Romford Dog track - Going to the Dogs or the Cheetahs

Back in the 1930s greyhound racing was London's second biggest spectator sport. Romford's track had its own quirky meetings.

Apparently King James I was the man who first popularised hare coursing with hounds at the start of the 17th century but he sport of greyhound racing as we know it today was actually developed in America. The USA added technology and razz-matazz. The sport was brought over to the UK by Charles Munn an entrepreneur who bought the licence to exploit the newly invented mechanical 'lure'  or dummy hare  outside the USA. The first meeting was in Manchester in 1926 but London soon caught up. In the 1930s, greyhound racing was, after football, Britain and London's second most popular spectator sport.

At the height of its popularity there were over 200 tracks around the UK. Betting on the races soon became a big feature of the race meetings but when new gaming laws were introduced along with new taxes, popularity began to wane. Now there are other activities competing for attention and media coverage focuses on sports like football, however the track at Romford still draws a crowd. It was founded by Carolyn Bakers father. He shared some of Charles Munn's entrepreneurial spirit, when business was slack he innovated. Carolyn recalls him experimenting with racing Cheetah's.

"They had to train them for six months and then three of them came here to race, two weekends running. They had to fix a bit of real rabbit meat onto the hare because otherwise the cheetahs, well they wouldn't run, would they?"

No cheetahs at Romford now, well not big cats.

 

Share your thoughts on this story in the forum, submit your story, or check out the Disappearing London Map