ewantodd Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 does anyone remember the smell of caramac chocolate on friday race nights mnnnnnnnn. brill place. can anybody get me george hunter photos from any era ta love you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davie Posted May 3, 2004 Report Share Posted May 3, 2004 try putting " george hunter speedway " in google serch engine it comes up with a lot of sites with pics of george and plenty of reading , http://www.google.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnieg Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 Of all the stadiums in the UK I have visited it was my favourite. Even if my first visit was a 24 hour round trip for a rain-off! Great racing great atmosphere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Posted May 4, 2004 Report Share Posted May 4, 2004 does anyone remember the smell of caramac chocolate on friday race nights mnnnnnnnn. brill place. can anybody get me george hunter photos from any era ta love you all How could I possibly forget that smell. I think it came from what was then Duncan's chocolate factory. At its best Powderhall was a fabulous stadium with its upmarket appearance enhanced by the immaculate centre green flower beds and the lavish care it received before it was taken over from the Greyhound Racing Authority. After that it really went to the dogs!! Unfortunately dog racing stopped and by the end of its sporting life the place was a wreck. Powderhall dated back to the 1870s if memory serves me correctly - it was built before the Forth Railway Bridge. Many famous events were held there from the athletic events such as the Powderhall sprint to International rugby matches between Scotland and England and it was also used as a football stadium in its early days. Latterly greedy property speculators couldn't wait to get their hands on it to make a fast buck from the housing market due to its central position within Edinburgh and although Edinburgh Town Council threw out planning applications for housing development an appeal was made to the Secretary of State for Scotland who overturned that decision and allowed the appeal in a decision that was as disgraceful as it was predictable where big bucks are involved. At the time it was the Labour Party's policy to protect sporting venues from just such development and, given Powderhall's history and contribution to sporting events in the city, the Secretary of State's decision was met with considerable dismay. So Edinburgh Monarchs were thrown out of the place although a similar appeal by the Edinburgh Promotion against West Lothian Council's decision to refuse permission for speedway to be held at Armadale was successful which resulted in the continuation of the Edinburgh Monarchs after a disastrous season running at Shawfield as the Scottish Monarchs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Banditsbabe Posted May 8, 2004 Report Share Posted May 8, 2004 Boy do I remember many great nights at Powderhall. Had a few heated arguments with Monarchs fan, being a Bandits fan it was a regular occurence but we all left as friends at the end of the night. Never quite the same atmosphere at Armadale just as we lost it when we moved from Berrington to Sheilfield again. Oh the memories!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quasartech Posted May 10, 2004 Report Share Posted May 10, 2004 Does anyone remember the smell of caramac chocolate on friday race nights mnnnnnnnn. Amazing to think , when the Incinirator Plant was just next door. Banditsbabe, so you're actually a banditsgran you've been round long enough. I'll get my coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackofdiamonds Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 Old Meadowbank was the best track Edinburgh has had. What an appalling decision it was to hold the 1966(?) Commonwealth games there. What did happen to the stadium after that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbbunyan Posted May 11, 2004 Report Share Posted May 11, 2004 It was always one of my fave tracks to visit on Crusaders tours ,even though I remember a rain off with ONE heat to go and we were leading and also sitting in the car park in the sun an hour and a half before tapes up only for a sudden violent storm to put off the meeting. A really nice stadium and a sad loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markone Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Powderhall dated back to the 1870s if memory serves me correctly! You must be very old if you were alive then!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight_Lady Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Old Meadowbank was the best track Edinburgh has had. What an appalling decision it was to hold the 1966(?) Commonwealth games there. What did happen to the stadium after that? It's been a sports centre since then but for how much longer I don't know as the greedy paws of building are wanting the site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DW Posted May 12, 2004 Report Share Posted May 12, 2004 Old Meadowbank was the best track Edinburgh has had. What an appalling decision it was to hold the 1966(?) Commonwealth games there. What did happen to the stadium after that? Monarchs rode there until 1967 before moving to Coatbridge for two years.The Games were held in 1970(and 1986) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlin Posted May 13, 2004 Report Share Posted May 13, 2004 Old Meadowbank was the best track Edinburgh has had. What an appalling decision it was to hold the 1966(?) Commonwealth games there. What did happen to the stadium after that? The Old Meadowbank stadium was completely demolished to make way for the brand new white elephant of a Commonwealth Games Stadium complete with a now decrepit velodrome. Even the road which ran alongside the track (Clockmill Lane) disappeared as did the St Margaret's locoshed (64A) which housed many of the steam engines which served the Edinburgh area. The new stadium never caught on as a major athletics venue and eventually it was used by the Ferranti Thistle football team who changed their name to Meadowbank Thistle before moving again to Livingstone where they romped through the leagues to reach Premier League status. The stadium has a number of sports halls, five a side football pitches and, no doubt, other facilites but the whole place is a financial liability to the city and was always likely to be so. There are two reminders of the speedway. The first is the plaque just inside the doorway which is in memory of the late Peter Craven who died as a result of injuries sustained at Old Meadowbank in a match between the Monarchs and Belle Vue. The second is the red brick wall which used to mark the boundary of the back straight at Old Meadowbank and still remains to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.