Powderhall Stadium (1927-1995)

Speedway at Powderhall in 1982.
Powderhall Stadium (1927-1995) Location within the City of Edinburgh council area
Former names	Powderhall Grounds (1870-1927)
Location	North Edinburgh
Coordinates	55°58′00″N 3°11′37″W / 55.96667°N 3.19361°W / 55.96667; -3.19361
Construction
Built	1869
Opened	1870
Renovated	1970 & 1987
Expanded	1927 greyhounds
Closed	1995

Powderhall Stadium, formerly the Powderhall Grounds, was a multi-sports facility overlooking the Water of Leith on Beaverhall Road, in the Powderhall (Broughton) area of northern Edinburgh, Scotland. It opened in January 1870 at the height of professional pedestrianism and was modelled on the stadium at Stamford Bridge in London. It hosted professional sprint races, track and field athletics, including the Scottish Amateur Athletics Championships on a number of occasions, professional football, international rugby, cycling, and dog races as well as boxing, quoits and pigeon shooting. For 100 years it hosted the Powderhall Sprint, the most famous professional sprint handicap in the world. With the decline of pedestrianism as a spectator sport in the 1920s it was converted to a greyhound stadium, hosting the Scottish Grand National for over sixty five years, and it also hosted professional speedway. The stadium finally closed in 1995 and the site is now a housing estate.

Origins

In 1695, James Balfour, the Laird of Pilrig, obtained a charter from King William III that gave him the exclusive right to manufacture gunpowder in Scotland. This required the construction of a factory, known as a powder-mill, which was built to the north of the city of Edinburgh on the shore of the Water of Leith, a small tributary of the Firth of Forth. James Balfour had sixteen children, and one of his sons, also James Balfour, was grandfather to the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson.^[1]

In 1742, Thomas Mylne, the Surveyor of the City of Edinburgh, built a house with gardens on eight acres of land near this powder-mill, just over one mile west of James Balfour's Pilrig House, which he named Powder Hall. This in turn lent its name to that part of the city, and when, in due course, some running grounds were built there they took their name, as was the custom, from their location, and thus they were called the Powderhall Grounds.^[1]

In the summer of 1869 a syndicate was formed for the purpose of constructing an athletic grounds in Edinburgh to rival those in London. The syndicate consisted of W. M. Lightbody, and four members of the Bauchope family from Leith, led by Charles R. Bauchope, an amateur sprinter of some repute who claimed to have set a Scottish grass-track record of 10 1/5 for 100 yards. It is certain that at the inaugural Edinburgh University freshman sports in 1866 he won the shot put and pole vault. The other members of the syndicate were R. G. Bauchope, and W. Bauchope, both prominent businessmen in the city, and John Bauchope, a school teacher. It is thought that Lightbody was the principal financial investor in the scheme.^[1]

An Edinburgh firm of builders, W. & D. McGregor, had purchased a plot of land that had previously formed part of Thomas Mylne's Powderhall estate, and the syndicate took out a five-year lease on this piece of land where they laid out their running grounds, about one mile to the west of Pilrig House and right on the Water of Leith. The senior Bauchope and Mr Lightbody toured the running grounds of England and Scotland and decided to base their design on the famous grounds at Stamford Bridge in London. The Powderhall Grounds therefore had a cinder track of 440 yards with a sprint straight of 180 yards on the southern side, and a roofed grandstand for 1400 spectators. Much of the materials for this they purchased from the recently defunct Newington grounds at Powburn Toll for the sum of one hundred pounds.^[1]

The first meet, called the New Year Pedestrian Gala, was held over three days in January 1870 with three events, a 1-mile handicap won off the scratch mark by John Ridley of Gateshead in the very good time of 4:25. An 880 yards handicap won by J. Watt of Glasgow, and the event that would come to be called the Powderhall Sprint was initiated at 160 yards, the inaugural champion being Dan Wight of Jedburgh, barely nineteen years of age and running off 12 yards.^[1] On the day there was no particular reason to suppose that it was anything special, it was just one of a number of professional sprint handicaps held at various distances at a number of different venues that year, and the first edition was just called the 160 yards handicap. It subsequently went by a number of names but mostly it was referred to as either the New Year Sprint Handicap or the Powderhall Sprint. The event was held at Powderhall every New Year (with minor exceptions for wars and such) for the next one hundred years, becoming one of the most famous professional sprint races in the world. The only other serious contender for that crown being the Stawell Gift, held each Easter at Stawell, Victoria, Australia, since 1878. The Powderhall Sprint moved to Edinburgh's Meadowbank Stadium in 1971 and under its new name of the New Year Sprint it continues today at Musselburgh Racecourse.^[1]

Edinburgh University Athletic Club started training at Powderhall from as early as March 1871, and in February 1872 held their Spring Athletic Games there.^[2][3]

William M. Lapsley was a keen amateur sportsman from Edinburgh. He was a founding member of St Bernard's F.C., and played as goalkeeper for Hanover F.C., he was a cyclist, and an athlete. At a meeting held by Edinburgh Athletic Club in July 1872 he won the 880 yards handicap, finished third in the 150 yards and was also third in the hammer with a throw of 91 ft 2in (27.80m). He also won the 880 yards at the Piershill Garrison Sports in 1872. In July 1879, Lapsley took a share in the lease for the Royal Patent Gymnasium Ground in Royal Crescent Park, Edinburgh. By draining the adjoining Boyton's Pond he added to the existing football ground an 880 feet circular running path (6 laps to the mile) and a sprint track of 125 yards. There was also a grandstand, similar to but smaller than, that at Powderhall. This had its opening on 19 July 1879 and was obviously in direct competition with the Powderhall Grounds. However, in July 1880 the Bauchope syndicate at the Powderhall Grounds dissolved their company and the grounds were briefly taken over by two gentlemen named Lauder and Hughes, but by January 1883 William Lapsley had taken over the lease for the Powderhall Grounds.^[1]

The Scottish AAA was formed in 1883 and held their first championship meeting at the Powderhall Grounds in June of that year. The championships were subsequently held at Powderhall many times, including in 1884, 1886, 1888 and 1910. At the 1890 Scottish Championships at Powderhall, Kenneth Whitton (Edinburgh Harriers) set a Scottish Native and All-comers hammer record of 103 ft 0in (31.40m), beating his own record set at the 1885 championships at Paisley.^[4] Athletics continued to be held at Powderhall for the next one hundred years with competition transferring to Meadowbank Stadium in 1971.^[5][6][7][8]

Change of venue

In October 1888 the Lord Provost's Committee submitted a report to Edinburgh Town Council recommending that "the ground at Powderhall belonging to the city be taken over from the present tenant and converted into a Public Park from Whitsunday next." William Lapsley, the chief tenant and owner of the Powderhall Grounds, negotiated a three-month extension and the last races run on the original Powderhall Grounds took place on Saturday 25 May 1889, at what had come to be known as the Queen's Birthday meeting. W. Grant of Edinburgh won a 130-yard handicap off 17 yards in 12 1/2 seconds, W. Balmer of Edinburgh won a 300-yard handicap off 37 yards in 30 1/2 seconds, and John D. Henderson of Edinburgh won a 1-mile handicap off 135 yards in 4:19 1/2.

On Wednesday 29 August 1889 Lapsley was granted a warrant at the Dean of Guild Court in Edinburgh authorising him to proceed with the layout of a new running ground at Beaverhall Road, practically adjoining the land recently vacated, and to construct on them two grandstands and changing rooms. The first promotion on these new grounds, called New Powderhall, was the New Year Handicap of 1890 at which J. Jackson of Hawick won the New Year Sprint off 10 yards in 12 3/5 seconds.^[1]

William Lapsley died on 28 February 1903 as a result of an accident in a horse drawn cab on his way to a rugby union international between Scotland and Ireland. The driver of the cab lost control of it on a steep hill and the horse bolted and crashed into the basement of a nearby house. Lapsley died at the scene and his wife, though seriously injured, survived. The lease of the Powderhall Grounds was due to expire in May of that year and the trustees appointed to conduct business after his death failed to renew the lease and the grounds were taken over by Mr Frederick Arthur Lumley, a maker of gymnastic apparatus and a boxing instructor. The first meet under this new management was on Wednesday 13 May 1903 when L. Richards of Lanark won a 130 yards handicap off 13 yards in 12 1/5 seconds, and D. Todd of Edinburgh won a 1-mile handicap off 145 yards in 4:21.^[1]

After winning the 100 yards at the Edinburgh University sports in May 1921, the Olympian Eric Liddell, portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire, started training at Powderhall under the care of Tommy McKerchar, a printer by trade who coached professional pedestrians on the side. But McKerchar coached Liddell three times a week for free.^[9][10]

Over the next few years professional pedestrianism gradually waned in importance, from regular meets at dozens of grounds around the country there were now apart from Powderhall just those at Blackpool, Morpeth, Cardiff, Pontypridd and Newcastle keeping the sport alive. But decline is a relative term as at the 1907 New Year Handicap 24,000 spectators turned out despite rain having fallen for several hours before the meet commenced. That was the last time that Alexander McKenzie, a paper ruler by profession, acted as starter at Powderhall Grounds, having started there in 1879. His successor as starter was James Lynch who officated in that capacity until his death in May 1930. In 1920 his son Chris Lynch became the official handicapper at Powderhall.^[1]

In June 1904 the Caledonian Whippet Racing Club held a 160 yards handicap, and the following June they held dog races, without any restriction as to breed of dog, for the first time in over twenty years. From this time a series of these promotions were held at regular intervals throughout the season, and as professional sprinting declined these other events gradually assumed a greater importance in the sporting calendar. In 1926 it was observed that there were more bookkeepers at a greyhound racing evening than there were spectators at a pedestrian meeting and the end was clearly in sight. The circular cinder running path was turfed over, a new sprint straight was laid down to serve the needs of the pedestrians at their annual New Year festival, and New Powderhall was converted into a greyhound racing stadium with the first event under the auspices of the Greyhound Racing Association held on Wednesday 3 August 1927. In 1923 Fred Lumley had exercised his option to purchase the grounds outright, and in 1930 The Greyhound Racing Association Trust purchased the Powderhall Stadium, as it was now called, from Lumley and they hosted the Scottish Grand National there every year until 1994.^[1]

Scottish athletics records

• AC = Scottish All-comers Record
• SN = Scottish Native Record (lived in Scotland for 3 months or more)

Other sports

As well as athletics and walking races, from 1874 the Powderhall Grounds hosted cycle races, known at the time as velocipede races. There were also quoits handicaps and gun clubs held pigeon shooting competitions. In 1876 they started a medley event where competitors had to walk 1 mile, run 1 mile, and ride a horse 1 mile. The best time for this event was 16:22 by Peter McKellar of Edinburgh, well known locally as a champion walker. In April 1877 Jack Keen, a famous London cyclist, had a one-hour race against a team of horses. The horse rider changed horses six times and eventually beat the cyclist by five yards, covering 17 miles in 59:15. The next month, June 1877, Powderhall started a short-lived experiment with hosting trotting races. A special turf track was constructed outside the running path to accommodate the sulkies, and in the first meeting one of the jockeys broke his arm and another was thrown out of his carriage. After a few more mishaps the experiment was halted before anyone died. In August 1878 they presented a wire walking act and held their first dog races, promoted by the Midlothian Dog-Racing Club. The Scottish Cyclists Union was formed in 1880 and celebrated by holding their very first meet at Powderhall. They followed that with a six-day bicycle race held in Waverley Market and Powderhall put on a Grand Horse and Pony Leaping Competition to try and draw in the crowds. But one hundred thousand customers paid to watch the cycle races and the pony show was never repeated.

From 1881, association football began to be staged at Powderhall, and the stadium was the home ground for both Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian Football Clubs until the following season when those clubs migrated to Tynecastle Park and Easter Road respectively. In 1882 St Bernard's FC started playing at Powderhall, and both dog racing and cycle races were still regular features of the programme. After the change to the new venue in 1890 cycling continued to be popular, and in 1891 the Edinburgh Highland Society moved their annual Highland Games to Powderhall which included foot races, field events, highland dancing, bagpipe playing competitions and tug-of-war, and in 1898 they added a game of Camanachd, now better known as Shinty.^[1]

Scotland have played two rugby union international matches at Powderhall. On Saturday 20 February 1897 Scotland beat Ireland 8-3 and on Saturday 12 March 1898 Scotland drew 3–3 with England.^[11]

In 1920 boxing matches were introduced, commencing on Saturday 19 June with an afternoon of running events, 5-a-side football competition, and boxing exhibitions attended by over 13,000 spectators to raise funds for Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. This was repeated in June 1924 with similar success.^[1]

Powderhall became the home ground of Leith Athletic from 1926 to 1928 and Edinburgh City from 1931 to 1934. It later became a venue for motorcycle speedway, with the Edinburgh Monarchs racing there from 1977 until 1995.

Greyhound racing

Post war history

See also: World War II

Powderhall Stadium in Edinburgh c.1970

The venue was selected to host the Stewards Cup on several occasions and also hosted the BBC Television Trophy in 1964. In 1970 the stadium underwent renovation including a new 100 'Silver Hound' seated restaurant with a glass plated front to allow public viewing and bar areas increased to a total of seven. Bill Glennie was General Manager and Bill Mulley was Racing Manager replaced by Stuart Strachan in 1978 A heated blanket was constructed underneath the track to combat the Scottish winter and allow racing to go ahead during particularly cold spells.^[14]

The Scottish Grand National and Scottish St Leger both became popular events and in 1982 trainer Graham Mann was moved by the GRA to White City and his replacement was Jane Glass, the Scottish tracks first ever female trainer. Powderhall marked its 60th anniversary with a new £400,000 grandstand and in 1987 the track was handed the Scottish Greyhound Derby by the GRA (following problems at Shawfield), the first time the event was run outside of Glasgow.^[15][16]

After hosting the 1988 Scottish Derby the GRA sold the track to local businessman Norrie Rowan for £1.8m, the sale of the track resulted in two problems, the first was the fact that they lost the rights to hold the Scottish Derby because the GRA no longer had any investments in Scotland so the Derby returned to Glasgow. Secondly Norrie Rowan sold the track on to Coral for £2.2 million an instant profit of £400,000.^[17] During 1990 Rowan expressed the desire to buy the stadium back.^[18]

The locally trained Ravage Again nearly surpassed the Ballyregan Bob world record in 1990; trained by Willie Frew the 29 successive wins sequence came to an end on 26 January 1990.

Competitions

Track records

References

External links

• Powderhall Stadium, pictures at Speedway Plus
• Powderhall Stadium, Defunct Speedway Tracks
• Powderhall Stadium, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
• A History of Powderhall, Powderhall Village Owners' Association

55°58′02″N 3°11′38″W / 55.9672°N 3.1938°W / 55.9672; -3.1938