Last day of racing at Lewes Racecourse, East Sussex, Monday 14th September 1964

25 years after Brighton Rock , you wouldnt know . Wrong track mind .

Not really a Graham Greene fan myself.

was there a professor pat pending lookalike competition that day?

If I knew who the said Professor was then I might have been able to tell you.

Sparrow, wacky races
And good shout from elise, funny

Right ok, Reg.  At least it was nothing to do with Postman Pat.

Looks like a great course for seeing. Shame it closed, it was obviously popular! Thanks for posting.

I had just started punting around that time and recall a few other closures such as Hurst Park and Rothbury in the early 60s.

From that photo and angle it looks a bit like Hamilton Park.

Yes it does tommy

Another photo from that day.

Always enjoy looking at racecourses I’ve never been to thankfully the pictures are not on one of those links.

jimnast 22 Jan 25 19:37 
Always enjoy looking at racecourses I’ve never been to thankfully the pictures are not on one of those links.





Will show as a link on the Classic Community but on the New Community the photo can be shown as a reply.

Is classic community easy to find sparrow

Found it

I prefer to use the Classic jimnast for ordinary posting and only use the New  Community when wanting to post a photo.

I don’t know the difference sparrow but I’ve never tried to post a photo that I’m afraid would be beyond me.

It's not too difficult once you've tried it a few times jimnast even for an oldie like me.

I can’t even get the links if I want one Andrew sends them to my phone so I can read them

I always use my laptop online and rarely ever bother with a mobile as it's so much easier for me.

Lewes was horseshoe shaped and a bit like Brighton, only 2 or 3 furlongs longer and tother way round. I went a couple of times but don't remember too much as I was 10 or 11.  Went on the bus with Uncle Jack from Barcombe for any that know Sussex. August Meeting(s) were part of Sussex Fortnight along with Brighton (early August) and Goodwood (late July).

Barcombe Mills - you can still hire old-fashioned rowing boats to go up and down the River Ouse

Lewes Racecourse was on the West side of town, not far from the current HMP Prison.
Think there are still gallops there

Barcombe Mills - you can still hire old-fashioned rowing boats to go up and down the River Ouse

Lewes Racecourse was on the West side of town, not far from the current HMP Prison.
Think there are still gallops there

It's still there, I've walked around it several times in the last 20 years or so.  A strong sentimental attachment.  The whole course is on a camber which you pick up as you walk around.  Last time I went the old starting gate posts for 8f and 10f were still in the ground, as was some old wooden running rail in the hedges.

Nice in August on a sunny Sunday.  You can pick wild apples off the trees past the old Heath House Stables where Towser Gosden trained, then blackberries along the hedgerows bordering the old course.  It's been a few years so I don't know if it's become out of bounds now, but we never felt we were trespassing.

Smoky - You can still get a great impression along the top of the downs.  Ditchling Beacon, Blackcap then onto the edge of the racecourse and on round the back of the old stands, past the prison and down into the town itself.

Lewes Races History Group

Images from a bygone era.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36BaZoDmPtc

Jan 22, 2025 -- 10:20PM, themightymac wrote:

Lewes Races History GroupImages from a bygone era.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36BaZoDmPtc

Thanks Mac. Enjoyed that, brought back memories. Sure I saw Piggott, Breasley, Lindley and Bobby Elliot among the Jockeys.Never managed to visit Lewes myself but looked decent course. I was hoping to spot Capt. Price among the trainers, might not have had a runner that day,or maybe schooling the next Schweppes winner at Findon.

Lester not there that day. He was at the other meeting, Wolverhampton, where he had 4 rides, two for his father. (The best he managed was a 4th; Doug Smith rode a treble).

At Lewes were indeed Breasley, Lindley and Elliott (the latter rode the last winner), and also Ron Hutchinson, Brian Taylor, and 7lb claimer Ken Stott, father of Kevin.

Trainers prominent at Lewes that day were the Smyths (Gordon, Ron and Vic), Towser Gosden, Tom Masson, John Benstead, Staff Ingham, Doug Marks, Dave Hanley and Gordon Richards.

Ged.  Did Tom Masson train the last winner.   Bobby Elliott used to ride for him.  He used to come from his home in Wivelsfield Green on his motorbike!  In his apprentice days, Masson would give him money for petrol.

blackbarn - yes he did. Elliott had 2 rides for him that day, one for Peter Ashworth, and one for Doug Marks.

I left out Herbert Smyth before, so that was 4 Smyths on the card with runners.

Thanks Ged, spot on as always. Other trainers that may have featured could have been Feakes,Parker,Thrale,and Muggerridge.
Not sure if Mrs Dingwall had her licence then but Lewes wasn't that far from Poole in Dorset. She sent quite a few to Lanark a lot further. Breasley looked really good there and he had won the Derby earlier that year.

Thanks Ged.  I think R P Elliott had an affection for Lewes...  Extract from Jockeypedia...  Thanks to George as always.

The son of a Daily Express printer, Londoner Bobby Elliott was born on March 20, 1941, and apprenticed to Tom Masson at Barnstaple, Lewes. He had the distinction of being at one time the Queen's lightweight jockey.

His first ride came on Ben's Boy, who managed to finish stone last at Lewes on September 4, 1956. Tom Masson once described Bobby as "a boy in a million - 99lbs of sheer horse riding genius."
Bobby (R.P.) Elliott rode the very last winner at Lewes before its closure in September 1964. By coincidence, on August 18, 1958, the then 17-year-old apprentice rode his first-ever winner, Dante's Inferno at the same course.

Tome Masson must have spent less than £1.00 on the petrol in those days as the journey total under 10 miles!

Standing on the old track one can see Brighton racecourse main stand which is about 7 miles away.

I have been to the old racecourse a number of times and I believe one of the main reasons why the track closed was that there was overall poor attendance which sometimes never covered the prize money and also just a single track road to the course from the main road and used to be often very congested on race days

I know that the buildings are in private ownership but there are signs stating the land is owned by the Duke of Abergavenny. The duke of Abergavenny's family have had ties in the area for several centuries and has a pub nearby named after the family.

Just across the road near the road leading up to the track Sussex police have a large building where they service and repair vehicles this used to be a horse racing stables in days gone by.

As most know John Gosden's father Towser used to train in Lewes but the second lady trainer in the U.K. and the first lady trainer to have 100 winners was Auriol Sinclair she was based at the Nunnery stables in Lewes.

Quite an expensive town to live in but a strong community spirit the town have vowed to never have a Wetherspoon pub and when one landlord attempted to sell other beers alongside Harveys which is brewed in the town his pub was boycotted until it returned to a Harveys only pub.

Tommy - yes, Dick Thrale had 2 runners on the card; Matt Feakes 1.

J Bartholomew had 3 runners, but I don't remember him.

Bob Butchers, who was Newsboy for nearly 40 years, was born in Lewes and always considered the town home. He was friendly with all the trainers there, and was apprenticed to Tom Masson as a youngster. Matt Feakes was best man at his wedding.

Matt Feakes' best horse was Kings Bench, who was 2nd in the 1952 2000gns.

Dick Thrale trained Indigenous, who set the 5f course record at Epsom in 1960, that stood for several decades. He and his cousin Peter both trained at Epsom. Dick was Richard Dunwoody's grandfather.

KennethT - QUOTE - Quite an expensive town to live in but a strong community spirit the town have vowed to never have a Wetherspoon pub and when one landlord attempted to sell other beers alongside Harveys which is brewed in the town his pub was boycotted until it returned to a Harveys only pub.

This was the Lewes Arms pub, bought by Greene King, who 2007'ish REMOVED (ffs) Harveys completely from the range of beers available. Greene King's "humiliating climbdown" is well documented on Wiki.  The pub is now owned by Fullers and sells a full range of Harvey's Beer, including if you are quick Harveys Old, one of the worlds great seasonal beers. Sussex wunt be druv!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewes_Arms_controversy

Great film Mac thanks. Superb memories of my teens. What struck me most was the litter at the end. People thought it was fine to just drop their papers, cards and betting slips and walk away, all on the lovely Downs. At least somethings improved !

Thanks Mac ..enjoyed that

Viewing the video it didn't look that big of a crowd for the last ever race day....another thing you notice is a few bobbies on the track, nowadays replaced by security.