In recent months, we’ve looked at the history of horseracing in Redcar and Northallerton. Now to the story of Stockton, and its curious disappearing grandstand...
1724: The Carrs
The first races were held at Stockton on The Carrs, a stretch of low-lying land on the south side of the River Tees, which in later times became the Head Wrightson works where Margaret Thatcher famously took her walk in the wilderness in 1987.
To raise the course above the waterlevel, the track was built on the "stilts of old oak masts of sailing ships", an engineering feat that was forgotten until the 20th Century when Head Wrightson developed the site and discovered lots of old oak.
At a race meeting in 1735, there was a three mile race of women jockeys – their prize, donated by a gentleman, was a holland smock and a velvet cap together worth two guineas.
A meeting held over four consecutive days in 1752 actually lasted 14 days – it started on September 1 and finished on September 15. This is because 11 days of 1752 were missed out, from September 2 to September 14, as Britain switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar to bring us into line with the rest of Europe.
In 1809, the riverside course was under so much floodwater that horses had to race “belly deep” through it.
The Carrs was next to the great Mandale loop of the river. In 1810, to improve navigation, the Mandale Cut was dug across the neck of loop. The cut was 220 yards long but it saved a difficult journey of 2.5 miles around the loop.
1825: Tibbersley
Stockton races regrouped at another riverside venue at Billingham – indeed, the upper classes of the district travelled to the big race meetings of the year by boat.
The Stockton Gold Cup became the highlight of the calendar. In 1839, it was won by Beeswing, which had won 51 of her 64 races and was known as “the pride of Northumberland”. The Beeswing pub in North Cowton still bears her name.
The Mariners’ Stakes was another popular event. Captains docked their ships in the river and round carthorses around the course, undoubtedly to great applause.
Racing at Tibbersley – there is still a Tibbersley Avenue in Billingham – came to an end around 1846.
1855: Mandale Bottoms
Stockton racecourse, set up with jumps. The old course of the River Tees can be seen running around the course with the modern course of the river running straight at the top of the picture
Stockton races regrouped on a boggy bit of land which had once been inside the Mandale loop and so on the north side – the Stockton side – of the river. However, the creation of the Mandale Cut had left the land high and fairly dry on the south side of the river, in Thornaby, but as the land had formerly been part of Durham, the name “Stockton” remained.
In mid-Victorian times, racing at Stockton was extremely fashionable. In 1864, 36,000 spectators attended a three-day event, sitting in one of the course’s two stands.
And it wasn’t just horses they came to look at. The Sporting Times noted: "The paddock at Stockton showed more mould of form for ladies. not horses. The Teesside sons of toil should be grateful for the opportunity to feast their eyes on the beautiful ladies dressed in their finery."
Colonel Sir Eustace Smith, Eric Wilson and John Chapman of the Stockton racecourse company in March 1966
In 1905, Stockton celebrated its 50th anniversary with the Stockton Jubilee Cup, which had a prize of 750 sovereigns that was won by Lord Derby’s horse, Her Majesty. In 1917, 50,000 spectators attended a two-day meeting at Stockton, and in 1955, was commemorated by the course celebrated its 100th anniversary with the opening of a modern stand. In 1967, when jump racing was introduced for the first time, it changed its named to the more grand sounding “Teesside Park”.
The Duchess of Kent opens the renamed Teesside Park in 1967
However, smaller provincial courses like Stockton/Teesside Park were struggling to attract large enough crowds to make them viable. To drive up attendance, in 1978, Stockton paid Lester Piggott £1,000 to fly up from Newmarket for one race (below).
This was followed by £1.7m of improvements to the course which Princess Anne opened (below).
However, within two years, the racecourse company collapsed, owing £750,000 to Barclay's Bank, and the last race was run on June 16, 1981 – a horse called Suniti being the last ever winner at Stockton.
The site became derelict and was taken over by the Teesside Development Corporation which turned most of it into the Teesside Park retail complex, the first shops opening in 1990.
1991: The disappearing stand
"It will cost around £30,000 and we're most grateful for the offer. To start from scratch would have cost us far more," the club’s chief executive Tom Hughes told The Northern Echo on May 14, 1991.
"The time scale involved, planning permissions and building factors mean there is insufficient time to complete the work before the start of next season. We are therefore going to store the parts we need and will complete the necessary paperwork in order to start rebuilding at the end of next season. These jobs have to be done properly and we're building something that will stand for a long time."
On June 13, 1992, the Echo reported that the club had not yet applied for planning permission to erect the large stand so it couldn’t possibly be ready for the start of the new season.
The report was headlined: “Club running out of time over disappearing stand”, and it ended enigmatically: “The stand has been stored somewhere between Thornaby and Darlington for several months.”
The racecourse stand never made it to Feethams, and it has now become the stuff of urban legends. As the Echo’s headline hinted, the stand that could hold several thousand people just disappeared into thin air. Its final resting place is unknown, as is the identity of whoever sold it on or, perhaps, it still lies somewhere between Thornaby and Darlington as a strange memorial to both horseracing in Stockton and league football in Darlington.
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