Walthamstow Dog Track - the end of an era

(16 Aug 2008) SHOTLIST
London, 14 August 2008
1. Various Walthamstow Stadium exterior
2. Wide shot trainers walking with dogs
3. Mid shot greyhound
4. Mid shot greyhounds leaving traps
5. Mid shot man shouts directions to punters
6. Various racetrack goers arriving at stadium /
7. SOUNDBITE (English) racetrack goer - name not supplied (VOXPOP)
"It'll be awful, it's just so iconic whenever you drive past and you see the big lights, it's lovely. It'll just be a really sad day when it gets knocked down, really sad"
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Racetrack goer - name not supplied (VOXPOP)
"Money's the icon, nevermind about the monuments, money's the icon."
9. Various racetrack goers on terraces
10. Various racetrack goers seated
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Racing Manager Chris Page
"We've seen everything here from The Krays - the criminals of the sixties, Winston Churchill right through to Guy Ritchie, Vinnie Jones, and David Beckham worked here as a fourteen-year-old collecting glasses. If he'd have stayed he would have been catering manager by now!"
12. Various campaigners collecting signatures
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Save Our Stow campaigner Rick Holloway
"If you close this greyhound stadium you take the very heart out of the East End and the heart out of Walthamstow - what it's famous for. It would be like Blackpool without the Pleasure Beach."
14. Various Save Our Stow campaigners walk & chant
15. Pan racetrack goers chanting to Save Our Stow campaigners
16. Mid shot Save Our Stow campaigners with banner
LEAD IN
London will lose one of its most iconic sporting venues this weekend when Walthamstow Greyhound Stadium closes its doors for the final time.
Over the years it has hosted everyone from East End villains to Hollywood A listers, and counts David Beckham among its former bar staff.
STORYLINE
After 75 years, Walthamstow greyhound track has run its course. On Saturday (16 August 2008) the dogs will race from the trap for a final time.
The boisterous east London stadium - which has hosted everyone from Sir Winston Churchill to Lana Turner, Vinnie Jones and Brad Pitt - has been sold to housing developers for a reported GBP �22.5m (US $ 41.9 million).
Walthamstow was opened in 1933 by William Chandler, a local businessman who started out operating as an illegal street bookmaker. The stadium has stayed in the family, but they say that rising running costs, as well as falling attendances and profits, have made operations unsustainable.
The advent of high street and internet gambling means punters are no longer gambling in such great numbers with traditional bookmakers (gambling shops).
Racetrack goers are unhappy to see the end of an era. One woman said that it would be sad to see the icon go. Another said that money was at the root of its closure.
Since it opened its doors for the first time 75 years ago, Walthamstow Stadium has attracted a mixed clientele and among them, some famous and infamous names.
Racing Manager Chris Page lists the celebrities who have walked though the famous neon gates - including an international soccer star who worked there as a youngster - David Beckham.
Campaigners have collected 15,000 signatures on a petition calling for the sale to be stopped, and insist they'll fight on.
Rick Holloway is from the Save Our Stow campaign. He says that the closure of the stadium will take away the heart of the local area.
Since the closure announcement was made more and more people have been coming.
However, the reality is that from next week onwards, this icon of London's East End will be a thing of the past.
Keyword animals wacky

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