To anyone who was on the BMX race circuit in the 1980s, the name “Slough” has become synonymous with one of the greatest races to be held in the UK that decade. Billed abroad as the “London Worlds”, Slough track hosted the 1986 BMX World Championships – an event remembered and revered to this day.
But what was the story behind Slough track and its meteoric rise to the international stage? Chris Carter, a friend of 250 and our first guest Blogger, was one of the earliest members of the club, he takes up the story...
The Beginning...
"For me, the story of Slough track begins in 1983 when, aged 14, I wrote to Slough Council asking if they would build a BMX track in the area. They’d already built a very small skateboard ramp in Salt Hill Park, so I reasoned that they might be receptive to the idea. As it turned out, a number of other people in the area had already made similar requests, and so a council meeting was duly arranged to which I was invited.
A site was approved and track building began in the autumn of 1983. I remember going along every weekend to help with the spade work. Of course we had no expertise and little in the way of resources from which to inform the contractors about what was needed, but eventually, somehow, a rideable track began to emerge.
Slough’s first ever race was held on the 8th January 1984. By today’s standards it was laughable – tiny jumps and not very many of them; a hard, stony surface; and a piece of rope to serve as a start gate. But for those kids whose racing careers were launched that day, it was sensational!
A few weeks later a proper start gate was installed. In those days there were no hydraulic or traffic light start systems, and the gate itself was built from scaffolding by one of the BMX dads and was incredibly heavy. It had a simple mechanical handle that an operator had to press to release it, but at least we could now do a proper two-pedal start!
By this stage Slough BMX Club had renamed itself Slough Swifts, which as a name, on reflection, does perhaps seem a little weak. In fact it should have come as no surprise when the more established riders from Hayes Hawks would eat our much less experienced Slough Swifts when they met in competition!
Within months the club hosted its first regional race. The team of parents that ran the club and the races was also beginning to build a reputation for super-slick events that ran smoothly and efficiently. When you consider that there were no computers at that time and that all the moto sheets were written out by hand – with the results and qualifying positions being collated likewise – this was no small achievement!
To the Nationals and Beyond...
Due in part to this administrative excellence, in April the following year, the club was awarded its first ever national race. The track was resurfaced and more jumps were added, while some of the existing jumps were enlarged or re-profiled in order to get it up to a proper national standard. Needless to say, the event was a huge success and put Slough track firmly on the national BMX map.
Such was the success of the club and the track, that just five months after its first national race, Slough hosted its first ever international race. For this event the track was altered once again, this time with the addition of a 14-and-over pro-section. Unfortunately the pro-section was only partially successful due to the fact that the only place to put it was on a slow uphill part of the track. But it worked well enough and under the cool September sunshine, the 1985 international race was a great success. (Years later I came up with an alternative track layout that put the pro-section on the fastest part of the track. My design was eventually built around 1989).
The Boomtime Tracks
Nineteen eighty five turned out to be a boom year for BMX racing. The first national that year had been held at Hounslow, and had attracted more than 1,100 riders – more than anyone was expecting. Being held in March, the great British weather decided not to co-operate by raining heavily on the whole event, turning everything into a quagmire.
In those days of course there was no such thing as pre-registration. And just to add to the complexity of the Hounslow event, all bikes had to go through a scrutineering procedure to check they were safe – an awful lot to get through in one day! The Hounslow facilities were rapidly overwhelmed and racing finally finished well after 9pm, with younger riders having to be woken up to race their finals under the headlights of the cars lining the first straight.
By the time 1986 came around, sanctioning body UKBMX were keen to avoid a repeat of the Hounslow experience of ’85. The first race of the season is often the biggest, and with Slough now having a proven track record at international level, and with the huge Upton Court Park providing plenty of space and exit options for cars and camping, Slough BMX Club were duly awarded the first national of 1986 – its reputation now cemented as one Britain’s leading BMX raceways.
The Crest of the Wave
With its rapid growth at regional, national and then international level, Slough track was beginning to be noticed abroad, and when the UK won the right to host the 1986 Worlds, there was little debate over which track would get the gig. And so in August of that year – just over two-and-a-half years after the first race with the rope start gate – Slough BMX Track hosted the 1986 BMX World Championships. Around 1,500 riders from all over the world descended on the Slough track for what would become a legendary event!
The associated circus took over the entire park and the carnival atmosphere drew even more people in from outside the sport. Once again the track was upgraded and the UK’s first ever hydraulic traffic-light gate system was installed. Naturally the Slough committee rose to the occasion and demonstrated their now widely recognized efficiency, albeit under the auspices of the national governing body. With so many riders in attendance, the sound of the gate resembled a machine gun, with motos on the track sometimes three at a time – one crossing the finish line as the next rounded the second turn while the third was coming out of the gate!
{We've created an album of the 1986 World Champs with borrowed images. If you've any to add, please email to press@250London.com}
Slough BMX - Under New Management
The Slough World Championships are seen by many as the pinnacle of the 1980s BMX racing boom. By 1987 however, the sport seemed to begin what was perhaps an inevitable decline. The British BMX magazines either folded or else turned their attention to freestyle and skateboarding. BMX racing found itself somewhat going back to the underground as the companies and individuals that had supported it now seemed to step away from it.
For its part, the Slough club kept running successfully for almost another decade, hosting many more nationals as well as the 1991 European Championships. But by the mid-1990s, the dedicated committee finally began to run out of steam.
It was at this point that Hayes Hawks stepped in and took over the track, having outgrown their original track in Kingshill Avenue. Although Slough Swifts ceased to exist, the track continued on for another six successful years under the Hawks’ management. But in 2002, the Hawks moved again, this time back to their spiritual home in Hayes, to their current track at Dawley Road. The last major race at the Slough track was the 2002 national which was held over the Queen’s 50th Jubilee weekend.
Epilogue
Today the track stands neglected and overgrown, the only signs of use being single-track trails carved by infrequent mountain-bikers and perhaps the occasional kid on their entry-level street BMX bike. As they wobble round the track while their parents walk the dog in the adjacent park area, those kids will surely have no idea of the BMX history and heritage beneath their wheels, which dates back to before they were born. But for those of us who were there all those years ago, the glory of Slough track and the incredible events it hosted will be forever embedded in the soil itself, no matter how overgrown it becomes."
CHRIS CARTER {Check him out below}
Thank you so much to Chris for giving us a "ride" back in time with this great story. We love a bit of nostalgia here at 250 and this hit the spot. Sad to see the Track looking so grim these days but with BMX on the up and up again, who knows, perhaps we'll see it fixed up one day along with a return of those colourful, golden years...
Please feel free to leave your comments below, especially if you were there at the 1986 World Champs and if you have any photos you'd like to share, which we can include on the blog, either World Champ pics or general Slough BMX pics, please email them to press@250london.com.
Thanks for reading.
Team 250