(Disclaimer: Joking aside, I fully understand the risks/dangers involved in these
adventures and do so in the full knowledge of what could happen. I don't
encourage or condone and I accept no responsibility for anyone else
following in my footsteps. I never break in a place, I never take any
items and I never cause any damage. I will not disclose a location, or means of entry. I leave the building as I find it and
only enter to take photographs for my own pleasure and to document the
building.)
Introduction by Brother Michael
Welcome to another installment from Sad Man on a Roof! I don't understand the internet, or computers. In fact one time Schurke the Pigeon Man came over and I complained that he hadn't been picking up his phone when I was calling him. He took one look at my phone and informed me that it was, in fact, a calculator. Cheeky git. Anyway, it's taking me a few hundred hours to type this but between you and me, I don't know why you bother reading. By the way, it literally is just between you and me. You're the only person who ever reads this blog, so thanks. I hope you get the help you need. When Pigeon Man isn't being a sad man on a roof or photographing sheds, Little Chefs or whatever, he's whining about this gash on his hand. It's about three inches long, a bit like his dick, and it looks pretty brutal. But don't fall for his tricks for sympathy! He just wants pity hand jobs now that he can't masturbate. He used to have alopecia too, and I told him to get a tattoo of a tiny rabbit on his bald patch. Why a rabbit? Because from a distance they look like hare!
...
What, that's totally funny! You know what, fuck it, I was in the best band in Shrewsbury back in the 1990s and now look at me. Official Parker for the Lady Penelope Cadman-Wannabe that is Shrewsbury From Where You Are Not. What was it Pigeon Man said? "they've inherited a mess but they've made something of it." Fuck you, Chris. Todays blog is in Birmingham. Enjoy.
In todays blog, I'm straying away from the titular town of Shrewsbury and doing my first ever blog about an abandoned place in Birmingham. It's not even in Shropshire, so to say that the blogs title is inaccurate is an understatement. But let's be honest, it's been inaccurate since Camelot. Today we're looking at Hall Green Racecourse, although I believe a lot of this may have been demolished now, since photos of the location with construction vehicles have appeared on the internet since my initial visit, so for some this is one final look at a once prosperous location. Check it out!
Purely out of curiosity, not really knowing what to expect, I checked old Victorian maps of this area and found that it was completely rural farm land back then. That's not to say that Birmingham wasn't already huge, it just hadn't expanded out to Hall Green yet. Today the entire area is completely urban. The racecourse was constructed for greyhound racing in 1927, it's 412 metres long, and can support around 2,500 to 3000 people, although the true capacity has always been in question. Originally the track was grass, but it was changed to sand during renovations in 1981. It also hosted speedyway races up until 1938!
I made my way around the racetrack in a clockwise motion, setting my sights on this building first. Allegedly this particular building dates back to 1987 during some improvements made to the racecourse. It contains a snooker hall, which once had 21 tables.
It's an obstacle course just getting to the reception desk.
The cash machine has been emptied, hopefully by staff when the place closed down, and not by thieves.
As I entered the building, I found that in just the one year since it had closed down, it had deteriorated rapidly at the hands of urban explorers, metal thieves and other trespassers.
Nevertheless, to me it still retained a rather pleasant atmosphere. Greyhound racing isn't really my cup of tea, but this was still a place where many people would have come to have a good time.
There's an old cash tray here.
In this room, the biggest obstacle appears to be the various bits of ceiling.
There are still documents and paperwork in the office.
These toilets are actually in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs...
And here's the bar!
Presumably this is the snooker hall, since it's the only room big enough to have 21 full-sized snooker tables, although the tables have long been cleared out.
"These toilets are regularly serviced to GRA standards."
Okay, here we get into hilariously ironic territory.
I guess I should do what the sign says and inform the nearest member of staff, but I have to admit, these toilets are still in better condition than the toilets in some pubs and clubs.
Leaving that building, I made my way around the track to the next building...
It's got a few cameras dotted around, which is a shame because I would have loved to get up onto that roof. Nevertheless, I decided to scamper by and slip inside. Would my adventure meet its premature end?
In terms of being well preserved, this building isn't doing much better than the last one.
"Gang was here."
What kind of lame name for a gang is that???
Seriously, in Shrewsbury we have gangs like the "Sundorne Bad Boys" which admittedly sounds like homo-erotic porn starring Justin Beiber, but at least they're trying! This gang in Birmingham have either got even less imagination than the Sundorne Bad Boys, or they actually came to Shrewsbury once, heard of the Sundorne Bad Boys, gained some outside perspective and after a gang huddle, decided that no matter what they call their gang, it would just sound like homo-erotic Justin Beiber porn, and decided to just skip that and go with "Gang." That'll strike fear into the hearts of Birmingham.
Imagine that as a title of a movie. "G I Joe: Rise of Gang."
Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe GANG is an acronym for "Goodhearted Angelic Neighbourly Gentlemen" and they go out and make the world a better place, armed with the marker pen of kindness, and their general goodwill.
This area was obviously for the staff of the racecourse, and was probably not publically accessible back when the place was active.
It sure is bizarre how much of this has been left behind. A year has passed since the closure and all of this is still shockingly orderly in comparison to the area I was in before.
This office looks like it's ready to be manned again any day. If it wasn't for all the smashed windows in the previous area, plus the somewhat level-with-my-head-shoulders-knees-and-toes chunks of ceiling, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine this place just casually reopening one day.
Okay seriously, there's a whiteboard in the other room, and pens here. Why has no trespasser taken such obvious bait? I mean, Gang announced their presence on a door, so the vandals clearly know how to spell. A whiteboard is basically a playground for those people.
I propped the wallet open with the metal bar, to get a shot of all these business cards.
It was as I was exploring this area that I was discovered by security and asked to leave.
Now, ordinarily I do have respect for the police, and will leave when asked to by them, but quite frankly my route out of the place took me right past this beauty that I had yet to explore, and the security foolishly trusted me to show myself out unescorted. I gave in to temptation and slipped inside. I'm such a scoundrel. But seriously, look at it!
Of course now I was on borrowed time. The security had asked me to leave and soon they would notice that I hadn't. I had to see as much of this building as possible before they caught up with me, and I had to keep moving to make sure that they didn't catch up with me too easily. It sure was exciting!
So here's the main entrance, leading out into the carpark. Long ago, visitors would have flooded through these doors.
I've touched on the fact that this place has been closed for about a year. It was purchased in 2014 by Euro Property Investments, and they closed the site in July 2017. They later announced in April 2018 that it was to be demolished, and replaced with houses.
The decision was controversial and well fought by both sides of the argument. Those against the demolition refered to this place as part of Birminghams heritage, having been there for almost a century, and declaring the demolition somewhat unnecessary. Not only that but the additional houses would add to the local traffic problems, and the loss of the stadium would mean loss of jobs and loss of a community facility. For a while these arguments seemed to win favour and it looked like the racecourse might be saved. But then PETA got involved, claiming that dog racing was cruel, in a campaign backed by 7,000 people.
I know, right? When I saw PETA during my research I was immediately ready to roll my eyes. These are the guys who attacked Pokemon for animal cruelty, along with Mario for wearing a Raccoon costume, and Sonic the Hedgehog for being overworked. And while out of all of this, the Pokemon argument can be debated by Pokemon fans within the context of that fictional universe, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) should have better things to do here in the real world than protest the rights of pixels on a Game Boy screen. PETA is to animal rights what Buzzfeed is to feminism. But in this case I was actually surprised at PETA because the idea of greyhound racing being unethical is actually something that can be seriously debated.
I guess a broken clock is right twice a day.
However, after PETA got involved, plans to demolish the area were said to proceed without further debate. Some news reports also claim that there will be a 48-bedroom hotel constructed here, while other news reports acknowledge that the 48-bedroom Lodge Hotel is already here and scheduled for demolition too, so clearly someone somewhere got their wires cross. But it's the media we're talking about. Don't expect actual facts. I think the word I use most on this blog is "Allegedly."
During my research I also decided to take a look at some reviews on Trip Advisor, and saw some pretty mixed memories. A lot of people say that the staff were pleasant and the food was great. Others say that the staff were rude or seemingly uninterested, and that their food took forever to arrive. People also said that the bar was a bit expensive, but generally experiences here were positive.
There's barely any glass in this entire area that hasn't been smashed, but the view of the racetrack is nice.
There was a higher point, an office overlooking the racetrack, but before I could go there, I noticed the swift approach of security guards, and decided to vacate before they caught me. I began making my way along the racetrack in the direction of my exit point, and with the security in pursuit behind me I just thought "Fuck it" jumped onto the racetrack and gleefully ran along it, cackling like a maniac, with the security unhappily pursuing me.
It was the greatest moment in my entire athletic career, or so I thought at the time, having forgotten in the heat of the moment that I don't actually have an athletic career.
It sure was fun though. The next thing to run along this track will be the caterpillar treads of a bulldozer.
Of course, my departure left the Lodge Hotel unaccounted for. I would just have to return, once the sun was starting to set and I was less visible.
The hotel was constructed in 1990 and as such is the most recent addition to the racetrack, but similarly due to be demolished. In spite of being in similar condition to the rest of the place, with smashed windows and general untidiness, I was surprised to find that some of the lights were on, and some of the rooms were locked. The lights were probably to put off trespassers, but to me they just meant I couldn't stand by any windows for too long.
A lot of the furniture is still here.
Behind the reception desk, the safe is still here along with various clutter.
In the hallway the ceiling was collapsing and there was debris everywhere. The hallways were basically just straight lines leading off from a central area, and this was mirrored upstairs, with each hall having a fire exit at the end.
The majority of bedrooms were locked but those that were open were all in similar condition, with the beds still present.
The mandatory hotel bibles are still here too.
Some of the hotel rooms also have sofas.
There's also still tourist information for people staying here.
Here it looks like someone hurled the fire extinguisher through the window.
Check out the mold and decay on this door! It looks like if one were to push the fire exit bar, the rotten wooden door would snap in half.
Personally I found the hotel to be the least interesting part of the entire place, but I would not have been happy to return home and leave something unexplored and undocumented.
For many, Hall Green Racecourse will be missed. I can't say that dog racing is really my thing, but this is still a community attraction that could be put back to use. Even if people think that dog racing is cruel, there are other things to race! This stadium did have speedway races between 1928 and 1938, after all. It just seems disapointing to me to see so many leisure activities torn down to make houses. In the forbidden tourism sport, I've seen more empty houses than I can count. There's plenty of room out there for people without demolishing things like this.
But that's just my opinion.
Thats all I have from Hall Green Racecourse. Next time, I'm blogging about something in the wonderful Shropshire town of Oswestry, and then I'm off to another one of rural Shropshires abandoned houses.
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