Greyhound racing at Shawfield Park, 1955. The dogs raced around a floodlit track on the periphery of the football pitch.
Greyhound racing was introduced to Great Britain from the USA in 1926. In 1928 four dog tracks were built in Glasgow. Shawfield Park (the home of Clyde FC), lay outside the city boundaries but was popular with Glaswegians. Greyhound racing began there in 1932 and the Shawfield Greyhound Racing Co eventually acquired the stadium from the football club, which left in 1986. Racing continues at Shawfield Greyhound Stadium in 2004.
In 1955 Partick Camera Club set out to create a photographic survey of Glasgow. As the project progressed, other camera clubs joined and each was allocated a district of the city to photograph. Glasgow Museums exhibited the photographs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and at the People's Place, and in 1956 the exhibition was shown at the Palace of Art in Bellahouston Park. The photographs are now part of Glasgow Museums' collections.
Reference: 1005.97.271 / OG.1955.121.[228]
Reproduced with the permission of Partick Camera Club
Keywords:
Clyde FC, dog racing, dog tracks, dogs, football stadia, football stadiums, Glasgow Photographic Survey 1955, greyhound racing, greyhounds, Shawfield Greyhound Stadium, Shawfield Park, Shawfield Stadium