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Tale of a London track: RIP White City Stadium
When I was a youngster, we would occasionally head to White City Stadium near Shepherd's Bush for a family outing. Family members liked gambling and children were admitted to restaurants at dog tracks, which was what White City was.
Electric hare
There were other greyhound racing venues in London - Haringey Stadium in Green Lanes, now a McDonald's and Sainsbury's was one - but we always went to White City, which to my mind was the biggest and best. We'd have a meal and I'd watch as my chosen dogs limped haplessly around the track in luke-warm pursuit of the electric hare (I'm not much of a gambler).
Dog days
'Going to the dogs' is a pejorative expression, but actually, it was exciting and even had a touch of neon-lit glamour, at least for a kid. Along with dog racing, White City Stadium was also used for athletics, I think, and for other purposes - I saw David Cassidy there in the 70s, so I suppose you could say these were musical purposes. Broadly speaking. White City no longer exists and BBC buildings now stand on the former site. Following the pattern of removing entertainment centres from suburbs, it was demolished in 1985, and a major London landmark, and my personal west London lodestone was gone. But if you like the dogs, you can still watch them run at Walthamstow. Take plenty of money with you.
Read about memories of another dog track in our Tales of the City
section.
London landmarks RIP: Kitchen confidential
When I finished university, like many a young, leftward leaning student I made a conscious decision to work in the public sector. After trawling through every town hall in London, under a scheme to assist disabled people in the labour market I was given an admin job in the Kitchens at Theberton Street, off Upper Street, run by the London Borough of Islington. It was a strange building hidden behind metal gates and looking from the outside like a miniaturised Victorian workhouse. Up steep metal stairs you would get to the food preparation area where all Islington’s meals-on-wheels were prepared. There was a perennial comforting smell of cooking stews permeating the building. Next to this was my office which was a large room seemingly unchanged since, I imagine, the ‘fifties, all linoleum and sensible wooden chairs. The staff were a good bunch and I learnt the realities of diversity within the workplace.
I left and moved on to more local government employment but I would often pass the building with its rows of bottle green Islington vans parked outside. Then a couple of years ago I saw that the building had been vacated and was being disposed of. It looked forlorn and the van park was deserted. I felt oddly bereft as if an important aspect of my past was being obliterated. I suppose the economies of scale mean that the food can be purchased in bulk cheaply from a major catering supplier. In the process a quirky little facet of local government providing jobs and services for the community had been lost.
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| Message: | 1/1 |
| Date and time: | 26/03/2008 at 22:22:34 |
| Sender: | Caroline Watkins |
Reading the tales of London tracks, brought back many memories of the training kennel and tracks I used to go to as a child with my father (he was a trainer for GRA) I remember as a very young child (5) setting out from our home at the GRA kennels in Northaw by bike bus and then tube then bus to go to New Cross track South of the Thames next door to Millwall Football Ground, the track like many others now long gone. This journey my father would make everyday for three years before taking up his training position at White City London. Oh those were happy days the sound of the crowds shouting home their favourite dog whether it was winning or not. These great tracks are sadly missed. | |
