Birmingham - Halesowen Manor Abbey Stadium
Manor Lane : B62 8RW Birmingham - Halesowen Manor Abbey Stadium : Image credit Halesowen Cycling Club Birmingham - Halesowen Manor Abbey Stadium : Image credit Barnaby Garrood aerosensor In 1943 the Halesowen Athletics and Cycling Club looked for land to develop a club facility. In 1946, 11 acres of wet marshland in Manor Lane Halesowen was purchased from Lord Cobham for £950 with interest free loans from four members of the club. They launched an appeal for £5,000 to complete the scheme. A cycle track and an athletics track were built by A & J Mucklow, using 100,000 tons of clinker from Birmingham Corporation. The Halesowen track, known as the Manor Abbey Stadium, was completed in 1949. It is a 400yds asphalt track, 27ft wide and is banked to 23 degrees. There is a running track inside the cycle track and a cricket pitch within that.

The track opened with a meeting on 6th August 1949 hosted by the Halesowen Athletics and Cycling Club in front of 12,000 spectators.

Sid Patterson, the World Sprint Champion, rode at the June 9th 1950 track meet winning the 500m scratch and 10 miles events. Also in August that year, Reg Harris and Arie van Vleit, the new winner and runner up in the World Professional sprint championship, both appeared at on the Manor Abbey track. There was a further meeting in September that year.

The Halesowen A & CC had regular Whit Monday meet which drew large crowds for the athletics and cycle racing. In the 1950's Halesowen had strong competition for top class events from the Coventry Butts stadium and the new Salford Park track.

The marshland on which the track was built was liable to flooding and in 1964 the level of the track was raised by 1 metre and a 400m cycling track was constructed by RM Douglas.

A refurbishment was undertaken in 1994 and a complete resurfacing contract by Tarmac Ltd. was carried out in 2004.

Halesowen CC still organise activities at the track and run a Friday night track league. The club has bikes for members use. This video shows a Halesowen CC track league meeting

Birmingham - Halesowen Manor Abbey Stadium : Image credit Barnaby Garrood aerosensor
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Photos : Halesowen Cycling Club, Barnaby Garrood aerosensor