Carmarthen Park Velodrome

Postcard from Carmarthen Park (1908)

The cycling track in 1912. The light areas are renewed concrete slabs, the dark ones are original.

The Carmarthen Park in Welsh Carmarthen dates from 1900 and is used to this day.

Carmarthen Park Open Velodrome was built in 1899. It is 405 meters long, which is the equivalent of a quarter of a mile, and its surface is made of concrete , which was considered extremely advanced at the time. It is the oldest velodrome in the world that has never been renovated and is still in operation and was the first in Wales . The track is located in the municipal Carmarthen Park and is owned by the municipality. Like the surrounding park, it was opened on Easter Monday 1900 in front of 8,000 spectators. Two of the original stands have been preserved to this day. There is a rugby pitch inside the cycling track .

The idea is said to have arisen on the cycling track in Carmarthen Park to hold standing races behind motorcycles as a pacemaker instead of behind multi-seat bicycles as before. Motorcycle races and stunt demonstrations also took place here. The American A. M. Schreyer , also known as Daredevil Schreyer , did the stunt demonstration Down the Chute on the cycling track in 1905 , during which he jumped a bicycle from a 30 meter high ramp and landed in a water basin.

Today the track is used by the Towy Riders Cycle Club for youth work, which has been very popular since the 2008 Olympic Games due to the numerous successes of British track cyclists . As part of general renovation work, the cycling track was renewed from 2008 and modern, covered grandstands were also built.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Re-vamp for Victorian velodrome on news.bbc.co.uk v. August 1, 2008
2. ↑ Carmarthen Park Enhancements on wales.gov.uk v. November 7, 2011 ( Memento of the original from April 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 

Web links

Commons : Carmarthen Park Velodrome  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Historian is on track for velodrome celebration on thisissouthwales.co.uk
• Carmarthen Park on carmarthentowncouncil.gov.uk
• In pictures: Victorian velodrome on news.bbc.co.uk v. September 1, 2008
• An A to Z Guide to Carmarthen, South West Wales at travel.wikinut.com
• Carmarthen Park on fixedgearfever.com

Coordinates: 51 ° 51 '17.2 "  N , 4 ° 18' 58.1"  W.