1. Characteristics

2. Site of Special Historic Interest

3. Construction

4. Tenants
     Current tenants    Occasional tenants    Historical tenants    Notable users  

5. Events

6. Renovation

7. See also

8. References

The Preston Park Velodrome is a velodrome in the north-east corner of Preston Park in Brighton, United Kingdom. It is the oldest velodrome in the United Kingdom having been opened on 12 May 1877, and is the oldest, working velodrome in the world.

Characteristics

As well as being the first track in the UK, Preston Park is also the longest at 579m (1900 feet). It is one of the few velodromes which is not the normal oval shape, instead comprising four straights and two slightly banked corners.^[1] This is because there were no international velodrome standards until after Olympic track cycling grew in popularity after 1900, so early velodromes from the late 1800s came in all shapes and sizes.

Site of Special Historic Interest

The velodrome and cricket ground are included in land registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 within the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by Historic England for its special historic interest. The site was listed within the Register as a Grade II Park and Garden on 25 March 1987.^[2]

Construction

The velodrome is situated within Preston Park, Brighton, which was opened in 1884 following the purchase by Brighton Corporation of land from V F Bennett-Stanford in 1883 for £50,000. The entire park was laid out by the Corporation's Head Gardener, James Shrives and the Borough Engineer, Philip Lockwood, in 1883-4 and formally opened to the public on 8 November 1884.^[2]

Construction then moved onto the velodrome and cricket ground site, which was previously a polo ground during the Stanfords' ownership, this use being transferred to the park's playing fields upon purchase by Brighton Corporation. A retaining bank in the north-east corner of the park was constructed to house the cricket ground and surrounding cycle track.^[2] The entire arena was dug out by hand by the British Army.^[3]

Upon opening in 1887 the sports arena comprised a cricket pitch, surrounding cycle track, pavilion and open air, flint-edged seating for thousands of people.^[4][5] The arena remains in use for both cricket and cycling to this day, the original Pavilion is still standing and the flint edged seating can still be seen around the North and Eastern sides of the track.

Tenants

Current tenants

Occasional tenants

A number of other regional cycling clubs regularly hire the velodrome for coaching sessions including Brighton Mitre Cycling Club,^[8] East Grinstead Cycling Club ^[9] and Crawley Wheelers.^[10]

Historical tenants

Prestonville Nomads, a cycling club founded in 1933 were based at the track from 1948 to 1967 and used the Park View Hotel, adjacent to the velodrome on Preston Drove, as their club room.^[11]

Notable users

Events

Attendees of 3000-5000 spectators were a regular occurrence with the largest recorded attendance reaching 8,000 in August 1952 to see world champion Reg Harris in action. Other sources put bank holiday race attendances at 10,000 spectators.^[3]

Renovation

In 1930 a grandstand with wooden seating for 500 people was added.

In 1936 a tarmac surface was added, with the two banked corners added at the same time for safety reasons.

In 2015 racing was forced to stop following a period when the track fell into general disrepair. Following rider concerns about safety issues it was deemed unsafe for racing by British Cycling in 2015 with the quality of track fencing being the main issue.^[13] While this didn't prevent recreational use of the track, it did mean that official racing had to stop, such as the Sussex Cycle Racing League. A successful Save Preston Park Cycle Track campaign was started, which was supported by former Tour de France cyclist and Team Sky sporting director Sean Yates.^[14] This was attended by many riders along with hundreds of supporters from the wider cycling community, demonstrating the value of this important amenity not just to cycling clubs and racing leagues but to local families and recreational cyclists who all use the velodrome regularly. In January 2016 British Cycling announced that it would contribute £110,000 of the £160,000 needed to repair and reopen the track, with the remainder of the required funding coming from Section 106 financial contributions made by developers as part of planning applications.^[15] The track reopened for racing in May 2016.^[14]

See also

• List of cycling tracks and velodromes

References

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• Twenty-one
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