Hi,
The raceway in Broughton, Salford opened in June 1967 and was known as "Manchester Model Raceways". It was built in the old dance hall above the Rialto cinema and had 3 tracks, a 65ft lap 8 lane novice track, a 120ft lap 8 lane intermediate track and a 240ft lap "super track" which had a 72 degree banked corner at the end of a 45ft straight! The tracks were designed and built by me and Brian Badger, both of us ex Ashton under Lyne and Slots Incorporated club racers, with assistance from several carpenters, with the electrics and lap counters supplied and fitted by Harrison Bros from Southport.
The tracks were built to comply with the then ECRA rules and were constructed from 3/4" RB plywood, money no object at the time! Brian and I were contracted to build all 3 tracks and we started work on them in January 1967. At the same time whilst building the 3 tracks we were asked to design and fit out the old Whisky a Go Go casino in the basement below the raceway which we managed to do (somehow), and that opened in May 1967 as the Whisky a Go Go Disco, a month before the raceway opened. I seem to remember working some stupid hours to get jobs done - 80 to 90 hours a week sometimes. not helped by several interuptions from DJ's Dave Lee Travis and Jimmy Saville. The official opening of the raceway was covered by the Manchester Evening News and then later had some air-time on Granada TV.
It was a shame that the raceway closed so soon, the owners wanted a quick return on their investment and when that didn't happen, they pulled the plug on it, owing a lot of money to a lot of people, including me and Brian.
Hope this throws some light on Manchester's slot car past.
While I'm on here I might as well mention a new club, the North Wales Slot Car Club (NWSCC), at Rhuddlan, near Rhyl. I have returned to slot car racing after a long, long lay-off, thanks to meeting some like-minded people here in North Wales.
We're hoping to put on some open meetings and a round of the BSL in the near future. NWSCC's track was Bolton's 95ft track and was purchased from them last November. It has been refurbished with the drivers rostrum re-sited (for those that know the Bolton track) opposite it's original position.
Chris Rigby
Slots Inc.
The raceway in Broughton, Salford opened in June 1967 and was known as "Manchester Model Raceways". It was built in the old dance hall above the Rialto cinema and had 3 tracks, a 65ft lap 8 lane novice track, a 120ft lap 8 lane intermediate track and a 240ft lap "super track" which had a 72 degree banked corner at the end of a 45ft straight! The tracks were designed and built by me and Brian Badger, both of us ex Ashton under Lyne and Slots Incorporated club racers, with assistance from several carpenters, with the electrics and lap counters supplied and fitted by Harrison Bros from Southport.
The tracks were built to comply with the then ECRA rules and were constructed from 3/4" RB plywood, money no object at the time! Brian and I were contracted to build all 3 tracks and we started work on them in January 1967. At the same time whilst building the 3 tracks we were asked to design and fit out the old Whisky a Go Go casino in the basement below the raceway which we managed to do (somehow), and that opened in May 1967 as the Whisky a Go Go Disco, a month before the raceway opened. I seem to remember working some stupid hours to get jobs done - 80 to 90 hours a week sometimes. not helped by several interuptions from DJ's Dave Lee Travis and Jimmy Saville. The official opening of the raceway was covered by the Manchester Evening News and then later had some air-time on Granada TV.
It was a shame that the raceway closed so soon, the owners wanted a quick return on their investment and when that didn't happen, they pulled the plug on it, owing a lot of money to a lot of people, including me and Brian.
Hope this throws some light on Manchester's slot car past.
While I'm on here I might as well mention a new club, the North Wales Slot Car Club (NWSCC), at Rhuddlan, near Rhyl. I have returned to slot car racing after a long, long lay-off, thanks to meeting some like-minded people here in North Wales.
We're hoping to put on some open meetings and a round of the BSL in the near future. NWSCC's track was Bolton's 95ft track and was purchased from them last November. It has been refurbished with the drivers rostrum re-sited (for those that know the Bolton track) opposite it's original position.
Chris Rigby
Slots Inc.
