White City Track

Manchester

White City Track

White City Retail Park
White City Way
MANCHESTER

Telephone: N/A
Fax: N/A

Email:
Website:

Type: Cinder (no longer exists - built over), 391 & 1/9y, 6 lanes, lane straight

Authority:
Ceremonial County: Greater Manchester

NUTS Name: Manchester (WC)

Electronic Map Links:
Multimap 1:10,000 (Street Level)
Multimap 1:25,000 (Area Level)
Multimap 1:50,000 (Area Level)
Multimap 1:100,000 (Road Level)
Multimap 1:200,000 (Road Level)
Streetmap (Street Level)
Streetmap (Area Level)
Streetmap (Road Map)

OS National Grid Reference: SJ 813961
National Grid Reference: 381300, 396100

Paper Maps:
A-Z Greater Manchester 4A 134
A-Z Manchester 2G 107
A-Z Manchester Mini 3A 82
OS Pathfinder Map: 724

Train:

The display of inline maps of track locations is no longer
a free service and so has had to be withdrawn

Please use the Electronic Map links

Sponsorship for www.runtrackdir.com is being sought
Please contact Tim Grose

Other Info:
The track is believed to have opened in July 1953 and was in Chester Road, White City near Old Trafford although the ground was first used for the first speedway meeting in Manchester on 16th June 1928 and was also used for greyhound racing from 1930. The stadium closed in 1982 although it is thought that it was not used for athletics after the 1960s. It was eventually demolished in the late 1980s. In 1984 the location was used for the filming of an episode of the BBC science-fiction series "The Tripods" in 1984 which was broadcast in 1985. The track is shown on the 1982 OS Pathinder Map at what is now White City Retail Park. It is not clear whether they were separate tracks but the running track was reported to be 4.5 laps to the mile (391 & 1/9y). Paavo Nurmi once ran on the track and apparently looked at his stopwatch all the time. There is a picture of race here in 1955 between Emil Zátopek, Gordon Pirie and Derek Ibbotson in the book "The Impossible Hero" - a biography of Gordon Pirie by Dick Booth. This shows that the track had at least 6 lanes and very possibly seven although the 7th "lane" may just be a narrow bit of spare room between the 6th lane and the outer curb. There are also several photos of races in progress in Pirie's autobiography, "Running Wild".

Last update: 20/05/2001

Please send any amendments to Tim Grose