The fastest time ever recorded
around the circuit, 4 laps was on August 8th
1987 by Andrew Silver in a time of 59.1 seconds.
The stadium was built in 1972 at a
cost of £200,000, £1,651,156 in today's money! Built on former
coal mining land in Chesterton.
The man behind the scheme and to
bring Speedway back to North
Staffordshire was Russell Bragg the former Cradley Heath boss
and he along with Peter Lansdale, a former rider and promoter at
numerous venues, were instrumental in making it all happen.
Work began at the new site during
the winter months, some of it conducted by former Stoke rider,
Peter Jarman, who through hard work and lots of enthusiasm
helped erect what was then a new idea in stadium building.
In 1972 when the stadium was being built there
were plans to introduce Longtrack racing to the stadium,
however, sadly that never materialised, the stadium was designed
for Speedway and Longtrack racing, hence the
extended terracing on turn 4! Look at the aerial photo and you
can see the
vast area of where the Longtrack could have been.
The terracing can be seen to the
left of the grandstand extending a
long way past turn 1 and the start of the terracing bend still
remains.
It is similar, but not quite as long on turn 4 (bottom right).
Turn 1 is just out of the left side of the picture yet
the curve at the
end of the terracing is still visible showing the vast
difference
between the present track and the planned long track.
The curve can again be seen on turn four going past the pits, some way from the
track.
At first the
the main stand had no seating or bar area. The first bar was
situated on the first bend, which in recent years briefly housed
the track shop and is now occupied by the speedway offices. It
was only in later years that the main stand was bricked in to
form the bar as you know of it today and then a standing paddock
was put in place in front.
The
first bar can be seen on this shot. It is the
smaller red building past the end of the grandstand.
Looking from the pits, over the
ramp and down the home straight terracing.
A number of
training schools were held in the build up to the big day (Apr
12th 1973) hosted by 2 Ivan Mauger schools and 1 by
Ole Olsen, the 2 World Champions gave the venue a resounding
thumbs up!
Ole Olsen who
resided at nearby Holmes Chapel at the time was given the honour
of cutting the tapes and officially opening the venue and
declare the stadium up and running and a challenge fixture
between the Chesterton
Potters and Birmingham Brummies followed the opening ceremonies.
Olsen who is
the current Grand Prix supremo went on to say, ‘I was delighted
to accept the invitation to officially open the new track at
Chesterton, and having had first hand experience of the racing
surface when I put several Danish youngsters through their paces
there only a few weeks before, I cannot praise too highly the
efforts that have gone into this venture. As I said at the time,
I sincerely hope that they enjoy a long and successful stay!’
Ole Olsen and Peter Lansdale.
Bikes roared
into action in North Staffordshire for the first time since
October 26th 1963, with a challenge match victory in
favour of the Potters 43-35.
The season was
one of mixed emotions, speedway was back in North Staffordshire,
but they were unable to race under the Stoke name, hence the
Chesterton Potters.
Allied
Presentations, owners at nearby Crewe Speedway, 15 miles ‘up’
the
road felt that they had drawn on ex-Potters supporters since
1969 when the Kings were established, it was only a late
February back down that saw the Potters return after 10 years
away from track action.
Over the years
little seems to have changed at the stadium, it certainly looks
no different to me since I first attended in 1980! The pits have
changed slightly, up until a few years ago, the away riders rode
past the dressing rooms to get to their pits, now they have to
go past the home pits.
The
home pits, the away pits are to the right.
Also the venue has seen stock car
racing and greyhound racing, both ceased around the same time in
the early part of the new millennium, it nowadays regularly
hosts Stunt shows, Circus’s, Short track
racing, regular Speedway training schools and has even had its
own market, the stadium also hosts the annual Speedway riders,
Rider of the year celebration.
The dog track
has had the honour of being on the inside of the speedway track
as well as the outside over the years.
The dog track around turn1.
The toilet
blocks by the turnstiles had stood dormant for many years until
this year 2009, when after hard work over the winter months by
current promoter Dave Tattum, they reopened.
The top of the newly refurbished
toilet block can be seen
behind the concrete fence at the entrance to the stadium.
The turnstiles
on the back straight disappeared some years ago.
Now defunct rear straight
turnstiles.
In the 1980’s
you could have the privilege of sitting on the back straight to
watch the action courtesy of some fibre glass tubs what were
fitted on to the grass banking, 1 remains, at the top of the
terraces by the old speedway office 4th turn.
The
tubs were across the grass slope. The slope is
still used for in-car viewing of the racing.
The small red rail in the lower
front of the picture is where the track originally went to.
The
legendary lone tub.
If you look
carefully underneath the main stand at
floor level, you can see where steel barriers have been removed,
these ran up the terracing, from top to bottom.
Notice the
barrier running up the terracing, the guy being interviewed is
the
late Russell Bragg the man behind the Loomer Road stadium, sadly
Russell
died in 1988 after being burnt in an accident at work.
Also in the
1980s there was at some stage a motocross track on the centre
green with jumps etc. Thankfully that has long gone.
The centre green as it is today,
Much work has taken place to get it to
the tidy state as it is. The hills behind were once the pit slag
heaps.
Concrete
fencing seals off the terraces from the car park, which were
also a later addition, a Speedway supporters club hut used to be
situated on the terraces along from the bar on the 4th
turn, that too has long gone.
The annual
whitewash painting and up keep of the red and white crush
barriers helps to keep the stadium looking fresh.
One thing that has remained is
the riders view as they enter the track, this picture will bring
back memories to any old/ex-rider that takes a look at this
section.
The view down the ramp to the track.
And I'm sure a few more memories may be jogged with
this shot of the changing room / First Aid block..
The
surrounding area has changed dramatically also in recent years,
long
gone are the old slag heaps from Holditch Colliery and the
eyesore that was
the open cast looking towards Blackbank, to be replaced by huge
steel
cladded carbuncles that are now distribution warehouses and a
Green country park which also houses the Apedale heritage
centre.
Distribution warehouses can be
seen to be
surrounding one half of the stadium.
Due to Health
and Safety laws, you can no longer cross the ramp to reach the
pit side terracing, to get to there its a long walk all around
the track,
The ramp from the pits. The dog
traps are still at the bottom on the right.
From the other way, the view as
the riders leave the ramp to enter the track.
also in this
area at the bottom of the pit steps, it has been built up over
recent years to allow additional car parking, before it was an
empty space where
many a rider has done some practice starts!
The site
remains one of great potential, the land inside of the
boundaries is immense, it is served by a good road structure and
with a bit of investment the stadium could go on for another 36
years!
