High Street, Great Houghton, Nr Pontefract, South Yorkshire.
POSTCODE———————————S72 0BA
LOCATED———————————–Great Houghton is located seven miles east of Barnsley, with the track built on grazing land at the rear of the Old Hall Public Inn that is presently situated on High Street of the village.
ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Farm grazing land.
DATE CONSTRUCTED——————-1935
DATE VENUE OPENED——————1935
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING—————————-Whippet racing started on April 7th 1934, greyhounds in 1935
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——Dont know
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———————————–360 and 500 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—————————Dont 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—————————Nothing known of.
STADIUM SHARED WITH——————Nothing known of.
LAST MEETING——————————-June 1954.
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-1954
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————–Late 1950’s.
BUILT ON SITE——————————–Houses on the south eastern side of Rhodes Avenue which were built during the 1970’s.
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 known of.
FURTHER COMMENTS———————-None
Another of the defunct South Yorkshire greyhound tracks was the one at Great Houghton, a village situated seven miles southeast of Barnsley. Although Whippet Racing had started on April 7th, 1934, it was the following year that the Great Houghton greyhound track began to develop, in a field at the rear of the Old Hall Inn, a public house located on High street in the village.
Its existence had been solely as a flapping track, but its operations became interrupted due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Due to the relaxations of the war regulations, the track reopened a few months later, but another serious interruption occurred, when the track’s proprietor died during 1941. Fortunately, the management of the nearby Willow Park track at Pontefract, stepped in and purchased the Great Houghton venue for just £200.
Business continued as normal, but in 1953 the track changed hands once again. But an unsuccessful period was to follow, this due to falling attendances, which contributed to the tracks closure in June 1954. The track was never to re-open again, as the land at the rear of the Old Hall Inn had been acquired by the council for the building of new housing. The first phase of development had seen only a part of the track built on, with the second phase beginning a number of years later, on which more new housing began to cover the site of the old greyhound track.
Today, these dwellings are found on Rhodes Avenue, and remain as a pointer to where the track once lay, even the Old Hall Inn adjacent still remains open for business.
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