Glais Racecourse, Glais, Nr Swansea, South Wales.
POSTCODE———————————-SA6 5QR
LOCATED————————————The village of Glais located about five miles north west of Swansea. The venue lying on the northern banks of The River Tawe, very close to the A4067 and B4291 interchange.
ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Farm grazing land.
DATE CONSTRUCTED——————-1880’s as a recreational sports ground.
DATE VENUE OPENED——————1880’s as a recreational sports ground.
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING—————————-July 7th 1928, 5,000 attended.
Greyhound Racing only.
LICENSED OR INDEPENDENT———NGRC.
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——Don’t know, but more than likely a trackless hare.
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———————————-525 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————————–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————————–Not Known.
STADIUM SHARED WITH—————–Horse Racing, Harness Racing plus others.
LAST MEETING——————————September 8th 1928
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————Pre Second World War.
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————Pre Second World War.
BUILT ON SITE——————————The Tawe Golf Club.
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——————–Information regarding this venue is limited.
It is more than a decade now since the surrounds of Swansea last hosted Greyhound Racing, after the Fforest-Fach flapping track closed in 2007. Yet research throughout the sports pioneering years reveals that there was as many as two other greyhound tracks that once operated in the area.
The first one that appears in early newspapers is the one at Glais, a small village located just five miles northwest of Swansea city centre. The venue’s originally site had been nothing more than grazing land situated on the northern banks of the River Tawe, but by the late 1880’s had developed in a sports recreation ground. Newspaper clipping confirms that the venue had a huge stand which overlooked a horse racecourse and trotting circuit. But it is during 1928 that the venue is brought to our attention, when it opened up as an NGRC licensed greyhound track.
The Glais Stadium staged its inaugural meeting on the 7th of July 1928, when a crowd of 5,000 attended a seven-race event in glorious weather conditions. It is known that the first greyhound to win a race there was Paddy Baun, whose prize happened to be “The Glais Opening Plate” which had been contested over the 525-yard trip. Yet the venture seemed short lived, as the 1928 NGRC Calendar revealed that the venue had staged its last meeting on the 8th of September 1928, and that all the greyhounds Stud books had been surrendered to the NGRC office.
To confirm this, a newspaper cutting from the 18th of October 1928 reports that the Welsh Racing & Athletics Association Limited, who happened to be company promoting the sport, was wound up in a Swansea County Court. No further details are found regarding Greyhound Racing at Glais, although the venue still remained in position according to a 1935 Ordnance Survey map, which also indicated that it consisted of a large grandstand situated on its southern boundary.
Today, the site of the old stadium is clearly untraceable, its foundations lying somewhere beneath the fairways of the Tawe Vale Golf Club, which now hides itself behind a bowling club situated very close to the interchange of the A4067 and the B4291.
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