The first bicycle race at Egerton Park was probably at the Foresters and Oddfellows combined fete which was held on July 23rd 1879 and included a one mile bicycle race. It was some time before the next bicycle racing was seen at the ground.
Melton Town Football Club held their athletic sports at Egerton Front Park on August Bank Holiday 1892, unfortunately there was rain in afternoon but the attendance was still nearly one thousand. There was a one mile bicycle handicap race which was confined to members of Melton Mowbray Cycling Club, this was won by FW Taylor, who won as he liked. In the two miles bicycle race, there were 14 entries and AE Strickland had a runaway victory winning by a lap. The Melton Volunteer Band provided the music, there dancing after the sports and fireworks. It was estimated that the net proceeds from the event would be £30.
Egerton Park Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club started holding a Whit Monday sports meeting in 1893 in an effort to clear £500 of debts that had been incurred when they layed out the cricket ground enclosure some seven years previous. The event attracted 3,000 spectators and there were two bicycle handicap races over one and two miles. Entries were restricted to people living within ten miles of the town, which effectively meant that the sports were local. The Whit Monday and August Bank holiday sports were held each year until 1895.
Melton Mowbray Cycling Club was formed in 1884, but it was not until the mid-1890s that they participated in racing, initially on the road, and the Earl of Lonsdale donated a silver Challenge Cup to the club. Eight members of Melton Mowbray CC were summoned for furious riding after their club race on the road in 1899. The club moved their racing on to the path and promoted their first track meeting in 1899 at Egerton Park.
Melton Mowbray Cycling Club held their first track meeting at the ground on Thursday evening July 13th 1899. There were three running races and four bicycle races, restricted to people living within six miles of the ground. The half mile bicycle handicap race was won by long marker F Rist off 90 yards and the veterans mile handicap race by Coker. This was the first time that the Lonsdale Challenge Cup** was decided on the track and it was won by RG Atkinson, who also received a gold medal, there were eighteen starters. The Sunlight Soap bill posting competition provided much amusement, competitors had to ride around the track with poster and brush, paste up the poster then ride around again to the finish.
Melton Mowbray CC held Whit Monday sports in association with the Egerton Park Cricket Club on Whit Monday 1900. There were 150 competitors and nearly 3,000 spectators. The running races were restricted to locals within five miles and the bicycle races were for members of the cricket and cycling clubs. The best races of the day was the final of the two miles handicap race in which a late spurt by A Lunn saw him lose by just three inches to H Stevens. The Melton Town Band was in attendance and there was dancing in the evening. The event made £52 profit.
Melton Mowbray CC repeated their Thursday evening sports meeting on July 26th 1900, for a few more years. The cycling club Whit sports were held until around 1907 and the August Bank Holiday sports were held until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, with meetings alternating between the cricket ground and Egerton Park. Bicycle racing did not resume at the ground after the war.
Egerton Park was purchased by Melton Mowbray Town Estate++ in 1931 and is the home of Melton Mowbray Cricket Club. It has two football pitches and it is used for major town events and festivities. Egerton Lodge served a council offices and in 1987 it became a residential care home, but the care company became insolvent in 2023.
** The original Lonsdale Challenge cup, valued at ten guineas, was won outright in 1904 by A Lunn, but the Earl of Lonsdale, a sports lover, generously donated a massive silver bowl for a new trophy in 1905.
++ Melton Mowbray Town Estate was founded in 1549 for the benefit of the Town's citizens, promoting cultural and recreational activities, managing parks, sports grounds, leisure facilities, it still exists.