Croydon's Horse Racing History - a story
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2024
- Horse racing in one form or another took place in Croydon over many centuries. As well as providing more information on that, I walk around the main and final site in Ashburton area and show how the course was laid out with some maps and graphics to help tell the story.
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I know the place well as I worked for Croydon Council for forty years, brings back memories
So glad you did this tour. My childhood home backed onto ashburton Playing Fields (still does, but we left in the late 80’s).
Having grown up on the Ashburton estate, this was quite the trip down memory lane… I’d forgotten all about the racing history.
I found it quite hard to imagine how life would have been on race days - obviously it became a bit too much for the locals!
Very interesting history thank phil .
Thanks Tony!
Another excellent walk and talk. Having grown up in South Norwood near the lake, and now living in Selsdon you're covering a lot of ground i know (and walked) quite well. Im not so hot on the history so find these videos really interesting and informative. I think you previously mentioned a future walk in the Botley hill area, perhaps you could include Nore hill pinnacle and Hovings hole, although they would have fitted better with the Slines oak walk. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, and glad you are enjoying them! I will do two separate ones, Botley is prepped but the weather isn’t 😆 - I will certainly cover the Nore Hill area and locations you mentioned here, probably in a separate walk. It’s great that these spaces and landscapes are so near 👍🏻
Very interesting, knew nothing about that!
I’m sure there are many more stories out there to be uncovered!
Very interesting as always Phil. Honestly had no idea there had been horse racing in the Croydon area.
Thanks Dave - yes it was quite a surprise when I first found out!
The Oasis and Library were the Ashburton Secondary Modern (later High) school. The race course had elements still visible on the old County Borough schools sports ground which was alongside the Ashburton school playing fields - those of us who went to the smaller schools were bussed to the Stroud Green sports field. Did you know that the original Ashburton school, not as refined as it now is, was originally built with two purposes in mind. It was an unusual school in that it was mainly operating on the ground floor with no 'upstairs'. It did however, have a basement complex. The reason was that this 'cold war' era school building had been built primarily as a school, but was able to be quickly converted into an emergency hospital. The classrooms were grouped, in that each group had proper walls around the perimeter with easily demounted walls between them, to open up as wards. The basement housed such things as operating theatres! Now, in truth, I have never seen the plans, but the person who described it to me by someone who was eminently qualified to talk authoritatively on the matter - he used to be the head teacher!
When will you be looking at the Croydon Fair? There was some amount of horse racing carried out there in some years. Famously the fair was banned because of the riotous behaviours of people attneding (or it was the locals in that new development at Park Hill, who tended to be well off professionals, bankers etc. who had moved to Croydon to be in the country, and who probably complained loudly and powerfully about the local traditions).
Racing was part of the North Surrey cultural backdrop. Remember that the Derby and the Oaks were so named because of the home of the Earl of Derby, Oaks House, over in the area of Carshalton Beeches.
Thank you for this information - loads of things I didn’t know but will note down for future research/use. Funnily enough on one of the aerial photos I thought I could make out a building outline near where the grandstand was, the image was taken during the middle of summer so conditions may have exposed some evidence only visible from the air. I have a photo of my Mum in a silver foil dress at the Croydon Fair Field during WWII. It was part of a salvage drive/campaign. She is there with my nan and great grandmother - three generations! Thanks again for this!
Phil love your walks will you ever do one on croham Road area in South Croydon I know you've done Selston Road but would love if you could tell me more about croham area
Thanks David, that will feature at some point. I keep meaning to do a walk in Croham Hurst but the spring/summer will be better for that. I will have a chat with my South Croydon expert and add it to the list!
Not so familiar with that part of Croydon so great yo know what once existed there.
The quote of moral sewage ... now what place, or rather Houses, could that be applied to today? 😊
Haha, yes indeed. They had a wonderful way with words back in those days!
Interesting history, thanks.
On the satellite you can make out old allotments. How old I wonder?
Hi Bill, there have been many in the area and more during wartime. Whereabouts do you mean? I’ll take a look - I was going to say “do some digging” but that would have been a terrible joke 😁
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On the Ashburton Playing Fields.
Zoom in and you can see all the long parallel strips.
Also a large rectangle which could have been a building?
Oh the rectangle is a football pitch. I see the posts now :)
Probably not allotments as the length of the plots suggest tractor work.
Maybe WW2 vegetable gardens?
The plots at Downsview Primary School playing fields in Upper Norwood I can attest were allotments because that's were where my father had an allotment.
It's clear from the satellite where the plots were.
A significant amount of land was turned over to food production during the war - many sports pitches etc. At Warlingham RFC they kept one pitch throughout the war and when the land was turned back after 1945, the ministry killed the grass on the good pitch they kept!