Hackney Wick Stadium

Hackney Wick Stadium, Waterden Road, in the London Borough of Hackney, was opened in 1932 and was mainly used for greyhound racing and speedway. [Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). "Homes of British Speedway". ISBN 0-7524-2210-3]

In 1994, a £12M stand and restaurant was built and the stadium was renamed the London Stadium, Hackney. In December 1997 the company that owned the stadium, London Stadium Hackney Ltd., went out of business.

Stadium today

The Stadium was left derelict for several years until it was bought by the London Development Agency and demolished in 2003. The site is now to be used as part of London's Olympic Stadium site in 2012. According to a report in The Observer newspaper on 9 December 2007, it will host the new Olympic media and broadcast centre, and, after the Games, will be turned over for commercial use.

Speedway History

Hackney Wick Wolves speedway team raced there before the second world war. Len Silver's Hackney Hawks speedway team rode at the venue from 1963 to 1983 with regular announcer Ted Sear, the march on music was the theme to 'The Magnificent Seven' played each week by Sydney Harris. Hackney Kestrels speedway team rode here from 1984 until 1990. In 1996, a speedway team under the named the London Lions rode but it was found to financially unviable. [Fenn, C.(2003). "Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight". ISBN 0-7524-2737-7]

The British Speedway Grand Prix was held at the stadium in 1995 and 1996. [Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). "A History of the World Speedway Championship". Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5]

ee also

*Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain

External links

* [http://www.hackneyhawks.co.uk// Hackney Hawks Website]
* [http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i204/hammer1980/hackneystadium1938.jpgAriel view of Hackney Wick Stadium 1938]
* [http://www.runtrackdir.com UK Running Track Directory] "Details of the history of the track"

References