Post by Dave on Jan 23, 2009 22:37:59 GMT
Many thanks fellow members for so many great posts again this week on the forum, capitalgull and ohtobeatplainmoor got us off to a great start and BudleighGull has made some great posts, so good to see timbo adding some quality posts and Barton Downs just doing what he does best as usual, my thanks go to each and every poster.
This weeks winner has won it before, this man has a memory that is far better than any you will find in a PC, he is someone who makes forums like these the really enjoyable place they are and I'm so pleased he contributes all the great content he does.
This weeks winner is
Merse well done and many thanks from me, your little pal Dave R
Just one of the top posts made by Merse this week
The knowledge I have of the "Buckfastleigh" grandstand at Plainmoor (ref: "A Long Time Gone" by Chris Pitt - a history of the former racecourses of England, Scotland & Wales and on loan to me by Capitalgull)) gives me a less spectacular and slightly disappointing information of the structure's heritage than many would imagine I'm afraid.
Buckfastleigh Racecourse at Dean Prior does indeed date back to 1883 (there was a previous course up at Wallaford Down - a thousand feet above sea level and almost inaccessible that dated back to the first half of that century, but the one that most people are familiar with only raced at Whitsun with a second Tuesday meeting being added to the Monday one from 1921 and thus the Plainmoor grandstand was in fact a temporary structure that used to be erected and dismantled annually.
A strange fact given that the only remaining structure of any permanence (does it still stand in the fields to this day?) was not built until 1950, and judging by it's rather modest and rustic structure; was a pretty unambitious project and in fact the temporary structure that was erected for the first ever third day of racing in a calender year - 1937, for the August Bank Holiday (and August Bank holiday was then held on the first Monday of the month remember) was considerably bigger than the permanent one built later. The August meeting in fact signalled that Buckfastleigh was now regarded as a "proper" racecourse in the accepted parlance as there were a whole host of courses that only used to stage annual meetings or festivals...............Torquay and Totnes amongst them; and in fact the August meeting then contributed to a virtual month of "festival" South Devon racing with meetings at the aforementioned Totnes & Bridgetown and Newton Abbot racecourses, which is where my old granny comes into the story!
Like many other women of her generation, and like too; the forebears of Dave R who lived in the "Courts" off Wolborough street in NA; my gran used to open her little two up two down terrace property in Manor Cottages to a number of travelling head lads/jockeys and trainers from the Cheltenham and Lambourn areas (the hot beds of jump race training) who used to travel South West by train together with strings of horses for the month long programme (they always said you could sleep four jockeys to a bed!); yet in reality this only continued for three years until the second World War caused a cessation of all racing activity until 1946 and records of the Whit Monday 1949 meeting show that a huge crowd of 19,201 came along to Buckfastleigh (many would have had to use the railway remember) of which 16,345 paid the minimum three shillings (15p) course entrance and a further 2,861 an extra twelve shillings (60p) to use the stand and paddock - so it wasn't only football that was attracting those immense post war crowds! Perhaps the big attraction was the presence of Princess Margaret
who accompanied local toff and jockey Lord Anthony Mildmay White of Flete and many were the cries of "come on my lord" from the attending throng that day.
Newton Abbot Racecourse dates back to 1866 when the 91 acre site on the banks of the Teign were purposely purchased by a company specifically formed and set up for the purposes of horse racing. and the current grandstand dates back to 1969 and if you have never been I would recommend a visit where you'll be pleasantly surprised at the rather good viewing (including a panoramic vista of the Gulls training ground!) and facilities on offer though it is a far from scenic course when compared with neighbouring Exeter or glorious Cheltenham.
There are a charming set of black and white photos of "Edwardian" Newton Races on display near the checkouts of the Tesco store across the road where it seems it was obligatory to wear a hat (that was at the races, not Tescos except for the cheese counter that is)! and a clear record of the old grandstand which I well recall from my early years running round the gaff like a demented colt whilst my dad worked at the meetings and I myself began a whole series of little jobs from about the age of ten (1962) what with working in the weighing room collecting numbered saddle cloths (which is where I learned my appalling vocabulary of foul language) from the jockeys, working the runners and riders board and selling race cards.
So, and back to the main purpose of this post: it was not until it arrived at Plainmoor that our beloved old grandstand stood permanently anywhere!
I guess in reality, the hurried constructiuon of facilities at Plainmoor befitting the new found and somewhat surprising attainment of Leage football relied heavily on co-operation from those who had been involved at the local racecourses what with the grandstand which was the only structure at the ground in 1927 remember and a close study of the perimeter rail in those old photos, that separated spectators from players; revealing it to be in fact a "racecourse type running rail".
I wonder if I should bellow out "come on my lord" the next time I sit in the old structure?
This weeks winner has won it before, this man has a memory that is far better than any you will find in a PC, he is someone who makes forums like these the really enjoyable place they are and I'm so pleased he contributes all the great content he does.
This weeks winner is
Merse well done and many thanks from me, your little pal Dave R
Just one of the top posts made by Merse this week
The knowledge I have of the "Buckfastleigh" grandstand at Plainmoor (ref: "A Long Time Gone" by Chris Pitt - a history of the former racecourses of England, Scotland & Wales and on loan to me by Capitalgull)) gives me a less spectacular and slightly disappointing information of the structure's heritage than many would imagine I'm afraid.Buckfastleigh Racecourse at Dean Prior does indeed date back to 1883 (there was a previous course up at Wallaford Down - a thousand feet above sea level and almost inaccessible that dated back to the first half of that century, but the one that most people are familiar with only raced at Whitsun with a second Tuesday meeting being added to the Monday one from 1921 and thus the Plainmoor grandstand was in fact a temporary structure that used to be erected and dismantled annually.
A strange fact given that the only remaining structure of any permanence (does it still stand in the fields to this day?) was not built until 1950, and judging by it's rather modest and rustic structure; was a pretty unambitious project and in fact the temporary structure that was erected for the first ever third day of racing in a calender year - 1937, for the August Bank Holiday (and August Bank holiday was then held on the first Monday of the month remember) was considerably bigger than the permanent one built later. The August meeting in fact signalled that Buckfastleigh was now regarded as a "proper" racecourse in the accepted parlance as there were a whole host of courses that only used to stage annual meetings or festivals...............Torquay and Totnes amongst them; and in fact the August meeting then contributed to a virtual month of "festival" South Devon racing with meetings at the aforementioned Totnes & Bridgetown and Newton Abbot racecourses, which is where my old granny comes into the story!
Like many other women of her generation, and like too; the forebears of Dave R who lived in the "Courts" off Wolborough street in NA; my gran used to open her little two up two down terrace property in Manor Cottages to a number of travelling head lads/jockeys and trainers from the Cheltenham and Lambourn areas (the hot beds of jump race training) who used to travel South West by train together with strings of horses for the month long programme (they always said you could sleep four jockeys to a bed!); yet in reality this only continued for three years until the second World War caused a cessation of all racing activity until 1946 and records of the Whit Monday 1949 meeting show that a huge crowd of 19,201 came along to Buckfastleigh (many would have had to use the railway remember) of which 16,345 paid the minimum three shillings (15p) course entrance and a further 2,861 an extra twelve shillings (60p) to use the stand and paddock - so it wasn't only football that was attracting those immense post war crowds! Perhaps the big attraction was the presence of Princess Margaret
who accompanied local toff and jockey Lord Anthony Mildmay White of Flete and many were the cries of "come on my lord" from the attending throng that day.Newton Abbot Racecourse dates back to 1866 when the 91 acre site on the banks of the Teign were purposely purchased by a company specifically formed and set up for the purposes of horse racing. and the current grandstand dates back to 1969 and if you have never been I would recommend a visit where you'll be pleasantly surprised at the rather good viewing (including a panoramic vista of the Gulls training ground!) and facilities on offer though it is a far from scenic course when compared with neighbouring Exeter or glorious Cheltenham.
There are a charming set of black and white photos of "Edwardian" Newton Races on display near the checkouts of the Tesco store across the road where it seems it was obligatory to wear a hat (that was at the races, not Tescos except for the cheese counter that is)! and a clear record of the old grandstand which I well recall from my early years running round the gaff like a demented colt whilst my dad worked at the meetings and I myself began a whole series of little jobs from about the age of ten (1962) what with working in the weighing room collecting numbered saddle cloths (which is where I learned my appalling vocabulary of foul language) from the jockeys, working the runners and riders board and selling race cards.
So, and back to the main purpose of this post: it was not until it arrived at Plainmoor that our beloved old grandstand stood permanently anywhere!
I guess in reality, the hurried constructiuon of facilities at Plainmoor befitting the new found and somewhat surprising attainment of Leage football relied heavily on co-operation from those who had been involved at the local racecourses what with the grandstand which was the only structure at the ground in 1927 remember and a close study of the perimeter rail in those old photos, that separated spectators from players; revealing it to be in fact a "racecourse type running rail".
I wonder if I should bellow out "come on my lord" the next time I sit in the old structure?
) and fascinating..................TFF - the university of life and home of the Plainmoor intelligentsia! ;D