Hawthorns Greyhounds Ltd, Garth Stadium, Glan-Y-Llyn, Taffs Well, Nr Cardiff.
POSTCODE————————————CF15 7PD
LOCATED—————————————The venue was situated north east of Taffs Well, east of the A470.
ORIGINAL SITE——————————–Grazing meadows.
DATE CONSTRUCTED———————–Early 1960’s.
DATE VENUE OPENED———————-1964
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING——————————-September 23rd 1964.
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————————————-300, 525 and 715 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—————————–400 yards.
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 NAME——————————Nothing found.
STADIUM SHARED WITH——————-Not known.
LAST MEETING———————————June 1974.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE——————1974
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM DEMOLITION———————Don’t know.
BUILT ON SITE———————————Site now covered by thew Rhiw’r Ddar housing estate.
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———————None known of.
FURTHER COMMENTS———————-This venue must not be confused with another Hawthorn Greyhound Stadium located in Pontypridd, but it may have been a continuation of the management team.
Since the demise of the Second World War, only handful of greyhound tracks have opened in South Wales, with only one of them having been purposely built to replace a track that had previously closed. The one in question was known as The Garth Stadium located in the village of Taffs Well, a small community situated in the Rhondda valley, roughly six miles northeast of the city of Cardiff.
Its development came about due to the closure of the Hawthorn Stadium in Pontypridd, a track that had been in operation since the early 1930’s. Yet the Hawthorn name did not die, as the proprietors behind the development of the new stadium called themselves the Hawthorn Greyhound Company. The new track developed on a ten-acre section of land already owned by a man who was behind the running of the greyhound company, who apparently owned another 15 acres of land on a farm that lay adjacent to it.
It opened up as a flapping track, staging its first meeting on the 23rd of September 1964, with distances being run over 300, 525 and 715 yards, with six hounds chasing an inside Sumner type hare system. Crowds soon flocked to meetings, as evidence lay with the 18 bookmakers who attended most meetings throughout the mid 1960’s. But success was only brief as the increased betting tax that came into operation in 1966 cut profits by almost half, and then with the further introduction of VAT in April 1973 left the track operating on a shoestring.
With the track unable to make a profit, the stadium’s owner had been left with no other choice than to sell it to developers, which brought racing to a close in June 1974. Today, the site of the Garth Stadium lies beneath a cluster of houses that lies alongside the A470, known as the Rhiw’r Ddar housing estate, situated on the northeastern side of Taffs Well.
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