Berrington Lough Stadium

Last updated

Berrington Lough Stadium
LocationBerrington Lough, Berwick-upon-Tweed
Coordinates 55°41′19″N2°02′34″W / 55.68861°N 2.04278°W / 55.68861; -2.04278
Opened24 April 1982
Closed21 October 1995

Berrington Lough Stadium also called the Berwick Motorcycle Centre was a purpose-built motorcycle speedway track located in Berrington Lough, a rural part of Northumberland, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The location of the track was approximately 1 mile north of Bowsden and 2 miles west of Berrington. [1] The stadium was the home of the speedway team known as the Berwick Bandits. Today there is virtually no indication that a stadium existed, as a result of its demolition and removal. [2]

History

Towards the latter part of the 1980 National League season, the Berwick Bandits were given notice by the landlords Berwick Rangers F.C. to vacate Shielfield Park, which resulted in the need to find new premises. This followed a disagreement over rent increase demands and the final meeting was held on 6 September. [3] The football team unsuccessfully attempted to buy the speedway team during October. [4]

Initial attempts to build a new stadium failed and the team raced fixtures at Blantyre Greyhound Stadium during 1981 [5] before finally identifying a plot of land towards the end of 1981. They set up a new public company and raised funds to build three grandstands, an office block, floodlighting and turnstiles. [6]

Work began in January 1982 [7] and the first meeting was held on 24 April 1982, when Berwick defeated Edinburgh Monarchs. [1] [8]

The stadium hosted a British qualifying round of the Speedway World Championship in 1986. [9] [10]

The team raced at the venue for 13 years but due to its remote location the club were always fighting an uphill battle to maintain good attendances and make a profit. [1] They did however win the British League Division Two Knockout Cup and Gold Cup while at the stadium. [11]

When the greyhound racing lease at Shielfield Park was ended by Berwick Rangers in 1995, the Berwick speedway promoter Mike Hope took the lease and the Bandits left Berrington Lough for their original home. [12] The last meeting staged at Berrington Lough was the Academy League KO Cup Final against Stoke Potters on the 21 October 1995. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shielfield Park</span> Football stadium in England

Shielfield Park is a football stadium that is home to Berwick Rangers and Berwick Bandits speedway team. Although Berwick Rangers is a Scottish Lowland Football League club, Shielfield Park is situated in the English county of Northumberland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berwick Bandits</span> British speedway team

The Berwick Bandits are a British speedway club, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They currently compete in the SGB Championship, racing at Shielfield Park, with home matches usually taking place on Saturday evenings. They also run a second team in the National Development League, known as the Berwick Bullets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Morton</span> English motorcycle speedway rider (born 1956)

Christopher John Morton, MBE is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 115 international caps for the England national speedway team and 7 caps for the Great Britain team, making him the third most capped England & British rider of all-time.

Loomer Road Stadium is a former sports stadium situated in Chesterton, Staffordshire. The building had considerable parking facilities, covered terracing and a bar with a view of the track. It had a capacity of 5,000. The stadium was constructed in the early 1970s and hosted greyhound racing until 2003, and speedway and stock cars until its closure at the end of the 2019 season.

Kenneth Malcolm Carter , was a British motorcycle speedway rider. He was a World Pairs champion and British champion. On Wednesday, 21 May 1986, he shot dead his wife, Pam, and then killed himself, orphaning their two young children in the process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speedway in the United Kingdom</span> Overview of the motorcycle sport in Britain

The sport of speedway in the United Kingdom has changed little since the first meetings in the 1920s. It has three domestic leagues, its own Speedway Grand Prix, and an annual entry into the Speedway World Cup / Speedway of Nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Collins</span> British motorcycle speedway rider

Leslie Collins is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. He finished runner-up in the 1982 Speedway World Championship as well as winning the Intercontinental Final in 1982, the British Under-21 Championship in 1977 and the British League Riders' Championship in 1980. At retirement he had earned 31 international caps for the England national speedway team.

Paul Thorp is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned 31 international caps for the England national speedway team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newcastle Stadium</span> Greyhound racing venue in England

Newcastle Stadium is a greyhound racing and former motorcycle speedway stadium, located on The Fossway, Byker, Newcastle. Racing at the stadium takes place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The circumference of the track is 415 metres. Until mid-2022, speedway racing took place from March to October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxford Stadium</span> Greyhound racing & motorcycle speedway venue in Oxfordshire, England

Oxford Stadium is a greyhound racing and speedway venue in Oxford, located in Sandy Lane, Cowley.

The British League Division Two Riders Championship was a motorcycle speedway contest between the top riders from each club competing in the second tier of British speedway.

The 1979 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom.

The 1980 National League was contested as the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom.

The 1981 National League was contested as the second division/tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom.

The 1983 National League was the second tier of motorcycle speedway racing in the United Kingdom.

The 1984 National League was contested as the second division of motorcycle speedway in the United Kingdom.

The National League was the second tier of British speedway racing in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Hunter (speedway rider)</span>

George Hunter was a motorcycle speedway rider. He earned 28 caps for the Scotland national speedway team, 17 international caps for the England national speedway team and 16 caps for the Great Britain team.

Barrow Park Road Stadium was a greyhound racing and speedway stadium in Park Road, Barrow-in-Furness.

Kevin John Little is a former motorcycle speedway rider from Scotland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Berwick Speedway Berrington Lough". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Berwick - From the Air". Speedway Plus. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  3. ↑ "Blow to Bandits" . Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 24 August 1980. Retrieved 9 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ↑ "Blow to Bandits" . The Scotsman. 29 October 1980. Retrieved 9 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "Bandits still homeless" . Newcastle Journal. 1 April 1981. Retrieved 9 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Bandits new Home" . Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 15 November 1981. Retrieved 9 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Work starts on stadium" . Sunday Sun (Newcastle). 10 January 1982. Retrieved 9 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Looking forward to Edinburgh Monarchs". Berwick Speedway. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  9. ↑ "World Championship". Metal Speedway. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  10. ↑ "World Championship". Speedway.org. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  11. ↑ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  12. ↑ "Its too soon to write us off, says Richardson" . Newcastle Journal. 28 August 1995. Retrieved 9 February 2024– via British Newspaper Archive.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.