Memories of Arpley Meadows speedway and greyhound stadium

The former Arpley Meadows stadium hosted greyhound racing and speedway in the 20th century.

This week, we go back in our archive to share memories of the old stadium, which was sited where the Centre Park business park now is.

Reader Mike Waller got in touch to share a picture of his dad Cecil at the stadium with his greyhounds.

While Barry Jones shared his story.

He loves Warrington History and is a prolific poster on the Warrington Memories Facebook pages.

This image, right, shows a packed crowd at the venue.

Barry takes up the story: “I recently bought a few old Warrington photos online, I noticed the seller was also advertising this image.

“I took a punt at it being a very rare photo of Arpley Speedway Circuit which opened with its’ first race on March 29, 1929 but had closed by the end of 1930 and the liquidators were called in.

“The track was eventually converted into a Greyhound Stadium. The site opened as a greyhound track on May 23, 1931.”

“The outbreak of the Second World War meant that all racing stopped, and the site at Slutchers Lane was used as a military storage base.

“After the war, racing resumed, as did some speedway racing, the speedway only lasted for a few seasons however but the greyhounds still raced up until 1956, when the site was eventually sold to Thames Board for use as recreational land, with a football pitch being set up.

“The football pitch stayed until the mid 1980s when it was eventually closed, part of the site ending up under a car park.

“My friend, Alan Barton, (also a great poster on the local Warrington Memories site), confirmed what I assumed, that the photo is of Arpley Speedway, and he even provided some well researched images showing various landmarks and details which matched up to my photo.”

Barry has added some colour to the image which he originally bought in black and white.

The stadium regularly attracted crowds of over 10,000 as can be seen by the packed grandstands at the back of the image.