Welling Stadium, Whickam Street, Welling, Kent.
POSTCODE———————————-DA16 3DA
LOCATED————————————About half a mile north of Welling Railway Station, at the rear of housing on Whickam Street.
ORIGINAL SITE—————————–Land left behind by The East Whickham House and a Fish Pond.
DATE CONSTRUCTED——————–Early 1930’s.
DATE VENUE OPENED——————-October 1932.
Meaning other sports may have taken place prior to the arrival of Greyhound Racing.
FIRST MEETING—————————–October 28th 1932.
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——Dont know.
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———————————–Dont know.
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—————————Dont 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 found.
LAST MEETING——————————-Possibly 1937.
Greyhound Racing only.
STADIUM CLOSURE DATE—————-Possibly 1937.
Meaning other sports may have taken place after Greyhound Racing had ceased.
STADIUM DEMOLITION——————-Late 1930’s.
BUILT ON SITE——————————-Recreational land with a playground partially covering the site were it lay.
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
Another of London’s flapping tracks that remains vague regarding information, is the one known as the Welling Stadium. The town of Welling itself is situated within the boundaries of the M25, yet lies just inside the Kent border, just south of the River Thames.
The venue which was sometimes known as the “Fanny on the Hill” track due to its location situated behind a public house of the same name. The venue had developed on land left behind by the demolition of East Wickam House, a Manor type of building which had a large duck pond within its boundaries. The old house was found on the east side of Wickam Street, set back behind a row of detached houses, about half a mile north of Welling Railway Station.
Information regarding racing remains minimal, but it is known that it did have a small, covered stand, and that the track ran from a northeast to a south westerly direction. Entrance to the stadium was opposite Cramond Avenue, which lies just of Wickam Street. Welling’s inaugural meeting came on the 28th of October 1932, it would be the first of many that would be staged regularly over the next five years before ceasing during 1937 after a compulsive order was issued by the local council requiring the land for the construction of new housing.
Newspaper reports also suggest that the venue became unpopular with local residents due to the noise of barking hounds, a noisy electric hare, but mainly the behaviour of punters leaving the stadium after meetings. Although housing was never built on the site, possibly due to its poor drainage and undulating land, but as for today, the site of the old Welling Stadium is pinpointed by a large area of recreational land, complete with a children’s playground.
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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