Target Hill, Braid Road, Millieshope, Hawick, Scotland.
POSTCODE———————————-TD9 9LE
LOCATED————————————Two miles south east of Hawick town centre.
ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Farm grazing land.
DATE CONSTRUCTED——————–Late 1930’s.
DATE VENUE OPENED——————-1939
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING—————————–April 18th 1939.
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——Originally a trackless type hare before the inside Sumner was fitted.
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———————————–A straight gallop before 330 and 525 yards developed from the construction of the oval track.
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—————————Nothing known of.
STADIUM SHARED WITH——————Whippet Racing.
LAST MEETING——————————-1967
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-Racing ceased but track used for schooling later.
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————-N/A
BUILT ON SITE——————————-Target Kennels.
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
The Scottish border town of Hawick is more known amongst the sporting world for its links to Rugby Union, yet it becomes another town to host Greyhound Racing at more than one different venue. It was during 1999 that the sport last featured in the town, at a venue known as Albert Park, the home of the towns football club.
What is described in this section is an earlier venue known as Target Hill, which like Albert Park operated as a flapping track. Target Hill was found two miles southeast of the town, hidden away amongst the countryside, its name deriving from a shooting range that operated not far away.
Target Hill staged its first meeting on the 18th of April 1939, with a greyhound called Jenny Dunn winning the very first event. The track ran distances of 330 and 525 yards, with six greyhounds chasing a lure pulled by a rope driven by a car engine. Like most of the early pioneering greyhound tracks, the engine driven lure was replaced in time by the more regular electric Sumner type. The track itself had long straights and very tight bends and had very little shelter for racegoers.
Racing took place there for nearly thirty years before staging its final meeting in 1967. The venue continued as a schooling track before eventually kennels were built on the site, after it became the base for a licensed trainer. The site is now known as the Target Kennels, which lies at the end of a lane that branches off Braid Road.
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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