WORCESTER

  Badges through the decades

Brief History

Earliest evidence of a meeting at Pitchcroft,Worcester on 20th June in which horses ran the best of 3 two mile heats and the winner was to be sold for £7.

1739

1754

1755

1823

1880

Thoughts about The Pitchcroft, by Eric Graham

“Everything you write ends up as bloody autobiography!” I was being addressed by an editor. We were trying to put together a ‘Come and Enjoy Sport in Britain’ brochure which was aimed at the Argentine market.

Although the remark was true, as was much of what was said in the off-Fleet Street pub we frequented at lunch times, I was somewhat put out. The previous Saturday I had made my first visit to The Pitchcroft, or Worcester Racecourse as it is now universally known. I wanted to include the course as ‘a place to visit’.

Worcester was an easy city to get to by train from London. Quick, and the ‘day return’ excellent value. The ‘exes’ were not even burdened by taxi costs as the course was an easy walk from the station.

That day was my kind of race-day. Pouring rain, visibility ranging from misty to near impenetrable, nine races too. I fell in love with the place.

~ ~ ~ ~

In the best racing book that has been, or ever will be written, J C Whyte refers to racing on Pitchcroft meadow. They then had two meetings; an August two day affair and a single day in November, the latter being dismissed as a hunters stakes event for gentleman riders.

Worcestershire at this time, 1840, had meetings at Bromyard, Dudley, Stowebridge, Upton upon Severn and Worcester. But to judge from Whyte’s description Worcester was the one to attend with the theatre open, in a ‘neat and appropriate building’, and you could attend concert and assembly rooms, a library and the public baths were at your service.

Main races were the Worcestershire Stakes, a two miler. A six furlong sprint for two and three year olds [the Malvern Stakes] and The Gold Cup over a stamina testing three miles. All was presided over by William Tolley, clerk of the Course. Unlike many courses at this time Newmarket rules applied. Beware anyone bent on sharp practice!

By the time Whyte was putting together his magnum opus there had been racing on The Pitchcroft for over 100 years. In 1718 a race for a saddle was advertised for horses carrying 10 stone in three 2 mile heats. In addition pedestrianism featured. A race for men with a pair of silver buckles as reward and a contest for ladies with a 14 shilling hat as first prize. That must have been some day out!

Up to the first world war there were two ferries crossing the Severn to link east and west banks. The first at the far end of the straight and the second about where the stands are today. This is the one I would have preferred to use, as on alighting in the meadow one would have been confronted by the ‘Grand Stand Inn‘, open all hours. The number of ‘return’ crossings that were missed due to the Inn is not recorded.

For over 120 years Worcester hosted both Flat and National Hunt. That was till 1966 when they dropped flat racing. This was a great pity; the course was a very good one. The circuit was 1 mile 7 furlongs with easy turns and suited strong galloping horses. The run-in was about 3 furlongs and the course just about flat.

Cutting out the Flat was supposed to save money, a move that obviously did not work as by 1984 an application was made to the Jockey Club for flat fixtures again. The J C was having none of this. At the time the Club’s master plan of cutting the calendar down to twelve flat and six jumping courses was in full flight. And guess one of those to get the chop if ‘The Plan’ went through? Still, not getting the fixtures did not hurt the course over much as by 1989 it was making a profit of £190,000 a year.

Following the loss of flat racing it was decided to ‘upgrade the facilities’. This term means ‘destroy any vestige of good architecture, throw tarmac over every blade of grass you can and cut down all the trees‘. When I first arrived on the course I was much taken with the brick stand. Highly convenient. Everything to hand and excellent viewing. The parade ring was close by. In fact if you liked horses, liked to bet and liked a drink Worcester was the place. Was being the correct word as in 1975 the bulldozers moved in and up went the new stand. Wonderful! The only problem being it was built at the wrong angle to the course and as the horses passed the post and headed out on their left hand circuit you could not see them! Such is progress. Other aspects of the grand re-opening were similarly flawed but listing them would rather spin this out. Suffice to say if you get the 28 March 1975 Sporting Life all will be revealed.

As the course is flat, by the river Severn and is in England a word must by said about the weather, and its effects. During the winter the river rises three feet or so. Any more than that and The Pitchcroft is inundated. Even in ‘normal’ winter weather the going can get extremely testing due to the high water table. I well remember a two and a half mile hurdle in which a horse I highly fancied and tipped, was running. You could clock them with a sundial the time it took to get to the stands the first time round. Not that there was any sun.

An indication of ‘climate change’ may be given by the mid-Victorian weather; 1861 to be precise. It was a hard winter and the Severn froze following heavy rain; the flooded ‘meadow’ as the Times chose to refer to it froze too. ‘Thousands of people were desporting themselves on the ice, skating and sliding‘, reported The Thunderer.

But I bet they did not have as much fun as I did on that first visit to The Pitchcroft. As I made my way back to the station with the lights shining brightly I resolved to come again and I did.

Forty odd years on I cannot remember any of the horses I saw in my first few visits apart from the little mare Solomon’s Bride. She was given a magnificent reception after winning a novices’ chase. When I walked through the ring on the way to the paddock three and a half was readily available but from the noise round the unsaddling enclosure I think that and a good deal shorter was taken.

1966

1975

The new grandstand is completed and opened on 26th March.