 462, and 600 metres, with the hounds chasing an inside Sumner type hare. Disaster struck in May 1990, when a serious fire destroyed important buildings at the track, sadly, the damage being enough to contribute to greyhound racing ending at Dillington Park for good.
Eventually the fire damaged stadium was sold to developers, before it was eventually demolished to make way for the first phase of redevelopment in 1995. The Highstone Mews Carehome, was erected on the Western fringes, leaving most of the site undeveloped for many years following. Only until recently has developers began to erect 35 new houses on the remaining section of land, that had remained baron for almost twenty years. Today, nothing much remains of the Dillington Park venue, with the old site now covered by new dwellings on Highstone View, yet a stone perimeter wall on its northeastern fringe still remains, which does feature a bricked-up section, that may at one point had been an access to the stadium.
Further evidence remains with early satellite images, that indicates disturbed earth, with a curvature of trees offering the shape of the track. Its once location is found just off Highstone Road, at the rear of the now closed Prince of Wales Feathers public house.
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