Tranent
Moira Logan recalls: Greyhound racing took place two evenings a week at Forrester's Park, home of Tranent Juniors Football Club. The club got a share of the gate money. Friday racing was particularly popular, as it was pay day (therefore probably not popular with the wives and mothers). I was too young to attend, but my father Willison Lees tells me that all the big bookies from Edinburgh used to come out, so the pubs and chip shops benefited also. On race nights, if anyone who owned or looked after the greyhounds was seen coming out of any of the chip shops with a pie supper, those in the know would not back their dogs, because the pie (deep-fried) was for the dog, so it was 'not trying' that night. The pie must have been like lead in their stomachs. The meetings could be boisterous; one night, after a dubious decision by the judges, the starters' box was turned upside down, with the two men still inside! The races were well attended but there was a bad bend in the track, and after several dogs were killed, owners started to take their dogs to the track at Wallyford (Scarlett's Park). As attendances fell, the meetings were dropped to once a week (Tuesdays), then finally stopped.
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© 2004 Fourth Statistical Account of East Lothian Society