BOLTON Greyhound Track closed at Christmas, much to the dismay of many people, and a lot was written about its history.

The stories also mentioned that at one time it was also used for a dirt track racing, but little seemed to be generally known about it. Until now, that is.

Because reader Mr Pete Smith, of Croft Street, Wingates, Westhoughton, has let me have these pictures, and a programme, from that short period in the town's history. The track, you see, was used for 'dirt track' racing for only about eight months after its opening in August, 1928.

This fascinating piece of history came to light when Mr Smith was clearing out his father Stanley's belongings after his death last year. Stanley lived in Harper Green.

They had been kept over the years because Stanley's brother Jack (Pete's uncle, if you are still with me!) won the first race held there, riding a Sunbeam, and the Silver Cup for Juniors, 4 laps, for machines up to 500cc. It was, the paper reported, 'the unusual distinction of winning a cup at a first attempt at dirt track racing.'

The meeting was obviously popular, too, because 6,000 spectators turned up; as well as the racing, there were 'demonstrations of skidding art by famous experts in Paddy Dean (Australia) and Ivor Creek (London)', although 'it is doubtful if anything interested the crowd more than the side-car events, in which the passengers performed some breathless feats of balancing during the broadsides.' The organisers of the meetings in Bolton were part of the Lancashire Dirt Track Racing Association, which also had tracks in other towns including Preston, Blackpool and Rochdale. Unfortunately I can't find out why the track closed after such a short period, unless the numbers turning up to watch fell considerably and quickly from that first meeting.

Yet as far as the Smith family was concerned it was to end in tragedy. Jack, who lived at Begonia Avenue, Farnworth, stayed at the Bolton track until dirt track racing ended there the following March, and then went to Preston. On August 10, 1929, aged 26, he was involved in a triple crash on that track, and died in hospital a week later without regaining consciousness.

Incidentally, for those who are 'into' motor bikes, Pete Smith also showed me the invoice for a Douglas machine plus some accessories, in July, 1929, for £83 9s 10d.

However, the connection between the Smith family and the Bolton track did not end with the demise of dirt track racing there. Another brother, Albert, later raced greyhounds at Bolton. He was married to someone called Harrison, whose father unfortunately invested £500 (a goodly amount of money in those days) into a firm called Robert Rostron & Sons, Ltd, in December, 1925. Unfortunately, the firm in Moor Lane dealt with hay and straw, and the firm went to the wall because, said Mr Rostron at a public examination of bankruptcy in 1929 'the development of the motor industry smashed the trade'. At that time, Mr Rostron was described as 'joint manager of the greyhound track, at a salary of £350 per annum, plus two per cent commission'.

So there you are, folks, a bit of history that seemingly has remained undiscovered until now. Thanks to Pete Smith for his help.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.