CARFIN

Byersknowe Lane, Glenburn, Carfin, Nr Motherwell, North Lanarkshire.

POSTCODE———————————-ML1 4BB

LOCATED————————————Situated on the apex of the A721 and A723 about two miles nortgh east of Motherwell.

ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Land used for local sporting events.

DATE CONSTRUCTED——————–1927

DATE VENUE OPENED——————-December 1927 just for Whippet Racing.
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.

FIRST MEETING—————————–August 20th 1928.
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 and 510 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————————–Not known.
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————————–The Glenburn Challenge Trophy.

STADIUM SHARED WITH—————–Whippet Racing.

LAST MEETING——————————November 21st 1999.
Greyhound Racing only.

STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————November 1999.
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.

STADIUM DEMOLITION——————-2000

BUILT ON SITE——————————–Modern housing found on Derby Wynd and St Mungo’s Crescent.
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——————–Written on the last meetings programme points out that ”
” Todays heat winners will go the final, with the final being staged at the nearby Armadale Greyhounds Stadium the following week.”

The North Lanarkshire district of Carfin lies two miles north east of the large Scottish town of Motherwell. It was during the post war years of the First World War that The Glenburn Grounds in Carfin began to host Sporting Galas, with its gathering featuring mainly Athletics, Pony Racing and also Whippet Racing.

It was during the early 1920’s that Whippet Racing began to be staged regularly, with advertised events offering attractive prize money, which would in turn attract some of the best whippets around. But it wasn’t until the late 1927 that the owners of The Glenburn Grounds began to look for ways to promote Greyhound Racing. After a failed attempt to transform The Clyde Valley Sports Grounds into a greyhound stadium, they began to look in to ways of improving Whippet Racing at The Glenburn Grounds. In December 1927 they introduced electric starting traps for the whippets, but it wasn’t until the following August, that an electric hare was installed this time to host Greyhound Racing.

The first meeting came on a Monday evening of the 20th of August 1928, with a greyhound called Smiler winning the first ever event over a distance of 500 yards. The new sport of Greyhound Racing was becoming quickly appealing to the local public, with attendances easy outnumbering those of Whippet Racing gatherings.

Carfin began to establish itself as one of the top flapping tracks in Scotland, with The Glenburn Challenge Trophy becoming a big attraction on the flapping calendar list. Distances were run over 350 and 500 yards, with six and sometimes seven greyhounds chasing an inside Sumner type hare. Having hosted dog racing for more than seventy years, it was announced that The Carfin venue had been sold to developers for an estimated half a million pounds.

Carfin staged its final meeting on the Sunday of November 21st 1999, yet the heat winners were to go on and race in a final at the nearby Armadale Greyhound Stadium the following weekend. The following year witnessed the demolition of the stadium, its foundations soon being replaced by new housing.

Today, nothing evidence remains of the track, but the location of the site can be found close to the junction of the A723 and B7066, with new dwellings on Derby Wynd and St Mungo’s Crescent, pinpointing its exact location.

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