Last of the London Racers.
A photojournalism project completed and exhibited at University of the Arts London.
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, located in Plough Lane, was one of a number of racing tracks in London in the 20th century first opening in 1928. The popularity of racing during this time grew so extortionately that 'In the fifties, Londoners were so keen to get a piece of the action that they forged tickets to the value of £1000 every week to get in" (Carneige, 2017)'. However, a range of social and economic issues have since contributed to the closure of many of these stadiums. During the year these images were taken, the venue stood as the last remaining racing stadium to exist in London before it too closed its doors on March 25th 2017. Prior to its closure, Wimbledon was known to host greyhound racing, banger racing, day markets, car boot sales and more. Many of the attendees were locals and regulars who had been part of the venue for years, some for decades. The closure of the stadium references a larger scale redevelopment of predominantly working-class spaces in the UK. I had the chance to visit in the months leading up to the stadium's closure. As a local resident with familial links to the venue, I took an interest in preserving the final part of the stadium's history and discovering what its closure meant to those who frequented the venue. The images in this series tell the story of the final months leading up to it's last weekend of events, around 90 years after the stadium first opened its doors.