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That entrance prices will remain unchanged in 2026 for the 11th consecutive year.
Paddock Enclsoure £12
Concessions £10
Annual Membership £155
Concessions £130
Paddock Enclsoure £12
Concessions £10
Annual Membership £155
Concessions £130
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an extremely well run course haven't been for a few years but I will be back
Very well run racecourse.
Members get 60 free days at other racecourses too.
Bargain.
Members get 60 free days at other racecourses too.
Bargain.
1922 footage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjCjti_tv7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjCjti_tv7w
Anyone not been to Hexham and Kelso November 6th7th next winter they race Friday Saturday well worth a visit to both you won’t be disappointed in either both totally unique.
The Border Point to Point takes place at Hexham this coming Saturday. Cash only event!!
Too far away for me but it always looks a fair course. Those prices are amazing. I must fit in a holiday in Northumberland round a meeting and fly to Newcastle from Bristol.
The scenery views all around are better than any uk racecourse sageform.
I was considering cashing in and retiring to the Hexham area from the south, before Rachel gets the lot. Possibly even Durham or Carlisle. Need to do a tour of that part of the world so no reason why I can't take in some race meetings. Newcastle is a bit like what I'd want to get away from, heard bad things about Redcar.
Heard bad things about both as it happens! I've never been to that part of the country at all, which is quite shocking! If I do a mini tour more likely to be in the jumping season, so I could take in Sedgefield as well.
Nothing wrong with Redcar racecourse cider as it situated before the town you won’t see the town ,sedgefield very small but ok nice fish and chip shop on the course,what was you meaning about Newcastle?
Primarily It would be for scoping out a place to live. Handy to take in some new racecourses to me along the way. I'm likely to go rural, or at least semi rural.
Nothing much rural about Newcastle but it’s a great city.
London gave me enough city living for a lifetime. Though I feel like you only really find out about somewhere if you live there. I couldn't wait to escape London, however.
Hexham is at least 30M from Newcastle and is a good Course offering excellent value,Cider.
Maybe you could get a guided tour from YHTL Cider 
chuck in free tea/coffee and 2 guest vouchers , annual members bar and its a steal . if you wrap up warm its a lovely spot and the whole year of touring round other courses for free is an ideal excuse to retire after a miserable budget this week ...i too have not been for some years but might give it a go again . jimnast is bang on with doubling up at kelso . granted ok weather a trip and half. all for the price of a bottle of champagne at chester !
Another plus for Hexham is they still allow you to go down by the last fence where more and more tracks are no longer allowing it.
£5.50 for a pint of IPA isnt too bad either in this day and age.
Not sure of the answer to this but is there a curiosity bus from the town to the racecourse?
sure there is still a courtesy bus from hexham rail station at least .
Windsor.
If you walk it you will need an oxygen tank when you get to the course.
Hope you are well.
Ronnie.
If you walk it you will need an oxygen tank when you get to the course.
Hope you are well.
Ronnie.
Thanks Windsor I hoped that was the answer quite ridiculous how the small courses like Hexham,Ludlow catterick and others manage to do this yet jcr and arc can’t do it.
There is a courtesy bus from the railway station, beware though, it can get busy and you might not always be able to get on it coming back, be sure or book a taxi.
Love this track - my favourite of the twenty or so I've been to. Great viewing of the racing and you can get very close to the saddling boxes, parade ring and winner's enclosure (though the latter is very small). It's a far more intimate and personal experience than Newcastle, which is big, impersonal and spaced out in my opinion.
Last time I attended, there was a free bus which stopped at both the train and bus stations. I have, however, walked it before and it's decidedly steep for most of the way
The countryside to the south of the track is lovely and the Dipton Mill Inn is a quirky little boozer, also south of the course.
Last time I attended, there was a free bus which stopped at both the train and bus stations. I have, however, walked it before and it's decidedly steep for most of the way
The countryside to the south of the track is lovely and the Dipton Mill Inn is a quirky little boozer, also south of the course.
Congratulations Hexham, absolute ray of sunshine in these grim times. Well done on keeping the sharks at bay and showing how a racecourse can enhance the local community. I haven't been yet but that is something I plan to put right soon.
And you can make a side trip to Hadrian's wall if you have a car. Still a long way from Somerset.
Heart of All England Maiden Hunter's Chase - Hexham.
They don't make race titles like that any more. May time, and the best and only time to go if you ask me. Otherwise, it's full of old totters after a Full English, providing they can drive up the hill.
They don't make race titles like that any more. May time, and the best and only time to go if you ask me. Otherwise, it's full of old totters after a Full English, providing they can drive up the hill.
Jimnast: The two JCR courses in the West Country both provide free buses to the track: Exeter from St David's station and Wincanton from Templecombe.
Taunton and Newton Abbot also offer free buses from the station, though anyone who takes a bus from Newton Abbot station to the course is a right lazy so-and-so imo.
Taunton and Newton Abbot also offer free buses from the station, though anyone who takes a bus from Newton Abbot station to the course is a right lazy so-and-so imo.
Screaming, I always go to the course at Newton Abbot from the station via the baldy shop in the High Street, it's a pleasant walk
When I grew up in London, a "totter" was a rag and bone man
When I grew up in London, a "totter" was a rag and bone man
That's right. The correct term for an elderly racegoer is 'old duffer'.
Back in the eighties I was living with a girl in Brighton, and we used to go to Fontwell regularly, via Barnham station. Earwigging the old duffers on that bus to the course was a highlight of the day for the girlfriend - they were comedy gold. They just moaned incessantly about every aspect of racing, about the trains, about the state of the bus, basically about everything life had to offer.
I was sitting on that bus on my own a few weeks ago, and it costs £4 return now that ARC have taken over the course, and ARC have ruined Fontwell, the place is dead on its arse, and it's going to be sold for housing soon, and the game is finished anyway, I don't know why I bother going any more ... and all those old duffers from the eighties are gone now too ... until I caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the window ...
Back in the eighties I was living with a girl in Brighton, and we used to go to Fontwell regularly, via Barnham station. Earwigging the old duffers on that bus to the course was a highlight of the day for the girlfriend - they were comedy gold. They just moaned incessantly about every aspect of racing, about the trains, about the state of the bus, basically about everything life had to offer.
I was sitting on that bus on my own a few weeks ago, and it costs £4 return now that ARC have taken over the course, and ARC have ruined Fontwell, the place is dead on its arse, and it's going to be sold for housing soon, and the game is finished anyway, I don't know why I bother going any more ... and all those old duffers from the eighties are gone now too ... until I caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the window ...
Thanks screaming that’s good to know perhaps there’s hope for some of there other tracks particularly haydock which is around 4 miles from the station and taxis very difficult to get back from the course,are both the eastern eye and the cider bar still going strong in newton abbot ?
Shame if fontwell goes
Shame if fontwell goes
this thread suggests to me there are many who look fondly upon smaller , mainly jumpimg ,tracks that still have a certain charm . if you come across a book called ' courses of action ' by aylwin sampson then bag it . it was published in 1984 and apart from the entertaining text describing the character of each racecourse ( all uk at time ) there are stacks of lovely b/w sketches in there . the double page one of hexham is wonderful. even nottingham looks good !
Good morning Windsor
I should think you like many others on this thread remember the annual book travelling the turf
I should think you like many others on this thread remember the annual book travelling the turf
A couple of people I know and trust have described Arena's intention to close Fontwell and sell it for housing as being an "open secret".
At the last Newton Abbot meeting Martin Cruddace (Arena supremo) was spotted in conversation with John Brown (ex-Arena employee and now CEO at Newton Abbot). Who knows what they were discussing? A transfer of fixtures? An Arena buyout? How to ruin a venue with even more beer tents, stage sets, bouncy castles?
I don't know what to make of Arena. You look at the deliberate rundown of Fontwell Park and they are clearly the enemy. The policy of transforming the bus from the station into a commercial enterprise is annoying (£4 return from Barnham, £6 from Bath, I don't know what from Chepstow as I prefer to walk).
On the other hand, they did re-open Hereford, which must have been 100/1 against. About a quarter of the meetings there are horrible, with beer tents erected right in front of the last fence. But midweek fixtures like yesterday's are absolutely fine. It could have been 1995, rather than 2025, and that's a compliment.
Then there's the incredible value of Membership - join one course as a Member and you get in all their other courses for free, plus several dozen reciprocals with other courses (good ones too - days at Newbury, Cheltenham, Ascot, etc. for Bath members).
And they do run my favourite course, Brighton. No complaints about anything there. Even the big screen is brilliant, as it's the one course in the country where none of the track is obscured by it. The fact that the free shuttle bus is only available for the August meeting doesn't bother me, as the walk down Trafalgar St, across the Level and up Southover St and Race Hill is glorious. Makes me feel like a teenage student in Brighton again.
At the last Newton Abbot meeting Martin Cruddace (Arena supremo) was spotted in conversation with John Brown (ex-Arena employee and now CEO at Newton Abbot). Who knows what they were discussing? A transfer of fixtures? An Arena buyout? How to ruin a venue with even more beer tents, stage sets, bouncy castles?
I don't know what to make of Arena. You look at the deliberate rundown of Fontwell Park and they are clearly the enemy. The policy of transforming the bus from the station into a commercial enterprise is annoying (£4 return from Barnham, £6 from Bath, I don't know what from Chepstow as I prefer to walk).
On the other hand, they did re-open Hereford, which must have been 100/1 against. About a quarter of the meetings there are horrible, with beer tents erected right in front of the last fence. But midweek fixtures like yesterday's are absolutely fine. It could have been 1995, rather than 2025, and that's a compliment.
Then there's the incredible value of Membership - join one course as a Member and you get in all their other courses for free, plus several dozen reciprocals with other courses (good ones too - days at Newbury, Cheltenham, Ascot, etc. for Bath members).
And they do run my favourite course, Brighton. No complaints about anything there. Even the big screen is brilliant, as it's the one course in the country where none of the track is obscured by it. The fact that the free shuttle bus is only available for the August meeting doesn't bother me, as the walk down Trafalgar St, across the Level and up Southover St and Race Hill is glorious. Makes me feel like a teenage student in Brighton again.
SFBTW
You will like this one day at the Paddy power meeting bus from the high Street to the course ticket guy says 9 quid return I said I don't want a return we only do return got on the poxy bus broke down opposite the park .got the bus back into the town on the Sunday six quid.Hope you are well.Ronnie.
You will like this one day at the Paddy power meeting bus from the high Street to the course ticket guy says 9 quid return I said I don't want a return we only do return got on the poxy bus broke down opposite the park .got the bus back into the town on the Sunday six quid.Hope you are well.Ronnie.
Take your bike on the train to Cheltenham next time, Ronnie. That's what Stephen Little does; that way he's able to splash out on dinner from that chip shop by the station after racing.
He also still takes the bike on the train to Ludlow, which I've never quite understood, because there's a free shuttle bus on offer.
Then again, he probably doesn't understand why I still take my bike to Castle Cary station and cycle up to Wincanton racecourse (I just love the ride through the Blackmore Vale). I remember cycling back along a deserted lane from there thirty years ago, when suddenly a car containing Little's staff overtook me at speed, about six inches from my right calf, with a jeering Ashley leaning out of the passenger window and letting me know what he thought of cyclists.
Happy days. Stephen Little criss-crossing the country with a small army of floormen, laying insane bets to anyone at market prices, each way always available. Now it's a highlight if there's a Baldfred shop on the way to the track which doesn't restrict us to SP only.
He also still takes the bike on the train to Ludlow, which I've never quite understood, because there's a free shuttle bus on offer.
Then again, he probably doesn't understand why I still take my bike to Castle Cary station and cycle up to Wincanton racecourse (I just love the ride through the Blackmore Vale). I remember cycling back along a deserted lane from there thirty years ago, when suddenly a car containing Little's staff overtook me at speed, about six inches from my right calf, with a jeering Ashley leaning out of the passenger window and letting me know what he thought of cyclists.
Happy days. Stephen Little criss-crossing the country with a small army of floormen, laying insane bets to anyone at market prices, each way always available. Now it's a highlight if there's a Baldfred shop on the way to the track which doesn't restrict us to SP only.
SFBTW - the fare from Chepstow station to the track is a couple of quid each way but a sometimes the driver will allow an English OAP bus pass - 
Echo your comments re ARC pricing. an annual badge is tremendous value but the walk up day admission prices are hideous.
Echo your comments re ARC pricing. an annual badge is tremendous value but the walk up day admission prices are hideous.
A friend of mine from student days in Brighton turned 66 last week, and has already made use of his OAP bus pass. I was born in 1961, so I don't become an OAP until I'm 67, which is great, because it means I've got nearly three whole years to make fun of his OAP bus pass.
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