Recreation Ground, Bridge Road, Grays, Essex RM17
The Essex town of Grays becomes another town to host a temporary Greyhound Racing venue. Grays lies on the northern banks of the River Thames about three miles east of the M25 Dartford Crossing and is the home to a well-established amateur football club, known as Grays Athletic.
Presently the football club play their home fixtures at Aveley Football Clubs ground with plans of a new stadium in the near future, yet it was adjacent to their old ground that Greyhound Racing took place. The venue was known as the Recreation Ground and had developed around 1890, acting as home to athletics, before the land expanded to host cricket, cycling, travelling fairs, and then split in to two when the football club arrived.
It is clear that Greyhound Racing took place during February 1932, on the West side of The Rec, along with athletics, but by 1934 both sports had ceased due to their unpopularity.
The site was eventually sold for housing, with property on Grange Road eventually covering the site, although the football ground would remain operational for the next seventy years or so. Little information regarding Greyhound Racing has been found but is known that the football ground was demolished in 2010 and that too was covered by housing now found on Saxton Park.
Recent Comments