Gasworks Park, Foundary Road, Shotts, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
POSTCODE———————————ML7 5DX
LOCATED————————————The village of Shotts is found roughly 20 miles east of Glasgow, with the track situated half a mile south east of Shotts town centre, along Foundary Road at the rear of The Central Garage.
ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Built on the site of an old gasworks.
DATE CONSTRUCTED——————-1933-34.
DATE VENUE OPENED——————1934
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING—————————-August 20th 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———————————–295 and 475 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—————————Nothing known of.
STADIUM SHARED WITH——————Nothing known of.
LAST MEETING——————————-1962
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-1962
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————–The stadium just deteriorated to just rubble then derelict land during the following years.
BUILT ON SITE——————————–Part of the site is covered by The Central Garage on Foundary Road, but the rest of the land remains overgrown with vegetation.
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———————Some tragic events happened at the Gasworks Park venue, with one incident leaving the owner broken hearted after the death of his son.
The town of Shotts lies amidst the central belt of the North Lanarkshire coalfields, roughly 20 miles east of the City of Glasgow. There is some confusion on how many greyhound tracks operated in the town of Shotts, as research by others does reveal that there could have been as many as three different tracks in the town. Yet my investigation reveals just one track, although it had a number of alias’s such as Foundry Road and Gasworks Road to back there case, yet it is my assumption that Gasworks Park was the only one.
This venue is clearly evident on an ordnance survey map of 1939, which reveals a greyhound track south of Foundry Road, built at the rear of a gasworks. Shotts only track is described in this section and was found half a mile southeast of Shotts town centre.
It was during 1934 that a small stand was erected on its southern edge, which overlooked the start and finish straight, with a kennel block constructed to its immediate right. Opening up as a flapping track, its first meeting came on the 20th of August 1934, and offered six dog handicapped events, over distances of 295 and 475 yards, with the hounds chasing an inside electric Sumner type hare.
The Shotts greyhound track built itself a reputation of being one of the best flapping tracks in the central belt of Scotland, yet it was never short of tragic times. During 1940 a maintenance worker died during a fall at the track when repairing trackside lighting bulbs, the fall triggered off by the man possibly being electrocuted.
Another incident was more tragic which happened in September 1956, when two fourteen-year-old schoolboys died in an explosion after entering an outbuilding that was used for storing fuel, one of boys happened to be the track owner’s son.
Yet another tragic event happened in March 1958, when three greyhounds died in a blaze at the track’s kennels. Shotts greyhound track closed in 1962, it is not clear the reason why, although a newspaper clip expressed on how the track owner was broken hearted after the death of his son.
In 1963, an offer by the council to buy the stadium to turn the venue into a sports stadium was declined, a strange event that left the track to just deteriorate to nothing. Today, and although the majority of the site has yet to be built on, there is no evidence at all of the track being there, as all remaining evidence disintegrated with time, although a car repair garage sited along Foundry Road does cover part of the site.
A programme, photograph or even memorabilia for this track is required for this page, if you can help please contact me.
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