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| THE END Aycliffe
Stadium finally closed on Sunday 19th November 1989. This followed
years of speculation about the future of the stadium. Many rumours had
circulated, virtually from it's inception, that it wouldn't make
another season. In 1974 the promotors - Ron 'Dixie' Deane, Tom Geldard
and Tony Neal - had to sign a temporary
occupancy agreement and a seven week surrender period for the stadium
site. The Council had set aside the land for industrial use. While
there was a great deal of sadness at the stadium's eventual closure, in
hindsight it is more of a suprise that it was around for so long.
Despite a massive effort by the Aycliffe faithful to save the stadium with a huge petition, the factories were knocking on the corrogated iron fence and any efforts were, unfortunately, futile. The village of Aycliffe was at the start of its own mini industrial boom. Fujitsu set up their main UK factory on the industrial estate, and the hoards follwed. The track was cut in half by an access road and the majority of the site was built on. All that remains today is the car park field and the far corner of the F1 pits, although nothing is recognisable. |
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THE END IS NIGH A collection of documents which signalled the end of 35 years of Stock Cars at the venue...  (jpg format - Click above for full size) Durham County Council's official response to the petition which was organised by Jim Wilkinson and signed by around 3000 fans, drivers and staff. Unfortunately, the outcome was a foregone conclusion, but the effort was immense - showing just how much Aycliffe meant to people.  (jpg format - Click above for full size) News of the stadium's future hits the Stock Car Press. Reproduced here from Stoxworld with very kind permission of Colin Elmer.  (Click above for full programme in pdf format) The last ever Aycliffe programme, covering the final two meetings: 5th November 1989 (F1s, F2s and Ministox) and 19th November 1989 (F2s, Hotstox, Saloon Stox and Bangers). Considering the circumstances, it is a fairly upbeat affair looking forward to racing in 1990 at a new venue which never was to open. |
At
turn three. The
factory can be seen in the background at the stadium boundary. When
this
appeared in 1987, the stadium’s days were numbered.
Threatened by closure many
times since the 1960s, this time it was an invasion which it
couldn’t
survive.
From
turn 3 looking
down the main straight.
The
far corner of the
F1 pits, apparently the only surviving area of the stadium today.
Seemingly used as some kind of yard for a factory making sofa beds for
Argos (thanks Al!)...
From
the back of the
F1 pits looking out over the track. On the left is the ‘posh
loos’, which is
all that remained of the old clubhouse. Even now, it’s
strange to see the place
so empty.
Looking
across from the
beginning of the pit area on turn one. On raceday this space would be a
hive of
activity with coaches arriving through the grandstand, drivers booking
in, kids
running to the sweetshop and people trying to avoid the brick toilets
just
behind us!
From
between turns 1
and 2, looking at the back straight. The experience of standing on the
backstraight watching the F1s was terrifying. You stood very close to
the track and there was no real protection. Even when the stadium was
jammed
to capacity, this area was normally fairly sparsely occupied!
Taken
from turn 2. To
the left of the grandstand you see the 'race control' and the caravan
which
housed the sweet shop. Half out of the shot on the far left is the
commentary
box, home through the 80s of ace pisstaker and occassional commentator,
Richie
Monkhouse...
The
boundary fence in
the F1 pits, constructed from corrugated iron, as was the majority of
the
stadium! A real relic of the stadium, this fence carried the numbers of
the
many cars which had parked there over the years. Here the number 99 is
the most
visible, but the number 33 can just be made out in blue - placed there
by our
photographer in 196something...
Looking
from turn 3, the
grandstand dominates. To the right of it is the portacabin bar which
replaced
the Clubhouse which had been demolished in the mid to late 70s to
provide
increased pit space.
The
Formula 2 pits
added during the mid 80s, and replacing the scrapyard and unloading
ramp which
had stood there previously. The boundaries of the stadium were pushed
back into the car park to allow extra room.
The
first sight to
welcome people to the stadium. Stood at the entrance to the car park. |
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GOODBYE F1 5TH NOVEMBER 1989 It
was the end of an era, and in some ways the beginning of the end for
BriSCA F1 in the North East. Having joined the 'Board of Control'
tracks in 1966 (despite having run for many years before that),
Aycliffe went on to run Senior / Formula 1 Stock Cars for 23
uninterupted years.
So, for the last time ever BriSCA F1s rolled out onto the track. Sadly, lower than expected car numbers meant a two heat meeting. Aycliffe had suffered low turn outs throughout it's final years - partly due to clashing meetings in the Midlands. This was expected to be different though, with the Grand National Championship up for grabs and the occassion of the last meeting. Lack of cars, however, never distracted from Aycliffe's reputation as The Action Track. Perhaps it was this reputation which kept certain drivers away, in much the same way as happens with Sheffield these days. This meeting was no exception, plenty of action and a little controversy... The occassion of the final meeting did tempt one local driver out of semi-retirement. John Toulson showed that he had not forgotten his way around the tight Aycliffe oval by taking the first heat with no real problems. The big race of the day, the Grand National Championship, was heat two. The 25 lapper was more or less a two horse race between Peter Falding and John Lund. They had both pulled clear of the rest of the field, but Falding - who never seemed to have a great deal of luck at Aycliffe - retired with a flat tyre, leaving the 53 car to take a fairly easy victory. As with many times at Aycliffe, the meeting really started to warm up when it came to the Consolation race. Local hero, Terry Forster had controlled the race from the front until the final lap. Falding had worked his way through to second, and nudged Forster wide as they went into the first turn of the last lap, slipping through on the inside. Nine times out of ten this would be enough for a win in a Consolation as the second place man settles for a place in the Final. Falding hadn't reckoned on Terry's determination to take a win at the last meeting at his home track. Forster's front bumper was let loose on Falding as they entered the last corner - Falding was fired hard into Gaz Bott and Forster went through to take the most popular victory of the day. The crowd were ecstatic and you would have thought Terry had won the World Final, as he climbed onto the roof of his car to salute the crowd! The Final saw John Lund take his 26th Aycliffe Final victory - a record that John is still to break for any other single track even 17 years later! However, the action was all taking place behind him. Early leader, Terry Forster looked to be on for a good second place until the 33 car loomed large in his mirrors - once more on the last lap. This time, either deciding to not take any chances or feeling that the moment was ripe for revenge, Falding went in hard into turn one. Amazingly, Forster held on. One more chance... Falding launched himself at the 414 car with no restraint at all. Terry was only heading in one direction, and that was towards the famous Aycliffe fence with a crunch and sparks flying for one last time. John Toulson sneaked through to snatch second, as Falding recovered to follow him accross the line. But that wasn't the end of it... The Meeting Stewards took the unpresidented step of docking Falding two places for 'deliberate fencing'. Perhaps this was justified (however, no matter how hard anyone was sent into the fence over the years, I cannot recall anyone being docked places for it...), or perhaps it was Aycliffe's last act of defiance in defence of one of its regular racers... The Grand National / Helter Skelter was a fairly sedate affair following all this, notable only for Len Wolfenden taking the honour of the winner of the last ever F1 race at Aycliffe Stadium. As the fireworks / bombs set off the alarms in the car park and in the factories which had brought about the end of the stadium, spectators were left to remember a fitting end to 23 years of BriSCA F1s at Aycliffe with race wins split fairly evenly between the local heros and the travelling favourites. |
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